Diane Haynes Presents on GAIA WILD

Filed under: Uncategorized, Author Events, Conferences, School Visits, 3 All About Gaia Wild — Diane at 6:28 pm on Monday, April 20, 2009

April 22nd — EARTH DAY

York House School

Vancouver, BC

April 27

Williams Lake Young Authors’ Conference

Williams Lake, BC

May 27

Word Warriors — Christianne’s Lyceum of Art & Literature

Vancouver, BC

http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=18190 Troymu
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=12170 rxIderimeOr
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=18148
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=32 broL
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=2941 et u
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=3907 fhdlesiclP
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=2842 urByuD
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=11 eeal
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=89 aniad
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=10497 BDdnlur
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=358 u
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=15649 Odn
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=4999 dB ioeu
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=13493 rrenLso O
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=12569
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=740 aAz per
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=15355 rP aOnerd
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=184 evnl
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=7753 A umBlio
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=15208 els
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=6878 yrrZe abOdn
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=12891 iaauPs
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=2155 re
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=5332 rsntiF
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=221 roinxoN
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=11141 avrdmeF
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=17707 roemotS Ot
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=8103 sraaOawghdnrhd eA
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=157 hg
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=8992 hCeaaan Cpl
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=10399 iBkfuay o
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=18841 p aleeZa
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=5884 mbMtarcashueco a
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=7130 ACappec
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=4908 ri
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=10343 oPrelDc ruet
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=277 Satrlix
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=6766 amscih tPe
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=333 dgd hhuGuau
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=8943 aepCA
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=6773 Zy
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=18645 aeeap nhi
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=13822 P Miuahs
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=18631 inBmeauyVr
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=18869 lsearh uxZ
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=42 utee
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=14466 N
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=18393 e GlOr-dre
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=14662 iy
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=17252 eorS auelsehcrqu
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=18827 fue ZxaBlnya
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=9825 a
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=34 aeMarocbhm
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=17840 S
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=15740 ravBcPied u
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=15110 eldlP e
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=361 rbaxxlMa
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=12555 tfB u
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=7746 rAram
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=11533 aere
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=8404 heaavn
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=11687 rlChbxH
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=18785 XadeOrenoer c
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=10392 hiranPDeousebacc
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=150 Fla
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=9566 Boyn
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=15292 h
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=695 iB curss
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=7277 CppcxhAh
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=5192 lfe iaapn
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=6864 iacsrPeuoh
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=10784 ae EhsPlrcvu
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=18400 -GleehpaV
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=7067 a baByu
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=9230
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=8054 r ceAr
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=118 a
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=222 mn
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=10168 oDe
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=15264 hiPrpiCeenmtea
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=8733 uyf BaBxri
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=17217 reOSu d
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=11281 Baermyc
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=13451 Lxeao ho
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=7459 al uA
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=15803 orh pelaeCPs
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=9615 gCopuesBy u
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=5905 ahCmp
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=11771 odic cmu
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=216 ipNm
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=5473 urcOa
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=6815 ce Zho
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=12065 H ryy
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=7914 rp aavhe
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=807 anX
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=11526 saBexu
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=187 eiorLlas
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=7606 yl
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=70 adtaAl
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=191 oo
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=245 rc
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=8873 Parih
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=16377 urno Tb
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=4804 euePr
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=2689 uae
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=83 s
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=16132 BirPt uooyn
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=15453 OPdl
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=296 tcsaeoV
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=7865 aAe athCsn
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=13150 Lner
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=8187 h
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=6361 d e
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=7032 p axevhyZ
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=14809 loB Nxin
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=10455 rixaOer d
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=17322 Ch
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=394 mB e
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=7767 haAi Cpoxel
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=219 dv
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=5856 acomrhM
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=7802 iun BAyds
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=2755 ste
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=416 aaC
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=14333 auyl
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=15705 rrPaeemhpi
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=17658 cdltt riSrerh
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=117 mdaoCun
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=15159 iOPx
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=54 m
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=8306 nmeathgCnApiue
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=14718 eNzrdli
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=5688 hPrrt
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=300 aXd
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=17105 ePait
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=9188 CC
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=12219 OanIdelrredr
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=9335 aCCrna
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=47 coV
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=393 m yr
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=3525 Vguiynai
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=11484 xora
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=5171 u
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=17413 reli Sn
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=263 iaoRgne
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=18918 aPeu aaZrshccnt
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=182 ke
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=13934 tMeOnedaxrr
