Sunday 30 September 2012

#WipMadness October-First Checkin

Greetings to all my fellow #wipmadness readers, writers, bloggers and more! Here we are at the beginning of October. Hope your Septembers went well? Mine was a bit of a crazy, plate filled kind of time and October will be no exception. I am serious going to have to remind myself (and some good, good writing and reading peeps have pointed that out in the comments on this post) to take the time to breath, enjoy the beauty of fall in my back yard, sit and listen to tunes for no other reason than enjoy the music. Heck, I also need to learn to just sit and enjoy the silence and still of the old church we are renovating.

I thought, if that's okay with you, I'd make that a theme to this months check-ins. Reminding ourselves to slow it down at some point in the day-enjoy a view, enjoy a song, play around with a sketch book and doodles. Read a book, allow yourself the time play on Pinterest, visit some blogs you've been missing. One of my favourite Sunday blogs is Brain Pickings. Haven't had much time to read it. So! Following my own advice today and going to read this:

Neil Gaiman's 8 Rules of Writing | Brain Pickings

Is there anything else you'd like to talk about or see me post? I'm all blogging ears and looking forward to offering support and a place to check-in, share your goals, voice your frustrations on days when you are think "gaaaaaaah, why won't my characters do what I want them to." "what the heck is wrong with the middle of this story?!?!"

Here's my month:


  • Reading for Cybils
  • beta read YA novel for friend
  • Explore writing a novel on grief, get Denise Jaden's book (this is a subject I know a fair bit about, but am always afraid to write. When I started reading about Denise's book it got me thinking maybe now is the time
  • Revise ZIP ZOOM JAKE IN THE NIGHT TIME
  • Including a course I am taking for work. Have to finish that this month.
What is your month like? Do you have goals set for the first week? How do you slow yourself down so you can take a breath, enjoy the moment, fill that writer's well?

I'll leave you with this quote from Susan Uhlig's quote section on her site:  

The smallest actual goal is better than the most magnificent promise of impossibilities.
Thomas Macauley

And this bit of quiet might and one of my favourite places in the world, Castle Mountain. Think I'll pause a while and imagine myself there. 





Wednesday 26 September 2012

Winner Announcement, #Cybils, Writing & Finding Balance

Greetings all! Starting off the post with an announcement. Winner of DREAMLINE by Nicole Luiken is:

Andrea Mack

Congrats to Andrea!

Next up is...#Cybils. I am beyond thrilled to announce that I am a first round judge for middle grade (realistic) fiction

Can't wait to start seeing the nominations role in beginning October first. Then it will be read read and read so there can be discussion and narrowing down of books to send on to the second round judges.

And boy, I am in some mighty fine company.


If you are reading this and thinking, what? What are these Cybils?

It's a wonderful opportunity to give even more recognition to the books for children and teens that have been published in the last year-books that standout and bring the best of what literature for children and teens is all about. And the best part is that from October 1 to October 15 you can nominate one book per the wide variety of categories. Get thee to the Cybils to learn more about it and start thinking of books that stood out for you. I mean, please get thee to the Cybils!

On the other bookly related fronts:

 -working on my Marvelous Middle Grade reading so I can get a post up this Monday and also be slightly ahead of the reading game when the Cybil nominations start rolling in.

-preparing kickoff post for #wipmadness.

-Working on my first work for hire project

-waiting mode on some requested picture book manuscripts sent to an agent yesterday whilst revising more and hanging with my fabulous online pb group

-revising HAPPY MEDIUM which is changing faster that I can keep up with it and now am wondering if I seriously start over, from scratch, no looking at the current draft

-thinking on NANO

-reading contemporary romance and chick lit and getting reviews ready for Brazen Reads (nice way to keep my reading horizons broadened 'cause I do read a whole lot of children and teen books)

-gearing up to crit a YA novel for a good writing friend of mine (she's just waiting on me to say "send it".

Needless to say it's been a wonderfully, busy book time and will continue to be so throughout October, November  and December. I live and breath books, reading and writing.

Get's me thinking on remembering to:

PLAY

FIND BALANCE

How do you do it all? Do you do it all?  Find balance, keep it fun and yet professional--do all you want to do related to your writing...and stay sane (ish)?

