Mystery Eyes -- Unmasked!

You may have seen these eyes somewhere....




...like maybe on kc dyer's blog?



Well, these eyes belong to the final author I'll be interviewing as a part of the launch celebration for my new book A WALK THROUGH A WINDOW.

But I think we need to see more, don't you?





Here's what he looked like at the last Surrey International Writers' Conference. Cool mask, eh?









But we still can't really see him. Let me give you a hint or two. He tells an ABSOLUTELY fine story. He is an inveterate swashbuckler -- both on the page and for real. And lately, it's not just the swordplay, but the Impaling that has interested him.

Got it yet? Let's see if you're right...





It's CC Humphreys! Or Chris Humphreys. Actually, it's both of him, depending on whether he is writing for young adults or for grown-ups. But everyone loves his stories, so let's meet him in person, shall we?

Darby: Hi Chris! Thanks for joining me today for this interview. A WALK THROUGH A WINDOW is all about how different people came to live in Canada. I know you have kind of a cool story about your own beginnings. Where were you born?

CCH: Toronto. But I grew up in London UK.

DC: Okay -- so that's why you have an English accent, then. So where do you live now?

CCH: Vancouver, BC.

DC: Do you remember any special stories about your family that you heard when you were growing up in London?

CCH: In the Second World War, my mother was a spy in the Norwegian resistance. She had to escape when her cell was busted and ended up cycling over the border into Sweden.

DC: Wow! What a cool mum you have! But if she's anything like my mother, she might be able to ride a bike, but she's hopeless on a skateboard. Can you ride a skateboard?

CCH: Alas, no!

DC: Well, I've heard some rumours about other talents you have. Besides writing books, do you have a secret skill or talent you’d like to share?

CCH: I was a fencer at school and became an actor so I could leap around with bladed weaponry. I’ve killed with axes, swords and slingshots! But my main skill is that I can hang eleven spoons on my face.

DC: It's hard to know where to start with that response. The bladed weaponry is tres cool. The spoons? THAT I'd have to see to believe. Now my special talent appears to be time travel. If you had a chance to walk through a window into the past, where would you go?

CCH: Globe Theatre, 1601. Opening night of ‘Hamlet’.

DC: Ha! Once an actor, always an.... Anyone special you’d like to meet these days?

CCH: Bruce Springsteen. Love his songs and he’s a total storyteller.

DC: Hey, I like his music, too. I listen to him on my iPod when I am skateboarding and eating red licorice. What’s your favourite treat?

CCH: Humbugs (Boiled sweets – mints) They are on my desk as an essential writing tool.

DC: Speaking of writing, can you tell me a bit about your latest project?

CCH:I have just written my first almost full fantasy novel about a girl and a unicorn.

DC: Wow! That sounds a little different than your last novel Vlad: The Last Confession! If I want to learn more about you or your books on-line, where can I go check you out?

CCH: www.cchumphreys.com

DC: Okay -- great! Thanks for joining me today, Chris. Next time, remember to bring those eleven spoons!

If you'd like to win a copy of CC Humphrey's latest book, leave your name in the comment section below. And how about answering this question: Vampire...or Unicorn?

We'll do the draw this Friday, April 4th -- after 8 pm, of course.

And stay tuned to the blog -- I've got a new series of interviews planned to begin very soon.

And don't forget -- kc dyer will be with a couple of her author friends in Surrey this weekend launching my new story...more details tomorrow!

~Darby

Tuesday Mystery Guest -- Naked Mystery Author Revealed!

I'm very excited about this interview today -- we will be meeting a TRUE mystery author -- one who writes mysteries!


But right now it's her identity that is still pretty mysterious. Those glasses are pretty wild -- and that's not the only thing, apparently. If you take a look over at kcdyer's blog, you'll see that this author has a reputation...


for being naked!

Let's unmask her and find out more, okay?


It's Patricia Smiley! Welcome, Patricia -- thanks for joining me today.

Darby Christopher: A WALK THROUGH A WINDOW is all about how different people came to live in Canada. I know your background is American. Where were you born?

Patricia Smiley: I was born in Washington State, which borders the Canadian Province of British Columbia, in a town called Yakima, named after the Yakama Indian nation.

The city is one of the premier apple-growing areas of the world, but has recently also gained recognition for its wine. My childhood home was just outside the city limits and seems quite rural to me now. I have fond memories of wandering through the nearby apple orchards and hop fields, often stopping to sail paper boats in the irrigation ditches. Many years later, I moved to Seattle. My friends and I took frequent trips to Vancouver, a city that was oh-so cosmopolitan and exciting.

DC: I've heard that said of Vancouver, though I'm a Toronto girl, myself. Where do you live now?

