Charis Cotter on CBC

Charis Cotter (author of Born to Write, Kids Who Rule, and Wonder Kids) gave a great interview on CBC about how she's promoting her new book A World Full of Ghosts. She explains how she gathered ghost stories from around the world for her book, and reveals that one of the ghost stories comes from the cemetery she grew up next to! You can also find out how Charis gets kids' attention during classroom visits, and how you can book her for your class.

When Art Meets Digital

As Art Director, it’s always very exciting for me when I finally pick up a finished, printed book from one of the newly arrived cartons sitting on the Annick office floor. A few weeks ago I cracked open A World Full of Ghosts written by Charis Cotter and illustrated by Marc Mongeau. This one was especially exciting because all the art had been digitally created. What that means is that up until that moment I had only seen the illustrations on my computer monitor. Marc Mongeau, who lives in Montreal, is a fabulous artist and for this book, all the art was digitally manipulated; no traditional painting exists. Creating this way allowed Marc to achieve some outstanding “ghostly” effects. The ghost stories come from all around the world, so he also had to capture a sense of their cultural background. I don’t think it’s exaggerating to say that his art is stunning and well worth seeing. I hope we get a chance to work with Marc again soon.

Writing by the Sea

Hello from the Rock! I’m sitting at my writing desk overlooking a spectacular view of the ocean. A winding road lined with wildflowers leads to the lighthouse, my daily walk.

Last year I bought a little cottage beside the sea in my beloved Newfoundland, so I could work here for part of the year. Now I’m halfway through my second summer and I have to pinch myself every day to make sure I’m not dreaming. Yes, it’s that much fun! I’ve been fixing up my house, painting it yellow and blue, baking bread and hobnobbing with my friendly neighbours.

In fact, it’s so much fun that I have to give myself a stern lecture every day, right after I pinch myself: Charis, get to work! I open up my e-mail and look at the art for A World Full of Ghosts, coming out next winter. Yikes! Marc Mongeau has created a series of spooky but hilarious illustrations. I’d like to pore over the details for an hour or two but I have to get on with my writing.

Today I want to finish the chapter about Madeleine L’Engle (A Wrinkle in Time) for my book about children’s authors. It’s tough going: I always find the first chapter the hardest to write, as I find my way into the book.

Every so often, searching for just the right word or phrase, I look up from my computer. The ocean is still there, stretching away to the horizon. I take a deep breath, pinch myself again, and then turn my thoughts back to Madeleine L’Engle, tesseracts and time travel.

Charis Cotter

Author of Kids Who Rule, Wonder Kids, and forthcoming A World Full of Ghosts