Karen Butcher messages

July 2000: email conversations with Kristin Butcher, author of The Runaways:

"I was pleased to see my novel, The Runaways, was included in your intensive reading list for grades 5-6, especially since I initially wrote the book for a grade 6 class I was teaching. Since its publication, the novel has been used widely in Canadian and U.S. classrooms from Grade 4 all the way up to Grade 10 ESL, and it has recently been made into a talking book for the CNIB....."

"..... I haven't been teaching since I moved to Victoria in 1996, though I do like to visit classrooms when I can. I did a tour of the Kootenay region last October, followed by a similar stint in Saskatoon, combined with a book launch for my second novel, called The Tomorrow Tunnel (Thistledown Press). This past April I did a round of workshops for teachers and students in Winnipeg. I have a book coming out next spring with Orca, titled The Gramma War -- about a girl whose ailing/aging grandmother comes to live with the family. But this gramma isn't your standard sweet grandmother, and the novel deals with the trials the girl undergoes in trying to establish a bond with this woman."

Enjoy your summer.
Kristin Butcher

Hey everyone!

The new book is out! It is called The Gramma War and it should be in your bookstores any day now. It retails for $8.95 in Canada. I would give you all a free copy if I could, but I can't. Trust me ... writing is rewarding, but money isn't one of the rewards. Anyway, the ISBN # is 1-55143-183-1. If you don't see it on the shelves, ASK! If it is on the shelves and only the spine is showing, turn it face out. (I'm not kidding!) This is where an author can really use friends.

I think it is a really good story, and with your help, it might get some recognition. At first, I wasn't crazy about the artwork (the artist's name is Kyrsten Brooker ... How's that for a coincidence!!), but early responses indicate people like it, so who am I to complain.

And another bright note ... a manuscript I finished just two weeks ago looks like it's going to be picked up by the same publisher (Orca). I should know for sure by the end of this week, so keep your fingers crossed for me.

Ta-ta for now,

Kristin