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Articles by Chelsea

My Favourite Books of 2011: Chelsea (Sales)

by Chelsea
December 22, 2011

Like most of the Raincoasters, I found it hard to pick just one favourite book for 2011. How lucky are we to work with such a variety of beautiful, funny, inspirational, and engrossing books day-in and day-out?

Favourite to share

Favourite book to give

Paola Opal's Simply Small board book series is too cute for words, so naturally I couldn't help but give it to babies who are too cute for words. In Saffy and Ollie, two characters finally meet and realize how much fun it is to share with friends! Simply adorable.

Favourite book to escape with

When I read Glow, the first book in Amy Kathleen Ryan's Sky Chaser series, I could not be pulled away (to the annoyance of my traveling partner). Excellent YA writing + spaceships + scientific/religious conspiracies + layered characters = a great read.

Books don’t come any fresher than this

by Chelsea
May 05, 2011

Don't be fooled: this is no boring pile of boxes. When I see these piled up in the Raincoast sample and materials room, my first thought is "Fun!"

What's inside? Brand-spanking new books. Specifically, pre-publication advance copies of upcoming titles that publishers send to our sales and publicity teams. As the one who receives and distributes these shipments, I often get the first look at new books and then spend some quality time with them. That spells F-U-N to a certified book-lover like myself. (Maybe I should get out more...)

So what's concealed within these deceivingly-monotonous boxes? A gorgeous assortment of brand-new journals, coming coming Fall 2011 from Chronicle Books!

Feast your eyes on some quality snaps (a.k.a cell-phone quality) of the  Typewriter Eco-Journal, Butterfly Fields Eco-Journal, Starry Crown Eco-Journal, and Keys Journal, which feature eye-catching and whimsical designs from some of Chronicle's favourite artists and designers (Julia Rothman, Jill Bliss, Grady McFerrin, and enormouschampion respectively). I love the little touches, like the lightly embossed edges on the Keys journal, that can really only be enjoyed with the book in-hand.

Good Times with the Vancouver Writers Festival

by Chelsea
Events + Graphica + Vancouver / October 22, 2010

The Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival is in full-swing, bringing a line-up of superstar authors to our city. Raincoast is very excited that beloved cartoonist and author Lynda Barry has arrived today and is in town for (count 'em) THREE Writers Fest events.

Lynda's latest book Picture This: The Nearsighted Monkey (Drawn and Quarterly) is a graphic-memoir-how-to for drawing and self-expression, and is sure to inspire some facinating conversations and audience participation this weekend.

The Festival's opening reception was on October 19th at Performance Works on Granville Island. I went with one goal in mind: to meet Emma Donoghue, since I had just finished Room and couldn't stop talking about it to everyone in sight.

After a cruise of Dockside Restaurant’s delicious buffet (risotto nuggets, where have you been all my life?), I spotted Emma, which turned out to be fairly easy: she’s tall, a redhead, and was wearing a very eye-catching coat.

Mission accomplished! That's Emma Donoghue in the middle, and Inge Siemens (Sales Rep for HarperCollins) on the right.

The Writers Fest organizers throw a good party... too good, maybe. To keep back-row revellers from chatting during the welcoming address from Anne Giardini (Chair of the Board) and Hal Wake (Artistic Director), they hired a Scottish "Shusher" to prowl the audience and publicly shush (and shame) anyone talking out of turn. S/he was actually a little scary, so everyone was on their best behavior.

We had to get a picture together, of course; that's Doug Findlay (Sales Rep for HarperCollins) on the left.

Congratulations to the Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival for another fabulous year. Enjoy the events, everyone (just don't talk when you're not supposed to, or you'll have the Shusher to contend with)!