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Lights! Curtains! Cows! – Book Launch Mania!

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Someone, please  peel me off the ceiling! I had so much fun at my book launch – my very first book launch!- for Lights! Curtains! Cows!. The event was on Sunday, January 10, 2010 at 2pm at the wonderful McNally Robinson bookstore in Winnipeg (Grant Location). The bookstore did a fabulous job setting up displays, creating AWESOME posters, and hosting a relaxed, welcoming and fun event for me and my guests. A huge thanks to the phenomenal staff at McNally Robinson, and to my publisher Formac Lorimer  for co-sponsoring this event. I’ll remember it forever!

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It was great catching up with all sorts of people from all over my life – family, friends I’ve known since I was four, new friends, teachers, parents of friends who I haven’t seen in, like,  forever!

 Best of all? I met some readers of Lights! Curtains! Cows! who came out to meet me. You really made the day special for me! I’m so glad that you liked my book, and came to say hi!

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It was great chatting and signing books and shaking hands and getting hugs and reading my book and – well –  just celebrating!

I hope that you all had as good a time as I did…and will come out to help me launch my next book, No TV? No Fair! (March 2010 – getting closer!)

Stay tuned for more details!

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 **Thanks, Everyone!**

                                                                          

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Book Launch For Lights! Curtains Cows!

The official book launch for Lights! Curtains! Cows! will take place on January 10, 2010, at McNally Robinson (Winnipeg – Grant Ave Location), 2pm. If you’re in town, come on down!

I’m going to be doing a reading, signing books, and just generally mingling and having a good time. Hope you can be there!

I’ve actually never been to a book launch before, so it’s kind of cool that the first one I’m attending is my own.

Check out the info about the Lights! Curtains! Cows! launch here on McNally Robinson’s site:

http://www.mcnallyrobinson.com/

No TV? No Fair! – My second book is (almost) here!

Woo-hoo!

Got home yesterday from a terrific vacation. To my delight and surprise, I found that my forthcoming book, No TV? No Fair! is now listed on the Lorimer site and on all the major bookseller sites for pre-order. Maybe after book 55 it won’t feel as super duper cool, but I doubt it – I think it will always be a thrill to know that your story is really going to be shared with others.

No TV? No Fair will be officially available on March 25, 2010. It will be published in the Streetlights series (the same series as Lights! Curtains! Cows! – published by James Lorimer and Company). It’s the story of a family that decides to go “offline” for a month – no tv, no computers, nothing!

(I once lived a whole year without a TV, but I’ve never tried shutting off my computer and other electronic doo-dads. I should give it a try sometime, but I guess that means no blogging for a while – LOL!)

The main character is Chloe Lambert. What I love about the book is the surprising things that Chloe learns about herself when the constant distractions of TV and video games are no longer there. There are also a few super funny scenes where even Chloe’s parents are having trouble with their own rule!!!

Stay tuned to my site for more info about the book as we get closer to March -countdown starts…NOW!

On the Radio with Hal Anderson, CJOB (Winnipeg)

I had my first radio interview earlier this morning with the awesome Hal Anderson of Hal Anderson Mornings on CJOB Winnipeg. What a great guy! I was excited and a bit nervous about the whole thing – but then I felt totally relaxed during the actual interview. Hal was so easy to talk to – as easy-going and friendly as he sounds during his show.

It was so cool to share with Winnipeg and Manitoba listeners a bit about Lights! Curtains! Cows!. We even gave away a copy of the book on air to the first caller through. A young man named Jose won – I hope you enjoy the book, Jose. Thanks for calling in!

There’ve been a lot of exciting firsts to come along with my first book, and this is one of them. Thanks Hal for having me on your show!

The New Theme Song for Lights! Curtains! Cows!

The other day, it occured to me that since Lights! Curtains! Cows!, has an old-time prairie legend at its heart, a theme song with a folksy, country style is just what this book needed! I composed some lyrics, and then contacted my brother, Paul Shrofel, who is a professional musician and music producer. Paul and I have been collaborating on songs, musicals, plays and amateur radio shows since we were kids. So, in a few days of bouncing ideas back and forth, we came up with the upbeat song “The Legend of Cow Valley”. The song retells the story of Lights! Curtains! Cows! in a fun, folksy style with a rousing chorus of “Moos” that kids can sing along with. I love how it turned out and I hope you take a listen! You can find it on the Fun Stuff page of my site.

