Friday Round-up -- Contests and a Hark Back to Summer Dream

I'm deep in the bowels of Ontario at the moment, seeing to a little family business and a bit of workishness and other skullduggery. Poor timing on my part, as I am in the midst of a couple of contests right now requiring dexterity of email ability. But it is fall, and fall is the Prime Time for the writing community -- no one sleeps at this time of year. Much running about, attending, reading, writing, promoting. Such is the life I love!

A recap...

First: The SiWC 2009 Writing Contest closes tonight ...last chance for entries to be submitted by email is essentially right now. Check it out online at www.siwc.ca and send entries to contest@siwc.ca. If you do submit by email, entry fee must follow via snail mail in cheque or money order form. Website is there for details. Do not think you are alone in last-minute submissions -- you are legion, my procrastinating writer friend!

Next: The intrepid Darby's interview this week on Darby Speaks is with Princess Meg, star of THE RUNAWAY PRINCESS  and the just released smash sequel THE RUNAWAY DRAGON. You can win a copy of the latest novel by leaving a comment on Darby's blog HERE. Spread the word! You have until tomorrow night.

And finally, a fond remembrance of this year's wonderful Summer Dream in Stanley Park. This is one of my favourite images -- my friend the zany author Lee Edward Fodi, reading from his latest book Kendra Kandlestar and the Shard From Greeve, whilst a young woman signs the story to a group of clearly mesmerized children.

You can see more of my pix from Summer Dream 2009 on my flickr page HERE.


More catching up soon!


~kc

Summer Dream 2009

Off to Pandora's annual Summer Dream Literary Arts Festival at Lumberman's Arch in Stanley Park today. I'll be reading from A WALK THROUGH A WINDOW at 4:30 pm on the children's stage if you plan to stop by.

Three stages full of entertainment, face painting, crafts, info booths -- a great way to find out what's going on in this vibrant arts community.

It's an amazing day of stories and poetry and song -- not to be missed! Find out more HERE.

See you there!

~kc

Summer Dream Redux

Last Saturday I spent a lovely day at this year's edition of Summer Dream Literary Arts Festival, sponsored by Pandora's Collective. Bonnie Nish and Sita Carboni organize and run this amazing day.


Saturday was filled with readings, stories, poetry...all things literary. The sun shone more than it did last year, people came to hang out at Lumberman's Arch and a good time was had by all.



Here is a shot of Tiffany Stone telling the story of Tyrannasauras Wrecks, an absolutely smashing poem for kids from her book BAAAD ANIMALS.





Here is poet Bernice Lever, baseball cap in place, reading a story as an 8 year old boy. She also read her own poetry and stories, AND had the grace to climb a hill and sit against a tree for a podcast interview.

















This is SiWC Webmaster Dale McGladdery, who after tirelessly producing a series of podcasts, (with Bernice Lever, James McCann and Anthony Dalton) set up and taped several presentations.











Here's a peek at the Canadian Authors Association table, with authors Margaret Hume, Jean Kay and Ben Nuttall-Smith enjoying the day.













For more pictures of this terrific day, check out my Flickr page, under Summer Dream, 2008.

Back to my conference in Portland. More on that soon!

~kc

What's Happening?

Lots, actually.

I'm working on the edits for my new book, emerging this spring, now called A WALK THROUGH A WINDOW. I got a first look at the cover this week. It needs a bit of tweaking still, but bodes well...

Dale McGladdery and I did our first SiWC podcast yesterday. I think we may need a bit of a re-do, though, for while the traffic thundering along the Kingsway in Surrey didn't prove to be a problem at all, the noisy guys at the next table were.







This is Dale, setting up the equipment at our coffee-shop podcast site.












However, we are meeting again this weekend at Summer Dream, where we plan to buttonhole a few of the other SiWC 2008 presenters for our podcast. (We're currently calling it the SiWC Soapbox, but are offering a little contest prize for anyone who comes up with a name we like better. Check out the SiWC blog here if you have an idea you'd care to share.)

After our abortive podcast attempt, Dale and I attended the July edition of the SiWC Board meeting. Here's the evidence...


This is transportation goddess Sue Goddard, travel and journalism genius Ursula Maxwell and Webwizard Dale. (You might also notice the meeting ended at 6:10 pm...)













And here the irreplaceable Carmen Merrells tells me to 'talk to the hand', while Volunteer Vixen Camille Netherton gives her opinion on Carmen.









The Board is made up of a fantastic group of very talented people -- our meetings are always fun and fruitful. Next time I'll get shots of The Missing...Estelle Bogoch Stelmach, Tara Holt, and Carrie Higgins.

