Life is hectic

The summer went so fast.
I went to England to visit my Mum who is not well and was in hospital for most of the time I was there. Before that I spent a few days in Barcelona with my daughter. It was a city that I had longed to visit for such a long time and it did not disappoint.
It is truly a beautiful city - rather hilly, overlooking the sea and surrounded by mountains. You can see and feel the influence of Gaudi's vivid designs throughout the city.
So I came back to Japan at the end of August with plans to take life easy for a while but as always suddenly life became extremely hectic. My teaching work has re-started, a book translation job and narration work have come in and I am having a number of interviews and being recorded for a featured article in a magazine to be published in December. I'll be writing more about that once it comes out.
Also, I'm organizing a small live concert for my singer/songwriter friend, Laurie Thain from Hiroshima, when she comes to Tokyo.
It's planned for 1st November in the evening at a cafe in Kodaira.
She used to be a professional Country and Western singer when she lived in Canada and I promise you that it will be a great concert. So, anyone who might be able to come - please mark it in your diary.
I'll be posting more details at a later date.
"No peace for the wicked" as the saying goes...
| Books, events and activities (past and upcoming) | 00:29 | comments(4) | trackbacks(0) | pookmark |

Studio Dream

One thing I enjoy about giving book readings at various book stores is the opportunity this gives me to meet many people and see different kinds of shops. Each shop has a slightly different approach to book-readings, layout, kinds of customers and so on.
One store where I have held a couple of events recently is quite unique. It is a specialist English picture book and toy store called Studio Dream in Nakano-ku, Tokyo.
The owner and manager, Sakamoto-san, is very enthusiastic and takes a lot of time choosing books that stimulate the imagination. Most of the books are directly ordered from Europe or America and many of them can only be found at Studio Dream in Japan.
There is also a small range of interesting toys and craft materials.

If you're looking for a special present for a child why not pop into the store - it's only 30 seconds walk from Toritsukasei (都立家政)station on the Seibu Shinjuku line。
http://www.s-dream.biz/info-index.html

On Sunday 31st August I held a book-reading event at Studio Dream.
The event had a summer theme: the sea and creatures that live in the sea. The contents were loosely based on my book about Christa the Fish, "Where Are My Stripes?" Children enjoyed making sea collages as well as singing and movement.

I held a similar event at Studio Dream on 29th June based on the book "Blue Mouse, Yellow Mouse."
You can view a report, photos and a couple of short videos of the event here:
http://www.s-dream.biz/column/
| Books, events and activities (past and upcoming) | 00:10 | comments(2) | trackbacks(0) | pookmark |

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