Monday 17 September 2012

Oh MGYA Canada: Interview and DREAMLINE Giveaway with Nicole Luiken


I have a Canadian Author to introduce to you.

But-before that, I have the winner of TILLY'S MOONLIT GARDEN. It is...

Julie!

Congrats, Julie. I'll be in touch to get your mailing details.

Now, it is my great pleasure to have Nicole Luiken on the blog. She's joining me for Oh MGYA Canada! and we're talking her books, her recent award nomination, her writing process, how she creates worlds, handles backstory and how she balances her writing life!

It's been some time since I've done one of these and I'm thrilled Nicole was able to do this. With all that said, let's begin with a little bit more about Nicole from her website:


Nicole Luiken wrote her first book at age 13 and never stopped.
She is the author of eight published books for young adults, including Violet Eyes and its sequel Silver Eyes, Frost, Unlocking the Doors, The Catalyst, Escape to the Overworld, Dreamfire and the sequel Dreamline. She also has an adult thriller, Running on Instinct, under the name N.M. Luiken and a fantasy romance ebook, Gate to Kandrith.
Nicole lives with her family in Edmonton, AB. It is physically impossible for her to go more than three days in a row without writing.
Most recently Nicole's book, DREAMLINE was a finalist for The Monica Huges Science Fiction Fantasy Award. So, it seems fitting that that is what the giveaway is for. More about DREAMLINE:

Cross over into the world of dreams...

 Years ago, Lissa decided she could either have friends or secrets, but not both. Now there's a new boy in town who sees past her social outcast label, but is he someone Lissa can trust, or a spy for the wulfdraigles?
 The wulfdraigles are ancient enemies of humanity who are trapped in the world of dreams. Eight years ago, Lissa helped her sister Brianne stop a wildfire from burning Grantmere to ashes, but now the wulf- draigles have returned. They have a new plan to spill their nightmares into our world, and live again. It is up to Lissa to stop them. It is her destiny; what she was born for. And quite possibly, what she will die for, too. Read an excerpt.



Thanks for being here, Nicole. First thing I want to do is congratulate you on being a finalist for the Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy! Given the storytelling, the world building and mythology and the list goes on, I'm not surprised. What about you? How did you hear and what does it mean to you receive that honour?

I was notified by email, and I was very surprised, because I'd never heard of the award before!  This is actually its inaugural year, though the CCBC (Canadian Children's Book Centre) puts on a whole slate of other YA awards.  I'm thrilled and honoured to be a finalist for such a prestigious award. 

The fact that the award is named after Monica Hughes makes it doubly meaningful to me.  When I was in junior high, I read all of Monica Hughes's books that I could get my hands on (and in many cases reread them.)  Keeper of the Isis Light and Guardian of Isis are  my favourites.  I recently read Keeper to my son Simon and so got to enjoy it all over again.  She was a wonderful writer. 

One of my favourite aspects of your book is the mythology you have around dreams, something you introduce in DREAMFIRE. What is your process for this? 
I'm not sure I have a process!  It grew rather organically over a number of years.  

Ever since reading Voyage of the Dawn Treader I've been intrigued by the idea of dreams coming true.  I was a little disappointed when in the book Lucy, Edmond and Caspian prudently sail away before landing on the Dark Island.  So, when I was in grade ten, I decided to write a book about a girl whose dreams came true.

I started work on the novel and then got stuck.  To kickstart the idea process I tried  to remember scary dreams that I'd had and recalled a real doozy of a nightmare I'd once had about being alone at a campfire and fighting off a ring of wolves.  At the end of the dream a voice said, "The wolves are bad, but the wallies are worse."  Hmm, I thought, is there such a thing as a wally?  So, I looked it up in the dictionary.  There was an entry for wally, but it was a adj, meaning sturdy.  However, the entry beneath it caught my eye: wally-draigle, a slovenly or feeble-minded creature.  I liked the way the word sounded and thought it had possibilities so I kept browsing: wallaby, wallet, etc.  Then I hit on Walpurgisnacht, 1/ the Eve of May Day on which witches are said to ride, and 2/ and event or situation with a nightmarish quality.  It was so perfect I got goosebumps.  

My mythology grew out of that dream (which Lissa also has in Dreamline) and Walpurgisnacht.

I love that DREAMLINE is about the little sister we meet in DREAMFIRE. Was this always your plan and has the book been in the works for sometime now then?

