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

Blueberry Season?

The interview I had with Suzanne Lieurance late last week for Book Bites for Kids showed up on the Blubrry.com podcast site today. It's a cool site -- I hadn't seen it before and had a bit of fun poking around.



MS.ZEPHYR'S NOTEBOOK and PYRE got off to a quiet but fun start tonight at our first Terrific Teacher Appreciation Event, held at Vancouver Kidsbooks on Broadway. Chocolate hearts courtesy of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory -- made the event complete. Anybody who is anyone in the Vancouver literary community was there, so you'll not want to miss the next event, this Sunday at Kidsbooks in Edgemont Village, North Vancouver. See you there!




~kc

Podcast of Interview now Available

I was recently interviewed by Suzanne Lieurance of The National Writing for Children Centre for one of their 'Book Bytes for Kids' segments. You can listen to a podcast of the interview here:

http://writingforchildrencenter.com/2007/08/22/book-bites-for-kids-welcome-childrens-author-kc-dyer/

The Centre is a very cool on-line resource for readers and writers. Their stated goal is to "help educate and connect aspiring and successful children’s writers, elementary school teachers and/or librarians to provide books, stories, and opportunities for literacy development for children everywhere."

You can find the home page for the site at http://www.writingforchildrencentre.com/

~kc

Housekeeping...

Short post tonight, as it is past midnight and I have once again run out of day. Cleared 760+ emails off my machine today-- the system has been threatening to crash for days now. This reduction should improve things a little.

In other news, I have been invited to participate in a podcast interview this summer with Book Bites for Kids, a division of The National Writing for Children Centre. http://www.writingforchildrencenter.com:80/

More info closer to the event.

Progress on the SiWC front now includes having contacted all confirmed speakers for their bio and picture. This information will soon appear on the website: www.siwc.ca

Next big steps are to fill the roster and get the workshops scheduled. It's slowly happening!

Will send out a teaser mailout with more presenter names this weekend.

The picture of Seamus is to make up for the fact that I left him out on the deck tonight as a storm rolled in. He was not spooked, but I felt terrible. He'll pay me back by taking up all the bed.

~kc