Sunday, October 31, 2010

Me, the Crocodile Hunter

Sometimes, my last-minute costumes are the biggest success. I raided my husband's closet for most of this...added a net for humour (not showing) and stuffed the pockets with some crocodile puppets I use at school. The costume was so effective, I even "caught" a child-sized croc, pictured here but airbrushed as I didn't ask her family for permission to post on the internet. Got a ton of compliments!


Happy Halloween!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Yippee!

1. Another excellent review for Maybe Never, Maybe Now. Page Turner's Blog calls it a "fantastic follow-up to Painting Caitlyn" and "a wonderful read".

2. My book trailer took third place in the October contest over at You Gotta Read Videos.

3. Tomorrow is Halloween at school! (but no costume yet...)


4. Here is the picture of me and my friends at our alumni dinner!


Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Meet me over at TRTBlogspot!

I'm the "guest" at the Teens Read Too blog today! Come see me there, and maybe win a prize!

Monday, October 25, 2010

Back to the Future!

Okay - so as promised, more info on the high school/university visits the other day!


On Friday, I went back to Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute. It's the high school I attended, and I haven't been back since I graduated in 1988. I went to play "alumni author", read to the group of girls who gave up their lunch hour to come meet me, and then chatted up the Writer's Craft class in the exact classroom that was my first homeroom. SO FUN! Back when I was taking Writer's Craft, we were promised an extra 3% on our grades if we could get published - in any form - during the year. I wrote a letter to the editor of the local paper complaining about some really rude, denigrating jokes about women and was THRILLED when I got my name in print. Not, as it turned out, because of the 3%, which didn't really excite me all that much, but because someone thought something I'd written was worth putting in print. (You have to bear with me and understand that this was WAAAY before the internet, blogging opportunities, etc. People had to actually pick up pens to write things, and you were really "high-tech" if you had an electric typewriter).
Anyway, it seems that not a lot has changed, physically, in that building. Some pics:


A mural that was painted (not by me) during my time there, and remains today:







One of these lockers is the last one I ever had. Still know what the combination was, and remember clearly that Mike Raletic's locker was on my right, and Christa Ptatschek's locker was on my left, but couldn't pick the actual locker out of the line-up (sniff!):





A locker decorated for someone's birthday, just as we used to do, and described in my book Painting Caitlyn:







After the high school visit, I headed over to the University of Waterloo for the 50th anniversary of it's Faculty of Arts, where I sat with some of the smartest women I know. My friend Wendi, Executive Director of the Foodbank of Waterloo Region. Theresa (my first roomate!) works for Kraft Foods, and is partially responsible for hilarity like this bit on chocolate. And the ever effervescent Sandy is now perfectly positioned as a Twitter goddess (@sassygirlcanada) and communications expert for Research In Motion (yes, the Blackberry people). I don't see them often. But when I do, it's super fun. And since this was an alumni event, we were younger than almost everyone else, easily making us still the hottest girls in the place! (will post pics of us when I get copies of the ones the photographer took).




Finally, here's what the high school and the university had in common:



THEY BOTH GAVE ME FANCY CHOCOLATE!!!






Sunday, October 24, 2010

Around the world in Five Short Days...(at least, that's what it felt like)

Last week was crazy. I keep saying I have to cut that out, 'cuz it's my own fault if I'm busy, but it was FUN crazy. I'll try to make the basic explanation quick (but you know I love to type)...

Monday: Art History night at the Georgina Arts Centre and Gallery with my friend Joanne.
Tuesday: Agility Class at Paus n' Train with my dog. Here is a brief video showing how much he loves it:





Wednesday: At school until 6 p.m. getting ready for two days of supply teachers.
Thursday: Teaching other teachers at the Board Office until 3 p.m., then back to the Beaverton Public Library for an author appearance at 4 p.m., followed by a meeting with parents about a school trip at 7 p.m., and a trip to Kitchener at 9 p.m.
Friday: Two author type thing-ys at Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute (the high school I attended!) followed by dinner with longtime university pals Wendi, Theresa and Sandy at the University of Waterloo's Faculty of Arts 50th Anniversary Event .

More on the high school/university flashbacks (with pics) tomorrow.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Caitlyn's finding her voice!

Even with the new books out, the old ones live on. Page Turner's Blog just reviewed Painting Caitlyn. I can hardly believe that it's been four years since it was first released, but am so thrilled that it continues to touch people. My favourite part of the review was this: "marvelous". I also love that the website is highliting domestic abuse for the entire month of October, and the reviewer went out of her way to highlight Ten Warning Signs of Abuse. Marvelous!

Tomorrow: The Beaverton Public Library, 4 p.m.

Friday: My former high school, Cameron Heights Collegiate, in Kitchener, ON.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Release Day!!!!




Dinner with friends, too much food/wine/champagne/baklava.

Need to sleep.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Two days until release, and another solid review...

Thank you to CM Magazine for the following kind words about Definitely Not Camelot:

"Like Caitlyn from Peters' other books, Ashley is a very relatable teen...the author does a commendable job of portraying the wide range of emotions that a teen who is faced with a parent's serious illness might experience...she also adeptly captures the high school environment in which rumours and jealousies and misunderstandings can all lead to a situation in which a young person quickly feels like s/he is losing control. Whether readers have read the preceding book Posing as Ashley, or are meeting her for the first time, they will most certainly enjoy the experience."

Monday, October 11, 2010

MNMN on You Gotta Read Videos!

Okay - so again, I'm a bit behind...partly due to some surgery in the family that required my presence, and partly due to "the cold that wouldn't die", which I've been fighting since the first week of September. Started in my throat. Went to my sinuses. Sat there for three weeks. Hopped back down my throat, slid into my lungs...has basically left me a hacking, disgusting mess. And all I want to do is sleep.

But I musn't sleep, because there is so much great book news happening! For one thing, the trailer for Maybe Never, Maybe Now , is on You Gotta Read Videos this month. Visit! Vote for it! Watch some other trailers and find something else that's good to read! (but still vote for me!).

Happy Thanksgiving, my fellow Canadians!

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Download a chapter for free! Yay!

Hi all - Maybe Never, Maybe Now and Definitely Not Camelot are out in less than two weeks! Yay!

Amazon is still listing their author as simply "Kimberly Peters", and therefore not cross-referencing with their award winning predecessors, Painting Caitlyn and Posing as Ashley. Boo!

Lobster Press is offering you the chance to download a free first chapter RIGHT NOW! Yay!

I'm still sick with a bad cold. Boo.

Maybe Never Maybe Now got some good reviews! Yay!

I just found out my website had a bad link, and wasn't directing everyone to all of my books. Boo.

It's fixed now. Yay!