Writer Rina Singh and a Busload of Students Come to Town

I'm going to begin today's blog entry with a little story. In 1983, probably many years before some of you readers of my blog were born, I was doing my Master's degree in English Literature at Concordia University. The student sitting next to me in a class on James Joyce was named Rina Singh. Have you ever just met someone and you know instantly he or she will be your friend for life? That's what happened with us.

Rina had recently married her husband and moved to Montreal from India. She was already an established poet in her home country and she was doing her Master's in Creative Writing at Concordia. When, a few months later, I found out I was pregnant, Rina was the first person I told! And over the years, Rina encouraged me in my writing -- when I was getting rejection letters from publishers, she assured me it was all just part of the process. And when she gave me a lucky little blue glass Ganesh statue... well, I sold my first manuscript not long after that!

Rina quickly established herself on the North American literary scene too. Her most recent book, published by Groundwood, is called Guru Nanak: The First Sikh Guru.

So you will understand why this morning I zipped out on my bike to a hotel in downtown Montreal where Rina is staying for a couple of days with her students from Doncrest Public School in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Rina only had a little bit of time because the group was heading out for a tour of Old Montreal.

Not only did I get to see Rina, but I also got to meet Tiffany Tse and Tanushka Doctor. Along with Caleb Ajao (he was unable to make the trip to Montreal), Tiffany and Tanushka have recently  completed an amazing book trailer for my YA novel, Miracleville. Click here, then look for the tab on the right, to see the trailer for yourself!

In this second pic, you can see me with Rina, and in between us are Tanushka and Tiffany. Thanks, girls, for that wonderful wonderful trailer -- and thank Caleb for me too!

There are many things to love about Rina and one of them is that she is multi-talented. Not only is she an amazing children's writer, she is also a photographer and artist -- and a terrific teacher. She even taught her class how to make book trailers! As Tanushka told me, "Mrs. Singh always brings excitement to the lessons." Tiffany added, "The projects she gives us are a challenge and they always teach us something in the end."

From May 7 to 11, Rina will be touring Alberta for TD Children's Book Week. That means many more youngsters and teachers and librarians are going to experience the joy of being with Rina. Get ready to be energized and inspired!!

When we were sitting together on a bench at the hotel, Rina told me something I never knew about her. She told me that when she was about 15, she made her own books. "They were mostly poetry. I made book after book and I still have them," she said. And guess what, Albertans? Rina is going to bring some of those books to show you when she visits your province.