Well hello again. I'm back from Book Expo in Toronto and fortunately for you, I've got loads of stories about other writers and I've asked them for writing tips I could share on this blog. I figure I have enough cool stuff to tell you to last all week and maybe into next week, too!
The first author I want to tell you about is Bilaal Rajan -- the amazing thing about him is thathe's just a kid!! His first book, Making Change: Tips from an Underage Overachiever is coming out this fall with Orca Book Publishers.
Bilaal has been involved in fundraising since he was in elementary school. He's raised funds for groups likes AIDS orphans and tsunami survivors. Bilaal credits his Garde Six teacher Allison Bartlett for suggesting he write a book. "I wanted to spread my message that kids can fundraise and achieve success in whatever they do," Bilaal told me when we chatted at Book Expo. Bilaal says it wasn't that hard to write his book. When I asked whether his parents helped him, he said, "My dad helped with grammar."
Pretty amazing, no? I think we can expect many more books from Bilaal. I'm looking forward to all of them. If you want to check out Bilaal's website, it's www.handsforhelp.org
I'll be back tomorrow with a blog entry about two authors, Jocelyn Shipley and Deb Loughead, who are the editors of an upcoming collection of short stories called Cleavage. Now isn't that a title that makes you want to read the book?