After I get my edits in to Doubleday next week, I'm off to Portland for a few days to take in the Willamette Writing Conference. My first time to Portland (tho' not to Oregon) and to this conference. I'm _really_ looking forward to it and will blog all I see and do while there.

In another editorial note, I'd like to offer a warm BC welcome to Barry Jowett, my editor at Dundurn, who has just announced he'll be leaving the company and moving west. Invermere will gain what Toronto has lost -- Barry is a wonderful editor, and when he gets set up in his new life, I'll make sure to link to his new office here.

~kc

Summer Dreamin'

July 26th will mark the 5th Annual Summer Dream festival, to be held all day at Lumberman's Arch in Vancouver's Stanley Park. This is the second year in the big park, and it's sure to be a major success.

Summer Dream is the brainchild of Pandora's Collective, the amazing duo of Bonnie Nish and Sita Carboni. Bonnie and Sita are behind many things poetic (and Slammin', for that matter!) in and around Vancouver, and I invite you to share an amazing day in the park on July 26th. There will be poetry, stories and music for all ages, open mics, workshops, children's stage -- loads of things to do for a sunny Saturday. (Or even a rainy one -- it rained last year and we all still had a blast!)

See you there.

~kc

Potter Poopers

...that's what they called us. The 'Potter Mock-Protest' made the CTV news last night for a brief appearance, where James McCann and I tried to make a case for Canadian authors who have books coming out in the Summer of Harry.

I thought it was pretty funny, until I realized (by Googling) that the joke has been made many times before. And in our case, it was not even applicable, since the three of us (James McCann, kc dyer & James Bow) are all actual fans of JKR and her magical creations.

Here's a shot of James McCann at today's dampish but still fun Summer Dream event in Stanley Park. James is parked beside our 'Potter Mock-Protest' poster, wearing his 'Ministry of Magic approved' t-shirt (demonstrating that the Ministry, at least, knew we were on-side...)

But, when you've closed the book on Harry...consider reading one by a Canadian, okay?

This was my first drive-through of Stanley Park since the devastating storms of last winter. The devastation of Prospect Point was mind-boggling. The power of that November wind was truly awesome. I was so gob-smacked by the wreckage that I forgot to take a picture.

The east side of the park remains almost untouched, though, and it was there Summer Dream took place. Did two readings of Ms Zephyr today, and added a brief return to SEEDS OF TIME in the children's tent. The rain held off for most of the afternoon, but returned to a deluge by 5:30 or so. Had a chance to reconnect with some old friends, so it was a fun afternoon in the end. Thanks go out to Bonnie Nish and Sita Carboni of Pandora's Collective for organizing and overseeing such a successful event.

As further proof of my Positive Potter Point-of view, here is a shot of the two beautiful witches I took to the launch last night -- one of whom has been planted on the couch all day today, blissfully reading the final installment.

The other witch had to work this afternoon, but at the moment, she is reading, too.

And to finish -- a picture of a group of rowdies at the Canadian Authors Association table before the rains returned -- writers Anthony Dalton, Gordon Mumford and Bernice Lever (doing her bit to promote literacy by flashing her Word on the Street T-shirt).

More proof that Canadian writers continue to thrive despite the Potter juggernaut!

~kc

The Protest Moves Forward...

...word today of an impending interview tomorrow with CTV regarding the mock Potter Protest scheduled for this Saturday at the Summer Dream Literary Festival in Stanley Park. And James Bow has been garnering attention on the same topic from his end of the nation...check out his blog (Bow, James Bow -- it's off on the side-bar there, if you need the link.)

And, of course, amid all the hype of the leaked pre-releases and spoilers, I am running from anything that smacks of Harry in the press right now. I want to find out what happens when I read the book myself the first time!

But after you close the book on Harry -- consider picking up a book by a Canadian author, will you? (That IS the point of the protest, after all...) We have the most incredible selection of writers producing books for young people -- and BC is a particular hotbed.

If you can't think of a BC writer off the top of your head, you might try having a peek at the CWILL BC website at http://www.cwill.bc.ca/ or even try moseying on over to Alan Twigg's encyclopedic site of BC authors: http://www.abcbookworld.com/

A reminder that Summer Dream is coming up fast -- this Saturday, in Stanley Park, near Lumberman's Arch. For the whole scoop, check out Pandora's Collective website at http://www.pandorascollective.com/ and find out all the cool stuff that Bonnie Nish and Sita Carboni have in store.

