The Lost Gargoyle Books are going to CANNES!

The Lost Gargoyle series, 2009-2012

You know, I haven't talked about The Lost Gargoyle Series on this blog in a while, but here's some big news I can finally share ...

... the books have been optioned by a New York company, and a concept for a cartoon series inspired by the books is going to be pitched at MIP JR in CANNES next month!

I can't tell you more right now (legalities and such), but I couldn't be more excited, honoured and honestly a little verklempt.

Wish Gargoth and Ambergine luck finding a production company. I'll be thinking about them flying around above Notre Dame.

Purchase the Lost Gargoyle Books now
Read Goodreads Reviews
More about the Lost Gargoyle Series on this blog.

Fabulous Teacher's Guide for The Gargoyle at the Gates

Teachers, Parents, Librarians! Here's a wonderful, imaginative Teacher's Guide for The Gargoyle at the Gates, free from my publisher Dundurn Press.

Click and download it here now: Teacher's Guide

Complete with chapter summaries and really creative, fun homework suggestions and full-scale activities (like making your own gargoyle, writing your own gargoyle profile, making a gargoyle bookmark and lots, lots more), this is a great extra to help bring this award-nominated book to life in your classroom. Please enjoy it, compliments of Dundurn Press!

The book has been nominated for the following awards:
OLA Silver Birch Express 2014
BC Red Cedar Award 2014
SYRCA Diamond Willow Award 2014
Hackmatack Award 2014
Cooperative Children's Book Award 2013
White Raven 2013

Gargoyle at the Gates & Goodreads

The Gargoyle at the Gates, book 3 in the Lost Gargoyle Series, is doing really well. It was a top-3 bestseller for my publisher, Dundurn, in December, up there with the LemonAid 2013 guide and a book about hockey (which was very timely since due to the hockey strike everyone was desperate for anything hockey-related).

I feel incredibly honoured to know that my YA book about a lost gargoyle in downtown Toronto is selling as well as a perennial bestseller about used cars and a new book about hockey.

Cars, hockey and gargoyles, a natural fit!

The book has had great reviews by trade magazines which you can read from an earlier post here. It's also got lovely reviews on Goodreads here.

One reviewer said, "The writing is imaginative, poetic, exciting and layered." Love that!

But I think my favourite review starts like this:

"Picked this book up upon recommendation, but hadn't heard of it or the series before reading. The idea of befriending gargoyles that come alive sounded unique, and hey--it's set in Toronto. Why not?"

Love it. Being recommended, read, then reviewed. This writer is very thankful.

Of Gargoyles, Yoda and Mr. Miyagi

It's been a busy month for interviews! I'm always surprised at what questions interviewers come up with, and I always learn something about myself when I answer them.

This week I'm the featured author on the Defining Canada blog from my publisher, Dundurn. My favourite question:
"In your own work, which character are you most attached to and why?"

My main character, Gargoth the gargoyle, of course! He's a wonderful character to write for, being naughty, wise, and hilarious. A writer's dream. I really think of him as a cross between Yoda and Mr. Miyagi, both the wise other.

Here's the interview: Philippa D. on Defining Canada

There have been a few more interviews too, lately, if you'd like to read them here:

Author Interview, Inside Toronto

Author Interview, OpenBook Toronto, Proust Questionnaire

Gargoyles at Word on The Street, Toronto

Gargoth the Gargoyle, and me

Here it is September already. And that can only mean one thing: WORD ON THE STREET!

Where: Queen's Park Circle, Toronto
When: Sunday, September, 23, 2012,
11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

This year I'll be signing my books from the Lost Gargoyle Series, The Gargoyle in My Yard and The Gargoyle Overhead, at 2 different locations during the day:

1:00 - 1:30 Dundurn Publishing

2:00 - 3:00 First Book Canada

I'm honoured and excited to be signing at Dundurn (my publisher) and then at First Book Canada, a wonderful initiative to get books into the hands of children from low income families.

I'll be handing out bookmarks, signing books, and stamping noses, hands and books with my new gargoyle stamp. My gargoyle puppet will be there too!

