Wildlife Rescue Series!

I’m creating my first board game. I’m getting paid to do this. [insert incredulous laughter here]

The upcoming fall issue of the BC SPCA’s Bark! Magazine, published for the Kids’ Club, will focus primarily on two topics: small dogs (big dogs in small bodies! … and with the same issues and training problems!); and wildlife.

Since it’s fall, we’ve decided to write about bird migration, and that’s when the board game idea came up. Why not make it so the kids could choose to be a bird, and could choose a migration route south across North America, and then roll the dice, choose a card, and see who gets to their destination first!

Playing cards will have all kinds of obstacles on them: storms, skyscrapers and predators, for example. But they’ll also have boons: warm updrafts, flying in V-formation to save energy, catching a tailwind, finding an abundant food source.

The cards will be downloadable from the Kids’ Club website, which will also feature a Google map of the full route, complete with specially chosen clickable sites, such as a pass through the Rockies; Reifel Bird Sanctuary; the staging ground at Boundary Bay.

Did I mention I’m getting paid to do this “work?”

Life is good.

Stay tuned for more info about the upcoming issue of Bark!

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!

When I got back from presenting at the Williams Lake Young Writers’ Conference in May, I promised to post writing produced by the students in my workshops. I received three submissions. Here is the third, a story by Keaton, written in my “Animal Writes!” workshop (scroll down for more student writing!):

If I Was A Professional Skateboarder

If I was a professional skateboarder I would be famous and rich. I would own my own skateboard park and could land any trick I wanted to on my skateboard.

I would have sponsors because I am so good and get free stuff from my sponsors. I would be rich and could get anything I wanted. I would win every competition I would be in and become a better skateboarder than Tony Hawk.

I could travel to every place and continent I wanted to and get V.I.P. passes into any concert. I’d be friends with every famous person.

Nestling Robins

Originally uploaded by Jane Ray’s Wildlife Rescue Series

Spring is sprung, the grass is riz.
Do you know where your kitty cat iz?

Hopefully nowhere near all the baby birds that are hatching right now! This is busy season at the Wildlife Rescue Association of BC, when over two thirds of their 3,000+ patients are admitted for rescue and rehabilitation. Many of them are baby animals.

The unfortunate thing is, too many well-meaning passers-by scoop up perfectly healthy nestlings and fledglings and bring them to the rescue centre without realizing that the baby was out of the nest for a reason, learning some very important bird thing, like hunting for food or flying, and that the parent was close by watching helplessly as their baby was taken away.

Click here to read an exciting near-rescue story and my latest Burnaby NOW column on how — and when — to rescue a baby bird!

When I got back from presenting at the Williams Lake Young Writers’ Conference, I promised to post writing produced by the students in my workshops. So far I have received three submissions. Here is the first, a “news column” by Austin, written in my “Animal Writes!” workshop (stay tuned here for more student writing!):

The Dream Machine

There was a man who got the Dream Machine. So far we don’t have his name, where he lives or anything about him. If you see him around, catch him and bring him to Creatures.Inc.

The Dream Machine copies anything you want and you can get a complete replica of it. It doesn’t matter whose it is. He will copy it and get his own. It is not good if only one person has it. Everyone should have it.

Authors Diane Haynes and James McCann

Originally uploaded by Jane Ray’s Wildlife Rescue Series

The email arrived out of the blue, some time last winter: Would I be interested in being one of the authors to present workshops at the annual Williams Lake Young Writers’ Conference?

Would I?!?

After months of waiting and preparing, scads of emails and much excitement on the part of the Vancouver-based authors who would be going up together, the day finally came — May 4 — we were off to Williams Lake!

Organizer Amar Sull had thought of everything. She booked us flights with Central Mountain Air on their 18-seater prop plane. We flew direct from Vancouver to Williams Lake, swinging out over the Pacific coast and then rounding east across the snow-covered Central Mountain Range and into the interior of British Columbia. Williams Lake is 6 hours northeast by car, and situated exactly half way between the coast and the BC-Alberta border. It’s a mill town and a resort town, with a population of about 36,000 and great outdoor amenities summer and winter. Our only regret was that we couldn’t stay longer.

As soon as we saw a photo of the plane we’d be taking, author James McCann and I decided we needed to dress the parts. He went all out as Indiana Jones, complete with fedora, and I aimed for a Casablanca look. We turned a few heads at YVR, but hey, that’s what we were aiming for.