Hard on the heels of Summer Dream will be the collective book launch of 'Ms. Zephyr's Notebook' and 'Pyre'. More details as soon as I have 'em.

It's back to regular weather here -- cool and rainy. Hopefully summer will return in time for the weekend. Here's a shot of what it looks like around here when the weather cooperates...

~kc

Canuck Authors Protest Potter

Making the rounds of various media outlets across the country...











AUTHORS STAGE MOCK PROTEST DURING HARRY POTTER WEEKEND

In a cross-country effort, three Canadian authors are joining hands to celebrate writing for young people by promoting their books on the weekend of the release of J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows".

“Other people write books too, you know.” That’s the message James Bow, an Ontarian writer of fantasy novels for young people, hopes to get across with his one-man picket beside the midnight line-up of fans waiting to get their hands on the last book in the Harry Potter series.

Bow, wearing a wizarding hat and a “will write for food” placard, will be stationed outside the Toronto independent bookstore Another Story, as it opens at midnight to accommodate eager muggles. He will return the next day at noon to read from other novels and sign his own.

In Vancouver, authors James McCann and kc dyer will launch their latest novels at the Summer Dream Literary Arts Festival in Stanley Park "in defiance of the Potter juggernaut".

"As a writer of books for young adults, I know how much my industry owes to the imagination of J.K. Rowling," says dyer. "I discovered Harry just after the second book was published and am a huge fan. But we'd like to use this occasion to bring attention to some of the other wonderful books that are being published for young people in this country."

Both McCann and dyer are affiliated with Children's Writers and Illustrators of BC (CWILL BC), an organization that helps promote writers and illustrators of books for youth in British Columbia.

These tongue-in-cheek protests, are designed to bring attention to Canadian books children and young adults could read once the final page turns on Rowling's Harry Potter epic.

Who:James Bow, author of "Fathom Five" (the Dundurn Group)
www.unwrittenbooks.ca
kc dyer, author of "Ms. Zephyr's Notebook" (the Dundurn Group) http://www.kcdyer.com/
James McCann, author of "Pyre" (Simply Read Books) http://www.jamesmccann.info/

When: Friday, July 20, 2007 - 11:59 p.m. - 1:00 a.m. EDT (James Bow)Saturday, July 21, 2007 - noon - 1:00 p.m. EDT (James Bow)

Saturday, July 21, 2007 - 1:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. PDT (kc dyer, James McCann)

Where: Another Story Bookshop, 315 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto (James Bow)
Summer Dream Festival, Lumberman’s Arch, Stanley Park, Vancouver (kc dyer, James McCann)

-30-

~kc

Hot Stuff

Hello Faithful Readers of the Ether...

Hottest day of the year here today -- 37, which has thrown all of we heat-wimps from BC completely off our game. This kind of weather belongs to places other than our little bit of temperate rainforest.

A bit of a tossed salad tonight, with tidbits from Various Aspects of a Life Over-busy.

Attended a screening of HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX tonight. It was fun to watch with lots of good effects and a real Harry smootch to boot. But all secondary plot-lines were excised in favour of the main, which was a bit of a shame. I wanted to see more Tonks and Lupin, more Hagrid, and at least a glimpse of Rita Skeeter. But alas -- I guess a running time of 138 minutes was long enough for the producers. Too bad, though, as one of the two teenagers I attended the screening with was not a reader, and she was quite confused by the opening of the movie since she hadn't read the story.

Love the movies, but they can't touch the books. Not exactly a surprising sentiment, coming from me,I guess.

Working on plans for launching Ms. Zephyr's Notebook this month. In one special event, James McCann and I will be celebrating our new books (and all things CWILL) at the Summer Dream Literary Arts Festival on July 21st, beside Lumberman's Arch in Stanley Park. Summer Dream is a fantastic event, hosted by the Fabulous women of Pandora's Collective, aka Bonnie Nish and Sita Carboni. Because the event is in Stanley Park, we will not be selling books, but will happily sign any that are brought in from elsewhere. (Both PYRE and MS. Z. are now available a bookstore near you!) Watch this space for more details soon.

Have now finalized details for the SiWC brochure and sent them off to the Most Talented Laurel Hickey (of 2morrow Writing & Document Design) who will work her magic and ready the thing for printing. In celebration, I'll be sending out a notice 2morrow (sorry, Laurel!) to the SiWC listserv, announcing the names of two new editors who will be attending the conference this year.

Just to confirm -- registration for the conference opens July 26, 2007 and the SiWC Writing Contest closes August 3, 2007. Check out http://www.siwc.ca/ for further details.

~kc