I didn't have my good camera with me, but wanted to document the beautiful Earth Day in Lions Bay yesterday. So to and fro to yoga class, here is some visual evidence of the beauty of this planet that we all share.... Above, cherry blossoms still fresh.


One of the many streams that run down the mountain.

Japanese maples unfurling.

Dogwood just going into flower...[blooms are still bright green].


Periwinkle in the shade.

I'm so glad I got these shots -- today the rain is back!

More soon.

~kc

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Still no new site, but my open tabs are threatening to take over my computer, so here's a catch up on all that's interesting in kc's world at the moment.

And the new website? Soon my pretties, soon....

Let's begin with a few bookish things, shall we?

I loved this article on what success means to Canadian author Joseph Boyden. Note:[for those who may not be aware of the financial realities of Canuck authors] big money is not involved.

Nonetheless, if you are among the clinically insane enough to pursue this line of work, here's a word of advice for you. I tweeted this earlier this week, and it's been picked up by the clever and sparkly Kathy Chung [that's her on the left up there, with the equally gorgeous writer Pamela Patchet at a SiWC past...]on the SiWC blog...but here is a link to an old [but valuable] article by Jenny Cruisie that has resurfaced recently; some salient advice to writers about valuing your time.

My buddy, author James McCann is offering a kids & parent writing class -- SUCH a great idea! You can find more on his blog HERE.

Speaking of James, he and his partner in crime, Lee Edward Fodi have a new episode of their Authors Like Us podcast up. This is part two of a dinner interview with amazing authors Don Calame and Meg Tilly. I have to admit to crashing the party, so you'll hear me in the background, too. The food was great, the company stellar and the insanity ratcheted high.

In volcanic news, while the planes are now returning to European airspace, here's one Python who got out of town in the world's most expensive taxi ride.

And now, a few interesting things floating about the internet...

HERE , via boingboing, you will find Adam Savage's noble address to Harvard heathen, a brief but very enjoyable read.

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this show before, but in celebration of the new third series episodes that are now up, I suggest you check out Lisa Kudrow's Web Therapy, if you haven't already. Mostly improvised, wholly high-larious.


Let's finish with Australia's Axis of Awesome, shall we? Three less photogenic rockers you will have to search to find, but...are they funny? Judge for yourself:

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I've been stalling, hoping that my next blog post will be in the newly migrated section at my freshly upgraded and spookified website...

but it's not to be. Too much going on, and we've reached a little glitch. AND, speaking of migration, my web-guy has had to make a little side trip to Hawaii, so it may well be a bit before all systems are go.

In the meantime, a few things that interested me this week:


Iceland making itself heard on the international aviation stage: AMAZING photos of the eruptions HERE. And HERE is a flickr collection of more.

Breathtaking. But the ash in the air is also having an influence on the book world. The London Book Fair scheduled for this week has been disrupted by cancelled flights. I have hugely fond memories of attending this event a few years ago, and I'm sorry to see it so disrupted.

And, finally,  if the volcano pix are not enough Facing Fire for you -- check out this incredible sun surge, called an eruptive prominence, as recorded by NASA over 19 hours on April 12 and 13th. This one is estimated at 500,000 miles long.



Astonishing.

~kc

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So much going on these days...

Tomorrow I have the usual Tuesday CWC creative writing class, with a bonus visit to Van Tech Secondary in the morning. This is becoming an annual event -- I think it's the third year in a row I've visited -- and I'm looking forward to a ton of fun.

In the meantime, we are working very hard behind the scenes to get the new website design up and going. This blog will migrate over there as soon as it is ready to go...here's another sneak peak of the front page...

Make sure you check out the Surrey International Writers' Conference site blog, too, as this year's presenters are slowly making their way into the public eye. You'll love them all!

More soon...

~kc

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Have spent far too long tonight trying to get my 'just-in-case' hard copy manuscript to print back to back. All it takes is for the printer to pick up two pages in the middle to ...



...well, to make for a long evening.

So, for your viewing pleasure, I bring you a little advice on novel-writing:
Apparently designed by a genius by the name of Anna Hurley, the original is HERE.

~kc

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...tho' I do have a glossary to write. But who cares, tra-la! Tomorrow is another day! Ooo-da-lolly, and fa-la-la!




