Dinah Galloway Mysteries

2009-10-29T11:14:00.000-07:00

We're migrating ...

... Life is busy when you're a junior detecto, so I'm going to refer all inquiries for the next while to Melanie's website.

Cheerio for now,

Dinah Galloway

2009-07-16T13:57:00.000-07:00

The Case of the Plot-Twisty Lawyer

Who says mystery stories aren’t relevant to everyday life? Not Sonia Sotomayer, the judge who’s about to become a Supreme Court Justice of the United States. Ms. Sotomayer cited the Perry Mason mystery novels, by Erle Stanley Gardner, as having helped influence her to go into law.

My librarian mother, Suzanne, glowed when she heard about Sonia. “I watched the Perry Mason TV show slavishly when I was a girl,” Mother reminisced. “I so wanted to be Perry’s secretary, Della Street, scrambling around crime scenes in designer suits and stiletto heels, and never springing even a ladder in her stocking.”

Uh, o-kaaay, Mother. Myself, I take pride in the rumpled look. It’s so lived-in, if you know what I mean.

Turns out my soon-to-be-brother-in-law, Jack (you first meet him in The Spy in the Alley), has watched all the old Perry Masons on DVD. He says his favourite episode is The Case of the Deadly Verdict, where Perry saves a woman at the last possible nano-second from the gas chamber. Phew!

Here’s what mystery writer Scott Turow says: “What I took from Perry Mason was the child-like delight in the surprise and in a plot as revelation of character. In the sense that the significant turn of the plot ends up deepening your understanding of somebody and what they had at stake in the situation.”

2009-07-08T14:32:00.000-07:00

Chased by a crooked shadow

In Queen of Disguises, an escaped con, the actress-turned-thief Violet Bridey, is stalking me. I’m on Salt Spring Island, trying to get in shape. (BTW, I hate that expression. An egg is a shape, right? Ditto a pear, and certainly an M & M.) Vengeful Vi has sworn to hunt me down and exact revenge for sending her to jail.

Well, the Mississauga Public Library did me the honor of naming Queen of Disguises one of its top 10 kids’ reads for summer 2009. I’m tickled pink. Thank you, MPL!

Here’s a joke for you. Mississauga is a long word. How do you spell it? Ha ha ha. Yeah, I know. I should go on Leno.

One last thing, and then I gotta flee the ever-baleful Bridey. Check out my friend Cynthia Nugent’s new blog, about her upcoming book with Orca, Fred and Pete at the Beach. Fred and Pete are dogs based on Cynthia and my own author, Melanie Jackson. Talk about a tale to wag.

2009-06-26T13:21:00.000-07:00

The caves are alive with the sound of music?

To paraphrase the philosopher: I sing, therefore I am. Human beings need music in their lives! And not just humans in recent history; ones who lived wa-a-a-ay back, too. In a remote valley of Germany, archeologists have unearthed a 35,000-year-old flute, the oldest instrument ever discovered. Using stone tools, a cave person carved the flute from the hollow wing-bone of a giant vulture, according to the Vancouver Sun.

Maybe the Flintstone-era folk believed, as I do, that music lifts you up and makes you feel better, even when things aren’t going well. Like I say about music in The Man in the Moonstone, “It cleared bad things away, just like … well, just like opening the bathroom window cleared away the smell of our cat Wilfred’s litter.”

2009-06-19T10:51:00.000-07:00

‘Defanitely’? Get a grip on your spelling, people!

As someone raised by a librarian mom, I may gripe about eating my broccoli, but never about spelling it with only one c. And I may not agree with Mother that tidying my room is necessary, but I would never DARE tell her it’s unecessary. Good grief! So, whatever my other wee flaws – acting before I think, say, or being a tad too blunt – I definitely think correct spelling is important. Oh, and note that it’s definitely, not defanitely, as most people misspell it. According to the Scottish Daily Record, “definitely” is the number-one misspelled word in the English language. The others I've noted above follow shamefully behind. Sigh. All of you who get your words wrong, may the spelling bee sting you!

