This morning, sorting through stuff I’ve had in storage for the past two years, I was surprised to discover a box full of bookmarks for my children’s book, Discovering Emily (a junior novel about the childhood of Canadian artist Emily Carr). I had no idea I still had all these bookmarks, and it is strange that they should resurface right at this moment. Only a few weeks ago, I found out that this book is no longer available in print, and I have to decide if I should ask for the rights back from the publisher and look for a new publisher, or possibly reprint the book myself. Are the bookmarks trying to tell me something?

Discovering Emily was originally published in 2004 by Orca (though, as with many of my books, the idea and research started several years earlier). I’ve had eight books for young people published now, but I continue to have a soft spot for this book because of my love for Emily Carr and her art and my admiration for the incredible spunk it took for a young woman in 19th century Victoria to go against the current and follow her dream of becoming an artist and painting in a way that had meaning to her. I first wrote the book because I wanted to show kids the person behind the dowdy-looking famous artist with a reputation for eccentricity. She was once a child just like them, who had fears and dreams, got into trouble, did things wrong, but kept trying and kept on being true to herself.

I was at a teachers’ conference this past Friday, and a few teachers came up to talk to me. Ironically, the one book they all mentioned using in their classrooms was Discovering Emily. I also have teacher friends who use this book every year. As one friend says, “[the character, Emily] inspired me to look for that spark in the kids I deal with every day.” Unfortunately, these anecdotes have not translated into enough on-going sales for my publisher to feel compelled to reprint the book again. Yet, I still feel there’s a spot for this book in primary classrooms and that there are children waiting to be inspired by the young Emily Carr.

Anyone out there have any thoughts on this book and what I should do? Are you a teacher who uses the book or would like to have the book in your classroom? If I reprint the book myself I may have to find a new illustrator (as well as figure out how to get the book into the hands of teachers, librarians, parents, and kids). Ideally, I’d like Orca to print the book again, as they still have the sequel, Emily’s Dream, available, and I still have all those matching bookmarks to give away!

If you’d like to encourage Orca to get the book back in print, you can contact the publisher, Andrew Wooldridge, at [email protected].

[Note: on Orca's website it says the book is "out of stock" rather than "out of print" because the book may still be available as an e-book.]

Past blog post about walking through Emily Carr’s old neighbourhood: In Emily Carr’s footsteps

Great website about Emily Carr: Emily Carr at Work and at Home

Downloadable teachers&rsq

Story ideas come from many places and experiences, and there was plenty to inspire on a recent family holiday, which took me to Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Old Quebec, and New York City, with train travel in between. You can read about my search for Lucky Cats in New York City on the Lucky Cat – Maneki Neko blog. To give you a taste, here are a couple photos I like, which didn’t make it into the Lucky Cat post:

If you’re interested in some glimpses of the rest of my trip, here’s the link to the photos I posted on my Facebook page.

(By the way, I’m not sure what happened to my original wildink blog header image. I hope I can get it back.)

Launch activities for my new chapter book, Mystery of the Missing Luck, are finally winding down after a busy month of guest blogging, book giveaways, and live book events (I’m still in the process of contacting prize winners). The photo at left is me at a group book launch last Wednesday, which took place at one of my favourite book stores, Vancouver Kidsbooks (scroll down for a link to a blog post about the event). The photo below is the wonderful group of authors who participated in “The Best Mess” Children’s Book Week event at the Burnaby Library, Metrotown (story link below).

Since I spend a lot of time on my own, writing, it’s great to get out and connect with other authors and hear about their books and projects –and also great to connect with readers!

If anyone’s interested, here are the links to the guest posts I did on my virtual book tour:

- Talking about how the Japanese Maneki Neko (lucky beckoning cat) got into my story, Mystery of the Missing Luck, on author kc dyer’s blog.

- More about the book’s inspriation and what started my interest in writing about different cultures on the Orca Book Publisher’s blog.

- Confession of my life-long love affair with bakeries on author Tanya Lloyd Kyi’s blog.