[Previous giddiness brought to you by Post-Copyedit-Euphoria, a condition in which writer sees light at the end of the publication tunnel, and harbours secret hopes that new book might one day be enjoyed by others...]

What else?

Well, there hasn't been much else in my life, lately. I am once again appallingly behind in email, all other projects and obligations have come to a grinding halt and so on, so I must pick up the pieces again next week. But in the meantime, something that made me laugh today:

McSweeney's take on MacBeth and MacDuff knicker-twisting over Semantics

Oh, and not funny, but interesting -- a response to the Wikileaks video travesty I referenced last week: Soldiers as Psychopaths.

More soon.

~kc

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...rule my life at the moment. FACING FIRE approaches. That is all.

~kc

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...is a word I often use to describe my life. I am a chronic-over-committer, and when one doesn't leave time for things to go wrong -- well, of course they usually do. I am facing a particularly insane few months right now -- a time when work and real life have to connect in concert or all will be lost.

Will report back with the results here, of course.

But for tonight, a bit of catch-up on things that have caught my attention lately.

To begin with writerly news, the Hugo Award Nominees were announced yesterday. You can find them listed HERE on the AussieCon site. Last year the big SF convention was in Montreal, right at the height of swine flu season. Here's hoping all the Aussies stay healthy!
 
Moving on to the geological, I found it fascinating yesterday to watch the spread of information about the Baja earthquake on Twitter long before there was mention of it on any of the conventional news channels. Not much effect in California, but my thoughts are going out to those in Mexico who were shaken out of their normal lives by the event. I found THIS SITE to be most informative about the latest, particularly when the severity was re-calibrated from 6.9 to 7.2 -- a substantial jump in size.

And in a final reference to the title of this post, I was saddened and further disheartened by the leaked military video released today on the WikiLeaks site. Again, this story broke on-line long before it emerged anywhere in conventional media. A horrifying incident.  I marched [fruitlessly] with millions of others around the globe against this war before it started, and footage like this stands as evidence of well-founded fears. [I first read about the info on Darren Barefoot's blog -- click HERE for his thoughts.] Further analysis is all over the web now, and I'm hoping that by the time I type this, it might actually have usurped all the Tiger drivel on CNN's front page. [Or not...I just checked, and there is a single line link to it, but apparently a big basketball game trumps all]. Priorities? Insane.

Back to writing about books tomorrow...

~kc

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Tryng again here, as blogger wouldn't let me on earlier. It might have something to do with the monsoon blowing outside, but I doubt it. The rest of the country basks in unseasonable sunshine and warm temperatures, and we are undersea and wind-whipped.

And so, to lighten my own day, and hopefully put a smile in yours, here's a little bloodthirsty take on the Easter Monster. [tip o' the Easter bonnet to @dbarefoot for the link].



~kc

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Hey -- check this out!

If you live in the Vancouver area,

and you're interested in writing for kids & teens,

author James McCann is offering a course for adults on Sunday, April 18th. Details HERE on his blog. This is a don't-miss opportunity -- James doesn't get a chance to share his secrets very often, and when it does, it's worth it!

There's a limited enrollment, so sign up fast!

I'm off to an SiWC 2010 meeting now, and then a ballistics class at the Vancouver Police Museum after that. Busy day...will report on both when I can!

~kc

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Spent some time this weekend working through details of the new website -- it's looking grim [ha! on purpose, of course] and I'm hoping to have it up very shortly. Really excited about it on a number of fronts -- I am going to be moving to an new ISP that supports relatively easy updates, AND we should be able to snag the blog ...[snog???] so that everything appears in one spot. Beauty!

More on that soon. [Here's a sneak peek of part of the home page--->]

What else....?



SiWC 2010 Board meeting tomorrow...loads of fun things in the works for this year. New conference coordinator Kathy Chung is doing an incredible job with the line-up of presenters -- lots of fangirl moments in my future, I can tell you!

If you haven't yet done so, hie on over to www.siwc.ca and pick up the RSS feed for the blog posts. Make sure to sign up for the newsletter, too.