I wrote both books while still in high school so they've *definitely* been around for awhile. :)  When I originally wrote Dreamfire, I intended it as a stand alone, but because the wulfdraigles weren't fully defeated in book one, an editor suggested that the story could continue.  Lissa was such a spooky little girl in Dreamfire, that I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to grow up with the power to cross the dreamline at will.

Actually, there also used to be a second book, featuring the middle sister Suzy, but since she didn't have any supernatural powers like Brianne and Lissa the book didn't work as well.  I eventually took my favourite Suzy scenes from book two and added them into book one as well as giving Rex a cameo in book three.

Sometime back you and I briefly talked about backstory and how to include it in your book. That conversation was particularly about DREAMFIRE. I really was impressed with how you did it and especially taking notes on how you used backstory as a tool to keep the reader turning those pages because you want to know what happened before. But. You also knew when to let the reader in on the full story. Just as I felt myself thinking, okay, I really want to know what happened with Brianne...you showed me. Well done! Can you talk a little about that? 

In Dreamfire I use the mystery of Brianne's backstory as a secondary hook to draw the reader in.  In chapter one, there are several references sprinkled about, "If my nightmares were returning again, making a fool of myself in front of the class was the least of my worries."  "Just a dream... Right?  Wrong.  My dreams had a nasty habit of coming true."  Chapter two starts with Brianne remembering "being treated like a walking leper.. The last time I'd tried to use the knowledge my true dreams gave me to help solve a crime I'd ended up being accused of the crime myself.  Thinking about the unholy mess I'd made of my life last year... made me sick to my stomach," but the full story doesn't come out until she relates it to Ben in chapter six.  

I think the key to dropping these hints is to make them progress a little further each time.  If all I had done was make the same mysterious reference over and over it gets annoying (as my editor gently pointed out to me.)  

The big reveal needs to come before the big confrontation.  In Dreamfire it's at the 1/3 mark, but in a different story it might be delayed to the halfway of 2/3 mark.  Pushing the reveal much past that and you risk alienating or frustrating your reader.  I prefer to give them a pay-off for reading the earlier chapters.  By the 1/3 mark in the story, the reader should be well hooked on the main plot anyway or you've failed.

If the backstory reveal is the climax, then it shouldn't be backstory at all, it should be the main story (or at least book one).

Now,Wulfdraigles are bad bad and scary! (readers: note the image behind Lissa on DREAMLINE cover) Even typing this I love how scary and downright bad they are. What was it like writing them, carrying them around in your head? Did you write into the wee hours with them, scare yourself? 

I do find the wulfdraigles rather scary, and for years the words "dream come true" made me shiver.  We use the phrase so casually and yet I suspect few of us would wish our actual sleep dreams to come true.

The only time I remember being really freaked out was during the plotting process when I stumbled on the word Walpurgisnacht.  

You write for adults as well as teens. Do you work on one then the other or do you do both? In other words, are you are more than one project at a time writer? 


I am experimenting with working on more than one project at a time.  For the last year while I worked on the 2nd and 3rd drafts of my adult fantasy novel Soul of Kandrith, I set aside every Monday to work on a YA project.  (The sequel to Violet Eyes and Silver Eyes.)  I worried that it would be hard to switch tracks, but it worked quite well, and now I'm experimenting with working on two books every day, setting myself a quota for the 'priority' book and allowing myself to work on the second one if I meet the quota.


You've have been writing since you were 13. How has your writing changed over the years? Any particular pieces of advice you have for others? Thinking of keeping that writing routine going, in particular. Over the years I am sure the time you have to write has changed considerably. I do see in you bio that it is physically impossible for you to go three days without writing.

My writing process has evolved a lot over time.  My original model was  to plot out a book, do a first draft, then let it rest awhile and work on something else, then go back and do another draft.  Only sometimes I would be distracted by a third shiny new idea and never get back to the first draft.  This haphazard process resulted in books like Dreamfire and Dreamline which I wrote the first drafts of in high school not being rewritten and published until much later.  

