Posts by Susan Crossman
Read about “Shades of Teale” in Monday’s Globe and Mail!
More exciting news! On Monday, December 19, the Globe and Mail will be publishing published an article I wrote about the emotional process of writing “Shades of Teale.” We have some fine newspapers here in Canada and the Globe has long been known as “Canada’s National Newspaper.” I grew up reading the Globe and Mail and I have fond memories of my parents sitting with their morning coffee studying its pages. Now I’m the parent! I often access the news online and since I’m up so early (don’t even ask what time!) my children don’t see me getting my morning news fix. I wonder how this will impact their news consumption habits? Critical thinking is an important skill and I credit my own passion for news with helping me look analytically at the world around me. It didn’t hurt that my superiors at The London Free Press and Canadian Press way back at the dawn of my career delivered some unflinching editing of the pieces I wrote for them! “Shades of Teale” does a little analysis of its own and much as it is a story, it is also a set of observations about an issue that pervades all intimate relationships: the balance between compromise and happiness. At what price commitment? As an aside, I’m thinking this might be a good book club book – one that might generate some interesting discussion! This will be the fourth piece the Globe has published for me this year and it’s an honour to see my byline appearing on its pages. I will post the link here as soon as it’s The link is now available, I hope you enjoy the article! Don’t forget, if you’d like to order your own copy of “Shades of Teale, you can get it through amazon.ca and chapters/indigo...
Read MoreJoin Me at My Book Launch!
Special thanks go out to Michael Davie and Manor House Publishing for organizing my book launch! It’s scheduled for Sunday, December 18, and will take place at A Different Drummer Books, a wonderful bookstore located at 513 Locust Street in Burlington, Ontario. A Different Drummer Books is an independent local bookstore that has built a national reputation for the astounding book knowledge of its staff and the personal service provided to customers. The store is dedicated to carrying high quality books and maintains a regular schedule of author events and reading groups. I’ll be sharing the day with noted Canadian author Alyxandra Harvey, author of the popular “Drake Chronicles” series. She has a new book out now as well called “Briar Rose: and other fairy talks darkly revisited.” All in all it should be a fun day and I’m looking forward to celebrating the official birth of “Shades of Teale.” I’d love to see some familiar faces at the event – if you can make, please join...
Read MoreOf Sharing and Clutter
Thanks again to the organizers of last night’s IABC Professional Independent Communicators (PIC) meeting in Toronto last night. I had a lovely opportunity to talk about “Shades of Teale” and I signed a number of copies of the novel. Congrats to designer and marketing strategist Tom Hedges for winning the draw for a copy of my book…I’m thinking it might be one his wife might read first? 😉 I’m looking forward to attending the next PIC meeting as well where the speaker will be helping us out with organizing our cluttered hard drives. I will be hanging on her every word – I have old digital copies of my manuscript mixed in with goodness knows what else and the mess I’ve made of my computer filing system is humbling. As I mentioned in my talk last night, I started dreaming about writing a novel when I was eight years old — but life was busy and as the years went on I put that dream aside to focus on more practical matters. Eventually I reached a stage in my life where I realized I wasn’t getting any younger, in fact I began to realize, as my mother has often said, that “this ain’t a dress rehearsal.” I reluctantly admitted that if I wanted to make my biggest dreams come true I needed to put my heart into them right away. I didn’t waste a minute and within months I was pregnant with my family’s fourth child (a fifth and final baby followed sometime thereafter). And then I got down to work on my novel. The baby was finished in nine months; the book took 13 years. Starting and finishing – two themes that thread their way through everyone’s lives I guess. And although I often think I should “do something” about my hard drive I’m not always sure exactly what that “something” might be. Hopefully next month’s meeting PIC will give me some...
Read MoreChampagne, Strawberries and Book News!
Many thanks to my sister, Debbie Crossman, and all the lovely ladies who attended last night’s “Shades of Teale” Champagne Kickoff in Toronto! The evening was a delightful and enjoyable way to launch a promotional tour and I appreciate the generous support of all involved. Most of all, I had an absolute ball! One of the things I love best about being an author is the opportunity to meet readers and hear the “stranger than fiction” stories that are nestled just below the surface of daily life. Many of the vignettes in “Shades of Teale” had their start as snippets of overheard conversation or heartful downloads of painful stories that people have shared with me over the years. I never reveal a source and I never judge. We’re all on a journey of one sort or another and I believe that at any one time people do their best with the information they have available. I’m always on the lookout for new and interesting tales to tell – if you have any to share, drop me a line at susan@crossmancommunications.com. And stay tuned for more news! What’s the fuss about? Read an Excerpt and find out...
Read MoreChampagne, Strawberries and Conversation — What Could be Better?!
Thanks to my sister, Debbie Crossman, and all the lovely ladies who attended last night’s “Shades of Teale” Champagne Kickoff in Toronto! The evening was a delightful and enjoyable way to launch a promotional tour and I appreciate the generous support of all involved. Most of all, I had an absolute ball! One of the things I love best about being an author is the opportunity to meet readers and hear the “stranger than fiction” stories that are nestled just below the surface of daily life. Many of the vignettes in “Shades of Teale” had their start as snippets of overheard conversation or heartful downloads of painful stories that people have shared with me over the years. I never reveal a source and I never judge (well, almost never!). We’re all on a journey of one sort or another and I believe that at any one time people do their best with the information they have available. I’m always on the lookout for new and interesting tales to tell – if you have any to share, drop me a line at susan@crossmancommunications.com. And stay tuned for more...
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