Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

from Seamus,

and Silas Ermineskin

and me (the only one of the three of us who can actually type.)

May your every wish come true.

~kc

Books -- Not Just for Giving....and a pictoral of a Canadian Winter Day

Reading through Defining Canada, (the Dundurn blog), I found these remarkable sculptures , done by the incredibly talented paper artist Su Blackwell. If you click through the other stories, you can see a plethora of Other Things To Do With Books, presumably AFTER reading them...

We have had a couple of astonishingly beautiful days here on the normally gloomy West Coast, so for the remainder of this post, I will let the pictures tell the story...






We took the dogs up into the woods, and Seamus stopped to make a snow angel.

Step One: Find a nice deep drift and wallow in.


Step 2: Ensure Face and Body suitably snow-covered.




Step 3: Pause to show noble profile, before bounding off to follow dog brother.


The result. Can you see the snow-dog angel?

Look really hard....



More snow tonight.

According to climatologists, this will be the first coast-to-coast-to coast Canadian white Christmas since 1971. I think that may have been the year I was born...

~kc

Seasonal Suggestions -- SIX Superlative Stocking Stuffers

1. SAARA'S PASSAGE -- by Karen Autio, new out this fall.
2. SISTER WIFE -- by Shelley Hrdlitschka, also new and hot.
3. SEEDS OF TIME -- haven't read it yet? Why not? Time travel, plague & adventure await!
4. SECRET OF LIFE -- Leonardo D as a 15 year old boy -- like you've never seen him before.
5. SHADES OF RED -- Murder & mayhem in Reformation Europe & England.
6. Steven Galloway's CELLIST OF SARAJEVO -- because I just read and loved it last week...

Happy holidays!

~kc

Spark Returns

SPARK, the CBC technology show hosted by Nora Young, has returned to the airwaves for the fall season. The Spark blog this week features a photo of the (nearing world-famous) Silas Erminskin with canine brother Seamus in hot pursuit for their chase segment. An apt choice, I'd say!

Check it out here: Spark Blog.

~kc

This and That

Ah -- spring time in Canada!

Today on the Wet Coast, we've had sleet, snow, freezing rain and brilliant sunshine.

And yet, we must count ourselves lucky for a mere 3500 km away, the weather has a more tenuous hold on the denizens of the east.

For my dear friend the Novel Woman, I post an update of my neighbour's cherry tree, in response to her Easter weekend cottage photo, which you can find here:

http://anovelwoman.blogspot.com/2008/03/romantic-easter-weekend.html

Spring will come again to Montreal, dear NW, I promise!

I am in the middle of finalizing the SiWC roster for this year, and simultaneously trying to set up the brochure for publication. I also find myself amidst another rewrite of DEADLINE, tightening the focus and removing the many extraneous plot complications that somehow (without my cooperation) manage to insinuate themselves into my work. (In my defense, this may well be a reflection of the extraneous plot complications of my life...). AND, I am expecting to receive the edits for my new book any day now, adding extreme urgency to these other tasks.

Yet, somehow, I am stricken by the need to post the following ...







Step one -- find decent mud puddle. Drink contents.












Step Two -- launch sneak attack on unsuspecting sibling, previously relaxing and minding his own business. Note aggressive ear positioning.









Step Three -- savage sibling mercilessly, to mutual delight.












Step Four -- pause to catch breath.
















Step Five -- leap back in to finish the job.













Step Six -- ensure photographer is still paying attention.










Step Seven -- one down, who's next?








~kc, back to work....

Uh-Oh...

Had a momentary lapse in judgement this weekend...

His name is Silas.

He has ears like the Flying Nun.

Fur like a golden retreiver (crimped behind the ears and soft and wavy down the spine).

A freckled front paw.

A white tuft on his tail.

A slightly startled canine brother.

And a pretty cushy new life.

~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