Drop by and say hi

Of gargoyles and trolls ...

... they can be friends, who knew?

The Gargoyle Overhead
meets a garden troll in New Zealand (and apparently is NOT mistaken for lunch).

Thanks Kids Lit Quiz Canada for the great photo!

Top 10 memorable moments, Festival of Trees 2012

Aryan's lovely painting, delivered by hand

Awesome fan-made pin handed to me by
security guard as I left the stage

Ahh. My fifteen minutes are over. The Festival of Trees 2012 (May 16-17) was a fantastic experience for me. Thank you once again, Ontario Library Association, I loved every minute. Here are my top 10 favourite moments from the two days in which I was a Silver Birch Express rock star, in chronological order:
1. The Party Before the Storm: meeting Natalie Hyde, Rebecca Upjohn, Ian Wallace, Cary Fagan, Susan Hughes,
Jan Andrews, Jill Maclean, Patrick Bowman, Monica Kulling, Alan Silberberg,
Anna Kerz, Don Gillmor and anyone else I've missed, the night before the Festival begins. Camaraderie ensues.
2. The First Surprise: having a FULL house at my presentation at Harbourfront on the morning of May 16. We were told we could have anywhere between 10-80 attendees, so to prepare for anything. I was signing books, because we had about 6 kids, then looked up and two busloads of excited children walked in. Eventually we had @160 kids, standing room only. Glorious!
3. The Second Surprise: getting whisked off to my autograph signing at 11:15 and finding a line up so long that I couldn't see the table. I signed books and Festival pamphlets for an hour, it was so much fun to meet so many kids. We had to turn kids away when my time ran out, but I think (hope) most of them found me later.

A special moment with a fan

4. Aryan's painting. During my autograph session, a boy named Aryan brought me his lovely painting (top) of a gargoyle in the trees. We were both so overcome, I could only say thank you Aryan, it's beautiful. It really is.
5. The Main Event: walking on stage at Harbourfront is an experience that everyone should enjoy once in life, as a writer or not. It's just phenomenal to be greeted by almost 2,000 cheering children. I will never forget it. I threw up my arms in surprise and delight. Thank you Emmett Upjohn for my favourite photo of the entire two days: the slightly crazed rock star moment, below.

Arms thrown wide in surprise and delight,
walking onstage at Harbourfront
Photo courtesy Emmett Upjohn

6. A Moment with Ian Wallace: As the little girl introducing me was finishing (thank you Paige) and it was my turn to speak, Ian Wallace, the illustrator for Gordon Lightfoot's book, leaned over and whispered encouragement in his deep baritone. I felt so elated, I just wish I could remember exactly what he said!
7. Speaking Gargoyle to the Crowd: my gargoyle puppet said a few words on stage in Gargoyle. He insisted. I'm glad he did.
8. The Pin: as we were all leaving the stage, a security guard rushed up to me and handed me a pin that a fan made: I HEART the Gargoyle Overhead by Philippa Dowding. Sweet! I wore it everywhere the rest of the day and in Ottawa.
9. The Flight to Ottawa, May 17: I'm not much on flying. But I agreed to go to Ottawa for the inaugural Festival of Trees Tour. I'm so glad I did! I will never forget bumping into Natalie Hyde and Anna Kerz at the ferry terminal at 6:30 a.m., then laughing all the way through the flight. We laughed and supported each other all day too. Meeting the other authors and making friends, was a huge part of the experience for me. Which leads me to my final point...

Gargoth sitting quietly on my lap
at Harbourfront
Photo courtesy Emmett Upjohn

10. Meeting Susin Nielsen. You know how no matter how good you get at something, there is always someone who is better at it than you? I sat beside Susin Neilsen (Word Nerd and Dear George Clooney, please marry my mom) at the Ottawa celebration, and felt so honoured to be on stage with her. I told her that Word Nerd made me cry. At the lovely reception later at Ottawa City hall, we discovered that we both like strange statues.

So there they are, my top 10 moments from the Festival of Trees, an honour and a privilege I will never forget.