My problem is that I enjoy the plotting and first draft part of writing more than I do the revising and polishing bits.  My current solution is to write the 2nd and 3rd drafts simultaneously.  Confused?  Let me try to lay it out: 1/plotting 2/first draft 3/second draft in which I attack large plot problems and deepen characterization 4/third draft in which I pore over the printed manuscript, looking at every scene as a unit, honing my word choice, tightening my sentences and adding in description.  (If the story is a movie playing in the author's mind, my movie has an extreme zoom focus in on the characters faces.)  The thought of facing several hundred pages of third draft makes me whine, so after I've done two or three chapters of 2nd draft, I set myself an additional goal of doing 3rd draft-level revision on one scene a day.  That way by the time I finish the 2nd draft I'm about halfway through the 3rd draft and it's not as daunting.

Advice to writers?  Read a lot and try to write every day.  I started out in junior high with a goal of writing 1 page a day and gradually increased to about 4 pages (1000 words).  When I was in college and working full-time I usually wrote in the evenings.  At that time if I didn't have at least 2 hours available, it didn't feel worthwhile to make the effort and I'd blow it off.  Then I had my kids.  Now 20 minutes is a valuable block of time.  Make writing a habit.  I have days when I don't get as much accomplished as I would've liked to, but very few days (like Christmas) when I don't fit in a little writing.  Oh, one more piece of advice, don't just count words.  That time you spend thinking about your book while you take a walk or shower still counts as writing.

What is up for you for the rest of 2012? Writing projects? School visits? Conferences?
My current project (tentatively titled Angel Eyes) is book three in my Violet Eyes series, featuring Mike and Angel.  I have another six chapters to revise.  My next priority project is a fourth draft of the first book in a YA fantasy series called Otherselves (think mirror magic and multiple worlds).

I am a member of YABS, but I don't have any school readings booked for this fall yet. :(  I plan to attend the Pure Speculations SF conference this fall.  And, of course, I'm hoping to go to the gala where the CCBC winners are announced in Toronto.

Oh my gosh yes, Nicole. I hope you can go to that gala, as well. Good luck with your current projects and enjoy that conference.

On to the giveaway details...the usual, leave a comment with a way for me to contact you.  You have until midnight MST next Sunday (Sept. 23). International! 

You can check out Nicole's Facebook fan page here and you can find her on twitter, here.

Say, if you go on and like that page, I'll give you another entry. Tweets will result in the same. 

I'd love for you to help me spread the love for this fantastic Canadian author!





Sunday 9 September 2012

MMGM-Tilly's Moonlit Garden by Julia Green


Tilly's Moonlight Garden by Julia Green has been on my MMGM to post about list for a few weeks now.

I wanted to wait until it was closer to the publish date and we are indeed close. October 2 is when this book will be released and I say it's one to buy or head to your library to borrow.


Pub Date: Oct. 1st, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7730-6
Page count: 208pp
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
From back of publisher provided ARC via Raincoast Books:
Tilly just moved into a drafty old mansion, away from all of her friends. She spends her afternoons wandering around her new backyard in order to excape the cold, dusty rooms of the new house. But one night, Tilly follows a fox she has seen from her bedroom window and he leads her deep into a hidden garden that is nothing short of magic in the moonlight. This mysterious garden and the special friend she meets there help her rediscover the magic in her own life. 

Tilly's life is turned upside down when her mother and father move her away from everything she knows and into a mansion that is anything but elegant and wonderful. For Tilly it is no dream location that she falls in love with at sight. It's cold, dusty and old. Not only that, her mother is bedridden and her health and the health of the baby she is carrying is uncertain. Or at least uncertain enough to worry Tilly, even though she's been told she doesn't need to. All of these things factor into Tilly's current state of being, filled with uncertainty and unhappiness. Her world is not what it was and Tilly is alone, lost and the victim of school yard bullying because she's the new kid. It makes her quiet.

The author captures the tone and feel of a young girl struggling in a world she is not used to. A young girl who has left behind her friends and who is worried about her mother and what is happening at school.  The book has quiet and thoughtful tone because Tilly is a quiet a thoughtful child who doesn't want to upset her parents. Plus, there is a magic in how the author describes the night time. Soft and whispery words that make you feel as if you are with Tilly as she steps into the night to follow the fox. A rather brave thing for her to do when you think of everything she is going through. But, you know, Tilly is brave. I truly enjoyed how the author wove this story to show how brave you can be, how you can find your way, even when there is much to fear and you feel surrounded by dark and cold. The world can still be filled with magic, you only need to find it and when you do there is a friend or two who will help you along the way. And that's where the real magic is.