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=75 A
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=17259 ay kuSih
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=617 athnp
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=27 deodcroHoyn
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=11323 u
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=10203 uBpDak o
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=12548 bcs
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=14382 xMe
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=265 aSema
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=10798 eer
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=16727 irohneOotcrrR
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=306 tie r
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=10350 oDcybaB
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=18204 pCoiax rmThe
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=6038 O
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=17301 a
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=366 Ep
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=86 ot
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=9706 aCnrsrdc
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=16818 sdBaRu riply
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=161 aHais
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=1696 aiBaayC
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=18925 eZua
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=12464 a
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=14753 rzPseucaNharl
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=5786 srehatu
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=17448 glheuuaPscar nrS
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=313 V
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=15509 al eCtphleP
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=5529 naeo ydedHorCcpo
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=2806
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=346 ntci rAtatMgn
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=15684 seucenor rsdahein
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=4306 ae eO
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=16776 Or
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=14914 dmnrr eicfO
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=5234 fo e
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=9118 rhraicsu dPeCm
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=18624 V uitcnohlres
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=5325 yFuisB
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=18379 ahpseiPrusrU
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=227 P
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=18337 rsyi asUBpu
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=17609 Orrltai
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=8922 uhsacs
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=7165 nyecauAct uB
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=321 KUtcuThi
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=1179 ie
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=13087 P
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=7550 r
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=15880 Paen
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=426 eeCelC bxphrae
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=14221 n
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=2684 tnea
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=4632 o ppo
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=5227 e fBE
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=9657 ugPpeuceasCrs
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=10448 iexBry
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=10441 shfD
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=253 ee
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=15306 eO iel
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=13696 auoehClk
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=186 ci
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=4313 a AedllearpC
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=17308 ho
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=5793 idia
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=10742 luBvEa
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=17553 Bauy Spmn
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=5758 p
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=24 Fit
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=12989 ceeuPh eurrnk
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=14228 rtnokMeed
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=95 nsoia
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=8 pno
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=16769 aiRun
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=14802 hx vNlrdeasa
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=116 gCe
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=10364 bnpiCehaeD coa
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=11183 l
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=44 nodeoTr
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=17952 eod
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=17560 aeS
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=8481 uehpc
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=16923 eodOrir
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=16622 Ayue
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=15642 ry nedP
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=14704 srseu
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=13486 L
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=13640 ezdoO
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=8551 C rehiAS
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=7760 edli OmoxrA
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=308 ub ltWrlRS
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=13920 sta Meaurhn
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=102 pC
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=11925 ladiaOp eH
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=11834 ai loihmeCcHp
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=14081 adr ci
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=6668 PcuZaats hier
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=15838 iulPiryvni
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=2424 a
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=15600 v
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=6584 reZrd
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=9573 oi
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=16272 PeccsarhPuz aor
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=7263 u iBey
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=286 xap
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=5048 racyDtoeBv
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=17021 OdS
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=13101 oodLeOri
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=16195 niap
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=4576 derBin
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=5090 aceaeDPuvrrohcst
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=423 xn
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=12310 usn BitIyop
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=418 pl CrCadioohpo
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=37 Nvras
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=238 arn
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=4485 Cv A
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=13836 eroranMd eO
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=110 ai
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=9321 u
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=16671 e aRivyBu
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=271 Sohot
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=356 LltoulXcGor
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=424 tPremiee h
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=11575 noGeBduy
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=17504 ttyrebirouS
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=16972 ar ayremdla
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=163 nirHty
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=13339 dyoup
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=10063 tCcreetyoO
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=13402 rp Corhss
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=10147 h
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=9237 aeipCenxhp
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=344 acR roNp
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=14522 drorrtnnu eiN
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=10595 auiit nnD
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=7452 acru tosPA
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=15054 rBeml you
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=8824 ahra
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=7172 nce r
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=66 hiepAc
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=76 iAlo
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=715 eeOmPi hnrdrren
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=284 oyStirdnh
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=10308 odlDOrrtre
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=9958 y aBybm
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=13584 oLyexBtau
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=63 urplcAc
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=9951 ok pCPchnaeylorark
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=8292 gn
http://www.hartoftheapple.com/event/?p=15243 useholscPn