2009-06-10T11:54:00.000-07:00

Eccentric characters? The real-life ones are even weirder

At a school presentation recently, a student asked Melanie, “How do you think of these funny characters, like the warty-nosed fortune teller in Queen of Disguises?” Well, the answer is: Melanie draws them, like a bucket from a well, from real life. And real-life characters are funnier than any she could make up. If Melanie invented characters similar to the real people you read about, she’d be accused of being too far-fetched.

For a real-life example of eccentric types, the Daily Mail reported on a posh London club where – get this – toilet paper is being pilfered! The snooty Hurlingham Club, whose waiting list to belong is 15 years, issued an angry memo to patrons about “conduct unbecoming.” As a junior sleuth, I’d advise the club: look for someone with a very large purse – that’s the only way a person could smuggle out toilet paper.

But the thefts don’t stop in the washrooms. Reports the Mail: “ … a lady member [was] filling her own bottle from the hand-lotion dispenser.” The light-fingered lass also pocketed “a decoration from the club Christmas tree and potpourri by the handful.” Potpourri’s that scented stuff your mom leaves out to make rooms smell nice.

Seems to me the Hurlington Club, potpourri or no, is smelling awfully fishy these days.

2009-05-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

Susan may be on a fast Boyle, but not this singer

Looks like Susan Boyle is pretty steamed at the media. Not me, though. Booklist just reviewed Queen of Disguises -- our first time ever in that august journal. Wrote Gillian Engberg, "Dinah Galloway, the tweenage “snooping songbird,” once again combines her singing talent and sleuthing skills in an engaging mystery set in British Columbia. While auditioning for a commercial for Vancouver’s 2010 Olympics, Dinah learns that Violet Bridey, a would-be jewelry thief whom she helped capture, has escaped prison and is seeking revenge. Dinah goes into hiding at a fitness camp, but she quickly realizes that her location is far from secure. ... Filled with surprise revelations, colorful characters, and slapstick pranks, including a memorable fart-cushion incident, this is sure to please the middle-grade audience."

2009-05-20T16:16:00.000-07:00

Melanie visits Crumbly – I mean, Carnegie – Hall

My dream is to sing one day at New York City’s legendary Carnegie Hall, or “Crumbly” Hall, as I called it when I was a mere kidlet. Recently my author, Melanie Jackson, stopped by Carnegie Hall – can I be far behind? Not according to a mysterious, if slightly scattered, fortune teller named Madame Sosistris, who in Queen of Disguises definitely sees the famous performance venue in Dinah’s future.

Millionaire philanthropist Andrew Carnegie – Scottish-born, BTW, like Melanie – donated $2 million for the concert hall’s construction, finished in May 1891. Famous for its rich, precise acoustics, Carnegie Hall seats 3,000. Its début concert was conducted in part by none other than Russian composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, also a noted swan enthusiast. But the Carnegie Hall performance I like to hear about – and listen to – is Judy Garland’s, from 1961, called “the greatest night in show business history.”

2009-05-14T20:49:00.000-07:00

A review as rich as chocolate
Darlene Petty, librarian at Ontario's Woodstock Public Library, hits the high notes for me with a reference to one of my favorite foods: Fudgee O's! Check out her review of Queen of Disguises.

"Melanie Jackson's newest mystery featuring 12 year old amateur sleuth, Dinah Galloway, is full of mystery, action and humour. In Queen of Disguises, Dinah is a finalist in a competition to sing in commercials promoting British Columbia and the 2010 Olympics. That would be enough to keep a 12 year old busy, but now she finds herself being pursued by someone she sent to jail, former actress and escaped prisoner, Violet Bridey. And then to top it off, the organizers of the contest decide the finalists need to embody the image of the Olympics and send the finalists to a health spa to slim down and get fit, not exactly how Fudgee-Os loving Dinah expected to spend her summer. This novel will have kids laughing on the edge of their seats!"

2009-04-13T11:17:00.000-07:00

The Queen Mary gets launched all the time ...

So why not the Queen of Disguises? Okay, so we're talking book launch as opposed to the cruise-ship kind. But what you lose in ocean breezes you'll make up for in good company, as you meet my author, Melanie Jackson, as well as other Orca authors launching their brand-new books. Hope you can dock in at this launch: Vancouver KidsBooks, April 16, 7 pm. There'll be food, author signings, speeches ... did I mention food?

