Heigh Ho...

Hola gentle readers.

A quick post to note that lately, the tiny little slips of time I have to communicate tend to be on my twitter feed @kcdyer 

The pictured version of fall [ambleside, last week -- leaves changing, sunshine, brisk fall wind] is no longer with us.

The ocean has risen up to swallow the sky.

And rain, of course, means it's time for the Surrey International Writers' Conference.

I'm in the throes of the last week before Surrey. May change my plans and move down there a day early -- so much to do, so little mobility to do it with!

SiWC 2009 looks to be astonishing. I've just been reading the script for War of the Worlds, this year's Shock Theatre offering from Michael Slade. It is hysterical, and even ends with a truly modern twist. I simply can't wait to be a part of it.

In other news, A WALK THROUGH A WINDOW has been nominated for a Cybils Award. It's a great little on-line award program -- the chicken nugget of awards [both nummy and nutritious]. The books are twice-read by a panel and decisions are made in February. So send positive vibes toward Darby, okay?

More soon. Hope to post lots of pix from Surrey, especially on Friday night when There Will Be Aliens.

~kc

Odds and Sods, This and That, Here and There

Quite a few balls in the air at the mo.

I'm currently Writer in Residence at New Westminster Secondary, and I spent some great time today brainstorming stories with Ms. Hunt's class. We'll be creating plays to be performed by Ms. Cave's drama class, and the process is a gas. More on that, and performance dates as time progresses.

The SiWC 2009 Road Show continues. No stops today, though, as I was dealing with writing contest [see annual bloody eyeballs post HERE] and plumbers and such.

Conference registrations are coming in fast and furious, which thrills me. We are hoping to make SiWC 2009 the best ever, and in light of Publisher's Weekly's view of how things are in the books & writers conference business these days, I am happy to report that SiWC 2009 is strong and healthy and rarin' to go.

For those who have very kindly inquired about the epic fail of a day yesterday; my new modem is en route, the plumber did finally show up today, but couldn't restore my water pressure, and most importantly -- my mama is resting comfortably, with her shoulder relocated to where a person's shoulder should be.

Readers in Calgary take note -- we [and by we, I mean James McCann, Lee Edward Fodi and myself] are planning our annual Fall Into Fantasy tour through your fine city in November. Check it out HERE on Facebook. If you'd like to have an incredible presentation at your school, please email our publicist Angela Crocker at angela@beachcombercommunications.com and she'll organize things for you.

Okay -- I'm sure there are a tonne of other topics I should touch on, but I've got to go read the last few entries in the SiWC 2009 writing contest!

What are YOU reading tonight? My friend Bernice Lever advises you to take a Canadian author to bed...

~kc

SiWCrazy

It's that time of year -- all the Surrey stuff is coming to a head, my own book promo is in full swing and things are just nuts around here.

Today was the SiWC 2009 road show, and I had a marvellous reception at Archbishop Carney Secondary in Port Coquitlam, followed by a brief trip into the new Surrey campus of SFU to talk with a World Lit 100 class about the conference. This is a shot of the inside of the campus. It's like the prow of an enormous ship -- quite, quite beautiful.

Huge thanks to Allison Wall and her wonderful creative writing class for their kind welcome! And also to Melek Ortabasi and her group at SFU. Hope to see many of you at the conference!

Had to deal with many phone issues [as those who follow me on twitter have no doubt learned], but all is well now, new phone in place, fully functional and I am communicado once more.

Make sure you check out recent blog posts over at www.siwc.ca, as that's where I am spending most of my energy capital these days. Tons going on -- all fun, all nuts, all the time.

More soon -- catch up day tomorrow.

~kc
sweetly tweeting @kcdyer

Busy Fall...SiWC 2009 Road Show

Hey. September has launched like a cherry bomb in the school bathroom, and things are suddenly really nuts around here.

First among nuttiness is that my lovely website re-design was supposed to be up and running by now, but alas...image problems have slowed the process drastically. So we keep on keeping on, and when it's up and running, we'll have a contest to celebrate!

Now, let's see...where to begin. A couple of upcoming events should do, and I will add to the list as soon as I am able.

The most important right now is the SiWC Road Show. I'm putting on my wandering minstrel shoes and heading around the Lower Mainland (and Northern Washington state) to visit book clubs, universities, creative writing classes, high schools...you name it, to talk about the Surrey International Writers' Conference.

Mostly doing this to help spread the word about this amazing conference, and make sure we have a sell-out again this year. You can read more about the conference at www.siwc.ca or if you are interested in having me come and speak to your group for an hour (no charge, will bring own Diet Coke), drop me a line in the comments and we can connect.

The plan is to go out the last week of September/first week of October, as SiWC 2009 is October 23-25th this year.  I've already got gigs coming in, so get in touch soon and I'll make sure I find time to get your group on the Road Tour!

I'm now officially the Writer In Residence at New Westminster Secondary School this fall, so I'll be posting about that excitement very soon. Also CWILL BC's Fall Book Harvest is just around the corner -- more on that soon, too.

So much going on!

~kc