My new steampunk-timeslip novel is hurtling towards being finished -- I'll be thrilled to get this one in the can, as it's been five years in the making. AND, with luck, it'll be the first of a new series.

Lots going on! For daily updates, you can follow me on twitter @kcdyer. 

More soon...

~kc

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For the fourth year running, nations all around the world are celebrating Earth Hour by turning off the lights at 8:30 pm local time. What started in Sydney, Australia in 2007 has now reached around the globe.

For me, this is an incredible symbol of what happens when people each take a moment of personal responsibility, acting in concert with others around the earth.

What will YOU be doing at 8:30 this evening? [I've got a night ghost stories with friends lined up.]

Join in.

And tomorrow, when it's over, give a thought to what else you can do to take a stand. Let's work together to fix this mess our species has made, shall we?

~kc

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...of a few sundry items.

I've attended the Vancouver Police Museum's forensics for adults series twice now, and really enjoyed myself both times. The last event of this series is ballistics -- next Tuesday. Hoping to make it through unscathed. Weird little museums have always held a thrall for me,  and this place is something special for Vancouver. Heartily recommend you check it out. [Pictured, a heady collection of autopsy dismembering tools. Unbloodied, of course, because blood spatter was not covered until the following week....].

In other news, I spotted this post on the Author's Booking Service blog yesterday -- some great ideas here for teachers and parents who want to raise money for an author visit in these financially trying times. Have a peek!

It was a week ago today that I set up my treadmill desk. For those who follow me on twitter, [@kcdyer], you'll note that it's been a busy week. It interests me intensely that I have, this week, racked up 19 hours of walking on the thing while typing, which has translated into 55 kms walked, without really noticing. I can't do everything that I can do at my writing desk [handwriting is out], but I can work on my computer and do phone work. This has left me with slightly sorer feet than usual, and a daily reminder to get myself into some new runners, but...holy crow. I'm really pleased.

And finally, today is Ada Lovelace Day, where computer geeks such as myself pay homage to women in the sciences and technology. Ada herself was one of the first computer programmers -- you can read more about her AND donate to her cause HERE. One of my women-in-computing inspirations is blogger and writer Xeni Jardin, who is most often seen on the pixellated pages of boingboing. Do you have a woman in your life who inspired you in the sciences or in technology? Add her name to the comments in honour of Ada!

~kc

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...and with it, a couple of Items Of Interest.

Canadian SF writer Peter Watts, [whom I tweeted about when it first went down] in a bizarre take on actual justice, has just been convicted of assault when crossing the Canada/US border last year, even though everyone  -- judge, jury and legal teams -- agrees that no actual assault took place. Like just about everyone I know, I've had my share of bad border-crossings, but this one takes the cake. Freakish and frightening. Sending out the power of the collective Canadian writer vibe to Peter. And a strong hope he appeals the verdict.

Author Cory Doctorow's view HERE. Tor Editor Teresa Nielson-Hayden's thoughts HERE [under the title Empathy Failed]. And words from the man himself HERE. [photo by Dan Brooks]










In more cheerful artsy news, my friend writer Jacqueline Pearce has a show on right now combining her Haiku with her friend Jean-Pierre Antonio's photography. It's at the Sawa Tea Lounge & Gallery in Vancouver. Find out more HERE on Jacquie's blog.





~kc

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[Warning: The post contains a bare naked knee.]

This is it:

Pretty great knee, eh? I have another one that is much less fetching, having had 27 stitches sunk into it once when I  took an unfortunate plunge through a broken dock. With a rusty nail.

[Ewww!]

Back to the good knee. Here it is at some point last year, dressed up for a day on the town in Toronto:



Sorry about the blurry foot. [Pic was actually taken to demo Very Cool New Skull Scarf].


Regardless, this knee has a secret. It just LOOKS like a good knee. In truth, inside this perfectly functional-looking joint is a torn meniscus. The medial meniscus, if you want to get technical. I tore it last summer, August 20th, to be exact, taking a gazelle-like sideways leap across an embarrassingly low pylon in my boot-camp exercise class.

[I am going somewhere with this story....]