2009-04-06T16:18:00.000-07:00

Did Agatha's shrinking vocab signal dementia?

A compelling new study reported in the Vancouver Sun suggests that the novels Agatha Christie wrote late in life reflect the onset of dementia. Researchers cite her shrinking vocabulary and rather dazed wanderings-off from the plot. Maybe, maybe not. But our vote for best Agatha is the bone-chilling Sad Cypress, written when she was still spry and middle-aged. A young woman named Elinor is found guilty of murdering a fluffy blonde and condemned to be hanged. The situation seems so hopeless you really don't see how diabolical Agatha will save her ... We dare you to white-knuckle your way through this one.

2009-03-23T14:35:00.000-07:00

Escaped con Beak-Nose Bridey sure looks cross behind her mask, but ...

... unlike the scrawny, costume-adept villain of Queen of Disguises, we're delighted. My latest adventure got a great review by Wendy Williams in CM Magazine! Wendy writes, in part, "Followers of this lively series set in British Columbia will be in for a treat as they re-connect to the liveliest 12-year-old on the west coast."

Uh-oh. I think Beak-Nose, a vengeful convict who just escaped prison, is prowling after me yet AGAIN. Like, doesn't the woman have any hobbies? Gotta run ...

2009-03-03T20:04:00.000-08:00

Thank you, President Obama

Animals, especially endangered ones, are perking up their ears, or gills, as the case may be. "President Obama on Tuesday overrode the Bush administration on a key step in applying the Endangered Species Act, restoring a requirement that federal agencies consult with experts before launching construction projects that could affect the well-being of threatened species." Read the full Los Angeles Times story.

2009-02-09T15:37:00.000-08:00

Written in the stars, but sung from the heart

Melanie's and my good friend, Gianna Dassios of the Ontario Library Association, is even more talented than we thought. As well as being very literary and speaking several languages, she's a chanter of magic spells! Along with her mother Silvana, Gianna intones a traditional Italian spell in the background of Rita Di Ghent’s song Incanto, on Rita’s latest album, Sprawl Indigo: More Tales of the Inner City. Gianna says, “In the recording you actually hear my mother and I actually recite this spell in ‘Furlan,’ the spoken dialect of the Friuli Region in Northeastern Italy, north of Venezia.”

And what’s the spell for? Love. Wouldn’t you know? These women! Me, I’d prefer one that allowed me to fly or become invisible. Or win a free hour at Purdy’s Chocolates (swoon). Or else escape from the chilling Queen of Disguises (shudder).

Anyhow, here’s what Gianna and her mom are chanting:

Grande Diana, regina del cielo e della terra, io ti chiamo
E con il mio potere ti scongiuro di guarantirmi i favori che ti imploro

Translation:
Great Diana, queen of the sky and the earth, I call you
And with my power I charm you to guarantee me the favour I beg of you.

2009-01-02T19:22:00.000-08:00

Gotta sing, gotta dance!

Melissa Jay, a cool, clever Communications student at Simon Fraser University, shared this video with us. It's all about the importance of music in our lives. Me? I'm always snappin' my fingers and croonin' something or other.

2008-12-01T13:08:00.000-08:00

Watch out, Dinah!

A thief breaks out of jail to track down the sleuth who put her there – Dinah Galloway. Problem is, the thief is a former actress known as “the queen of disguises” for her cunning costume changes. So Dinah knows she’s being stalked, but by whom? Our heroine already has enough on her plate without the addition of revenge served cold: the red-headed 12-year-old is a finalist to sing in commercials promoting beautiful British Columbia.

The deal is, to clinch the job, Dinah has to get fit at a wellness retreat on Salt Spring Island. Veggies? Exercise? Yech! Grudgingly, though, Dinah allows that her lifestyle could be a little healthier. Off to Salt Spring she goes, along with the two other finalists: one friendly, the other the last word in sulky. Her buddies Talbot and Pantelli make their usual disruptive appearances, along with Dinah’s ever-anxious mother and cool, elegant sister Madge. Hoping to shed not only pounds but her vengeful pursuer, Dinah learns the meaning of personal best – it truly is how you play the game, not whether you win.

