Seasonal Suggestions for Teens -- December 4

*I'm not perfectly sure, to tell you the truth, how this pic came to be so wonky, but nonetheless, it comes from a good place.









Going to step away from the reading material for a moment (a brief moment) and make suggestion that will hopefully inspire the recipient (as well as please them).


I'm referring to a selection of PAWSitive gifts from the BC SPCA. These gifts range from SPCA memberships for kids under 12 to wild animal care to animal ambassador training. A great way to give something different to a special person in your life, while helping BC's animals. If you live out of the province, or even out of the country, check out the International Branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.


On a related note, tomorrow night I will be reading a story I wrote specially for the BC SPCA's 'Paws for a Cause' program last summer. The story is called PIONEER: A traveller's tale, and the telling will take place at Christianne's Lyceum in the Kits neighbourhood of Vancouver -- 3696 West 8th Avenue. (604) 733-1356.

If you need a little break from the rigours of Christmas shopping, drop by! Things start up around 7:30, I believe, and it's an Open Mike event, so there should be lots of interesting folks to listen to. My buddy James McCann will be there, too.

Hope to see you tomorrow night -- and happy holidays!

~kc

SPCA Fundraiser Opens

Just received the press release from the BCSPCA regarding their latest fundraiser. I wrote a short story for this endeavour, and it appears that it will be available for download for a short time as a means to help raise funds. Here's the press release:

Authors donate pages for pets

July 21, 2008. For immediate release.

Lions Bay author kc dyer is using her talents to help the animals. Dyer, who has published a number of historical and contemporary fiction novels for young adults, is among several award-winning B.C. writers who are donating their work to support the BC SPCA’s Biscuit Fund, which pays for life-saving veterinary medical care for hundreds of homeless, abused and abandoned animals. For a limited time, donors who make a contribution to the Biscuit Fund can download dyer’s short story, PIONEER … A Traveller’s Tale. The piece was written specifically for the Biscuit Fund campaign.

“We have a number of entertaining short stories available, as well as vegan recipes, poetry collections and a novel excerpt,” said Melissa Balfour, coordinator of the BC SPCA Biscuit Fund. Balfour says there is something for every literary taste, so donors can choose just one or be decadent and read them all. “It’s a great way to satisfy your thirst for summer reading materials without having to make a trip to the library or the bookstore, and you’ll be helping the animals at the same time,” says Balfour.

Participating authors include Pete McCormack, Andrea MacPherson, Maggie de Vries, Sarah Kramer, Margaret Thompson, M.A.C. Farrant and Ann Walsh. Visit www.biscuitfund.com for more information, but hurry - the reading materials will only be available for a limited time.

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For more information: Melissa Balfour, coordinator, BC SPCA Biscuit Fund, 604-647-1329.

The BC SPCA is a non-profit organization funded primarily by public donations. Our mission is to prevent cruelty and to promote the welfare of animals through a wide range of services, including cruelty investigations, emergency rescue and treatment, sheltering and adoption of homeless and abused animals, humane education, advocacy, farm animal welfare, spay/neuter programs, and wildlife rescue and rehabilitation.

And here's the link to the Biscuit Fund, and the stories, recipes and poems you can download:

BC SPCA Biscuit Fund


~kc

Recovery Day

Quite a bit of dashing about, nonetheless. Ferrying kids, running dogs, collecting passport paperwork (as we all collectively expire -- our passports, that is) this month and more. In the midst of all this, today was deadline day for a story I committed to for an SPCA fund-raiser. The Biscuit Fund raises money for rescued animals in need.

More about the fund-raiser soon, but in the meantime, I had a story to finish for them. Just sent it off now. The story is called PIONEER...A Travellers' Tale, and a Very Odd little snippet it is, with a scrap of this very lovely painting as a closing piece.


The painting is now considered to be in the public realm of creative commons, and was painted by Noël-Nicolas Coypel: Enlèvement d'Europe,1726-1727. It's found in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

When I find out more about the fund-raiser, I'll post the info here. Stay tuned!

~kc