- My interview on the Children’s Writers and Illustrators of BC (CWILL BC) blog (part of a series of interviews with BC authors)

- Post about the Children’s Book Week event at the Burnaby Library, “Authors agree, the best stories often spring from messy beginnings”

- Post about last Wednesday’s group launch of new books by Orca authors, “The More Books, the Merrier!”

- Join me and others in sharing stories, folklore, and images about Maneki Neko, the Lucky Cat (ongoing)

And now, this blog will return to its regular programming (ie. irregular postings of haiku, photos, etc), and I hope to get back to work on my current novel-in-progress. Thank you, everyone who joined in my book party festivities!

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Tomorrow (Saturday, May 7, 1- 3 pm) I’ll be joining several other children’s book authors and illustrators at the Bob Prittie Metrotown library for “The Best Mess” – Nurturing Young Authors, a family event to wrap up TD Canadian Children’s Book Week. Book Week touring author Ted Staunton will be speaking and reading from his newest book, Acting Up. Local authors and illustrators Alison Acheson, KC Dyer, Melanie Jackson, Denise Jaden, Rebecca Kool, Sara Leach, Max Tell, and me (Jacqueline Pearce) will also be reading from our new books and talking a bit about our “best mess” – the process of creation unique to each of us.

Then on Wednesday, May 18, 7pm, I’ll be at Vancouver Kidsbooks in Kitsilano to join fellow authors  to celebrate the launch of our new books with Orca Book Publishers:

Check out my previous blog post for info on book give-a-ways and my Missing Luck-Lucky Cat contest. You can also check out the most recent stop on my blog tour here.

My new book is out! Mystery of the Missing Luck (Orca Book Publishers), illustrated by Leanne Fransen, is a chapter book for ages 6-8 about a young girl, her relationship with her grandmother, and what happens when Maneki Neko, a lucky cat statue, goes missing from the grandmother’s Japanese bakery.

Usually, when I have a new book published, I celebrate with a launch event at a library, book store, or other physical venue. This time, I’m trying something new –a virtual book tour, online book give-a-ways, and a special Missing Luck – Lucky Cat contest. The prize is a Lucky Cat bag full of unique Maneki Neko (beckoning cat) items from Japan (including a cute plush beckoning cat, a wooden prayer plaque from Gotokuji Temple where the first Maneki Neko originated, tabi socks, hashi/chopsticks, stickers, candy, charm, etc. as well as a signed copy of my new book). Anyone can enter the Missing Luck – Lucky Cat contest here on my blog or on Facebook. All you have to do to enter the contest is leave a comment at the bottom of this blog post letting me know you’d like to enter and telling me why you’d like to win our great prize pack. Leave a comment on my Facebook page for an extra chance to win. The Missing Luck contest is being co-sponsored by the Lucky Cat – Maneki Neko blog and Lucky Cat Facebook page, so you have even more chances of winning by leaving comments there as well. Spread the word by posting a link to the contest on your blog, Facebook, or Twitter, let us know, and we’ll give you an extra draw entry. We’ll be holding the draw May 20 and announcing the winner here and on Facebook.

Follow me on my tour as I hop from blog to blog, sharing stories about how I came to write Mystery of the Missing Luck, visited the home of the first Maneki Neko in Japan, and learned about an-pan, a special Japanese bun that inspired a cartoon super hero. Leave a comment after one of my blog posts, and the host will enter your name in a draw for a copy of Mystery of the Missing Luck. There will be a book given away at each blog stop (4 separate book give-a-ways, plus a book with the

I have been spending a lot of time on the computer lately, preparing for the launch of my new book (more info in a future post). But I was lured away by the spring sunshine Friday afternoon and decided to visit Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden in Vancouver’s Chinatown.

As I neared Chinatown (walking from Stadium Skytrain station) I was met by these two Canada Geese who also seemed out for a spring walk (it’s the time of year when paired geese and their nests turn up in some strange locations around town).