ISBN 978-1-55469-037-4
$9.95 Cdn
www.orcabook.com
1.800.210.5277

2008-10-22T12:34:00.000-07:00

DEAR me, get ready to read!
If you’re on the same page with the BC Teacher-Librarians’ Association, the Greater Victoria Board of Education, Vancouver School Board, the BC School Trustees and many others, you and your local schools are getting ready to Drop Everything and Read on Monday, October 21 for 20 minutes. Says BCTLA Vice-President Karen Lindsay, “The government has said that it wants to make BC the most literate jurisdiction in Canada, and I just think this is a simple little idea that models something for kids. I get a feeling of purpose and peace when I think about it.”

Here’s an idea for how to spend your 20 minutes (and then some). The current issue of BCTLA’s Bookmark is crammed with the latest theories on what makes a child want to read. For example, writes Vancouver School Board District Teacher-Librarian Moira Ekdahl, research has shown that children given a “broad choice of high-interest illustration storybooks” will improve not only in language but in writing and syntax control – and this is without traditional testing on what they read. In other words, “literacy and language development should be pleasurable experiences, not painful ones.”

2008-09-18T11:15:00.000-07:00

The Summer of the Spotted Owl ...

A novel about social responsibility, according to School Library Journal.

2008-09-11T14:56:00.000-07:00

There's gotta be a better way to capture reluctant readers

And there is -- check out Melanie's September 8 article in the Vancouver Sun, "Why so many are reluctant readers, and what to do about it."

Here's how the article begins:

When Bobby O. stood up to read aloud, we all groaned. The next minutes, as Bobby stumbled painfully over texts by Sir Charles G.D. Roberts or some other venerable Canadian writer, were agony. We were supposed to read along silently, so our eyes would be trapped on every syllable that Bobby mangled. Unsure of what he was reading, Bobby kept his voice to a dull, ambiguous monotone. Eventually the teacher would cut short Bobby’s turn at reading aloud, and pass with ill-concealed relief to the next student.

Bobby, everyone shrugged, was just not a natural reader. Educators would invent the term “reluctant reader” to define kids who reached the intermediate grades and floundered over texts their classmates absorbed with ease. In recent years, however, educators have reconsidered the case of the reluctant reader.

Maybe it’s not that these kids don’t take to reading. Maybe the way reading is taught doesn’t take to them.

2008-09-04T21:41:00.000-07:00

Come to the World of Stories launch -- if you dare

Don't miss the West Vancouver launch of The World of Stories, with all proceeds going to community literacy efforts, September 9. As a special ghoulish added attraction, hear my author, Melanie Jackson, read the bloodthirsty opening of Ailie Mooney's upcoming adventure, The Midnight-Blue Marble. It's a real killer.

Ailie's illustrator, Eleanor Rosenberg, will be unfolding her amazing Ailie art. Eleanor's amazing. She understands Ailie to a T (for trouble, of course)!

2008-08-31T12:20:00.000-07:00

Dinah invites you to The World of Stories launch

2008-07-16T21:21:00.000-07:00

The cat came back

2008-06-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

Reach your imagination to the sky: READ!
"How to raise a reader?" asked the Toronto Star. Well, here's the advice we gave the Star -- which happened, by the way, to be the paper Melanie first worked for.

Inspiration: Like Dinah, Melanie was pest-like as a kid, and got scolded for blitzing people with questions. Undeterred, Melanie found a career that encourages pests: newspaper reporting. Sleuth Dinah is Melanie's idea of a scrappy junior reporter. And, of an optimist. Look around life's corners, and you'll find adventure. As a student, Melanie was involved in theatre; enter Dinah, the red-hot (as well as red-haired) performer with the Judy Garland-like voice. Everyone has a well of life experience. Dinah is what Melanie draws from hers.
Advice for raising a reader:
* Do not shove children's lit at them. They'll grow into it. Let them read comics, cliffhangers, anything to get their minds thinking in book-ese. In learning another language, you start thinking in it; similarly, a person becoming literate starts thinking in a more a flowing, articulate way, with allusions.

* Show your kids that you read! They want to copy you (though they may not know it).
* Make libraries a regular outing, where you both come out staggering under the weight of many tomes.

Meanwhile, look at the lengths my friend Ailie Mooney goes to in promoting literacy.

