Once

Drat.

No writing to speak of -- taking a little break for a few days. But tonight I watched a lovely little movie called "Once". I tried to post the cover picture here, but alas...

Will have to embed the link to the official site, instead: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/once/

The movie stars Glen Hansard, a member of the band The Frames and late of The Commitments -- another amazing music flick from Dublin. Also newcomer Marketa Irglova -- and the two stars, being both musicians in real life, combined to write most of the songs they perform.

This movie was made on a dime and could maybe have used a little bit of a tighter edit -- but eminently watchable. Loved it, in fact.

Just remembered tomorrow is New Year's Eve... more then, I think.

~kc

Wishing you a moment of peace...

...in this busy and stressful season.




We had a white Christmas and today I took my Very Happy Dog for a walk in the snowy woods. The real world with all its anxiety and joy will return soon enough, but for me, the sound of an eagle's chuckle through the trees made everything stop this afternoon.

~kc

Checking in...

James McCann and I had a couple of GREAT signing events over the weekend -- a busy time and lots of fun.

But right now I have my head bent low over a manuscript that I want to have polished by Wednesday night. I'll post an event update with pictures and description as soon as I get this baby to bed.

Am also answering only emergency emails at the moment -- will resume radio contact later in the week.

Happy last week of school before Winter Break!

~kc

Christmas Cool...

Okay, here it comes. No matter how much I try to hold it back -- fingernails rending and tearing to keep those calendar pages in place -- today marks two weeks to Christmas day.

My shopping is not done. My tree is not even bought, let alone decorated. Cards unwritten, and of course -- unsent. And worse, I received my sister's Christmas parcel today. (I'm pathetically grateful not to be celebrating Hanukkah, since it started so much earlier this year...).

When I picked up my mail today, along with the parcel came the first holiday cards. As my children built a gingerbread house (even THEY are more organized than I...) I sat down to open the cards with the guilt of things undone weighing heavily in my heart.

But the very first card I opened brought the cool right back into my Christmas. In an effort not to infringe on the artist's copyright, I am only printing a small segment of the card cover here...

How cool is that? The first card, from my talented friend Lee Edward Fodi, self-illustrated. It almost made me forget that as a male, he has totally put me to shame by getting his card to me first. (I still haven't even looked up his address, for goodness sake.)

I love that Lee designs his own cards. I love that he sent one to me. I feel very privileged to hang out in a circle that includes such amazingly talented individuals. Also upping the cool ante at the card-opening moment was my new Colin James & his Little Big Band Holiday CD playing at the time... another friend whom I watch proudly as he makes his way as a success in the arts in this community and beyond. (I'm pretty sure he had a gig with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra last night...)

How lucky are we to be doing what we love for a living. Makes a person feel like celebrating, somehow. If only there was a chance to do that anytime soon...

~kc

Exit Music

Finished Ian Rankin's latest this weekend, in which DI Rebus faces the spectre of retirement from the force. I can't quite make myself believe he's really going, but --

the final scene...is nothing less than perfectly fitting.

A great read.

~kc

Holiday Gift Ideas

This idea is courtesy of MotherReader (http://www.motherreader.com/), and a great one it is...

Looking for a great holiday gift idea? Give a copy of MS. ZEPHYR'S NOTEBOOK with a ticket to your nearest planetarium (or the Vancouver Space Centre!), so that your young reader can learn more about the world of telescopes and astrolabes and Carl Sagan.

Or how about a complete set of the Eagle Glen trilogy (SEEDS OF TIME, SECRET OF LIGHT & SHADES OF RED) along with a bag of peppermints -- sure to settle the time-travellers tummy!

Looking for more great ideas to make book-giving fun? Check out CWILL's blog this week. The link is just over there -- to the side of this posting, and when you hie yourself over there, you'll find a lot more ideas for BC book giving, courtesy of Adrienne Mason. (Thanks, Adrienne!)