It’s Arrived: Lights! Curtains! Cows! is Finally Here!

lights-curtains-cow-cover-smallI’m thrilled to be able to finally say that Lights! Curtains! Cows!, my very first novel for young people, is finally here!  It seems like a long time from the moment I began to imagine the story, to it being accepted by James Lorimer & Company for publication, to its release date – part of that though is just being so excited (like the night before Christmas, but for months on end!).  I hope you will enjoy the story, and that it will make you laugh. It was fun to write, and I hope you find it fun to read!

To read more about the book itself, please click here.

I hope you’ll come back to my site to check out the latest news about this book, and upcoming books, too. I have another book for James Lorimer & Company’s Streetlights series in the works  – it comes out in Spring 2010. I’ll be posting more about it here as we get closer to the release date, so stop by again soon!

And book lovers – don’t forget to download and print the free bookmarks I made just for you! (They come in a sheet of 5 – I don’t know about you, but between having several books on the go at once, and the uncanny ability to misplace little things like bookmarks, I thought 5 was a good number!)

Inspiration

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Karin-Adams-Inspiration-PageI find inspiration for stories in my childhood memories. I don’t mean that I sit down, remember a specific event from when I was young, and use that to write a book. In fact, so far, none of the situations in my books have actually happened to me– the plots are developed in my imagination. However, I do have vivid memories of how I felt about things as a young person, and what was important to me and my friends.

Not only can these “thought” and “feeling” memories suggest specific things to write about, they help bring characters to life. I try to reconnect with how it felt to be a young person, so that I can remember what the world looked like to me. That helps me to give my characters authentic feelings and reactions, and put words in their mouths that sound like they come from the heart– their hearts– it helps my characters to ring true.

It’s funny, I find that because I spend so much time trying to create characters that are real, I really feel as though I know them! Becky, Greg and Mike from Lights! Curtains! Cows! and Chloe, Mark and Mr. Z from No TV? No Fair! are like old friends (or new friends, depending on how you look at it!).

Writing a book to share with others is lots of fun for the author, not only because others get to read your story, but because you get to live in a world that you create while you write (and you get to visit each time you pick up your book!)

What inspires you? Do you turn to your memories for inspiration? Or do you use your imagination to step completely outside of yourself, like trying on an exciting costume, so that you can understand the world in a whole different way?
Remember to Laugh, Feel, Think and Dream!

Do You Write, Too?

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Karin-Adams-Do-You-Write-TooDo you love to write stories? If you do, how wonderful! You’ve chosen a very special, very exciting way to express yourself. With words, you can create pictures, share feelings, make people laugh, wonder and think.

If you’ve been writing stories, you probably know that it’s not always easy to get those great ideas that are in your head onto paper. It takes time and effort to turn an idea into something that others can understand and appreciate.

There are lots of tips out there for making your writing even better. (I’m always on the look out for advice myself as I grow as a writer!)

Here are my three most favourite tips (so far!) for making good writing great writing:

– Read your writing out loud. I find that this is the best way to edit my own work, to make sure that the words I’ve chosen properly express my ideas. It’s also a handy way to catch words and sentences that just aren’t working. If it doesn’t sound right out loud, it probably won’t make sense to your readers. Reading your writing out loud gives you a chance to fix what might not be working…and also to hear what sounds just right!

– Read books by other authors, especially those who are writing the kind of stories you are working on. When you study how your favourite authors tell a story, it helps you to understand techniques that will make your writing even better. I’m not saying that you should read other authors in order to copy them exactly – you need to find your own voice to tell your own story, of course! And it’s not just a matter of taking notes on how one author writes dialogue, or how another author describes a setting. There’s something magical that happens when you immerse yourself in a great book. The rhythm, pace, and feel for your kind of story gets in your bones and helps your stories to take shape. So get out your library card, and flex its muscles!

– Keep on writing! The desire to write stories is very special, and it’s important that you keep at it so that your ideas keep flowing. Sometimes, I wake up feeling that I’m out of ideas, or that my ideas may not be good enough for a story. The best thing that I can do when I’m in that kind of mood is to start writing, even if the first few sentences are nonsense. For me putting an idea–any idea–into words has a way of stirring up other ideas. Before I know it, I might have the seed for a character, the elements of a funny scene, or even the outline for a whole new book. If you love to write, keep at it! Once you start, who knows where your imagination will lead you!