Would you like a chance to win a copy of this? I'll pre-order it for a commenter chosen by Random Org. 


More details:

  • Open to US/Canada
  • Leave a comment to enter, include contact info
  • You have until next Sunday, Midnight MST


Speaking of winning commenters! Random Org picked #5 for week's giveaway and that is...

Rosi of The Write Stuff!

Congrats, Rosi! I will be contacting you for your mailing address.

Until next time everyone...Happy MMGM. Don't forget to check out the brains behind this day, Shannon Messenger, because she has links to more marvelousness AND she's letting me double up on my MMGM with my guest post on THE CAVENDISH HOME FOR BOYS AND GIRLS by Claire Legrand.


Friday 7 September 2012

More on The Power of Play in Writing.

Two articles crossed my blog reading path today.

How to Become a Better Writer

Feeding Your Muse

Both were good reminders, for me, to play. In spite of last weeks post I didn't follow through with my plan to Play Everyday. Didn't write that in the post, that was just the plan in my head. Like I said in that post, I used to play at the writing. It was my warm up. Whether it was to grab a sketch book or note book and doodle random things, or write out ten opening sentences for an imagined story, write out a bunch of fun titles, I did it everyday. Now that I've come back to it and realized that, for me, it works, it's fun, it's relaxing...I have to get back into the habit of playing. Well, I don't have to do anything. I want to.

What about all of you, is there anything you do to play at writing? Make it a game for the game's sake? Or maybe you'd like to share some spur of the moment opening sentences to an imaginary novel.

Here's a few from me, off top of head, may or may not make sense, but fun to do!


  • I was tired of my sister bugging me all the time and was determined to tell my parents it was time for Cass to know she was dead.
  • Running away seemed like great plan until I ran into a bear with major attitude issues and I was in the city.
  • Morgan was a vampire witch werewolf angel demon with a personality disorder.



Sunday 2 September 2012

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday-Giveaway, Rebel McKenzie by Candice Ransom





It's the first MMGM of September! Hope you are all stepping into the month with a nice looking pile of books to read. Speaking of books to read...

Joanne Fritz will be adding CIRCLE OF SECRETS to that pile as she is the winner of last Monday's  giveaway. Congrats Joanne! I will be contacting you to get your snail mail, then forward that information to the author.


Here's my recommendation and giveaway (details at end of post)  for this Monday:

Rebel McKenzie by Candice Ransom.


From the author's website:


Rebel McKenzie
Disney-Hyperion Books
Ages 9 to 13
978-1-4231-4539-4
Twelve-year-old Rebel McKenzie wants to spend her summer at the Ice Age Kids’ Dig and Safari where kids discover prehistoric bones, right alongside real paleontologists.  But digs cost money and Rebel is broker than four o’clock. Instead she must spend her summer watching her 7-year-old nephew, Rudy, who picks out clothes for people’s funerals before they are dead and has lunch with God. Rebel decides to win the Frog Level Volunteer Fire Department beauty pageant to earn money to go to the dig. But things keep getting in the way, like a 22-pound Siamese cat named Doublewide, a bullying neighbor who is all bluff, and Bambi, the reigning queen of Grandview Estates, the mobile home community. Still, Rebel learns that friends are more important than winning and that the best discoveries are found in one’s own back yard.

“Spunky and sassy, Rebel redefines beauty pageants in this rollicking tale.”  Kirkus

“Surprises in both plot and character development create a quick pace; extra material like Rudy’s cartoons and pages from Rebel’s “field notebook” provide welcome and often amusing insight.”  Publisher’s Weekly

“Everyone is worth knowing in this rich and funny book.  While Rebel learns a thing or two about loyalty, family, and empathy, her sharp-as-a-tack wit and boatload of sass guarantees that no lesson is delivered with a heavy hand.”   Booklist, starred review.


And and AND...Candice Ransom has a vintage Trixie Belden collection. That's something I want to start my ownself. How I loved Trixie and the Bobwhites. Erm.  End of gush. Here is the interview with Candice where I discovered this cool fact. On to why I think this one deserves its MMGM spotlight.