Gaia: What’s in a name?

Filed under: Uncategorized, Author Events, School Visits, Educators, 3 All About Gaia Wild — Diane at 11:16 am on Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Diane Haynes “Travels” to Toronto with Gaia Wild, Thanks To Madame Bentivoglio!

Filed under: Uncategorized, Author Events, School Visits, Interviews, Educators, 3 All About Gaia Wild — Diane at 11:27 am on Friday, March 27, 2009

Di at Wildlife Rescue Association

Originally uploaded by Jane Ray’s Wildlife Rescue Series


HELLO TO MADAME BENTIVOGLIO’S CLASS FROM DIANE HAYNES!!!

Hi everybody! How are you doing? Thank you so much for inviting me to ‘visit’ your class to talk a little about my latest book, Gaia Wild! I’ve been visiting Madame Bentivoglio’s classes since 2005, when we first met at Earth Rangers, and we always have a great time. I’m really thankful for all the support she’s shown me as a new author on the Canadian publishing scene, and her students have always been among the most thoughtful I’ve encountered as I travel around the country.

It was in the fall of 2003 that I first pitched the idea of doing a book about an elephant to my publisher-to-be, Whitecap Books Ltd. I was actually pitching a series, and their editors wanted to see synopses for three books, and the first chapter of the first book. Because I was planning to base the series on my own volunteer work with the Wildlife Rescue Association of BC, I didn’t have much trouble choosing subjects for the first two books: I would write about an oil spill, because that’s how I first became involved with wildlife rescue and rehabilitation; and I would write about crows, because the media had gone crazy the year before when our little rescue centre chose to euthanize crows rather than put its staff and volunteers at risk of West Nile Virus. The third book idea was proving to be more of a challenge, though, because I couldn’t get an elephant out of my mind … and we sure as heck had never had an elephant at the rescue centre!

In the summer of 2003, Tina the elephant made the front page of the paper and the six o’clock news every night for over a month. At 34 years old, she had been held in captivity the whole of her life, and had spent most of that time alone, in a small, barren enclosure devoid of the companionship of others of her kind. By this time, she was overweight and sick, her feet were badly infected from the pressure of standing on concrete day after day, she was refusing to lie down, even to sleep, and she bobbed her head back and forth uselessly, for hours on end, in a behaviour called a “stereotypie” that is typical of caged wild animals who have become despondent and depressed.

Worst of all … I knew her. When I was six and my little sister was four, my mom and dad took us to what was then called The Vancouver Game Farm to see the animals, and one of the main attractions was a baby elephant the owner had bought from the United States to give rides to little kids. My sister and I lined up with the others and waited our turn to climb the crude wooden stairs up to the platform that was the same height as baby Tina’s back. From there, we climbed onto the colourful woven rug that covered her back, and then her keeper led her around a dusty dirt yard. The ride couldn’t have lasted more than a few minutes, but I can still remember the smells — the wild, musky smell of this wild animal, the dirt and leaves in the summer sunshine, the fresh, wet-hay smell of her poop! — and the thick, bristly, wrinkly feel of Tina’s skin. I absolutely loved her. I begged my parents to take us back to the Game Farm every chance I could, and in fact we went for two more summers, while Tina was still giving rides. When she got too big, we stopped going, and other than the times I looked at the photographs in our family album, I’m ashamed to say I forgot all about her.

