Monique Polak

So my mum -- whose story inspired my new book, What World Is Left, and I were interviewed for the CBC radio show, All In a Weekend. The interview aired yesterday morning and I cried when I heard it. I'm trying my best to figure out how to post the mp3 of the interview on this blog entry, but I'm having a wee bit of trouble... may need to get the help of someone more technically savvy than

It was a wonderful wonderful launch. No matter how many more books I write, I don't think there will ever be such a special launch. Everyone who was there -- and there were nearly 300 people -- was special. My mum, whose story inspired What World Is Left, spoke and I spoke, too, and read from the book. One of the special things about my mum is that despite how she suffered as a teenager in Theresienstadt

I say dayS because I had TWO wedding days!!

Tonight is launch night!! Here's the article that appeared in today's Gazette. Later, this morning, my mum and I are doing an interview at CBC, and CTV's Debra Arbec will be interviewing us before the launch. I have to admit I'm feeling like a bit of a celebrity. Here's the link to The Gazette story: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette

Only time for a super quick blog entry today. I've got a mountain of correcting! My cousin from Santa Few, New Mexico arrives tomorrow -- she'll be here for the launch of What World Is Left -- so I want to get as much work done as possible before she gets here.

Because I'm in the midst of all this busy-ness, I have a few reflections to share about being crazy-busy (I bet a lot

It's Saturday morning and I've been catching up on comments and questions posted here this week. Tamar asked what is happening with the George River manuscript (that's a book I was busy with all summer, set in George River in Nunavik, Quebec). Here's the latest update: the first draft, due December 1, 2008 is written -- but I have it out now with an Inuit friend, whom I hope will

It's busy, all right. With everyone feeling budget squeezes, including publishing companies, it stands to reason that most authors need to do their bit to help promote their books. So I'm trying my best to get some buzz going about my new book, What World Is Left. Promoting the book feels kind of like fishing -- I'm putting a lot of lines into the ocean and hoping to catch something

Of course, this is all depends on whether I'm technologically-savvy enough to figure out how to post it. Here I go! BY GOLLY I THINK I JUST DID IT!!

If you know me, you probably know that I ask A LOT OF QUESTIONS. Some of my friends think this comes from being a journalist. Sometimes they even get a little annoyed with me and say, "What is this, Monique, an interview?" It is funny how the work we do tends to influence our personalities -- or perhaps it's the other way around and we pick the kind of work that suits who we are.

So we're launching What World Is Left at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 23 at Marianopolis College here in Montreal. YIPPEE! Now I have to say I'm in another phase of the writing life: book promotion! I'm getting a lot of help from my friends at Orca Books and also from the communications officer at Marianopolis, Kathryn Haralambous. Kathryn just phoned to let me know that CBC Radio

Okay, I admit it, some people tease me and call me the Energizer Bunny. And I don't even have long pointy ears! I'm thinking of the bunny business because I am extra-energetic today. I don't know about you, but I find that doing interesting things and meeting interesting people GIVES me energy.

Last night, my friend and fellow YA author Lori Weber and I began team-teaching a