PI Dan Sharp interviews his creator, writer Jeffrey Round

DAN SHARP: If I might dive directly into the subject at hand, what drew you to the story of Toronto’s now-notorious serial killings?

What was the inspiration or overarching themes behind your new book?

Seeing the Whole Process – Part 3

In my last two blog posts, I discussed the editorial process and the marketing and publicity processes here at Dundurn Press. This month, to continue my overview of how a book moves from a first draft to a finished product on the shelf, I am diving in to the design process! I spoke with our Senior Designer, Laura Boyle, to get the low-down on all of the design work that goes in to turning a manuscript into a beautiful book to hold and read.

When do you begin work on a book’s design?

In celebration of Canadian Independent Bookstore Day on April 28, 2018, we asked Dundurn authors to tell us about their favourite Indie by answering two questions:

1. 1. What local independent bookstore would you like to give a shout out to?
2. 2. Can you share an experience you've had with this bookseller, or at this bookstore?

Keep reading to find a great Indie bookstore near you!

McNally Robinson Booksellers, Saskatoon

In a two-part series, we have a conversation between the author and illustrator of Alex and The Other. First, let’s hear from illustrator Shawna Daigle, as interviewed by author Philippa Dowding.

Philippa Dowding: As an “evil twin” story for middle-grade readers, our new book Alex and The Other is possibly the darkest of the four books we’ve done together so far in the Weird Stories Gone Wrong series. Were there any particular challenges you faced as the illustrator, doing a “darker” more psychological book for children?

I was inspired to write about my tour in Afghanistan after I came home in 2006 and this resulted in the strict accounting of events and combat actions described in my first book, What the Thunder Said: Reflections of a Canadian Officer in Afghanistan (2009). This book is a war story of a logistics unit.  It is all about the “up and out” experiences of my battalion. 

As one of Canada's leading academics on monarchy, it's not a surprise you'd choose to write a book about royalty but where did you get the inspiration to write on royal parenting?