If you'd like to get yourself a signed copy of any of my books, I'll be at the Park Royal Indigo store this Friday afternoon (December 14th) from 2:30 to 5 pm and at the Surrey Strawberry Hill Chapters store Sunday, December 16th, starting at 1:00 pm. As a special bonus, James McCann will be signing his books PYRE and RANCOUR right beside me. A great way to cross off a number of those difficult-to-buy-for teens on your list!

~kc

My office...

My office is a lovely room.

Really.

Just last year the very incredible talents of one Peter V. Smith were put to work, creating the masterpiece within which I sit every day.

Problem was -- I had a very busy year...

Let's just say I have a lot of empathy for the disgraced coroner from Ontario -- or for his filing skills, anyway.

Well, I'm home now, and am trying to turn my attention to all the stuff that has fallen -- abandoned and in ruins -- around me while I have been running around promoting Ms. Zephyr, dealing with SiWC issues and writing DEADLINE in between.

I do have a few more events between now and the end of the year, (more in the next post on that) but in between -- it's time to open my mail. (2.5 ' stack under arrow...)

I spent most of the day cleaning out my office, organizing, re-shelving and so on. And no, this is not the 'before' picture.

So let's just get this straight. Coroners are supposed to have tidy offices. But writers...?

~kc

PS -- Watch this space for upcoming signing events before Christmas...

The Calm after...

Storm watch seems to have settled down a bit here, thankfully. The folks in Strachan Point are back in their homes after a helicopter survey of the creek above them proved things to be less dangerous than first thought.

This is an aerial shot of the debris torrent dam above my own little village. We have two creeks -- Harvey & Alberta -- in the village proper (and another -- Magnesia Creek -- in the Brunswick Beach section of the village).

For those who asked -- a brief word or two on the nature of a debris torrent. The combination of development, poor logging practices and severe weather (in Howe Sound we had 100 mm of snow followed by 150 mm of rain on two consecutive days this week) means that debris in the form of logs, mud, snow and branches can build up high in the creeks on the mountainsides where the water flows most swiftly. If the pressure builds up sufficiently, this material can rocket down the side of the mountain like a combination tidal wave and avalanche, wiping out whatever is in its path.

In 1983, after a debris torrent tore down the creek bed, destroying five houses and and killing two boys, dams like the one pictured here were built above the village on the mountainside to prevent this from happening again. Charles Creek, above Strachan Point, has one of these too, but a debris torrent in 2006 left the emergency authorities just a little nervous about the potential for disaster this time. Thankfully, all appears to be well for the moment.

Just as happily, the fundraising event for Rockridge School at 32 Books last night seemed a big success, judging from the number of bodies crammed into the bookstore. Congratulations to Deb McVittie and her staff for putting on a great event. Special props to the student volunteers who worked so hard to make sure everything went smoothly.

~kc

24 hours on Deck...

A view from my window...yesterday morning, just before dawn.

Approximately 12 hours later... last night.

And this morning, just after sunrise...

Same section of deck rail, roughly. (In the second shot, you can see the lump made by the snow-covered brick...) Massive, heavy snowfall -- roads impassible, highway blocked. Then ....WHAM.

Pineapple Express.

It hit last night sometime after midnight. By noon today, all the snow was gone, trees bending sideways, and flooding, flooding everywhere. The tiny community of Strachan Point, just down the road, evacuated due to debris torrent hazard. We mountain dwellers fear debris torrents -- they've taken many lives over the years.

Only lost power once today -- not bad!

Life on the coast is never dull...

In other news, be sure to drop by 32 Books in North Vancouver tomorrow night. Deb McVittie and her gang are putting on a special Rockridge Secondary School fundraiser:

Celebrate the Book: A fundraiser for Rockridge secondary school library featuring authors kc dyer, John Vaillant, Mary Novik and entertainment provided by the Rockridge student combos, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 6:30-9 p.m. at 32 Books, 3185 Edgemont Blvd., North Vancouver.

Hope to see you there!

~kc

The Power Flickers...

...so I'd best be quick. We've lost power three times today -- heavy snow on the wires, I think. At least a foot of snow has fallen during the daylight hours today -- with much resultant happiness ensuing from the local denizens.

