Surrey International Writers' Conference

...Newsletter went live today.

I may have mentioned before in this space that one of the things I do when I am not writing is coordinate the above-named conference. This job, while being a joy and a privilege, also eats my head upon occasion. And right now is a particularly busy time.

The remarkable Dale McGladdery, webmaster extraordinaire, has been working like a madman to update the SiWC site. Things are looking good, and if you want a sneak peek at some of the names of presenters, you can look here.

But it is nowhere near complete, so keep checking back. Dale is adding new content every day, including the names of a whole whack of other presenters. (I use the term collectively, of course.)

The BEST way of keeping track of all that is going on with SiWC is to grab the RSS feed that we will be running from both the newsletters and the new blog. But wait! It's not set up yet. Will be soon, though. So grab it then. When? I'll tell you.

So really, you are likely to hear it here first.





To finish, a gratuitous photo of my new canine nephew Ronan. My sister assures me he is not really this angelic when awake...




~kc

On Teaching, Writing, Conferences and One Sweet Baboo

Where to begin....

I've been running on too little day for all those things needing my attention, lately, so will try to catch up here a bit.


Let's start with a shout out to James McCann's CWC class, who welcomed me as their guest-teacher last week. We talked about escape and time travel and had a wickedly competitive game of pictionary with words from the very funny (very Dalh-esque) YOU ARE A BAD MAN, MR. GUM, by Andy Stanton.



These shots (deliberately anonymous) were taken as the kids spent time on their own writing projects. By the end of the session, each student will have written a novel to call their own.















On Wednesday night, I had a great time participating in a panel discussion on the subject of writing for young people. The evening was put on by the Canadian Authors Association, and fellow author (and CWILL BC members) James McCann and Meg Tilly were the other panel members. We had a packed house, and the questions from the audience (and from most excellent moderator Jean Kay) drove the evening. Two hours went by in a flash. Thanks to all the CAA exec for their warm welcome!

While we're on the subject, one of the things on my agenda for this summer is to attend CanWrite, the CAA AGM in Edmonton this year. Conference coordinator Suzanne Harris and her team are going to put on a great show.

And to finish, for now -- allow me to formally introduce Ronan:



You've seen his picture before, but now that he is actually home in Calgary, I can proudly proclaim him as my newest canine nephew -- cousin to Seamus and Silas Ermineskin. (Silas is currently in the doghouse [both literal and figurative] after eating the steering wheel of the vehicle in which he was reposing during the lacrosse game today. Pictures to follow.)

Of course, Ronan will never do anything like that.

Isn't he a beauty?


~kc