2008-05-15T21:53:00.000-07:00

We're off to see the Silver Birch
Melanie and I are off to Silver Birch week in Toronto. We'll be at the gala ceremony, plus visiting Mabin School, Rippleton Road, Branksome Hall and William Dunbar School. Can't wait! Now ... let's click our shoes together, and off we go ...

2008-04-23T11:30:00.000-07:00

When those questions creep up on you
Hey guys, you've sent some great questions in. Our time here at dinahgalloway.blogspot.com is like a bag of ketchup-flavored potato chips: runs out way too fast. But allow us to answer two questions submitted by Di fans:

Q. Hi my name is Sadie and I live in Vancouver. I have really enjoyed reading your Dinah Galloway mystery stories, my favorite being "The summer of the spotted owl" What I like most about them is that there set in Vancouver, no as I'm reading I can relate to the locations such as: Grouse mountain, commercial drive, pacific central station etc. what I also like is how you talked about the spotted owl, the owl rescue center in Langley did a presentation at my school and owls are just such amazing animals, it just breaks your heart to see them disappearing! So anyhow my question for you is are you going to write more Dinah mystery, if so what's the next one going to be about?

A. Hi Sadie,

I am so glad you enjoy Dinah's adventures! I have a special place in my heart for Summer of the Spotted Owl, too. Some of the other books have got more attention, but that's kind of a favourite of mine, too. I know exactly what you mean about a breaking heart.

Yes, there is another Dinah on the way: The Queen of Disguises, coming out in '09. Do you remember the villainess from The Man in the Moonstone? She's back, stalking Dinah! Brrr! ... Thanks for writing!

Oh ... the photo?

And check out Comments for another Q. and A.

2008-04-09T14:25:00.000-07:00

Up, up and away!
My spirits are soaring, thanks to the Ontario Library Association. OLA has chosen Shadows on the Train as one of its Best Bets for Children 2007. Here's what OLA had to say:

“Feisty Dinah, the spunky girl detective with the huge singing voice, once again solves a high-paced mystery with humour, energy and ingenuity. This time Dinah is being stalked by a dangerous man from her dead father’s past who will stop at nothing to retrieve a lost treasure. Jackson’s warm-hearted heroine tangles with shady characters, an ex-con, zany situations and learns about rare stamps in her inimitable way.”

Count nine clouds over. That's the one I'm on!

2008-03-27T12:29:00.000-07:00

Keeping us on the run!
You Shadows on the Train readers are keeping us on the run with all your fabulous questions and comments. On the run is good, because exercise is healthy, right? (As I find out to my chagrin in my next adventure, The Queen of Disguises.) Following are more comments, but first I'll let Melanie reply to a couple of questions:

Q. Where did you get your idea to combine mystery and humour?
A. One of my main inspirations was the director Alfred Hitchcock (a scene from his film North by Northwest is pictured above). In many of his movies, the humour keeps pace with the suspense!
Q. Why does it take so long for a book to come out?
A. Publishers plan way ahead. So, to Dinah's friend A. in Mississauga, that's why The Queen of Disguises is already written, but won't come out till '09.

Okay, now for more fab reader comments. You know where to click ...

2008-03-18T16:14:00.000-07:00

Ailie sleuths to fund-raise for literacy
My sleuthing buddy Ailie Mooney stars in the short story "Napoleon Is Winking," in the September 2008 anthology The World of Stories, published by Gumboot Books to fund-raise for literacy in time for World Literacy Day, September 8. You can see Ailie above, giving Melanie what-for; Ailie's rendered by the very talented artist Eleanor Rosenberg. Way to go, Ailie and Gumboot!

Melanie's photo by Silvia-Moreno-Garcia.

2008-02-22T14:18:00.000-08:00

Like Monsieur Voltaire said ...
Have comment, we'll blog it! Okay, so the eighteenth-century French philosopher didn't quite put it like that. What Voltaire did believe, though, amid tut-tutting wags of his long nose, is that everyone has a right to their opinion! That's why we here at dinahgalloway.blogspot.com gladly publish whatever our readers say. We figure that, if you guys have put some thought into your messages, they're worth sharing with everyone. Thanks for continuing to write in! For the latest round of comments, click on -- duh -- "comments," below.

