National Essay Contest -- Deadline Extended

Just realized I posted this to the SiWC blog, but forgot to post it here.

Call for Submissions

First Person Narrative National Essay Contest
Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives

This Year’s Topic ~ Once I Was A Child
Essay Length ~ 2000-2500 words.


1st prize $500.00
2nd prize $300.00
3rd prize $200.00

With a special prize of $100.00 for Best Under Nineteen

Prizewinning essays to be selected by award winning author and Giller Prize nominee
Wayson Choy and by Sarah Sheard
writer and mentor with Humber School For Writers


Extended Submission Due Date ~ September 30, 2008
Prize Winners announced ~ December 15, 2008


Entries should be previously unpublished, typed, single-sided, and double-spaced with your name, address, telephone number and story title on a separate sheet. Parent/Guardian signature required for anyone under 19. Forms can be found on our web site. Entry fee is $25.00 payable to Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives by cheque or online at www.clga.ca. Free for anyone under 19.


Send your stories to
Managing Editor, The Archivist
106 Walpole Avenue
Toronto ON M4L 2J3
or to jacoffey@rogers.com


The contest is open to all ages and all backgrounds.

All entries will be considered for publication in Keeping Our Stories Alive, Volume 1, A Journal of the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives.

Questions? Contact Jennifer Coffey at jacoffey@rogers.com

~kc

Don't Get Me Wrong...

I love a good award announcement. But to counteract the hideous, press-release quality of the previous blog post, I think a nice sunset shot of the moon might be in order.


I love my home.

~kc

Canuck Kid-Lit Award Finalists Announced

Finalists Announced for TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award
Prestigious $20k prize celebrates most distinguished
English-language Canadian children’s book of the year

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: (Toronto, August 6, 2008) — The Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC) and TD Bank Financial Group (TDBFG) are proud to announce the finalists of the 2008 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award for the most distinguished book of the year. This annual award recognizes excellence in Canadian children’s literature with a $20,000 prize.

This year’s nominated titles will captivate the hearts and imaginations of children (and adults!) everywhere. Readers will be introduced to the young Sherlock Holmes and the crime-ridden streets of 1867 inner-city London; 11-year-old Elijah, the first African Canadian child to be born into freedom in Buxton, Ontario, a settlement for runaway slaves; a young girl named Kate who is fraught with jealousy after being selected by artist John Singer Sargent to be a model for a painting, only to be replaced; a young bat named Dusk who can not only fly, but see at night using echo vision; and young Louise, the little sister who pesters her older brother so much so that he wishes she would just disappear… and she does!

All books, in any genre, written by a Canadian for children ages one through 12 were eligible for the award. Entries were judged on the quality of the text and illustrations and the book’s overall contribution to literature. The winner will be announced at a gala at The Carlu in Toronto on November 6, 2008.

The finalists for the 2008 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award are:

Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose: The Story of a Painting
by Hugh Brewster
with paintings by John Singer Sargent
Kids Can Press

Darkwing
by Kenneth Oppel
HarperCollins Publishers

Elijah of Buxton
by Christopher Paul Curtis
Scholastic Canada

Eye of the Crow: The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His First Case
by Shane Peacock
Tundra Books

Please, Louise!
by Frieda Wishinsky
illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay
Groundwood Books


JURY MEMBERS: Maya Munro Byers, owner, Livres Babar Books, Montreal; Theo Heras, Children’s Literature Resource Collection Specialist, Lillian H. Smith Library, Toronto Public Library; Dr. Dave Jenkinson, Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba; Dr. Ron Jobe, Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia; and Norene Smiley, author, Pugwash, Nova Scotia.

Jury comments on the finalists for the
2008 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award

Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose: The Story of a Painting by Hugh Brewster with paintings by John Singer Sargent
“An outstanding information book... Beautifully written and produced, with a fine balance of illustration, biographical and historical detail and insight into the creative process, all through the viewpoint of a child whose humanity makes it true.”

Darkwing by Kenneth Oppel
“Darkwing continues Oppel’s reputation for creating textured, engrossing animal societies that win generations of fans. The exceptional writing is filled with descriptive details, emotive connotations and visual sightings that give a richly plotted, fact-filled glimpse into this prehistoric world.”

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
“Tears of laughter and sadness commingle as Curtis immerses readers in the daily happenings of the nineteenth century Ontario community of Buxton whose inhabitants are slaves who have escaped from the United States. This novel engagingly and dramatically brings to life a little known segment of Canadian history.”

Eye of the Crow: The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His First Case by Shane Peacock
“Historical fiction at its finest! The plot, speculating on the childhood adventures of Sherlock Holmes, is well-constructed, fast paced and embedded with details. Superb characterization is accompanied by witty dialogue and the author’s love of vivid descriptive words.”