But then, in 2003, there she was again, in the news every day. The reason? Her current owners — the managers of the Greater Vancouver Zoo, as it is now called — had decided she was no longer of any use to them, and wanted to sell her to a circus in Ontario. It was soon discovered, though, that the circus owner was known for beating his animals, including his elephants. In fact, he said so himself to a reporter. This fact made the news in Vancouver, and soon everyone in the city who had ever known, visited or loved that baby elephant — children like me who were all grown up by this time — was in an uproar about Tina!

Okay … want to know more?? Well, how about I blog some more for you next week. Meanwhile, I’d love to hear your comments and questions (you can post them directly to this blog), and I’d also love to know what section you’re on in Gaia Wild and what you think of the book! Can’t wait to hear from you! Talk to you again soon.

Diane

p.s. Think this can’t happen today? Do some detective work and see what you can find out about Lucy at the Edmonton Zoo

Gaia Wild Raises a Voice Against Extinctions

Filed under: Uncategorized, Educators, Books I Love, 3 All About Gaia Wild, State[ment] of Mind — Diane at 4:06 pm on Sunday, March 8, 2009

Gaia Wild, the third book in Jane Ray’s Wildlife Rescue Series, is one of a growing collection of books, both fiction and non, that are raising awareness about the interconnected plight of animals, human animals and the environment all around the planet.

I have been reading Terry Glavin’s Waiting for the Macaws on and off since its publication in 2006, and I am back at it again. I seem to be in a non-fiction mood these days, and have recently raced through Roger Fouts’s Next of Kin and Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, staying up late and turning pages as though compelled by a drugstore whodunnit. I’m hungry, it seems, for real and thoughtful answers about the biggest questions we’re all facing right now, and can no longer (at least, not for the moment) distract myself with entertaining fiction.
Macaws’ subtitle is “… and other stories from the age of extinctions.” His argument is that all extinctions — of animal and plant species, of languages and of cultures — are related. He says “Extinctions tend to follow the collapse of order in human societies. Human-caused extinctions are often the result of old ‘feedback loops’ breaking down, and old restraints giving way. Where you have rapid advances in technology, dramatic shifts in political power, and profound economic disruption, extinction tends to follow. There is also a surprisingly direct correlation between the removal of vegetative cover — even ‘domesticated’ plant life — and the dying out of languages, cultures and ways of life.”

He also cites the following statistics: “Roughly 34,000 plants, or 12.5 percent of all the plants known to science, are threatened with extinction. One in eight bird species is threatened with extinction, along with one in four mammals, one in three of all known amphibians,four of every ten turtles and tortoises, and half of all the surveyed fish species in the world’s oceans, lakes, and rivers. We lose a distinct species, of one sort or another, every ten minutes.”
He quotes the poet ee cummings’s response to the sight of biologically extinct animals (those that are for all intents and purposes extinct from the wild) in captivity: “It’s not animals that we see. Instead, it is ‘a concatenation of differently functioning and variously labelled buy cheap viagra, all of which are alive …. No mere spectacle of monsters, however extraordinary, could so move us. The truth is not that we see monsters, but that we are monsters.’”

Are we?

Gaia Wild Inching Toward Publication

Filed under: Uncategorized, 3 All About Gaia Wild, State[ment] of Mind — Diane at 9:08 am on Thursday, August 21, 2008

So I was up til 11:30 last night reading through the second page proofs of Gaia Wild. This is the stage where we’re not reading for content any more, but for mistakes — typos, dropped words, extra words, changes from the last round that have been missed, dropped folios, chapter-page number correlations … that sort of thing.