Oh, and check out these Shadow-y comments from Fernfolio!

2008-02-06T14:04:00.000-08:00

Best Bets, in books AND in friends
This is a photo of Melanie with her buddy and guardian-angel-librarian, Gianna Dassios, at Chine Dr. School in Toronto. Gianna's the teacher-librarian there, as well as being Melanie's Ontario Library Association rep. for Silver Birch. Melanie counts herself lucky to have Gianna as a good friend -- she has me to thank for that. I brought 'em together!

While Melanie was in TO for the recent OLA SuperConference, she found out that the Ontario Library Association has named Shadows on the Train one of its Best Bets for Children 2007. Yay! Thanks, OLA! Hey, and thanks to Gianna for taking this photo, too.

2008-01-24T14:20:00.000-08:00

A-buzz with questions

"Questions are bobbing around like bumblebees" -- Dinah Galloway, in The Summer of the Spotted Owl

I like asking questions, so I'm really impressed by all the Silver Birch readers who are e-mailing in questions and comments about Shadows on the Train. Here's a honey of a batch forwarded to me by my good friend, the ultra-cool Gianna Dassios of the Ontario Library Association. Reprinted, as someone who believes in freedom of expression, without editing!

"Shadows on the train has been one of my favourite books! I think that even though it is not the first book in the series it explains the main character Dinah's personality very well! In this book there have been some very good parts :) and some bad parts :( ! One of the bad parts were when she was taking to her paino teacher and then it just went to another topic without even going into another paragraph or chapter. That was pretty much the only bad part I found! ( So it is full of good parts!) Over all this was an amazing book! :) ;) I thought that this book was amazing :) I haven't read the other books, but I will! I really like all of the trouble and fights that she gets into, trying to prtect the "king"! It was really amazing!"

"I think this was a good book because it was very exciting to hear about the 80,000 dollar envelope and traveling on the train to Toronto from Vancouver. But it sometimes gets a bit boring at parts in the beginning I also like the part(s) on the train like when the nurse gets on and they think there kidnaping Ms.cheerbly. That part i liked."

"I think this is a really good book there is lost of action and I really like the author who did it. I also like it because there was really weird shadows I think "Shadows On The Train" is a good book. I recommend it."

"The part where she reviles herself and everyone is missing is reall cool. I think that they loved the dad."

"I really like this book because I thik Dinah was a realistique caracheter. I like books that are mysteries. I especially like the part where Dinah puts the stamp below her tong. That was cool. At first I thought that she had actually gotten writ of the stamp. I also like the part where on the train where everyone is disapearing. I could really imagine that happening. I did not like the part where Dinah was "captured" the lady. I found it really confusing. I liked the book so much that I even went to the library to get two more."

And, from Theresa Sawada, an ESL and Reading Recovery teacher at Ranchdale Public School: "Dinah is an interesting little detective, with her corny jokes and clever insights. I can see why she would want to understand more about her father and his friends. I liked when she said, "When I sang, I was singing into the shadows as well as everywhere else." It was a passion she shared with her father, and she didn't want to forget or ignore their times together.

"I checked out the blog mentioned in the front of the book, www.dinahgalloway.blogspot.com. You can see a clear drawing of Dinah, with her curly red hair, freckles and glasses. I tried to visualize what she looked like as I read the story, but the cover, of course, just shows a shadow of the character. The blog also talks about how a book reviewer compared the author, Melanie Jackson, to Agatha Christie, one of my favourite mystery writers."

2008-01-11T15:59:00.000-08:00

Woo hoo, wiki woman

Pantelli: " 'Woo hoo, witchy woman, she got the moon in her eyes ... ' Know that song, Dinah? It's way cool."

Dinah: "If those odd contortions you're doing are an attempt at dancing, please stop, or else I'll turn the hose on you full-blast. They're very disturbing. Anyhow, for your information, it's wiki woman we're talking about here. As in, my author, Melanie Jackson, who's signed up for Rippleton Road School's Silver Birch wiki! Now kids can post their comments/questions about Shadows on the Train and all the other Silver Birch nominees."

Pantelli: "Now I get it. Wikis. Where everybody adds a piece, whether it's an idea or a question or a fact, and you assemble an online source of information that keeps growing, like a puzzle coming together."