Please, Louise! by Frieda Wishinsky, illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay
“A gem of a picture book delighting in the warm relationship between brother and younger sister. Lively watercolours explode across the pages adding detail and humour to the powerful simplicity of the text. The words sing as they are read!”

* * * * *

About the Canadian Children’s Book Centre (www.bookcentre.ca)
The Canadian Children's Book Centre (CCBC) is a national, not-for-profit organization, founded in 1976 to encourage, promote and support the reading, writing and illustrating of Canadian books for young readers. The CCBC’s programs, publications and resources help teachers, librarians, booksellers and parents select the very best for young readers.

About TD Bank Financial Group Community Giving (www.td.com)
TD Bank Financial Group's Community Relations program supports education, health and the environment, with a focus on children and youth. TD Bank Financial Group sponsors five flagship programs – TD Canadian Children's Book Week, TD Canada Trust Scholarships for Community Leadership, the Children's Miracle Network, TD Summer Reading Club and TD Friends of the Environment Foundation – as well as a host of national, regional and local children's programs across Canada.

- 30 -

For more information contact:
Charlotte Teeple, Executive Director
The Canadian Children’s Book Centre
Tel: 416.975.0010
charlotte@bookcentre.ca

~kc

Sea to Sky Landslide Update

In the interests of journalistic integrity, as soon as I heard the Sea to Sky had opened again after the big slide by Porteau Cove, I had to go see for myself.

Knowing that my readers are intent on every detail, I spared no expense and visited the site by both land and sea to get the most thorough viewing. (Nothing I won't do for my blog readers. I'm just saying.)

First, a reminder of how things looked on July 30:














This is a section of the Sea to Sky about 10 minutes up the road from Lions Bay. A few minutes before midnight on July 30th, the cliff-side came down, narrowly missing the back of a Perimeter bus heading north on the highway.





This is what the slide area looks like now, approaching from the waters of Howe Sound.









Peter Keiwit Sons is the highway upgrade contractor, and having their equipment nearby sped the process of clearing the debris.





A bit closer and you can see the digger is still in place.









The rest of the highway continues to be quite a mess, with blasted rock, closed lanes and detours all over the place.













Typical scenic view....












But the slide? This is what it looks like now...the repairs begin at the orange pylon.












The tiny flicks in the rock face here are the remains of the rebar that had been driven in to the rockface to stablize it.

Not exactly successful.













Here is the section of repaired asphalt and the new tracks.











An unperturbed observer -- couldn't care less about rocks, just looking for a decent salmon...











~kc

Signs, Signs...

Really enjoyed my walk through Portland yesterday.

The MAX (the LRT in the region) stopped travelling across the Steel Bridge yesterday, as a re-build is under way. This is a shot of the Steel Bridge, with the traffic restricted to two-wheel and two-leg variety.



Instead, the MAX people were offering a shuttle service, but the day was nice so I walked, and was the happier for it.






Early Saturday morning gave me a fine appreciation of some of the very unique signage around the downtown area of the city.






























This huge brass bell under a pagoda roof apparently rings without warning.















Made in Oregon.











This is a Japanese-American park, with a scattering of standing stones that are very lovely.












I liked this one in particular, which had the five Ws scattered across its surface.








Scattered around the city downtown are tiny brass fountains, cheerfully burbling away.




















And, of course, the bicycle stand outside Powell's, the store that dragged me inside and wouldn't let me go...







~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

Willamette Horror...

Ha. Misdirection, of course.

Flew in to Portland this morning, and I am live-blogging here, surfing on the Sheraton's free Wi-Fi, while sitting in Luke Ryan's Deconstruction of Horror workshop. It's great, so far. (Luke is now talking about progressive disfigurement in horror movie villains. Cool.)

I'm here for the Willamette Writers' Conference. Great fun so far.

Portland itself has been lovely. VERY civilized arrival at the airport this morning, climbing out of the 9-row turbo-prop into a lovely airport (rated the nicest in the US, apparently) to the tinkling sounds of a piano being played by a musician-composer. Awesome.


Incredible architecture, too -- interesting to look at, engaging aurally and the two or three people I spoke to were very friendly and helpful. Go Portland!

More soon.

~kc

SLIDE!

Another big 'un.

The side of the mountain came down on the highway here last night about midnight. Just a kilometer north of Porteau Cove, so between Lions Bay and Furry Creek. Link to CBC story with a few pix is here.

One more close-up picture can be found here at the Mountain FM site.

Unlike the last big slide in February, 2007, Lions Bay is still accessible. (This is a shot of what we drive through every day -- the upgrade continues...)