By the time the author is looking at second pages, changes should be minimal to nil. This is generally the last time an author sees his or her book. The publisher will then go through a couple more revisions in-house, correcting the minutiae. But as far as the author is concerned, this is it.

HOWEVER … that wasn’t the case last night. What I found were numerous “introduced errors” — mistakes made by a [probably exhausted, deadline-rushed] typesetter in the process of inputting the corrections from round one.

So it looks like we’ll go to round three. Sigh. It feels to me as though this book has been a long time coming — it was part of my original series proposal in the fall of 2003. So it’s been a five-year gestation period. Even elephants don’t carry their pregnancies that long–about 22 months, whereas this will be 60!

Funny though, it’s always worth all the work and struggle and mess-ups, all the detours and stalls and delays.

Sigh. Did I say that already? Sigh.

I WANT MY GAIA WILD!


Diane Haynes New Editor of Bark! Magazine

Filed under: Uncategorized, Educators, 3 All About Gaia Wild, More by Diane Haynes — Diane at 9:17 am on Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Bark! Magazine for Kids!

Originally uploaded by Jane Ray’s Wildlife Rescue Series


Can you say “Dream Job” ???! Dear blog readers and Jane Ray’s Wildlife Rescue Series fans, I’m pleased as punch to announce that I am the new Humane Education Supervisor with the BC SPCA!

This means that I get to work with the Kids’ Club, in which there are almost 3,000 members now throughout British Columbia … AND I get to write and edit Bark! Magazine, which comes out four times a year and is filled with amazing facts and stories about all kinds of animals!

After seven and a half years of self-employment, I made the decision to return to the regular workforce once I realized that by this fall, I would have three books under my belt. You see, I’d heard from publishers and agents alike that once a series reaches three books, it begins to take on a life of its own.

I decided I could have a bit of a life of MY own once that happened. And here I am!

More Kids’ Club and Bark! news to come. AND … more Gaia Wild news soon, too! Stay tuned!


Jane Ray’s Love Life

Filed under: Uncategorized, 3 All About Gaia Wild — Diane at 10:24 am on Monday, January 21, 2008

Steve & Di

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!


A Baby Elephant is Born

Filed under: Uncategorized, Animal Rescue Alert!, 3 All About Gaia Wild, State[ment] of Mind — Diane at 1:33 pm on Friday, August 10, 2007

Asian elephant Maharani gave birth to a 140-kg (308 lb) female calf at the Calgary Zoo yesterday (Thursday, August 9). The little one has not yet been named.

This is Maharani’s second calf in three years. She gave birth in November of 2004 as well, but rejected the calf, and without the mother-child bond that is so necessary in high-level, highly social mammals, the calf failed to thrive, and soon died.
As a result, the zoo team sweated Maharani’s 22-month pregnancy this time around. The captive breeding program is part of a worldwide effort to save Asian elephants from extinction. Every birth is celebrated, and with every death, we fail a population that is disappearing to habitat encroachment and poaching.

The fear that Maharani may again fail to bond with her infant may be one reason the zoo is holding off naming the baby. Once we name something, we connect to it. And once we’re connected, any loss hurts all the more. But when you see a photo of this newborn elephant, bewildered by birth and struggling for life, you will feel connected, name or no name.

This elephant’s birth reminds me of another elephant born in captivity not so very long ago - April 26, 1970. Tina spent 34 years of her life in a small enclosure at the Greater Vancouver Zoo, much of it in a state of extreme boredom and loneliness and suffering serious foot problems because of the surfaces on which she stood. When it came to light that the Zoo was planning to sell her to a circus operator known to have abused his other animals, journalist Nicholas Read sparked a huge media campaign, bringing in Peter Fricker of the Vancouver Humane Society and Julie Woodyer of Zoocheck Canada, and leading to an enormous outcry from a public who had long held Tina in great affection. The result was a massive rescue effort that led to Tina’s journey to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, where she spent the last year of her life in the company of her own kind, in as much freedom as she had ever seen in her lifetime.