Time then, for just a few visual memories of book tours past.

This shot is of the moon shining down on the beautiful main street of Lindsay, Ontario, after the first snowfall of the year.

A very pretty town, as was Omemee -- just down the road a few clicks. Full of most excellent kids with GREAT questions who made me feel right at home.

This shot is of old Montreal, through the window of a creperie, where a brief (but rollicking) lunch was consumed with great gusto. It was Grey Cup Sunday and the streets were fairly empty, and strangely enough it was darned tough to find a place to eat. But we managed it, and were very happy with the results.

And this is the real reason, of course, that I hied myself to Montreal for lunch and a tour of the old city in the first place...

Now just look at that face and tell me ANYONE who would pass up a chance to spend time with this woman? You'd have to be crazy...

Thanks for a great day, Pamela!

~kc

Sicko...

...not Michael Moore, though I do want to see his latest. No -- it's me this time, courtesy of (I am convinced) the generous fellow who sat in the row behind me on the plane from Toronto and coughed and sneezed into the air the entire trip.

I am hoarse, crabby and am cultivating a bit of a Darth Vadar vocal vibe.

But it is snowing, my children are cosy and warm and my dog wants to go for a romp, so I guess things could be worse. I think I'll still lobby for surgical masks on airplanes, though!

~kc

Ahhhhhhh......

The sound of home after too long away.

My arrival was a little less foggy and a little more snowy than this picture would indicate, but I haven't got a better shot for now. (Once when a tiny sow-whet owl crash landed on my deck, it was into the tree on the left that he flew as soon as he had recovered...)

I have had an incredible year. And this particular season has amounted to the busiest fall I have ever lived through.

But now I am home, and ready to catch up on the mountain of things that have waited, un-done, for my return.

The only really lousy thing that's happened this year has been my computer service. After going through crash after crash of email and various other systems, the time has come to make the big change. I'm putting the PC out to pasture and going Mac, baby.

The pasture's not _that_ far away, over on the next desk, actually, since the offspring still require ready access to all their old files etc., but the main machine will be a Mac, at last.

In the meantime, if you've sent me an email to which I haven't replied ... send again, just in case. I'm only a hundred or so behind, which compared with the thousands I was chasing at the height of SiWC madness feels like easy sailing.

Thanks again to all the amazing teachers and librarians and to the hundreds of terrific teens I met on this book tour. You all made me feel so welcome -- I had a marvellous time. For those who have ordered books -- they are on the way. (I mailed a bunch yesterday, and got a note today that some had been received already. Go Canada Post!)

Also came home to the very exciting news that Ms Zephyr has been nominated for a Cybils Award. More on that soon...

~kc

Startling New Talent...

Okay...I can only note the link here, but check out this amazing new YouTube video, (a PSA against littering) filmed and directed by the most talented crew I know...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHE7hr6UN8s

(As soon as I have an actual copy of the video, I'll upload it here -- with permission of the auteur, of course.)


~kc

Montreal and Back Again...

I am back in Toronto in my terribly posh hotel, drinking hot chocolate and contemplating a speedy but lovely day in Montreal with the effervescent, triple-hitting Bulwyr-Lytton (AND record-holding SiWC Silly Writing contest winner) Pamela Patchet. Ferried about by her most excellent husband, the fine Dr. Hamilton, I had a chance to have a quick glimpse of the old city, whilst sharing lunch with a dear friend.

It was, in fact, a great deal snowier than this stock publicity shot would imply.

I did manage to take a few more seasonally accurate pictures that I will post on my return.

I glided back into Toronto, courtesy Via Rail, to the sight of a heroically green CN Tower, leading our Engineer to leap onto the crackly pa system (circa 1930, I am sure) to announce Saskatchewan's triumph in the Grey Cup. I walked off my train in Union Station as each and every member of the Grey Cup audience descended into the subway. A sea of people...

Sadly, at this hotel, they close the gym unconscionably early for people still keeping BC hours who have been sitting on a train much of the day and need a workout. Looks like tomorrow morning will have to do.

