Just a reminder that my new blog is here:
http://jamesmccannauthor.blogspot.com/

So it seems a bit absurd not to blog about the writing panel I was on yesterday at the Writer's Union AGM ... considering the panel was on blogging.


I was one of three panelists, the other two being George Plumley and Michael V. Smith. We had a fair turnout, and fielded your typical questions of "Why should I blog?" The best part about yesterday wasn't the panel, but the people I got to meet. I met Kristyn Dunnion, a fellow YA author. I had actually met a friend of hers who lives here in Vancouver, kind of a chance meeting at the bookstore where she and I started talking about YA books. I can't recall if her friend or if I had mentioned Mosh Pit, but we'd gotten onto the topic of Kristyn somehow. Anyway, Kristyn became my Myspace pal and yesterday we got the chance to meet face to face. It was awesome.

Another cool thing was when the Child Lit authors started talking about what direction they'd like to see the Writer's Union go in, and everything they mentioned were things that CWILL has been doing for the past 2 years. I never realized before just how progressive of a writer's organization CWILL is, and just how lucky I am to be a part of it.

In other news, I got wind that Pyre will be shipped on the 26th of this month. This means it should start hitting bookstores sometime in July.

I posted a new blog. Check it out here.

Maybe I shouldn't be getting as much life advice from Superman movies and Spiderman comics as I currently have been. But let's face it, these are two guys who take on huge responsibilities and yet still make time for friends and family.

Once in awhile Clark does fly home to visit Ma and Pa Kent. He also, in between fighting the Luthors, makes sure to take out Lois once in awhile. As for Parker ... he did marry MJ and make sure his Aunt stayed a part of the family.

I've become the type of person who believes that work is the number one most important thing in the world. Quite honestly, if I have a job vs. a fun night out with my buddies I'll take the job. After all, who knows what may or may not come next year?

Lately I've been thinking this is not cool. While I don't have a Fortress of Solitude in which to sit and think, I have been taking some time to consider the direction in which I've been taking my life. Mostly I'm thinking about all those things I say to myself, "I'll have plenty of time for that next year."

Here are my short term goals for 2007:
1) Take Sundays off from all forms of work. This includes teaching, reading and writing. This will be a day for rest, for walks, and for hanging out with friends.
2) In September : take that weekend trip to Vegas with my buddy Rob. I've told him I'd go for the pat 2 years, and now it's time to do it.
2) In October: Go to the Surrey International Writer's Festival. I went in 1999, and it was the absolute best time I ever had.

Okay. Those are my three goals to make my life more enjoyable.

I just got an email from Victoria who's doing a book report on Rancour and wanted some extra information.

I'd love to answer any questions, but Myspace won't let me reply to your email.
(You have to add me as a friend first.)

    Considering I'm on a panel for the June Writer's Union AGM on blogging, I should probably update this more often.

    What can I say except this has been a weird week. Up until now I've kept this blog pretty impersonal, but something happened to me this week that was, well, extremely bad. I've been debating whether or not to blog about it, not because I'm embarrassed but because it means opening myself up emotionally to a world to which I'd rather just stay unemotional. Yet this needs to be a PSA (Public Service Announcement) issue, because this could happen to anyone and fast action in this is a matter of life and death.

    If you've read my bio, you know that I am a survivor of childhood cancer. Because of this,I have to be diligent with my health and make sure that I get a check up every year ... just in case. Every year I go in, and I'm told everything is fine. Then I go home, and I relax for another year.

    Imagine my surprise when this year I ask the doctor about a weird splotch on my shoulder and he says, without hesitation, "It's skin cancer." Before I go on, let me just say this: I'm fine. Because it was caught in time, all I needed was to have a chunk of my shoulder removed. (I've been in various degrees of pain all week.)

    Truth is, if you're going to get skin cancer, not only is this probably the type you'll get, but it's the type you want. When detected early, it's very treatable.

    And you know what? It can happen to anybody. I don't spend a lot of time in the sun, I wear sunblock, I wear a hat, and I take every precaution one is supposed to take these days. Thankfully, I took that extra step of seeing my doctor and asking what was up. I just hope if you find yourself in the same situation, that you will too.

A quick update before I go watch Nip Tuck...

Remember that young lady who called my book "cheesy" without knowing that she was talking to the author? She came back to the bookstore, and told me that she *loved* Twilight. Apparently, she was amazed at my ability to suggest books to her (because she'd given up trying to find a good book) and wanted me to know how happy she was with my advice.

Maybe I  can get her to read Pyre without knowing who I am. There's definitely more action, and a lot less cheese.

    I just bought Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. I love comics that feature Batman beating up Superman ... go figure. (What I'd really like to see is a graphic novel of Batman in a UFC cage match with Pyre.)

     I got to see a final version of Pyre's cover. Wow. What you see on this Myspace page is not the full cover, just the front. There's more that wraps around to the back. Hopefully Pyre will see life by May.

    This week is looking like a busy one. I have Monday off, a day on which I plan to write. Tuesday I'm attending a CWILL meeting on writing Graphic Novels, hosted by Kathie Shoemaker. I think that may become a project for me in 2008 ...
    Wednesday is 80s @ 8 hosted by Trevor Spilchen, and then Thursday and Friday I'll spend preparing for class. Come Saturday, I have young minds to shape.

I've had a busy week.

     Monday I went to Carnarvon Elementary School and taught 4 workshops. 2 in the morning with the grade 7s, and two in the afternoon with grades 5 & 6. It was a fun day.

     Tuesday, just before leaving for work, I took some pictures of my view:







     Wednesday was Word Whips. Pandora's Collective puts on a terrific writing workshop every 1st Wednesday of the month in Vancouver, and if you're ever here I'd suggest you check it out. They give the writing prompts, we supply the writing. It's very fun.

     Saturday, today, I had my morning creative writing class. Today we worked on finding inspiration through characters. We worked through the making of a character, and then I had them use a cardboard pirate ship I'd built as inspiration for a story with that character.





     We also played a game called "murder," which seemed to be a big hit with this group. Over the next week I get to read their writing assignments from last week. I'm excited to see what they've come up with!

     Conan also had an exciting day at the groomer. Here's what he looks like today: