March 30, 2009

kc dyer is Celebrating her Roots

kc dyer's new novel comes out this month, but it's preceded by four others: SEEDS OF TIME, SECRET OF LIGHT, SHADES OF RED, and MRS. ZEPHYR'S NOTEBOOK. The first three are a series about some time-travelling kids. (This means I must rec them to my neighbor who loves time-travel.)

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Hey Gang,

When Liviania asked me to participate in her month-long blogging party, I agreed without a second thought. This is a month of celebration for me, so I'm really happy to have the chance to share it with you, too. My new book, A WALK THROUGH A WINDOW, was just born this month, and like any new baby, it has brought me a great deal of joy. WALK is my fifth novel for young people, and as with any new baby, it's my favourite -- at least until the next one comes along.

This book is all about beginnings. Everybody comes from somewhere, and many people don't end up in the place where they began. Life's like that, eh?

Now, I've given you at least two hints in the previous sentences as to where I made my own beginnings. Can you tell? I was born in Canada, and I still live here, although at some considerable distance from where I first showed up, and after having taken a pretty convoluted path. These days I live outside the beautiful city of Vancouver, British Columbia, and I'm pretty happy about that. I love the place I live, but I also love all the other places I have lived before. And I am particularly interested in the places where my family lived, long before I was even an inkling.

Book Cover

My new book is all about a kid named Darby who is happy where she lives, and doesn't know or care too much about it, until she's forced to move away for the summer. And when she's unhappily esconced with her grandparents in a weird little one-lobster town, things start to happen. Things involving an old out-building with a stone window frame. Things that make her suddenly sit up and take notice -- for the first time -- not only where she came from, but where the other people she cares about came from, too. When she finds herself crawling on her hands and knees through 10,000 year-old snow, coming face to face with a polar bear, and riding the Atlantic waves on a coffin ship, Darby finds a lot more adventure than she ever expected in a sleepy little Maritime town.

Darby's adventures got me thinking. Where were YOU born? Do you still live near there? And what kind of adventures did YOUR family go through to get you where you are today?

If you'd like to share your ideas, leave your story in the comments. And I'm pretty sure Liviania will let me do a draw to give one of Darby's new books away.

If you'd like to read more about how Darby celebrated her new book, you can read her blog HERE. Or, if you'd like, you can read my blog here: http://kcdyer.blogspot.com/ And my website is here at http://www.kcdyer.com/I look forward to meeting you -- and hearing YOUR adventures.

~kc dyer


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Not only will I hold a draw, I'll hold one to give away two signed copies of A WALK THROUGH A WINDOW, one each to people who can follow rules.

Since this is my blog, I'll tell my story here instead of in the comments. I've never left the US, but Canada might be the first other country I visit. My sister now lives in N. Dakota, so when my mom and I drive up to see her we might as well drive the extra bit. This'll come before I leave for England.

I was born in a small suburb of Houston that is much larger now. My family moved to a suburb of Austin while I was still tiny, but moved back to that original 'burb before I entered elementary. I thought I would live there through high school, but my mother moved to be closer to her family after the divorce. Since then, my main residence has been in a Dallas/Fort Worth area suburb. I still visit my dad in Houston frequently. Plus, I go to college in Austin.

The odd thing about the college I chose is its the one my sister always wanted to go to. (She didn't.) I dreamed of Ivy Leagues and Rice until money slapped me in the face and laughed. But I'm really happy with the quality of my education.

So, there is one strip of Texas with which I'm really familiar. (Buy your klobasneki and kolaches at Hruska's in Ellinger, the Czech Stop in West, and Zamykal Gourmet Kolaches in Calvert.)

24 comments:

  1. Don't enter me. Just wanted you to know that I posted about this on Win A Book.

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  2. This sounds like a great story... it's always interesting to find out what happens when you look outside the borders of your comfort zone.

    I grew up in Yellowknife, NWT, Canada. Don't know where that is? Start in the middle of nowhere and go north. My parents grew up in southern Canada, then travelled to Yellowknife in their early 20's... my dad to work in a gold mine, and my mom working filing bush orders (that's when someone who lives even further into the wilderness order supplies shipped in). They've seen Yellowknife grow up from a frontier town.