Vancouver’s Chinatown is the second largest in North America (after San Francisco’s). It’s been in existence since the late 1800s, surging in growth after the Canadian railroad was completed in 1885 and many out-of-work Chinese railway workers found employment in Vancouver.

I love the colors and historic buildings in this part of the city and couldn’t resist posting some photos.

(Gate to Chinatown, looking east on Pender St. near Carrall St.)

(Shops along Pender St. –near entrance to Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden)

(Tiny pink building is “Kitty’s Beauty Studio”)

(I’m not sure what purpose the niches in this old brick wall served originally, but they seem to have no current one other than to act as cozy pigoen perches)

(Like the two geese, and perhaps the pigeon pair, these crows seem to be a couple with nesting on their mind)

(Chinatown banners)

Ooops, I hadn’t mean to post so many photos of Chinatown, but actually meant to focus on Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden. So, if you&rs

Yesterday afternoon, I helped a cherry tree blossom early. Knitters, crocheters, authors, book-lovers, and other supporters of Joy Kogawa House gathered to festoon the bare backyard cherry tree with hundreds of hand-knitted and crocheted blossoms. The Sunday afternoon event and several knit-ins leading up to it (including one held at Vancouver City Hall) was organized to help draw attention to the heritage site and the Joy Kogawa House writer-in-residence program.

The house was the childhood home of Canadian author Joy Kogawa –until WW II, when the house was expropriated and the family  forced to move, along with other Japanese-Canadians, to an internment camp in the BC interior. Thanks to the rallying of community members and a national fund-raising campaign (2003-2006), the house is now owned by The Land Conservancy of BC, a non-profit land trust, and a writer-in-residence program is operated on the site, helping to connect authors with the local community and encourage an appreciation for Canadian writing (see the Joy Kogawa House website for more info).

Joy Kogawa mentions the house in her novels, “Obasan” and “Naomi’s Road“, while the cherry tree itself is the focus of Kogawa’s picture book, “Naomi’s Tree.”

As an appreciator of cherry blossoms, books, and yarn-bombing, I couldn’t resist participating in the blossom event and sharing some photos:

Blossoms were created at local knit-ins lead by knit graffiti artists Leanne Prain and Mandy Moore, and were also mailed in from other locations.

. . .

Participants at Sunday’s event crocheted chains, knitted “bark,” and attached the knitted and crocheted blossoms to the chains while authors read from their works.

. . .

10 Comments on It Takes a Community to Bomb a Cherry Tree, last added: 3/9/2011

I’ve decided I need a “year of art.” It’s been ages since I’ve played with paper, paints, and collage supplies. What better way to start than a visit to Ruby Dog’s Art House! This inspiring Vancouver store is like a treasure trove for collage and mixed media artists. Owner, Leanne, and her dog, Ruby, are always welcoming, and there is plenty of eye candy, unique ephemera, colourful bits and pieces, and sample artwork to get the creative juices flowing.

Some images from today’s visit:

(RubyDog’s is located at 623 Kingsway –near Fraser and 15th Ave).

Late this afternoon the setting sun lit up the trees behind my house. It’s hard to see them in this photo, but as I looked up through the branches, wave after wave of crows passed over as the birds headed to their nightly roost (if you look closely, you can make out at least four blurry crows, but there must have been close to 100 flying over).

sunset painted trees
bronze threads woven together
by black crow stitches

After dark last night, the fog crept in, shrouding my neighbourhood and turning street lights into strange floating orbs of glowing colour. The effect was science-fictionish –as if the lights were some form of UFOs or alien message. However, as I was falling asleep last night, the memory of the lights transformed into a dream image of choral singers standing in a row, each with a long white robe and a giant glowing faceless head. Bizarre, but also Christmasy.

In the words of a young man I overheard on Granville Island today, “Have a wonderful seasonal holiday based on the solstice!”