PS: I live in West Los Angeles, California in the neighborhood time forgot. The streets there have no curbs or sidewalks, so it feels like a small-town oasis in the middle of a megalopolis of 3.8 million people. Most people don’t think about L.A. in provincial terms, but I’ve met many neighbors by just strolling the streets with my dog and stopping to say howdy.

DC: That sounds really nice! Do you remember any special stories about your family that you heard when you were a kid?

PS: Once upon a time in yon years of yore, there was a five-year-old girl named Patty who loved cars—the smell of the leather, the rumble of the engine, and the creaking of the doors as they opened and closed.

One afternoon as she played in her front yard, an overwhelming desire to take a road trip overtook her. She crawled inside the family car, cranked the steering wheel to-and-fro, and made loud “vroom-vrooom” engine sounds. When she arrived at her destination, she tried but failed to open the car door. Having learned to make the best of a bad situation, she fell asleep.

Meanwhile back at the house, her parents organized a search party. Sometime later, they found her still conked out in the driver’s seat. The moral of this story? Take no road trips until you are strong enough to get out of the car.

DC: That sounds like a good moral! How about a different kind of 4-wheel vehicle -- can you ride a skateboard?

PS: I never mastered the art of skateboarding because speeding downhill without brakes is dangerous. I prefer skiing. Skis don’t come with brakes, either, but at least you can go splat into a soft snow bank rather than on a hard sidewalk.

DC: I kind of agree with that, actually. Besides writing books, do you have a secret skill or talent you’d like to share?

PS: No secret skills but I believe in experiencing life at all levels and will try almost anything except sky-diving. Jumping out of an airplane with a sack of flimsy cloth on my back? I think not.

DC: You have got that right! But what about if you had a chance to walk through a window into the past? Where would you go?

PS: I would go back far enough to see my beloved Westies Dottie and PJ and Tigger-boo the Wonder cat, before they speed back to heaven with the angels. I miss them terribly and would love to hug them one more time.

DC: I have seen the picture of a Westie on your website. They are so cute! Speaking of your website, can you tell me a bit about your latest project?

PS: I’m writing a police procedural based on my experiences working with the Los Angeles Police Department. Also, you can find me posting every Monday at The Naked Truth about Literature and Life (www.nakedauthors.com), a blog I share with Jacqueline Winspear, Paul Levine, James O. Born, Ridley Pearson, James Grippando, and Cornelia Read.

DC: Hmmm. I'd heard something about nakedness. I'm glad it's just about writing! So, when Gramps throws a little spare change my way, I’m personally pretty fond of red licorice. What’s your favourite treat?

PS: My fourth novel, COOL CACHE, takes place in a chocolate shop so, of course, I had to do some research. The result? I’m now addicted to anything chocolate, especially the brownies in a book called The Essence of Chocolate by John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg. Yum! But the truth is, if I have spare change I’d much rather spend it on ruby red lip gloss.

DC: Those brownies sound delicious! If I want to learn more about you or your books (or brownies!) on-line, where can I go check you out?

PS: You can find out more on my Web site www.patriciasmiley.com or if you are game for adventure, just Google Patricia Smiley and see what comes up.

DC: Thanks so much for talking to me today, Patty. I'm going to go Google you right now!

And if you'd like to win a copy of one of Patrica Smiley's very cool mystery books, be sure to leave your name in the comments. Why not give YOUR favourite type of chocolate treat?

We'll do a draw for Patty's book this Friday, March 27th. This will be the final draw of our celebration month for A WALK THROUGH A WINDOW -- but not the end of my interviews or our special draws. More on THOSE mysterious changes, soon.

In the meantime, leave your Patty Smiley chocolate-love comments below!

~Darby

Monday Mystery Guest -- Revealed!

Here we are again (after a brief weekend pause) to enter into our final week of celebrations for the launch of my story A WALK THROUGH A WINDOW.


Sharing our celebration today is this mysterious horsewoman, author, mother, teacher and editor. (Whew!)

Let's unmask (and in the case of the horse, unmoustache) them both, shall we?




It's Anita Daher! Anita is the author of a whole pile of books for kids and teens -- her most recent middle grade adventure story is called POACHERS IN THE PINGOS, and just last week her young adult novel SPIDER'S SONG was nominated for a Manitoba Book Prize.

Darby Christopher: Welcome, Anita! A WALK THROUGH A WINDOW is all about how different people came to live in Canada. Where were you born?

Anita Daher: I was born in Summerside, PEI, but left there when I was five years old, and continued moving. Seventeen times thus far. I consider myself pretty lucky to have lived in some pretty amazing places growing up—Baker Lake, NU, Churchill, MB, Moose Jaw, SK.