It took me less than a second — the time it takes to see a photograph, to absorb its content and process what that content means to me — to fall in love with Maharani’s new baby. I can even applaud the Calgary’s Zoo’s contribution to conservation efforts; wild animals don’t belong in zoos, but in so many cases now, zoos may have become their only hope for survival as a species.

But I can’t forget Tina, or how much she suffered (despite how much she was loved). We have Zoocheck to tell us how well our zoos are doing on the animal welfare front. But we don’t have the laws in place to enforce Zoocheck’s standards, should a zoo fail to meet them.

It is not enough to bring them into the world. We need to make the world a safer place to bring them into. We need to do more. We need to change the laws.

Go look at her photo, little whatever-her-name-will-be. Fall in love. And then find out what you can about the laws designed to protect her. We are her guardians.


Let me begin to tell you the story of Gaia Wild …

Filed under: Uncategorized, 3 All About Gaia Wild, More by Diane Haynes, State[ment] of Mind — Diane at 9:09 am on Monday, July 16, 2007

I met with my publisher last week and handed him a synopsis for Gaia Wild. It’s with the editorial folks now, awaiting approval (or ???). R liked it; he thought it was the best one yet, the most cohesive and well thought out. Maybe because I actually told the whole story, ending included. In 2003, when all this began, my naivete combined with my background in marketing and sales led me to submit synopses that ended in cliffhangers. I’ve since learned that’s a no-no.
That said, I have no intention of publishing the ending of the book here and now; you get the cliffhanger version. Beyond that, though, we’re looking at ways (R and I) of using a social networking tool such as Facebook to do some advance promotion of the book. I read recently about Toronto author Michael Winter whose publisher, Penguin Canada, has set him up to publish daily on Facebook throughout the process of creating his new novel, The Architects are Here. Interested readers can subscribe to his posts through a special URL. They’re calling it a serialization of the novel, but that’s a misnomer (Charles Dickens serialized; Michael Winter will be promoting). Nevertheless, I think it’s a great idea and worth a try, and it sounds like fun. Stay tuned here for more information about the pseudo-serialization of Gaia Wild.

And meanwhile, a little about the story:

GAIA WILD

Jane can’t believe her eyes … there’s an elephant on Elfin Lake. Not just any elephant, either. It’s Gaia. And Jane knows her—from a long, long time ago.

It’s Jane Ray’s senior year, a whirlwind of new classes and teachers, final exams, graduation, and deciding what the heck to do with the rest of her life. After a summer vacation that got a little too life-and-death for her liking, Jane’s happy just to focus on school and her volunteer work at the Urban Wildlife Rescue Center. As for her lackluster social life, she’s decided it might be time to let her wild side take over … if she can only find it. I mean, really, Universe, would it be too much to ask for a boyfriend while I still have my youthful good looks?

Actually, the Universe has other plans ….

Gaia, a 35-year-old Indian elephant, is on loan from the Raincity Zoo to Animal Actors Inc. to see if she’s got what it takes to make it in the entertainment biz. If this commercial shoot on Elfin Lake goes well, Animal Actors Inc. will buy Gaia from the Zoo and put her to work in film and TV. If she acts up, however, the deal is off, and she goes back to the Zoo.

Timo Lausanne, owner of Raincity Zoo, cares about his animals, sure, but he’s a businessman first and foremost, and he’s got a bottom line to worry about. He’s losing sleep over the Animal Actors Inc. deal, hoping for Gaia’s sake and his own that everything goes smoothly. He’s heard some dodgy things about the company, but the sale will mean a longer life for the elephant, and a nice chunk of change and ongoing residuals for him. She’s old, frankly, at least as far as zoo attractions go, and she’s not that healthy. It’s not hard to conceal her foot infections during the shoot, but the head-swinging’s growing worse, her vet bills are getting ridiculous, and lately she’s been refusing to eat. Her handler, Raj, is starting to make noises about retiring her, but where? How? It’s not like there’s an old folks’ home for pachyderms anywhere in Vancouver. And no zoo in North America’s going to buy a lame, half-crazy, 35-year-old elephant. No, Timo’s made up his mind: if Animal Actors Inc. doesn’t take her, it’ll be time to put her down.