There are a few other favourite moments too, like the boy who spoke gargoyle to me in Ottawa and the boy with the severe speech impediment in Toronto who told me how much he loved my book.

I also got a great question that no one has ever asked before at my presentation in Toronto: if you could be any magical creature, what would it be? (a gargoyle first, then a unicorn) And I will never forget the young girl in Ottawa who did a phenomenal 4-turn pirouette! I reassured her that it looked NOTHING like a gargoyle doing a pirouette. Listening to Simon Awa (Uumajut) speak Iqualuit to the hushed crowd in Ottawa was also a very cool moment, since I've never heard the language spoken live before.

But really, everyone I met over the two days made a huge impression on me, the children, the authors and the hardworking, dedicated OLA staff and volunteers. My heartfelt thanks to everyone for making the experience so special.

PD/May 29/2012

Festival of Trees was just awesome!

Some photos from Harbourfront and Ottawa Festival of Trees! I didn't win this year
(congrats Jan Andrews!), but just being there felt a lot like winning.
Top: turning into gargoyles with some students after a fun standing-room only presentation
Bottom...then signing, signing, signing for an hour, had to turn kids away...

...then the stage and welcoming all the authors...

My turn ... gargoyle got to say a few words ...

...slightly crazed rock star look!

Mob signing after after the ceremony!

Wonderful comments on the Gargoyle Overhead Poster (thanks for the photo Rebecca Upjohn!)

Gargoth and I on the campus at Carleton U in Ottawa, catching a few rays between events

Great gargoyle drawings by grade 4 fans

Some wonderful gargoyle drawings awaited me at a school visit last week. Enjoy ...

A fabulous snarling gargoyle...

A gargoyle overhead

A lovely welcome on the front door

Me, hard at work

Gargoyles in the front foyer showcase

Best Author Visit EVER! (or "when our villains come to life") ...

Yesterday I did a school author visit at 

Kingsway College School in Toronto. It was one
of the best days I’ve ever had as an author.
Why?
It was their Silver Birch Express voting day, and they were celebrating. It was a big deal for them to be voting on their favourite books, and they had read them all, including my book, 

The Gargoyle Overhead.
The children and staff were all excited about the books, and most of them were showing that excitement by dressing up as their favourite characters.*

There were children with banjos (from Banjo of Destiny, by the wonderful Cary Fagan), children dressed as train engineers (from All Aboard! by the lovely Monica Kulling), plus lots of baseball players (Saving Arm Pit, Natalie Hyde), and clocks (The Time Time Stopped, Don Gillmour). There were a few characters from the ti-jean stories, too (Jan Andrews).
Plus, there were gargoyles! I met five wonderful gargoyles, two of them were the librarians, Judy and Rose-Mary, with wings and scary masks and horns and claws. Two of the student gargoyles even showed the class how a gargoyle would walk: an ambling, low-to-the-ground, heavy armed shuffle, apparently!
Imagine my further surprise when I met three Katherine Newberry’s, my main human character,… one of them a boy … dressed in soccer gear. 

One Katherine Newberry had a backpack with an apple and a HAND-KNITTED gargoyle which her aunt made for her. It was a truly beautiful grey and black gargoyle, with wings and scary button eyes.
The children had also just finished their medieval projects, and one whole display case was filled with gorgeous hand-made gargoyles. 

My head was spinning!!
But imagine my complete astonishment and wonder when at the end of the day, a young girl stood before me as I was packing up.
“Do you know who I am?” she grinned. I took her in. White straw hat, big glasses, dark heavy coat.
“Are you … the Collector?” I asked slowly, the light dawning.
She nodded cheerfully and skipped away. The Collector is the villain in my books, an ego-maniacal antiquities collector obsessed with the gargoyles. And yesterday, he came to life, grinned at me then skipped away.
Thanks Judy and Rose-Mary, and thanks Kingsway College School for inviting me. 

 Like I said, b-e-s-t … d-a-y … e-v-e-r.
*Unfortunately, I can’t post any photos due to privacy issues, but believe me, the costumes were wonderful!