It was tough “reinventing” myself with every move, but this probably helped make me the writer I am today…scattered, confused about where I am at any given moment, and constantly shifting personalities. Oh…did I say that out loud? Kidding!

DC: Summerside! My new story takes place very nearby, in Charlottetown, PEI. So where do you live now?

AD: Winnipeg, Manitoba. My husband was born and raised here, and early in our marriage would go on and on about how Winnipeg produces the best in Canada—best chocolate, best sausage, best artists, best speed-skaters, best politicians, best media moguls, best TV game show hosts…it went on and on and drove me crazy! Now that I’ve lived here five years I see his point.

DC: Do you remember any special stories about your family that you heard when you were a kid? Can you tell me one?

AD: Sure! One of the things that happens when you move around as much as we did, is you talk a lot about where you came from. There are many interesting stories, but the one that has intrigued and confounded me most is the mystery of my mom’s family name.

The story goes that many years ago during times of conscription, two brothers from Ireland were away attending school, and one day while walking down the road in Liverpool, minding their own beeswax, they were scooped up and forced to join the British Navy. They didn’t want to be there, and after docking in Nova Scotia in 1819 they jumped ship. So that they wouldn’t be easily tracked (and no doubt executed for desertion) they took the name of their oldest brother—who was still in Ireland—as their family name: Job. Over time the name morphed to “Jobe” and for my cousins, “Jobes” (mistake on the birth certificate). The original family name has been lost, though my mom’s aunt remembered hearing the name when she was a child.

Beyond family story I have a record of Nova Scotia pioneer families called Cape North and Vicinity by Rev. D. MacDonald published in 1933. In it he writes: “Donald Job Shipped on a brig in St. John’s, Newfoundland, in the spring of 1819, bound for Quebec, but calling at Sydney, C.B. (Cape Breton), on the way, he deserted, and hired for a year with James A Wilkie.” The accounting carries on with an accounting of Donald’s spouse, children, and his children’s children. It is an amazing record to have.

DC: That is a very cool mystery! In my new story, I got a taste of what it was like to immigrate to Canada from Ireland. It was NO FUN at all. But to bring us back to the present, can you ride a skateboard?

AD: I am famously uncoordinated, so no. My characters can, though!

DC: AND the characters in your story TWO FOOT PUNCH can do Parkour, too. So I guess that makes up for it. Besides writing books, do you have a secret skill or talent you’d like to share?

AD: Well, I am very good a baking, and not terrible at playing my guitar when no one is around to listen. My music talent is like the magic carriage that turns back into a pumpkin after midnight, except it is after midnight as soon as anyone enters a room I am playing in. I am an excellent horse groomer (the owner of the stable where my daughter and I board horses keeps offering me a job), and I’m learning to be a much better rider.

DC: I have to admit, I am a city girl, so horses make me a little nervous. But when I was in Charlottetown, I had a chance to take a peek into the past. If you had a chance to walk through a window into the past, where would you go?

AD: Europe, early 20th century: Ezra Pound, DH Lawrence, James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway…oh yeah!

DC: Anyone special you’d like to meet?

AD: I would like to sit down at a café table with James Joyce and D H Lawrence. They might not have cared for each other, but I’ll bet they could still have an interesting and stimulating conversation. I’d also like to meet Johnny Depp. Can you help me out with that, Darby?

DC: to tell you the truth, not one of the pirates I met on board The Elizabeth looked anything like Johnny Depp. Sorry about that, Anita! Can you tell me a bit about your latest project?

AD: Oh gosh, which one? I will launch the 3rd in my JCR series on April 29, am finishing a northern teen thriller, and am researching a next teen book. This last I am very excited about, as in the name of thorough research I will be helping to herd and work with free-range horses in northern BC this summer! It doesn’t get much better than that!

The next JCR book is called ON THE TRAIL OF THE BUSHMAN. JCRS Tommy, Jaz and Colly are all back, and while narrowly avoiding disaster at a summer camp south of Whitehorse, Yukon, they end up in the mountains on the trail of a bushman…who might actually be trailing them. But, is it a bushman, or is it the terrifying Windigo?

DC: WHOA! Now that sounds exciting! I'm going to have to meet Tommy, Jaz and Colly one day. So, when Gramps throws a little spare change my way, I’m personally pretty fond of red licorice. What’s your favourite treat?

AD: Mmmm…nothing beats jellybeans. I LOVE jellybeans!

DC: If I want to learn more about you or your books on-line, where can I go check you out?

AD: http://www.anitadaher.com Actually, I’m pretty much all over the Internet. You can find out a whole lot if you just Google my name…but don’t go believing those rumours about me and Johnny Depp. They aren’t true! Well, not all of them…

DC: Okay, if you say so. I'm going to go look you both up, just in case. Thanks for being here, Anita!