Instead, I am drinking lovely hot chocolate WITH whipped cream, just to console myself.

~kc

Day Seven -- Lindsay at Last

Spent my day in and around the environs of Lindsay, Ontario, having arrived here last night by bus.

I left the big boxes of my books at my new hotel in Toronto to avoid schlepping them all the way up here on the bus, but when I reached the bus station, I realized I had been so efficient with my packing that I didn't have a single copy to read to the group. I dashed off to the World's Biggest Bookstore (only a block away) and bought a copy of Ms. Z so I would have something to read.

Lindsay is now a part of the City of Kawartha Lakes -- a decision six years old and yet still controversial to those who live here. My contact here is Diane Lansdell, Children's librarian at the Lindsay Public Library. A big thank you to her for ensuring I was well fed and carefully delivered to my various destinations.

I was scheduled to do two library events, which turned out to include a number of groups of local kids, and the day was great fun. I spoke to kids from the school in Lindsay, and then a group of 150 or so kids from Scott young Public School in Omemee. (Scott Young was Neil Young's father -- both were from here and Scott was apparently a very respected newspaper journalist.) The kids were very patient as we took pictures and shot video for the local media.
They were a GREAT audience, very engaged in the stories. It looks like at least one of the classes will be using one of my books for a novel study this year.

This is a very cool little town -- I am typing these words on a computer that sits under a map of Lindsay... dated 1875. It looks like a thriving metropolis, even then. I got a picture of the moon rising over snowy downtown Lindsay that I will try to post as soon as I get a chance. Thanks for inviting me!

Much writing and paperwork over the next few days, and after a side trip to Montreal, the wending homewards will commence.

~kc

Sprinting Into the Home Stretch -- Day Six

Today was a transportation day. My long-suffering minder Monica was behind the wheel yet again -- once she managed to make it into her car. The doors froze shut after a night of freezing rain, and our adventures today all took place in a winter wonderland as Toronto and environs was hit with the first big storm of the year.

We made our way to Lambton Kingsway Junior Middle School and arrived only a few minutes late due to the dastardly drive. Spoke with two sets of kids from grades 6-8 -- had a great time. Am not exactly clear on what I am saying any more -- but I think coherance prevailed, as the kids asked great questions and a good time was had by all.

Many thanks to parent Julie Dreger for seeing to it that I didn't starve and for helping organize book sales!

Monica took the wheel again to ferry me north to Markham, where I faced my biggest crowd yet at Armadale Public School. We actually arrived early, due entirely to the skills of the driver, and had time for lunch before speaking to seven classes of grade 7 & 8 kids in the school gym.

The Amandale kids did their school proud and as I walked out the door, were scrambling to set up the gym for a science fair at the school tomorrow. Hope it is a great success!

Back down to collect books, drop them at a new hotel and then hop yet another bus -- this one to Lindsay, Ontario. A fond farewell and a big thank you to Minder Monica! Serious snow here in Lindsay, and I am now warmly ensconced in the Manor on Peel B&B -- beautiful old house, circa 1905 and a brilliant internet connection that has allowed me to bring my blog up to date.

Trekking through the snow to local libraries tomorrow -- more soon.

~kc

Day Five -- Go Bus Redux

Once again on the Go Bus at the crack of dawn -- this time destination King City via East Gwillimbury. Had a couple of great sessions at King City Secondary under the supervisorial eye of Lou Bruni, Librarian/English Teacher and all-round nice guy.

This logo is the motto of KCSS, and reflects pretty accurately my view of what makes a story great, too -- with a little flexibility in definition, of course.

After my two presentations at the high school, I was escorted across the road to the local library, where I put on a presentation for a group from King City Public School. Great kids -- very engaged in the story and lots of fun to talk with.

Go Bus back to Toronto in freezing rain, and then a quick walk through the city to Marsha Skrypuch's most excellent book launch for her newest novel: Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk.

This is a beautiful book and a long labour of love for Marsha -- congratulations go out to her for this marvellous success!