We met fellow authors Kari-Lynn Winters and Max Tell in the waiting lounge, and proceeded to throw our own little party, complete with food and drink and loud, obnoxious laughter. Missing the boarding announcement completely, we held up the plane’s departure … and then held it up a little further when we asked one of the CMA staff to take our picture on the tarmac. However the result, above, was worth it.

The plane had a row of seats on each side, separated by a very narrow aisle. In all, the plane wasn’t as wide as many cars I’ve been in. We could see the cockpit and the instrument panels from our seats, and were astonished when, after completing the pre-take-off cabin prep, the flight attendant took her place in the co-pilot’s seat and proceeded to help fly the plane.

The trip was gorgeous, and surprisingly short (55 minutes), and before we knew it, we’d arrived. Amar and her husband Jas met us at the little airport, introduced us to three more authors (who’d flown up with us, unbeknownst to us) and drove us to the Sandman Inn, where Amar had arranged all our rooms.

After settling in, James, Kari and I took a walk through Boitano Park and into downtown. Because it was Sunday, everything was closed, but again, we thought this was somewhere we’d like to return to, and spend more time.

We all met up at the Laughing Loon Pub for dinner that night, and shared some unrepeatable stories and unforgettable songs. Then it was back to the Sandman and to bed.

The conference the next day was incredible and again I have to say that Amar had thought of everything. Each author had his or her own room, and we shared an authors’ lounge for breaks and lunch. In each of our rooms was a basket of goodies — pencils, pens, chalk, kleenex and even candies! — all the emergency supplies any touring author would ever need.

We met all of the workshop participants in the gym first thing, then began our workshops at 9:45 am. I taught three one-hour workshops to grade 6 and 7 students from various schools around District 27 (Cariboo-Chilcotin). With the first group, I led a Shamanic journey for the students to discover their medicine animals. With the second two groups, I told the story of how by rescuing a drowning seabird, I joined my passion to my writing, and then I led them through a series of exercises designed to tap into what they care about most.

All the students wrote, and I invited every participant to send me their finished pieces for posting on this site. So stay tuned here for some awesome student writing!

After closing ceremonies in the gym, we all headed back to the cafeteria, where the 8 authors set up tables with their books. Students, teachers and parents had the opportunity to buy any books they were interested in, and have them signed by the author.

With our workday done, we headed downtown to check out Open Books, the little store we had spotted the day before. Staffer Annette took the arrival of 8 authors in stride, and welcomed us to the store. We hope Open Books will be involved in the conference next year!

There was just time for a snack and another short visit together, and then it was time to head to the airport, and home. We all felt as though we’d packed a week’s worth of adventures into 24 hours, and yet stiil, it felt too short. We vowed that if ever we had the opportunity to go back, we’d stay longer.

One of the best things about it, I think, for all of us, was the chance to spend time with our colleagues in a fun, no-pressure, non-competitive environment. Writing is such a solitary pursuit, and yet we’re social beings with a need to connect and to learn from one another about this crazy business we’re in. The Williams Lake Young Writers’ Conference gave us that, and we definitely made the most of it.

Good luck to Max, who’s presenting and performing today as well (lucky duck!) and congratulations and thanks again to Amar, Organizer Extraordinaire.

Watch here for posts written by my workshop participants at the Williams Lake Young Writers’ Conference!

Holly Elementary Welcomes Diane Haynes

Originally uploaded by Jane Ray’s Wildlife Rescue Series

I arrived at Holly Elementary School at 8 am Wednesday morning to the sight of what appeared to be the entire student body out running around the field. Sure enough, this is the most athletic school I’ve ever visited; most of the 180 students I met with are on the track team, and they were getting ready for a big meet that afternoon. Congratulations, Holly!

I spent the morning with the grades 4, 5 6 and 7 students — two groups of 90 students each, for an hour and a half at a time … and we could have gone longer! These students had just completed a unit on wildlife; were studying mythology; handle the school’s recycling; and proved themselves to be on top of any animal- or environment-related issue I could bring up. Their questions were thoughtful and insightful and showed a genuine concern for and curiosity about the natural world. I was seriously impressed.

Several students practiced the technique for containing and rescuing and injured or orphaned bird. The grade 5s performed a beautiful Earth Day song for me, a capella, which was a highlight, and one student stayed behind to perform a magic trick he’d been working on, and to introduce me to his little sister, a kindergarten student.

All in all, it was a great morning! Thank you, Holly Elementary!

Holly Elementary Library Welcomes Author Diane Haynes

Originally uploaded by Jane Ray’s Wildlife Rescue Series