And if you'd like to win a copy of one of Anita's very cool books, why not leave your name in the comment section below. How about letting me know which scares you the most -- skateboarding or horseback riding! Special bonus points for those who have tried parkour and want to tell me about it.

Back tomorrow with our Tuesday Mystery Author. See you then!

~Darby

Monday Mystery Guest -- Revealed!

Whoa!

That's a little hard on the eyes, isn't it? But there is a particular reason I pixellated this person. Can you guess?





Well, this author has won every science fiction award out there -- Hugo, Nebula, Campbell, Aurora, Galaxy and way too many more to mention. He is known as the dean of Canadian Science Fiction. He can be seen on his own show on tv, and right now they are filming a televisionpilot for another one of his books, FLASH FORWARD in Los Angeles, California.

Have you figured out who he is yet? Let's unmask him, shall we?






It's Robert J. Sawyer! Did you know that Robert J. Sawyer is one of only seven people in history -- and the only Canadian -- to win all three of the science-fiction field's top awards for best novel of the year: the Hugo Award, which he won for Hominids, the Nebula Award, which he won for The Terminal Experiment, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, which he won for Mindscan?

Darby Christopher: Wow -- I am so happy to meet you, Rob. If anyone understands about the stress of walking through windows to the past (or the future) it's you. My new book is all about how different people came to live in Canada. Where were you born?

Robert J. Sawyer: I was born in Ottawa -- but to an American mother; a graduate student who was only temporarily resident in Canada at the time. So I started out as a dual US-Canadian citizen.

DC: Where do you live now?

RJS: Right in downtown Mississauga, a city of 750,000 adjacent to Toronto.

DC: Hey, I'm from Toronto! Do you remember any special stories about your family that you heard when you were a kid?

RJS: My parents met at the University of Chicago, where they were both studying economics. My mom was from Berkeley, California, and my father from Toronto. They made a deal when they got married: if my father could find a good job in Canada, they'd live there; if my mother could find a good one in the United States, they'd live there -- whoever found the better job would determine where the family lived. Well, it was my dad who got the good job, in Ottawa, and that's why I'm a Canadian today.

DC: Ha! So, growing up in Canada, did you learn to ride a skateboard?

RJS: Nope. I can't rollerskate either.

DC: Well, that's okay. You can probably ride a mean jet-pack, with all the science fiction you write! Besides writing books, do you have a secret skill or talent you'd like to share?

RJS: I am, they say, a good public speaker, and I have a sideline of giving talks at business and government conferences, and am currently hosting and narrating the TV series Supernatural Investigator on Vision TV.

DC: It's so cool that you investigate supernatural stuff! I've had a few supernatural experiences myself. This window-walking thing, for instance. If you had a chance to walk through a window into the past, where would you go?

RJS: Back at least 65 million years to the age of the dinosaurs. I love dinosaurs, and right until my last year of high school though I was going to devote my career to studying them.

DC: Oh, me, too! Stegosaurus is my favourite. I love those back plates! Is there anyone special you'd like to meet today?

RJS: Stephen Hawking -- the brilliant physicist. He's inspiring both as a genius and as a person who has dealt with physical disabilities most of us couldn't even imagine.

DC: So, when my Gramps throws a little spare change my way, I'm personally pretty fond of red licorice. What's your favourite treat?

RJS: Pepperoni pizza. I wouldn't eat it for every meal, if I could, but I would have it every day!

DC: Hmm. Now I'm getting hungry... How about if you tell me a bit about your latest project?

RJS: I'm writing a trilogy of novels about a 15-year-old blind girl who has an operation to restore her sight -- and, in the process, discovers she can see a being that lives in the background of the World Wide Web. The first volume, Wake, comes out in April.

DC: Now THAT is a book I cannot wait to read! If I want to learn more about you or your books on-line, where can I go check you out?

RJS: I've got a huge web page HERE at http://sfwriter.com and both Wikipedia and The Canadian Encyclopedia have good entries about me.

DC: Wow -- there is a LOT of information there about you! Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me today. And I promise I'll practice my jet-pack work if you get some work in on a skateboard!

If you'd like to win a copy of one of Robert J. Sawyer's story anthologies, leave your name in the comment section. Maybe you can let us know whether you'd rather ride a skateboard or a jetpack? (Or maybe just stay safely on the ground...)

Maurice the cat and I will do the draw on Friday, March 20th for Rob's book. Get your name in soon, and stay tuned for another interview tomorrow to celebrate the launch this month of my story, A WALK THROUGH A WINDOW.

~Darby