Kids enjoy reading about other kids whose circumstances are very different from theirs. Whether those circumstances are difficult and sad with glimpses of hope (ie The Breadwinner series by Deborah Ellis) or quirky with a good dose of edge and reality like in REBEL MCKENZIE. Rebel has dreams. Big dreams. She is going to be a paleontologist and feels like she will seriously die of sadness if she can't go to the best paleontology camp for kids ever. Her parents can't send her, a fridge with no freeze needs the money more. A fridge! No worries. Rebel runs away with the clothes on her back and seven pairs of underwear on her butt. Unfortunately this lands her grounded for life and babysitting her really odd (and yet to the reader totally loveable!) seven year old nephew. Fortunately friendships unfold with the glam Bambi and crabby Lacey Jane. Friendships that could lead to win in a local beauty pagent, which leads to money which leads to...carrying on with the dream of becoming a paleontologist. Hilarity ensues with a cast of characters that are well developed and perfect foils for Rebel and mirrors of what happens when you follow your dreams--the good and the bad. When I wasn't smiling as I read this, I was laughing (and a lot of times at the cat named Double Wide). Rebel is sassy, speak your mind kind of kid who kids will enjoy reading about because she is so funny and so real. They will also be grabbed right from the beginning with the opening scene of Rebel, plumped out with all the clothes she has on, trying to convince a convict working with a roadside work crew that she is not running away. And a quick note to us writers...it's a smooth scene that incorporates backstory in a rather brilliant and funny manner. It also shows how a great writer can show you a whole lot about a character in the opening pages of a novel. Kind of loved it.

That's it from me. Looking forward to seeing what everyone else has lined up for MMGM. Enjoy the day and as you have time do check out Shannon Messenger's Blog for the round up of what else is happening, including my thoughts on WONDER by R.J. Palacio.


Here are the giveaway details:

  • Open to US/Canada
  • Leave a comment to enter, include contact info
  • You have until next Sunday, Midnight MST
  • RandomOrg.Com will be used to pick winner

Saturday 1 September 2012

Saturday Morning, Writing, Giveaways & Reflections

Heading off to see one of my daughters today. Going to hang out with the grandbabies, one of whom says, "Grandma! I am not a baby."

Before I do, though, I am taking some moments to do some blogging, writing, and giveaway-ing reflections/round-ups.

On the blogging and giveaway front:

The Power of Play in Writing-I used to warm-up with exercises all the time. Somewhere along the line I got it into my head that it was not worth my time. Probably because many do feel that way. The one thing I know after all these years of writing is? We are all different...for me playing, exercising etc before I write works. Relaxes me, gets the inner critter relaxed and out of the way, too! Gets those creative juices flowing. In other words--time to play!


MMGM-CIRCLE OF SECRETS by Kimberly Griffiths Little (Giveaway too!)-I love middle grade novels. They've been a part of my reading and writing life for a long time now. So needless to say I LOVE talking and sharing some of my favourites. CIRCLE OF SECRETS is rich with character, plot and setting-good book to read and just plain old enjoy-great book to read as a writer to see how it's done. Plus...you can win a signed hardcover from Kimberly!


Friends Along the Writing Trail and a Giveaway-We've been talking about meeting those special friends on our writing journey that keep us going. It amazes me that we do seem to often meet the right person at the right time, the one who helps us make the next step just as we are about to give up and head back. The giveaway is for a writing resource book of choice for you and one for a friend. And yep...it's hard to pick just one because I think we've met many. But if you had to pick...who would it be?

Must say, I've been enjoying exploring and thinking on how to add more content to my blog--it's like writing the first draft of your book, then going in for the first round revisions, setting it aside for a while, then going back for the second round of revisions. I'm ready for the second round of revisions on the blog!

On the writing front I am into major revisions on HAPPY MEDIUM and ZIP ZOOM JAKE AND THE QUIET TIME. Exploring character motivation has been HUGE in giving me the depth both were missing. Well, that and fantabulous crit partners!

Enjoy the long weekend. See you all for MMGM-I'll have a post here, announce the winner of CIRCLE OF SECRETS and be guest posting over at  Shannon's again (love being there, and LOVE that she always has a giveaway for you...) Hah, I am just filled with love :) Ciao!

#ReadtheNorth

Over the last while there has been a hashtag you may have seen about called Read the North. It's a campaign encouraging people to read C...