Dinah: "Yeah! And Rippleton, which was Melanie's first school, is the wiki leader, the first of its kind! Teacher-librarian Shaun Grant started the wiki so that ... Well, I might as well let Shaun explain it himself. Hi, Shaun!"

Mr. Grant: "Hi Dinah, hi Pantelli. This wiki provides an opportunity for students to leave mments regarding the Silver Birch book that they just read. My goal is to provide my students with an opportunity to connect with the authors of the books that they are enjoying. I will expand this opportunity to schools throughout Toronto due to the positive support that this wiki site is receiving!"

Pantelli [contorting]: "So, guys, the song oughtta be Wiki Woman. 'Woo hoo, wiki woman ... ' "

Dinah [brandishing hose]: "You might want to step aside, Mr. Grant. A tsunami is about to start."

2007-12-23T20:13:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!
May all your days be happy and bright
- Dinah Galloway and Melanie Jackson

2007-12-14T21:52:00.000-08:00

The Mysterious Disappearance of Agatha Christie

My author, Melanie Jackson, and I got an early Christmas present: a review in Kliatt that says Shadows on the Train “evokes and blends the best of Gardner, Hitchcock and Christie.” Well, speaking of Christie – that’s Agatha, not Mr. – did you know that she mysteriously disappeared for eleven days back in 1926? Yup, it’s true. Already a bestselling novelist, Agatha upped and left her house in
Berkshire, England with no explanation to anyone. The newspapers blazed out headlines: why had Agatha vanished? Had someone murdered the murder writer?

Then, calmly as you please, Agatha turned up again – and never told anyone, not a single soul, what she’d been doing. There’s a theory floating round that maybe she suffered temporary amnesia, but who knows? In any event, disappearing would be a great publicity stunt, wouldn’t you say so, Melanie? … Er … Melanie?

2007-11-30T14:04:00.000-08:00

Guess what's growing in the Forest of Reading?

If you're like me, you happily belt out the Robin Hood theme while strolling through the forest. But if you happen to be in the Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading, you'll notice Shadows on the Train blooming amid the trees! Feel welcome to pay me a visit there (bow and arrow optional).

2007-11-28T13:11:00.000-08:00

I Spy ... a new edition!

It began with Wilfred the cat, though my sister Madge insists she started it by leaving the back door open. Wilfred wouldn't have been able to get out otherwise, she says.

That's Madge for you. She has to be the center of any story. I guess it's because she's so pretty, with her burnished red hair, lupine-blue eyes and smooth, porcelain skin. It would be hard not to believe you were the center of attention, looking like that.

"My hair is auburn," says Madge, miffed. She's peering over my shoulder at the computer screen, where I'm writing this.

Well, she's part of the story, I'll give her that. And, by letting Wilfred go, she set things off: the discovery of the bucktoothed spy and the mysterious thefts, not to mention the high-speed chases. (Okay, so the chases were on foot. They were still high-speed.)

So begins my very first adventure, first published in 2002, and now featured in a skookum new edition! As you can see, the new cover is very film noir style, very sinister and mysterious. Well, natch. The spy I chase in this story is very sinister, and the plot is very mysterious! Not to mention featuring a nummy recipe for tomatoes, courtesy my soon-to-be-brother-in-law, Jack French.

Hey, and guess what? This is the book where Madge meets Jack! And double-guess what: at first she can't stand him! Luckily, wisdom - in the person of yours redheadedly - prevailed.

Here's what Quill & Quire said (blush): “With writing as delicious as the fresh tomatoes Dinah loves to munch, Jackson weaves a lively mystery ... [nothing] will stop young readers from adoring Dinah and gobbling up this entertaining new mystery series.”

So ... if you're a gobbling mood, check out Spy!

2007-11-19T11:57:00.000-08:00

Faeries story works magic

Know a young reader? Either an enthusiast or someone who's getting into books with the enthusiasm, say, of a turkey looking at a Christmas menu? I recommend Faeries Are Real, by Crystal Stranaghan. This past weekend, Melanie was helping a young Korean-Canadian with English, and the little cutie latched on to Faeries Are Real with the enthusiasm of a spell to a wand. The student's favourite was Sophie the Pig, but there's a whole enchanting cast of twinkling characters to choose from.