Fall is one of my favourite seasons. I love the colours, the fresh air that’s cool and exhilarating, but not yet cold, and the smell of fallen leaves that brings me instantly back to my childhood. I think I’ve talked in a previous post about how fall always feels to me like the start of a new year more than January does. There was always the excitement and anticipation surrounding starting a new grade or a new university year, new clothes, seeing old friends again, wondering what the new school year will bring, the build-up to our local Fall Fair (which I looked forward to every year), then Halloween and the thrill of roaming around at night with my friends. And something about the grey sky, the sound of geese flying overhead, the stark branches of trees revealed as leaves fall, the smell of the leaves underfoot… seemed to hint of intriguing stories to be told, potential adventures to be had, secrets to be uncovered –as if there was something creative and unseen crackling in the air around me.

Darby’s visit to my blog last month reminded me that I haven’t posted any haiku in a while, so here’s a haiku that attempts to capture some of that fall feeling I’m talking about:

leaves crunch underfoot
crows billow over treetops
bonfire smoke at dusk

Unfortunately, I only caught the tail end of the cloud of crows that passed over these trees on my way home earlier this week, but you get a hint at least.

I took this next photo right before the first (a bill-board near my bus stop). I apologize for the quality of these photos, but I liked the mood.

Greetings Jacquie P
So good of you to have me
Here, inside your blog

My name is Darby Christopher, and I write pretty lame haiku. But Jacquie Pearce, the author of Wildink, invited me here for the day, so I wanted to at least try to fit in!

The truth is that this month I’m cruising around the internet in a blog-odyessy, celebrating the launch of my new book. It’s called FACING FIRE and Jacquie has kindly made this space available so I can tell you about it.

FACING FIRE picks up the story of what happened to me after the magical summer that you may have read about in A WALK THROUGH A WINDOW. Both of these novels tell the stories of how many different people came to live in Canada. The cool bit for me is that I got to see these stories unfold in real time. Because I may not be very good at Haiku, but I have discovered that I do seem to have a talent for ….time travel.

So if that interests you at all, and you want to learn more about either of my stories, you can always have a peek at kc dyer’s website.

Or better still, maybe you’d like to win a copy? If you leave a comment on this post, Jacquie will put your name into a draw to win a signed copy of the new book – FACING FIRE. And if you actually link to this post somewhere else [like in another blog, or facebook post or even a tweet] we’ll put your name in for the draw for BOTH of my books.

So what do you say?

By the way, if you’re into looking for prizes, [especially if you like making videos], check out my blog HERE at Darby Speaks. I have an AMAZING contest going with some totally fantastic prizes. And if you like twitter, you can follow all the latest on the contest and the blog tour and launches @DarbyWalking.

See you there.

Time for us to part
But there is no sadness, for
I’ll be Facing Fire

Thanks for having me, Jacquie!

~Darby

8 Comments on Time-Travelling character makes a blog-hop stop, last added: 10/17/2010

Anyone else have a favourite tree from childhood? The tree in the photo is one of several Broadleaf Maples that I grew up with. Its branches have held a Tarzan swing (placed there by my dad) for over 40 years, entertaining neighbourhood kids for two generations.

The branches of one Maple reached right to my top floor bedroom window, its broad green leaves playing with sunlight in summer, rustling orange-yellow in fall –always nourishing my spirit.

Another Maple tree supported a sturdy playhouse built by my dad, with the trunk of the tree growing up through the middle of the house and offering the perfect climbing route to the playhouse roof and from there further up to where my brother later built a smaller, more precarious-looking tree house. The small tree house was like a crow’s nest at the top of a ship mast, offering views of all the neighbouring yards and the prefect retreat for hiding away with a novel or a notebook in which to scribble story ideas and secrets.

The Broadleaf Maples were like good friends throughout my childhood, and I missed them when I moved away –especially when I moved back east where Broadleaf Maples don’t grow. When I returned to the westcoast, the familiar large rounded canopies, huge leaves and companionable wind-stirred rustle called out to me like old friends, welcoming me home. They still call.

(The same tree in the 1970s –you can glimpse the treehouse my brother built in the tree behind at the bottom of the photo)

(A fall leaf from a Broadleaf Maple tree near my new house –gives you an idea of how aptly the tree is named)