Twin Annick Authors Go West for Red Cedar Visits

Red Cedar nominees Charis Cotter (Kids Who Rule) and Laurie Coulter (Cowboys and Coffin Makers) had a wonderful time last week as guests of the Richmond Public Library. Charis visited libraries and schools in Richmond, North Vancouver, Vancouver and Victoria, while Laurie gave presentations in Richmond, Vancouver and Surrey. Enthusiastic students, welcoming librarians, stunning scenery and lots of shared laughs made it a memorable trip.

Charis presenting Kids Who Rule:

Laurie presenting Cowboys and Coffin Makers:


The two Toronto authors met in 2007 after they published their first books with Annick. They found they had some strange and spooky connections, including a shared birthday. Were they twins, separated at birth? The evidence is mounting: they both graduated from York’s Glendon College, they both are long-time book editors working for the same publishers, they have both published an adult book, and they have both written a children’s book about royalty. The Twin-ness doesn’t stop there – they each have a child who attended the Etobicoke School of the Arts, they were brought up as Anglicans and they both have fond memories of chicken pot pie at the Arcadian Court in the old Simpsons (now the Bay) in Toronto.

Coincidence? I don’t think so. Look at the picture and you decide.

Getting My Web Feet Wet

Laurie getting her feet wet...

Today I launched my first website http://www.lauriecoulter.net/. I’m the author of Cowboys and Coffin-Makers: One Hundred 19th-Century Jobs You Might Have Feared or Fancied, but I’m also a book editor, and editors tend to like staying in the background. Fortunately, the folks at Annick urged me on, and writing a website turned out to be a creative, painless process.

My designer, Jason Maher of Shiny Paper, had these tips:

1. The Web doesn’t need more promotion pieces. Be sure your site has links and information that readers can use.

2. Suit the design to the site’s readership. Make it kid-friendly and easy to navigate.

3. Keep adding new material.

4. Consider setting up a blog.

A blog? Oh no..... That’s enough to send me racing back to the 19th century!