So, after the requisite time to allow the thing to heal, followed by the requisite denial phase, and the requisite 'I don't actually have a doctor, because the one I had moved to Vernon' phase, plus a number of pain-induced sleepless nights, I actually broke down and showed up at my friend Linda's office and asked her to have a look at it. [She is a doctor, needless to say, though not my doctor, as that would not be fair.] She told me she thought I had a torn meniscus, and sent me off to a series of experts, who all agreed with her. So did the MRI.

My friend Linda the doctor is very smart. She's also lived through a number of body-rending events with me so has learned to Expect The Worst.

As a result, there hasn't been much running done lately, by the knee you see pictured above. I'm scheduled for surgery sometime fairly soon to have the torn stuff scraped out.

But I digress.

Because this is my meniscus and not an ACL or other more important ligament, I can still do the elliptical trainer at the gym and swim and so on.

And yet, I fear. I fear the encroaching portliness. The avoirdupois. I fear becoming my other friend Norma's new favourite word, which happens to be zaftig. Also, you may not have noticed, but my particular profession requires a certain amount of sitting and typing, which when combined with the lack of running in my life, may lead to same.

No more.

[At last -- she gets to the point!]

All this to say, I have just set up a treadmill desk in my office. Not only that, but I've put a file on my desktop titled LIVE WRITER WALKING so I can record my progress [if any]. I tried it today for the first time with pretty decent success. Walked for an hour and a half at 2 km an hour [which is slightly over the recommended speed, but I couldn't get my rhythm at 1.6 km/hr...so 2 it was.] I actually forgot to record the distance, but according to the machine I managed to burn [and my guess is this is very approximate] 254 calories, which is likely a few more than I would have burned with my posteri

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Last night I spent the evening in the old Vancouver morgue, now the Vancouver Police Museum, listening to a talk about forensics and crime. Bliss. Next week is blood spatter. But tonight, I celebrate the wearin' of the green with a trip to see The Commitments, the film from the book by Roddy Doyle.

Éirinn go brách!

And in the spirit of the day, I offer this wee clip, which I came upon with great pleasure earlier this week via my beloved boingboing, of course. Pots o' gold, evil leprechauns and steampunk weaponry. Even a little blood spatter...of the green variety. Enjoy the League of Steam!





~kc

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Especially when an hour of sleep is gone, due to daylight savings! Ah, well...we can always drown our sorrows through eating pie...*

Just a couple of quick notes for tonight. HERE is where you'll find a link to Belva's List...a collection of things to do in and around Seattle. It's compiled by my friend Wally Lane's wife Belva, and is a must-read for those visiting the Emerald City.

This week I ventured out to eat German pancakes and visit the Museum of Vancouver  with friends Annett Stuze and Britta Vorbach. [This is Annett, looking fetching in period gear from the 'Old Vancouver' part of the exhibit.]

We really went to see the Art of Craft exhibit at the MoV which has been curated by Kirsti Wakelin and her partner Darren Carcary of Resolve Design. It was a beautiful and amazing exhibit, and is on until mid-April. I can heartily recommend it. You can read more about the experience of curating such a diverse collection on Kirsti's blog HERE.

Also loved the nightmare-dreamscape peopled by these evil fairies.







More soon...!

~kc

*geek pun based on the fact that today is Pi Celebration Day. Now go out and find 3.14 [etc] ways to celebrate it!

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Always a fun time of year -- the shortlists for the BC Book Prizes have emerged.

The full list of nominations can be found HERE.

Congratulations to all nominees, many of them CWILL BC members, and special congrats to my friends Kari Lynn Winters and Christina Leist for their picture book ON MY WALK.


READ as many of these nominated books as you can. They are wonderful taste of left-coast Canada!

~kc

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...coverage of the 2010 Paralympic Opening Ceremonies. I think I enjoyed them even more than the last set. Not sure why CTV only broadcasted in BC, but they are rebroadcasting tomorrow, and I would highly recommend. The segments on Rick Hanson and Terry Fox had me in tears. The whole ceremony was really fun -- very light-hearted, lots of kids performing [including some kids from Lions Bay in the choir!] and, apart from the once-again horrific French of John Furlong [poor man -- he's worked so hard, but obviously NOT at the public speaking element....], a real joy to watch.

Rebroadcast is set for tomorrow [Saturday, March 13th], 2 pm local time.

~kc

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