Hello!
As a new experimental feature on the blog, we're posting recent issues of kc kconnects, in order to make past issues accessible. Now subscribers can go back and have another look at our wonderful interviews and past features via clickable links rather than having to sort through old email. Regular readers will be able to distinguish these newsletters from regular blog posts as they will all be headed by the cool old typewriter you see just below.
Newsletters will be posted a month after they are sent out to subscribers, so content will be prioritized over contests and giveaways. If you want to be eligible to win books and other prizes, and you want to get the latest right away, scroll down to the bottom of this page and subscribe!
Things have been really hopping around here at kcentral, and we've got lots of exciting news to share. The biggest is that I've got an AMAZING new assistant, Christine Sandquist, and they are helping me get things in order for all the excitement unfolding in 2021. Christine works not just as an author assistant, but also does sensitivity reading and consulting - feel free to check out their website if you have a manuscript that needs an in-depth looks or to get in touch with them if you're also an author with questions about what assistants do!
Read on to find out about all we've got planned -- new adventures, books, giveaways and more!
making kconnections
- with Jacqueline Pearce -
This month, I had the pleasure of a quick chat with my friend, the wonderful poet and author Jacqueline Pearce. Jacquie was born in the City of Vancouver, and grew up in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island on the west coast of Canada. She had a great childhood, climbing trees, exploring nature, playing neighbourhood games of hide-and-seek, road hockey and other sports. She loved observing nature, reading books, writing stories and drawing. Nowadays, she writes books for children and teens. You can find Jacquie on Twitter and Facebook.
And now, three quick questions with Jacqueline Pearce...
What is your favourite way to spend your time?
My favourite way to spend time is walking through nature, or exploring historic streets and buildings—on travels to other cities and countries, and also even in my home neighbourhood and city (where I’ve had to do all my “exploring” during the pandemic). I’m always intrigued by little details I hadn’t noticed before, or hints of human stories from the past. I also love to travel by train (which you probably guessed from the new book I’ve edited). I love relaxing, watching the passing landscape, eating in the dining car, and on a long journey (such as cross-Canada on VIA Rail), I love being able to share a glass of wine with other passengers at sunset in the observation car.
Of all the stories and poetry you have written, which are you the most proud?
Hmm… I don’t think anyone has ever asked me this before. Quite often people ask which of my books is my “favourite,” and I usually say the one I’m caught up in writing at the moment. But I had to think a bit to answer which story or poetry makes me the most proud. It might be my first YA short story collection, Weeds and other stories (Thistledown Press 1998). The stories are all set in a big city, but in each one, the main character is effected by nature or an animal in some way. Of all my books, it’s perhaps the one that was most influenced by things I was thinking while working on a Masters degree in Environmental Studies (which now seems like another life ago), and it also got me started publishing books for kids and young adults.
Most recently, I’ve gone in a couple different directions. My first non-fiction book for kids, What Animals Want will be out this fall with Orca, and I just edited and published the collection of haiku and related poetry for adults, Last Train Home (Pondhawk Press 2021). It includes train experiences from haiku poets around the world, and I’m pretty excited about how it’s come together. I’m also really pleased with all the positive responses I’ve received from people who’ve enjoyed the book and the way it’s prompted them to remember their own train experiences.
Do you have a favourite poet that you might recommend to our readers? Why does their work stand out to you?
I’m going to answer this in a bit of a roundabout way. My favourite novels are stories about human relationships that have nature woven through them. For example, Barbara Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer and Flight Behavior. My favourite poets have a similar approach. Lorna Crozier’s collection Inventing the Hawk comes to mind. This is also what attracts me to haiku. They are very tiny poems (contemporary English haiku is usually less than the 17 syllables), often have an element of nature, and those few words can imply a whole human story. One of my favourite haiku collections is The Unworn Necklace by Roberta Beary.
A big thank you to Jacquie Pearce for sharing her time with us today. To celebrate the launch of her new train anthology, we are giving away a copy to one lucky newsletter subscriber. Congratulations, Bev Fechner!
reader spotlight
The Outlander Podcast is our spotlight this month! Right now, they are doing a reread of A Breath of Snow and Ashes. Currently, they're up to chapter 54: “Flora MacDonald’s Barbecue.”
I have been a long-time fan of Ginger and Summer's Outlander Podcast, and the feeling is mutual! You can check out two of my past interviews with them, below:
Exciting News:
AN ACCIDENTAL ODYSSEY arrives in 2021!
How do you feel about cruising around the Mediterranean? After a year of being confined to barracks, I think we all want a chance to get away. If you enjoyed Emma's travels through Scotland in FINDING FRASER, and Romy's crazy trip around the world in EIGHTY DAYS TO ELSEWHERE, have I got a story for you!
Gia Kostas is supposed to be marrying New York City's most eligible bachelor until life -- and family -- get in the way, and she ends up having the wildest accidental adventure of her life.
Watch this space for more details about AN ACCIDENTAL ODYESSEY, coming this fall!
If you haven't yet read EIGHTY DAYS TO ELSEWHERE [which, by the way, is an Editor's Pick for Romance on Amazon], please consider buying it from your local independant bookshop. You can also order your copy online here:
Indie Bound | Apple | Google | Kobo
After you've read it, let me know what you think!
kcdyer.com
kc recommends:
entertainment to help you forget a whole year of being stuck
in the month of March ...
reading:
During my first visit to an actual bookstore in 2021, I picked up THE BURNING GIRLS, a book by CJ Tudor, a British author I'd never read before. It turned out to be a deliciously creepy ghost story, and I loved every word. RECOMMEND!
listening:
I've spent the last few weeks tearing through Tana French's back list. Particularly keen on her Dublin Murder Squad books, and I love Detective Antoinette Conway's wry voice [as performed by Hilda Fay] in THE TRESPASSER. RECOMMEND!
viewing:
I'm on a VERY tight copy edit deadline at the moment for AN ACCIDENTAL ODYSSEY, so not much time for viewing, but if you haven't seen CALL MY AGENT [currently on Netflix], it is deliciously addictive. RECOMMEND!
what about you?
What do you love? If you send me your recommendations, I promise to share! Find something good? You can reach me by pressing the contact button, below.
Thanks for reading, and for sharing your time with me today.