All I can think about right now are the 40,000 people who just made their way down and back across this very stretch of road this past weekend. Police are saying that no one was caught in this slide (though I am not sure how they can tell -- the buried areas are 10 m deep in places), but if this cliff had come down last weekend, the death toll could have been very high.

More on this -- and on Summer Dream -- soon.

~kc

Radio Silence

Ah.

Just finished reading my latest edits of my new book aloud, and sent them off to Amy, my editor.

A very satisfying feeling.

Massively behind on the blog front, however -- more tomorrow.

~kc

Happy SysAdmin Day!

I have to take a moment here, in honour of this auspicious day, to pay homage to my always-cheerful, reachable and honourable web-guy Bryan Hoff.

He's been my go-to guy for my website since its inception, and without him I would still think html was slang for hate mail.

Thank you Bryan, for all that you do!

~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

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.

—30—

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

Dog Days of Summer...

Or...

Silas eats his pool.

A Triptych

~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

There's a New Doctor In Town...

...and he's pretty Horrible. Or ...at least he's trying to be. With a nemesis like Captain Hammer, it can't be that hard. To be horrible, that is. Or actually -- Horrible.

As you can see, I've fallen hard for the Doctor (who used to be Doogie) and the Captain (who used to be Mal). If you have any love in your heart for Joss Whedon (and what cold, corrupt soul could not love Joss?), hie yourself on over to www.drhorrible.com

The final installment of this three-part Sing-Along Blog aired today. I laughed. I cried. I read the credits to find out the Very Bad Horse's real name. (Dobbin. Sorry for the spoiler.)

And may I just say, that Moist is the absolute epitome of a superhero side-kick. I melt for him.

~kc

SiWC 2008 Registration Now LIVE

Whew.

Spent the day whirling through the funnel cloud of first-day issues, but it looks like all is well, and after a few glitches, things are running smoothly.

If you have no idea what SiWC is -- check out the freshly updated website here. When I'm not gallivanting around the countryside promoting books, or writing the things, I'm usually hanging with the Surrey crowd, lending a hand with the annual conference. This year promises to be stellar, and we've had a record crowd turn out to register the first day, so it bodes well for another sell-out event. Just wrote a new e-newsletter (which will likely go out tomorrow), or if you'd like to see a blog post or two, head over here and all will become clear.

I have to admit, I am groovin' on this new Picnik shareware. I like playing with my pictures! Thanks to Kirsti Wakelin for steering me towards it.

~kc

Chocolate & Chat Farewell Comic

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

Homeward Bound

The 2008 Chocolate & Chat Tour is now history, finishing on a high note in Kelowna with distinguished guests including on-line friend, author and CWILL BC member Karen Autio, and the distinguished Jack Whyte (looking very dapper in his golfing hat). Many thanks to Curtis, Conrad and the staff at the Orchard Hill Chapters for making us feel so welcome.

After dinner, James and I went out for a celebratory ice cream, and while we were in line, we discussed the preponderance of body art in women compared to just a few years ago. This led me to remember a most remarkable video I had seen recently, depicting women in Art over a period of 500 years.

This video montage was put together by animation artist Phillip Scott Johnson, with music by Yoyo Ma. I love it for the sense of shifting fashions in beauty, and for the resultant sense of fragility in life and loveliness.

More tomorrow on the tour -- likely a Comic Life version. Don't forget to check James' blog, too -- for perhaps he has the strength to be more articulate than I right now.

~kc

C& C 2008 -- Final Stop -- Kelowna

We had a great day yesterday, after our surprisingly ghost-less stay the night before in Canmore. Wended our way through the Rockies (this is a shot of Castle Mountain, just past Banff) to Salmon Arm and set up our travelling road show tent at Spirit Quest Books near the centre of town.









James and I have decided that Spirit Quest owner Maggie and her team have a little white magic on their side, because we spent most of our time in the shop checking out some Very Cool things that we just had to have for future presentations.








I was especially taken by their selection of enchanting little fairies. When we were back at Monkeyshines in Calgary, I met and chatted with an aspiring writer named Cameron, who has written a whole collection of stories in a world of Faerie all her own. Cameron -- these fairies made me think of you!














We had a wonderful time in Salmon Arm and want to thank Maggie and Shannon and the rest of the staff at Spirit Quest Books for hosting this part of our tour.

Sadly, we were unable to find accommodation in Salmon Arm last night, so we beetled along the highway and managed to score what must have been the final rooms in Kelowna. This saves us from doing any driving today (for the first such day on the tour) and we have been able to get a bit of work done in town this afternoon before our gig this evening at Chapters in Orchard Park.

I'll just finish this post here with one of the shots I took last night of a fire-juggler on the beach at the waterfront park in Kelowna. There was a blues band playing live, people dancing in the streets , tons of vendors and food -- a wonderful summer Saturday night for everyone to share.


~kc