In less than two months, The Ship of Lost Souls and The Guardians of Island X (known in Canada as The Lost Souls of Island X) will be launched in the U.S. and U.K. (Did you squeal at the thought of it? Me too.) And to add to the excitement, the books have beautiful new covers, illustrated by the uber-talented Gerald Guerlais.

And here they are! I’d love to hear what you think.

But right now, a quick, exciting post about where I am. I am on tour! Yes! My very first book tour!

Thanks to the Kootenay libraries and the Canada Council, I’ll be spending this week visiting schools and libraries in Cranbrook, Fernie, Salmo, Fruitvale, Castlegar, Trail, and Grand Forks. After which I will collapse and possibly not speak to anyone for a week. But for now, good times!

The tour (which I’ve dubbed the Pirates of the Kootenays Book Tour) kicks off tomorrow morning with a Red Cedar celebration at Gordon Terrace Elementary School here in Cranbrook. You might remember my mentioning ages ago that The Ship of Lost Souls is up for a Red Cedar, and the award is to be announced this month. Gillian Richardson, another BC author up for the award, will be presenting at Gordon Terrace tomorrow as well. And there will be CAKE! Serious good times.

- finishing a MAMMOTH rewrite. Or rather, Round One of a MAMMOTH rewrite. You’d think at this point I’d remember that writing is rewriting, but it always seems to catch me by surprise.

- working full time. ‘Nuff said.

- Planning an epic trip to Russia and Finland.

So. In five days, I’ll be leaving on possibly the most interesting trip I’ve ever taken. I have a feeling that this will rival my trip to Borneo, land of insects that get stuck in your ear canal. (Incidentally, if you ever have an insect hopelessly stuck in your ear canal, I can tell you how to get it out. Seriously. Drop me a line.)

So I’m heading to Russia to do some research for the novel I told you about last time. The one about the metro dogs of Moscow? I’ll be in Moscow, then Suzdal, the Novgorod, and finally St. Petersburg. Then it’s off to Finland, where my good friend Tara will meet me. (Incidentally, Tara is the one who originally figured out how to get said Borneon bug out of my ear. So you can see why I travel with her.)

I imagine this leaves you with many questions, including but not limited to:

- Will Rachelle see the metro dogs of Moscow? (Answer: I won’t leave til I do. Or til my visa runs out. Whichever comes first.)

- Will Rachelle, as a celiac, find enough to eat in Russia? (Answer: probably not. That’s why I’m going to Finland, land of well-labeled processed goods.)

- Will Rachelle and her mother, who is travelling with her to Russia, get along for ten days straight, or will one get mysteriously tossed from the train? (Answer: to be determined.)

All will be revealed in time.

That’s what happened with the dogs of Moscow.

About three years ago, I happened upon a tiny article in the Globe and Mail’s social studies section (best place to find story ideas!) about some stray dogs in Moscow who had — wait for it — learned to take the subway to get around the city. Yes. They knew where to get on and off to find the best food, and they navigated by the sound of the announcer’s voice.

Obviously, I hopped online to see if this could be true, and indeed, there were several websites dedicated to what Muscovites call the metro dogs.

It took me a few years to sit down and write a middle-grade novel about these amazing animals, but when I finally did, I was able to bang it out in a record three months and send it off to my agent, fingers tightly crossed.

And now, I’m pleased to announce that THE METRO DOGS OF MOSCOW will be published by Penguin Canada (!!) in 2013. And not only that, but a sequel will likely follow.

More news on Moscow adventures to come, but for now, might I suggest you read up on the dogs that have become a huge part of my life this past year. I guarantee you’ll love them too.

It appears that The Ship of Lost Souls, or rather, КОРАБЪТ НА ИЗГУБЕНИТЕ ДУШИ, is out in Bulgaria! Hooray! Here’s hoping that Bulgarian middle-graders like pirate children as much as I do. (And I apologize if what I pasted there doesn’t actually say “The Ship of Lost Souls.” I am blindly copying and pasting.)

And check out the cover! I think UNISCORP (my Bulgarian publisher — doesn’t that just sound fabulous?) did a wonderful job.

Which isn’t to say I think we need to know cursive writing. Mostly, I think it’s interesting to see human skills evolve, and sometimes disappear.

I do think, however, that writing by hand (whether in cursive or print) can be very helpful for writers. A wonderful fiction instructor once told my class that the best way to find a character’s voice is to write in it by hand. And I’m not sure why this works, but it does — at least for me. Whenever I’m having a hard time nailing a voice, I’ll put the laptop aside and start scribbling monologues. For some reason, it helps. I recommend it.

It also gives me the excuse to buy fabulous notebooks. And wouldn’t life be awful without those?

I’m more than a little exhausted. And yet, never too exhausted for the Dance of Joy.

Enjoy.

Weird search terms that brought people to rachelledelaney.com in 2011:

- “my bonnet petticoats”

- “bossy teacher” (okay, so this is apt)

- “my little ponies altered”

- “CBC radio 1 Jian Ghomeshi styrofoam” (Styrofoam?)

- “feminist fabulous” (yesss!)

- “flight burrito” (what on Earth?)

- “friends you will never forgive”

- “in praise of ironing neruda analysis”

- “delaney in fancy writing” (We have no idea what this means, but we LIKE it.)

I’d been going full-out, working full-time and writing three different books, since April. So it wasn’t surprising that December arrived bearing gifts of major burn out. Fortunately, a few writer friends came to the rescue.

This past weekend, the lovely Bren and I headed down to Seattle to visit our equally lovely friend Chelsea, for a weekend of writing, reading, and exploring that great city. In the mornings we’d spread out around the house and work on our various projects. In the afternoon we’d book shop, read, and explore Capitol Hill and its gorgeous old houses. Oh, and there was also a significant amount of wine, cheese, and chocolate consumed. To fuel the creative process, of course.

I can’t recommend the mini writers retreat enough, especially when it combines writing and exploring. And here on the coast, there are so many options: Whistler, Victoria, the Gulf Islands, the Sunshine Coast… I’m already scheming about the next.

Here’s a shot of our weekend “office.” Is it any wonder we didn’t want to leave?

A non-exhaustive list of the piratey things Rachelle has received over the years:

- pirate jewelery
- pirate greeting cards
- pirate daytimer
- pirate flags
- pirate stickers
- pirate bookmarks
- pirate paperclips
- pirate puppets (regular and finger)
- pirate hats
- pirate t-shirt (it read “Sparrow is my co-pirate”)
- pirate breathmints (grog-flavoured)
- pirate magnets
- pirate rubber ducky

This is a good thing for authors to keep in mind when coming up with ideas for books. If you’re not willing to let dinosaurs or unicorns or stray Russian dogs take over your wardrobe or home decor, you might want to rethink your topic. Just a thought.