What a night! I’m still processing Freddie the Flyer winning the inaugural Atlantic Book Awards – Readers’ Choice Awards… Thanks everyone for your incredible support the past few weeks!! Go #TeamFreddie!
I kind of blacked out from nerves and excitement when I got up to accept the award, and didn’t have any remarks written down, but here’s what I hope I said:
I have been lucky to meet incredible folks everywhere I’ve lived, and they have formed life and writing communities that have endured in person and online. From Wyoming to Edmonton to Houston to Nova Scotia and beyond, we have continued to cheer each other on.
Freddie the Flyer has created its own community, first through my partnership with Fred and his wife Miki (my Inuvik family), to Audrea Loreen-Wulf’s art, and now to the readers, booksellers, librarians, teachers, and kids who have been touched by this book.
What I have taken away from this is that we all have special gifts and passions, and if we can find a way to make those serve community and the people we love, we have won at life.
Fred has served his community for over 70 years through his flying, businesses, leadership, scholarships, advocacy, humour, bravery, and love. Audrea serves through bringing forward the beauty of people, animals, landscapers and more through her wonderful artistic talents. Me? I’m so grateful I can listen, write, gather, organize, and connect. If it means lifting up and amplifying people I believe in to inspire kids all over, well, that’s a good day’s work.
Thank you to the Atlantic Book Awards folks for putting on a lovely event, and to Portia Clark for her awesome emceeing as always. So glad you’re still in my circle after all these years too! My husband, Doug, is always the funniest wingman. Thanks for being my plus one yesterday and always 
Congrats to all the other nominees and winners in all the categories! Especially Jack Wong for The Words We Share in the children’s literature category. I’m so glad you let me hang around with you, Sal, Veronica, Brianna, and now Emma. To Raymond Sewell for starting us off with a gorgeous song. The readings were beautiful too!!
If you’d like to watch a recording of the whole evening, it’s available on YouTube!