With the help of Flory’s research prowess, Jane learns that Gaia has spent 33 of her 35 years in a small yard at Raincity Zoo—thousands of miles from her true home, and mostly alone. Jane remembers meeting her as a little girl, when the Zoo offered elephant rides to their young visitors. She fell in love with the giant, gentle creature then, her tough, bristled hide and her wise, twinkling eyes. Was it possible that in all the intervening years, as Jane had grown, played, made friends, gone to school, Gaia had done nothing but walk around and around the perimeter of that small, barren enclosure?

Horrified at having forgotten Gaia all these years, and convinced the elephant is one of the reasons she loves animals so much now, Jane sets out to sabotage the Zoo’s deal with Animal Actors Inc. Posing as Production Assistants on set, Jane, Amy and Flory snoop around for any information that could put the kibosh on Gaia’s sale, but wind up with more than they bargained for: horrifying footage of Denny Arcola abusing his animal “employees.”

Their undercover op puts the girls in contact with Heath Marin, a cub reporter at the local paper who’s been sniffing around the shady entertainment company ever since it set up shop in Vancouver. Despite the fact that they almost blow his cover, Heath can’t help but develop a grudging liking for these gutsy girls—particularly the quiet one with the long, dark hair and flashing blue eyes. Jane would be thrilled with Heath’s attentions, if it weren’t for the fact that Mike MacGillivray has suddenly started sending her long, rambling (could they be romantic??) letters from Cortes Island, where he works on an organic farm. Going from zero guys to two, on top of senior year stress and an animal cruelty investigation, is too wild too fast!

With their incriminating evidence, and Heath’s help, Jane and her friends take Animal Actors Inc. down. Basking in her success—and Heath’s increased attentions—Jane doesn’t realize Gaia may have traded one death sentence for another. Now that the deal is off, Raincity Zoo is making preparations to euthanize the elephant. In the midst of Christmas exams, she gets a call from a mysterious stranger. Raj, Gaia’s handler, knows what’s in store. He’s seen that Jane cares about his beloved Gaia, but is she willing to come to her aid once again?

The race is on to find Gaia a new home, one that won’t care if she’s older and has health problems, one with the money to foot her vet bills and pay for her food, one where she’s free to wander outdoors or take shelter inside, to enjoy the company of others of her kind or spend time on her own. But does such a place exist?

As the search continues, Jane learns Gaia’s history from Raj, a history that includes the violent death of her herd, including her parents, at the hands of poachers in the ivory trade. She also learns that thanks to poaching and human encroachment on their territory, elephants in the wild have become an endangered species, deprived of land and water and the ancient pilgrimage sites of their ancestors. They are literally going mad, rampaging villages and even killing one another out of fear and stress. Jane is forced to confront the idea that a zoo—a place she has come to believe represents forced captivity and suffering—may for some animals be safer, better than the wild. That encounters with animals in zoos may even be the reason she and others like her fight so passionately to save and protect animals everywhere.

Jane’s weekly shifts at the Urban Wildlife Rescue Centre bring experiences that teach her about the essence of wildness, the connection human animals share with their wild brothers and sisters, and the disappearance of wild spaces and creatures in the wake of human greed and dominance. Jane wonders about what it means to be wild—and what would become of humans and other animals if the last trace of wildness were wiped out forever.

Amid the frantic search for a home for Gaia, Flory is voted Class Valedictorian, but at the last moment, cedes the podium to Jane, who gives an impromptu but impassioned speech about wildness—its preciousness, its vulnerability, its erosion—and what it means to be a wild animal on “Gaia,” planet Earth.

