Alexander Finbow's Blog
June 23, 2017
Book signing at Chapters, Crowfoot, Calgary
Tomorrow, which is June 24th, I'll be popping into Chapters, Crowfoot, Calgary, to sign copies of When Big Bears Invade.
I'll be joined by our Big Bear, who will be happy to pose for bear attack photos.
Joins us between 11am and 3pm.
https://www.facebook.com/Chapters-Cro...
I'll be joined by our Big Bear, who will be happy to pose for bear attack photos.
Joins us between 11am and 3pm.
https://www.facebook.com/Chapters-Cro...
June 6, 2017
Big Bears Given Away
Thanks to all the goodreaders who entered my When Big Bears Invade giveaway. Signed books will be sent out to the 5 lucky readers today.
We're working on the second book at the moment, with Nyco scheduled to start on the artwork in July. Expect more Bearmageddon across Canada soon!
We're working on the second book at the moment, with Nyco scheduled to start on the artwork in July. Expect more Bearmageddon across Canada soon!
March 10, 2017
Writing rhymes
When Big Bears Invade is a book written in rhyme. The inspiration comes from the work of authors like Julia Donaldson and Lauren Child who write children's books that adults enjoy reading aloud.
The unexpected problem I ran into with WBBI is that I grew up in England and I have a typical RP accent. Now the main readership for WBBI is in Canada and I have discovered that my pronunciation of certain words is very different to how a typical Canadian reader would pronounce those words.
Nyco, the illustrator pointed this out to me when we were working together via facetime. I asked him to read the book aloud to me, compared it with my reading, and then asked a dozen other people with different accents to read it to me.
Fixing the rhymes led to a lot more rewriting than I expected, but I think the book is stronger for it. The only rhyme left that might lead to arguments over drinks is poutine. From my research, the correct Francophone pronunciation is 'pootin' but most anglophones pronounce it 'pooteen'. Hopefully it won't lead to too much conflict...
The unexpected problem I ran into with WBBI is that I grew up in England and I have a typical RP accent. Now the main readership for WBBI is in Canada and I have discovered that my pronunciation of certain words is very different to how a typical Canadian reader would pronounce those words.
Nyco, the illustrator pointed this out to me when we were working together via facetime. I asked him to read the book aloud to me, compared it with my reading, and then asked a dozen other people with different accents to read it to me.
Fixing the rhymes led to a lot more rewriting than I expected, but I think the book is stronger for it. The only rhyme left that might lead to arguments over drinks is poutine. From my research, the correct Francophone pronunciation is 'pootin' but most anglophones pronounce it 'pooteen'. Hopefully it won't lead to too much conflict...
January 30, 2015
Writer's Group
It's time to join a new writer's group as they can often be great motivators to get more writing actually written when you are already very busy with other work.
Perhaps starting a writer's group might be the best way to go now. Anyone reading this had success with a writer's group and willing to share why they feel the group benefitted their writing?
Perhaps starting a writer's group might be the best way to go now. Anyone reading this had success with a writer's group and willing to share why they feel the group benefitted their writing?
