I’ve just returned from sunny San Diego to some Pacific Northwest winter rain (sob!) but am still riding that author’s high a month after seeing my book published and on bookstore shelves! Girl Gangs, Zines, and Powerslides: A History of Badass Women Skateboarders was released on September 16th with ECW Press, and the whole experience has been a blast.
[See: “Book Launch Countdown post]
A reminder that, if you sign up for Skate Book Club (which provides a monthly newsletter featuring skateboard-related book reviews to your inbox) before Friday, October 31st, you’ll be entered into a draw to receive one of ten signed copies of the book!
The following post is a kind of memo to self because I’ve realized that, as a debut author, you anticipate the experience of publishing for two years, the day arrives, it’s super crazy, and then you’re left wondering what just happened.
Well, this happened:
In the lead up to pub day, Stuart Derdeyn from the Vancouver Sun newspaper ran an article called “B.C. author celebrates female skateboarders in new book,” (Sept. 12) which resulted in a few phone calls and emails from fellow librarians. The next day, the fabulous team at WithItGirl featured an essay (Sept. 13) about the book and the writing process on their site followed by some Instagram promo. It was a pleasure to collaborate with them.
Next up, I was fortunate to be invited on the Mostly Skateboarding podcast (Sept. 14) for a good banter with Michael Munzenrider and Elliott Templeton, whom I had gotten to know when we were on a panel together at the Slow Impact festival last February. It’s all a bit of a blur now, and I feel funny listening to my own voice, but pretty sure we meandered here and there for a proper hour.
Also noticed that Thrasher posted the book launch event to their webpage (!!!). Thanks Michael.
I followed that gig with a live radio broadcast (Sept. 15) for Sports Byline USA, which was a super fun, fast-paced chat! Hopefully I broke through to a few rogue skateboarding enthusiasts versus the typical pro sports fan tuning in.
Pub day happened and the highlight was simply going to the skatepark for a solo session and landing a kickflip first try… it usually takes me awhile. My co-workers also managed to track down a local baker who pulled off a gorgeous lemon curd cake airbrushed to look like the book cover. Delicious!
My good friend, Michelle Pezel managed to miraculously source a new location for Antisocial Skateshop (1965 Main Street) after some upheaval mid-Summer, when the shop was ousted by a classic Vancouver landlord. The space was still in limbo with the artists in residence vacating the space end of the month, but on Sunday, September 21st we hosted a proper party to celebrate the book and new shop space!
It was such a lovely event with friends and family, and I finally got to meet my editor in-person (who is a prolific author including a new horror book!) Jen Sookfong Lee. I’m eternally grateful for her support and the whole ECW Press team.
My friends at Adjacency Bias posted an article on the event and new storefront, and CBC Radio Victoria reached out for an early morning interview.
Photo below: Carnegie Branch Sept. 23, 2025. My friend suggested giving the bird to the patriarchs of literature represented in stained glass (Milton, Shakespeare, Burns). hehe.
I stuck around Vancouver that week for two events with the Vancouver Public Library. I offered a presentation on skateboarding zines and a Q&A at my old workplace, the Carnegie Branch at Main & Hastings since I wanted an excuse to reunite with staff and patrons. It was super fun and got me psyched for a book talk that evening with author Amy Mattes (Late September) hosted by Cole Nowicki (Right, Down + Circle: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater). The conversation flowed and the audience was really engaged and thoughtful in their questions. Plus, I was later informed that Pulpfiction Bookstore sold out their copies! Wow.
It felt like a pretty good buzz was happening on Instagram, which meant that the kind folks at Jenkem magazine took notice. A sudden request came through to pull off an article called “16 Things You Didn’t Know About Women in Skateboarding” (Oct. 2), which got me thinking. I submitted at least 25 blurbs and the editors whittled them down. I’m pretty stoked on what they chose and editor Ian Michna also promoted the effort on Instagram with a range of personal questions. Thanks again!
To wrap up the whirlwind experience, I headed down to San Diego last week for the Stoke Sessions conference at SDSU hosted by the Surf and Skate Studies Collaborative. On opening night, we were serenaded by Olympian Bryce Wettstein and Steve Van Doren of Vans regaled us with interesting origin stories for their keynote address. The next morning I was part of a panel with pro skater Nestor Judkins and legendary skater Freddie De Soto (recently inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame) on the topic of “Skateboarding’s New Frontiers.” And on the last day, I presented a PowerPoint on the impact of the Riot Grrrls and female skaters in the 1990s. A few folks joked that I was the closing keynote since the two other presenters during my slot were no-shows!
The highlight of the trip was connecting with Kevin Marks of the Look Back Library and doing a deep-dive into his massive collection of skateboarding magazines / zines / magical miscellanea. If you are ever in San Diego, visiting the “central library” is a must-do. I found it both overwhelming and exhilarating! Plus, there’s a good chance Kevin will feed you delicious tacos and homemade guacamole and give you a tour of the neighbourhood and where all the local cats and dogs live. Such an awesome host!
I also managed to get a solid skate in at the Linda Vista skatepark which was absolutely mind-blowing (like 15-20 times bigger than my park). I smeared a bit of elbow blood on the concrete after a decent bail, but no real harm done. Ha! And there were so many great conversations with fellow skate nerds… I’m still processing it all.
The book promo has now eased up, but I’ve got some podcasts, radio talks, and random articles nicely staggered in the coming weeks. Thanks so much to everyone who has already ordered and even read the book!! I’m thankful for the kind words, photos on social media of the book out there in the wild, and encouragement. It’s been a dream come true.
Womxn Skateboard History 