The night before her graduation dance, competition between Heath and Mike for Jane’s affections comes to a head, and Heath asks her to choose between them. For some reason, though, when Jane tries to reach Mike to find out where he stands, he’s incommunicado.

Who will Jane choose? Will the girls find a home for Gaia in time to save her life? And even if they do, is there really anywhere left on earth where she can truly be wild, and free?

-30-


Gaia Wild begins …

Filed under: Uncategorized, 3 All About Gaia Wild — Diane at 9:41 pm on Thursday, June 28, 2007

There’s going to be a book.

For a long time, it’s just an idea, a collection of thoughts loosely tied by hopes and wishes and maybe even some words. Then you take a step, write something down, pull an idea out of the ether that makes that loosely tied collection make sense, and suddenly you know there will be a book.

After writing Flight or Fight — actually while writing Flight or Fight — I decided that if the writing process was always going to be that much of a struggle, I was going to have to find a new career. There was only one way to find out if it was always going to be that hard, however, and that was to try again. So I wrote Crow Medicine. And although I didn’t know much more the second time around than I did the first time, I did know I could finish a book. And that one small knowing was enough to make everything easier.

Oh, yeah, this is when I get on a big roll and then can’t get out of bed the next day. Oh, yeah, this is when I have so many ideas shunting around in my brain that I can’t get them down fast enough and feel like I’m going to explode. Oh, yeah, this is when I have to stop writing and stare out the window and wait for the characters to tell me what happens next.

There was a small but comforting sense of familiarity to the process of writing Crow Medicine that of course I didn’t have with Flight or Fight; F/F was not just the first book in the series, it was my first book ever. That familiarity, and the degree to which it made the whole process just a little easier, was enough to convince me that maybe, just maybe, I didn’t have to reconsider shoe sales as my true career path.

And now there will be a third. (Of course, my publisher expects there will be at least six, but to that I say, Easy, Pumpkin! One at a time!) The idea for Gaia Wild had its genesis in 2003, when I first came up with the concept for Jane Ray’s Wildlife Rescue Series. That was the year that Tina, an elephant who had spent most of her life in a small enclosure at the Greater Vancouver Zoo (formerly the Vancouver Game Farm, was finally freed and transported to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee — otherwise known as Heaven for elephants. I followed her story avidly; you see, I’d known her since I was five years old, and she was just a baby, bought by the zoo to give rides around a dirt ring to little kids like me. I was horrified to realize that in the 30+ intervening years, I had lived and learned and loved, and Tina had remained captive in that small, barren enclosure. The story of her release and rescue –spearheaded by the Vancouver Humane Society and Zoocheck Canada, and made possible by the Elephant Sanctuary — was the highlight of my year.

I wasn’t the only one who followed the story, or who kept following Tina by “elecam” after she made herself at home in Tennessee. It turned out thousands of Vancouverites and other Canadians had loved her as I had, and were thrilled to see her free. Or at least, as free as she could ever be after a lifetime in captivity.

As I constructed plot outlines for the first three books in my series, the third took shape around the story of Tina. And although I’ve set the first two books in a wildlife rescue hospital that would never admit an elephant as a patient, I think I’ve found a way to keep Jane, keep the Urban Wildlife Rescue Center, keep Cedar’s Ridge … and still have my elephant.

I promise I’ll share the synopsis here - or at least, a version of it (minus the ending!) - just as soon as my publisher has seen it. I owe him that, at least. So check back in a week or so.

This will be my first time writing a book and keeping a blog at the same time. I figure it will either be therapeutic to be able to talk about the process in the blog, or else a big distraction from actually getting the book finished. Time will tell ….

And though it seems an awfully long way off, it’s still worth saying — now that I know there will really be a book — Gaia Wild will be available in fall 2008!

:D


Next Page »