Hooray for The Tyee! A nearly mainstream news source that considers animals and the environment front-page news. What a concept.
This week:
and
A Podcast of Tzeporah Berman, BC’s Rock Star of the EnvironmentÂ
Originally uploaded by Jane Ray’s Wildlife Rescue Series
However noble my intentions may be to change the world for animals through my books, the questions I get from readers — of all ages — come down to this: For the love of all things holy, when is Jane going to get a boyfriend?
Without spoiling the plot lines for anybody who hasn’t read either Flight or Fight or Crow Medicine yet, the specific questions run along these lines:
What really happened with Jake?
Is it my imagination, of is Daniel flirting with Jane?
I know he’s a lot older than Jane is, but wouldn’t Marcello be a good match?
and
What the heck is going on with Mike?
And so to all of you who’ve posed these questions, and to all of you who’ve wondered in silence … I have begun work on Gaia Wild, book 3 in Jane Ray’s Wildlife Rescue Series. And now that I have love in my life, I may just be generous enough to allow Jane a little more in hers.
Just don’t expect a smooth ride in book 3! The road is often bumpy, with many surprising twists and turns. But for Jane, the biggest surprise of all is that at the end of every rough patch and around every one of those corners, there’s more love than there was before.
And you get better at the ride.
Gaia Wild is scheduled for release this Fall 2008. I’ll keep you posted as I progress with the research and writing.
p.s. Hi Steve!
Originally uploaded by Jane Ray’s Wildlife Rescue Series
I let Jacquie Pearce know that I’d blogged about her latest book, and asked if she might have a cover jpeg I could upload so you could see what it looks like. She sent it over this morning. Gorgeous, eh?
For the complete low-down on Manga Touch, check out my previous post.
And how excited am I that I’m figuring out how to upload images to my blog? Silly, I know, but I’ve realized that if the little things in life can get you jazzed, you get to spend your whole life jazzed. And that sounds good to me!
So … WOOHOOOOO!!! I uploaded a book cover image!
Well, Happy New Year! Another year, another chance to be a better blogger. It wouldn’t take much. :)
I didn’t make any hard and fast resolutions on New Year’s Eve, but I have set myself a schedule for the next few months out of necessity: I need to produce a book! With the previous two books, for the duration of the writing time, I did not work on any other projects. This time around, I’m going to find out how well I’m able to juggle other projects around the main event: writing Gaia Wild. Wish me luck, and meet me here a few times a week to check in on my progress.
I actually have a backlog of things I want to write about, and I’m starting today with Jacquie Pearce’s Manga Touch. Jacquie has a number of abiding interests that inform her writing: animals; crows (yes, I know, crows are animals, but they are also a particular interest of Jacquie’s); the urban environment; Japan and all things Japanese.
Manga Touch is her latest novel for teens, and tells the story of a manga-loving girl who has the opportunity to travel to Japan with her class. Jacquie launched the book back in October at the Nikkei Cultural Centre in Burnaby, in conjunction with a manga exhibit in the gallery. She told the story of how she came to write the book, showed artefacts from her own trip to Japan, read from the book, presented various pieces of artwork that had been considered for the book’s cover, and answered all our fascinated questions. After her presentation, there were Japanese snacks and sweets for everyone to enjoy, and books to buy, which Jacquie was happy to autograph.
For someone who has not yet read any manga, or a graphic novel, Manga Touch is the perfect introduction to the art form and its history. It’s a story I can relate to, told in a style I’m familiar with, and it takes me to places I’ve never been before.
For more information about BC author Jacquie Pearce and Manga Touch, click here to visit her blog, or check out www.orcabook.com Have a look at Jacquie’s website, which will give you an idea of the other books she’s written, or click here to read her Chapters/Indigo posting on manga!
Today’s edition of The Tyee is running the first installment in a two-part story on the need to preserve the Flathead Valley. It is a wild, untouched home to top-of-the-food-chain predators such as grizzlies, wolves and wolverines, and they survive in such numbers and with such success because the Valley is free from human habitation. But there are plans afoot to turn the area into a park.
My thanks to the Tyee for bringing the situation to light and giving us a chance to consider all sides of the debate and make our own decisions.
For a wonderful book about the importance of protecting predators and preserving their habitats (and for a simply beautiful novel written with the spare eloquence of a former scientist and the elegance of an artist) check out Barbara Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer. One of my favourite books of all time, and one of the very few I know I’ll re-read again and again.