Back to the hotel, where I connected with Anita Daher again, and we collectively failed to meet up with the other authors (RP McIntyre and Jeff Sinclair) who were crashing at the hotel.

~kc

Messing With the Time-Space Continuum -- Tour Day 4

Ah.

An easy internet connection, at last.

I had to leave the wilds of downtown Toronto and travel to the civilized environs of Lindsay, Ontario to find it, too.

So, in keeping with the title of this post...I am actually writing this on Day 6, (or perhaps it is actually Day 7 -- it's been a long week), but I will hark back to Day 4 to re-coup the highlights.

Day Four began with a trip to the bus station for a jaunt to Aurora. I had a lovely bus driver, terribly erudite, who suggested a number of his favourite books to me as we travelled north and chatted en route. He also very kindly offered to help me with my books as I stepped off the bus, and then dumped every one of them onto the wet curb in the rain. But in the way of these things, of course -- it turned out to be good luck after all, as I sold all my books that day -- not only autographed but speckled with a little fresh Aurora precipitation.

Margaret Fleming, teacher-librarian extraordinare from Devins Drive Public School met me and my dampish books at the bus station -- and we had a marvellous time together. I can't seem to upload a picture, so here is a link to this very cool school:

http://www.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/page.cfm?id=S23400001&sc=234

I did a couple of presentations to the kids of this school -- signed postcards galore and sold afore-mentioned books. Go-Bused back to Toronto and took a walk over to the Distillery district to find incredible chocolatier-- Soma, as recommended by my minder Monica. (Their image is to the left...a store that has to be experienced to be believed.) Clearly walked too far and ate too little chocolate, as I fell asleep before I could blog. Continue to be seriously behind in email due to faulty connections.

~kc

Day Three -- Third Try....

Alrighty, then.

It appears I have the horrid internet connection problems sorted out.

Back to yesterday...

Early start. My minder/keeper/driver/organizer Monica collected me at 8 am for a trip to Parkdale Collegiate High School. This school is right off of Queen Street West in Toronto – an inner-city school with a wide range of kids from many ethnic backgrounds. Apparently a large part of the student population come from Thailand.

It seems a vivid, multicultural environment in an old neighbourhood of this city. The school itself is the second-oldest in the city, built in 1888. The library I was in, however, was a mere five years old (and apparently cost $1M).

I spoke with three English classes -- a group of grade 9 pre-IB students, a class of grade 12s and then another group of grade 9s.

Here are some of the thoughts of the grade 9s regarding their school:

• Sasina says her school is friendly.


• Nilaj thinks it's a cool school.


• Javeria and Vivian agreed.

Pretty unanimous feedback! Thanks for having me, Parkdale.

At lunch, I walked along Queen Street. This part of it is loaded with Roti shops and other West Indian cuisine. Very cool shops but Queen Street is looking tired and uncared for. Yonge Street is the same -- at least downtown. Near the Eaton Centre used to be a vibrant area -- now it's a street filled with derelict buildings and strip joints. Homeless folks on every corner. It's hard to understand.

In the afternoon, I nipped down to the Market area to visit the gang at Dundurn in their new digs. (Not so new to them, perhaps, but new to me...)

Just time to buy take-out Thai to eat in the car, and then Monica scooted me (in her fabulous, environmentally-conscious Zip Car) up to Brampton for a reading at the library and an interview on Rogers Cable. (You know you've made the big time...) The cameraman was also the interviewer, and once he positioned me, I was not allowed to move, for fear I would slip out of the shot and he wouldn't know. As an inveterate hand-talker, this was no easy task, but I think it turned out all right in the end.

It was great to see Helene and Elizabeth from the forum, who braved the wilds of traffic to come to the reading. The trip to Brampton took two hours, but back to the hotel was just under half an hour -- the beauty of a traffic-free toll highway speeding our trip back.

And another glamorous day of the touring author closes -- have to be up at seven to make the bus to Aurora!

~kc

Day Three....argh

Just lost a lovely long post due to a crummy internet connection. It's been a long, busy day -- will re-post the details tomorrow.

~kc, krankily....