    Vanessa
    gypsyrover21@yahoo.ca

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  3. I totally laughed out loud at "one-lobster town"!

    I'm still in the same city I was born and grew up in(okay not technically but it's all amalgamated now so...). My mum was born in China but moved to Hong Kong when she was very young and grew up there. She came to Canada to go to school in Windsor, Ontario and because she liked it so much, she stayed in Canada despite her parents and brother deciding to move to Boston, Massachusetts from Hong Kong. After school, she moved to Toronto which is where she and my brother and I call home.

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  4. I was born in Toronto and have been living in Ontario all my life. My life is not so exciting but I guess you can say my parents were.

    They lived during the time of the Vietnam War and when they were young, life was very difficult for them. My dad had to sneak away from the north by secretly sneaking to Cambodia and Laos so he could catch a ship to Canada.

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  5. I was born about 15 minutes from where I live now. Pretty boring...

    bridget3420(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  6. Love to have this. I was born about 3 hours from where I currently live. At least I have changed states!

    Thanks,

    darkfyre1(at)gmail(dot)com

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  7. KC is sending me a copy and I can't wait for it to get here! great guest post!!!

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  8. Thanks for spreading the word, Bridget!

    ~kc

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  9. Hey Vanessa,

    The first time-slip/ghost story element in A WALK THROUGH A WINDOW takes place in Canada's far north. I hope you get a chance to read it to see if I got the details right! (However, it does take place 10,000 years ago, so things might have looked a wee bit different than they do for you today!)

    ~kc

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  10. Hey Erika Lynn,

    Nice to see you over here. Let me know when you've read the book -- I'm anxious to hear your opinion!

    ~kc

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  11. Hi KC,

    Nice to 'see' you again!

    I was originally born in Malaysia but am currently transplanted in Singapore. For some reason, I never felt as if I belonged in my birth country and could never really put my finger on why that is, not even now. The weird thing is that the moment I moved to Singapore, I felt like I've come home!

    Lesley
    lesly7ch(at)yahoo(dot)com

    PS I am a follower

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  12. I was born in Houston, TX, where my mom's oldest brother lives. My mother's family has a great support system where they take care of each other, especially the pregnant ones. Then we lived in Indiana where my dad's family lived and he had a job, but we had to move to Iowa due to a job change. I've been living in Iowa ever since, but I consider California as a home-away-from-home because that's where the bulk of my mom's family lives and we used to visit every summer when I was growing up.

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  13. I was born on the EAst Coast, grew up and currently live in the Midwest, went to college in the southwest and want to retire to the southeast. Whew

    Would love to read this!

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  14. Happy birthday?

    Elie

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  15. This looks like a really good book! I love the cover to, its so different! I would love to hear the cover story on it!

    Thank you for the contest!

    I follow!
    I also posted a link here (copy and paste both parts together):
    http://booksforteensreviews.
    blogspot.com/

    countrystars95@yahoo.com

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  16. Please enter me and thanks for the giveaway :)

    I have grown up in boring old Illinois and lived here all my life, but I hope to someday travel the world!
    hurdler4eva(at)gmail(dot)com

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  17. I was born in a small town and still live in the small town. I like to travel but always love to come home
    THank you!
    tatertot374@sbcglobal.net

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  18. I left my hometown early on and have traveled near and far. As soon as I had a couple of kids though I moved back towards "home" to give them some roots with the family tree.

    I love reading-a great form of travel in itself!!

    thanks for giving away a great book!

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  19. Your novel sounds captivating and wonderful.
    I was born in Montreal, Quebec and my family had been living there for 2 generations. Due to circumstances we moved to Ontario and I lived outside of Toronto, in a large city for 18 years. After that we moved to to U.S. I live in a unique state which has sunshine and beautiful vistas.

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  20. I don't think I can tell you the number of places I have lived, lost count at about 40. I would love the book.

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  21. I was born about 15 miles from where I live now.
    Thanks for the giveaway!
    Kimspam66(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  22. I was born in a small Texas town to sharecropper parents. When cotton prices dropped so low that my parents could not even trade it for food, my father packed us up and moved to Dallas where he worked as a sheet metal worker. I still live within 20 miles of Dallas and will probably stay put to stay close to family.

    ReplyDelete

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