2007-10-23T09:43:00.000-07:00

Land of the Silver Birch

Land of the Silver Birch
Home of the beaver
Where still the mighty moose
Wanders to Dinah ...

I am SOOO HONOURED!!!! Shadows on the Train has been nominated for Ontario's 2008 Silver Birch Award! This is my second Silver Birch nomination. The first was for The Mask on the Cruise Ship, a couple of years back; or, in my sister Madge's language, about 2,439 new outfits ago.

Melanie is floating on air - in fact, if you tilt your head, you can just about see her orbiting. Oooo, watch out for that Russian satellite, Mel - oh no, a mega-collision ... debris is flying everywhere ... Run for cover!

Pantelli: "Dinah, too bad about your late author, but I need to point out that beavers, in fact, do NOT live in trees."
Me: "What, you've never heard of Bocky the Flying Beaver?"
Pantelli: "I think that was Rocky the Flying Squirrel; and, no."

2007-10-14T20:03:00.001-07:00

Singin' in the Train

This post is dedicated to Dinah's friend J.S., who is learning French! Vraiment, tu es merveilleuse, J.S.!

There's another great review of Shadows on the Train, this time as part of a fascinating history of trains in kids' literature. Allow me to add to it by pointing out that I'm not the first singer to go all aboard for a train story. Judy Garland starred in The Harvey Girls. Like me, she was on the tracks (heh heh) of a villain. In that movie, Judy sang the Academy-Award-winning On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe, belting it out with such volume, volume, VOLUME that it's amazing the ties didn't fly off the rails. Watch for her below: she makes a dramatic late entrance. (Just as I like to, BTW - funny how this doesn't go over with teachers.)

2007-10-04T13:52:00.000-07:00

Dinah, won't you blow your horn?

I've been working on the railroad, all right - catching thieves on a cross-Canada train! And now, thanks to a way cool review of Shadows on the Train by Wendy Williams of CM Magazine, I get to blow my own horn. Yay! Thank you, Wendy and CM!

2007-09-28T12:28:00.000-07:00

Gender gap in achievement: where ARE you, Gilbert?

From the Sept. 22, 2007 Vancouver Sun article "To close the gender gap, we must do more for boys," by Melanie Jackson:

Among the memorable moments in Anne of Green Gables is the take-no-prisoners fight between the redheaded Ms. Shirley and Gilbert Blythe -- in academics. Right up to the end of Lucy Maud Montgomery's classic, the two battle neck-and-neck for highest marks.

It's one of the epic contests of young adult literature. It's also an anachronism. These days educators are trying to boost boys' average achievement rates to equal girls', never mind surpass them a la Gilbert. To do that, educators realize they pretty much have to start a new slate (much as Anne did after slamming Gilbert over the head with hers). Boys' lagging rates will be the topic of the Gender and Student Achievement Conference: Addressing the Gender Gap in Education, Oct. 18-20 in Kamloops.

Read the rest here. Above photo from the Kevin Sullivan production of Anne of Green Gables, featuring (ahem!) that OTHER famous redhead.

2007-08-26T12:27:00.000-07:00

Life Is Serious

G.D. from Toronto wanted to know: "Did Melanie ever come back from being kidnapped?" Why, yes, she did - though first our Sinister Hoodie tried to ransom her. All Pantelli and I could come up with was some dented Bionicles, so the Hoodie eventually gave up and returned Melanie free of charge. He grumbled something about complaining to the kidnappers' union next time - like, who knows.

However, before he returned my author, the two of them, along with a Cecil B. DeMille-like cast and crew, filmed the following extravaganza, Life Is Serious, a concept Melanie feels very strongly about.

2007-08-15T20:42:00.000-07:00

Di-Namic Tips on Writing

You guys have been e-mailing me for tips on writing. Personally, I'm into SINGING. So I'll lob this one over to my author, Melanie Jackson. ... Melanie?

Melanie: Sure, Dinah - but watch where you lob, okay? That one got me in the eye. Anyhow, here are my top five tips for budding authors:

1. Write about people and places you know. Change names, though! You don't want Great-Aunt Sadie bearing down on you with her cane.
2. Set a time every day for writing. Even if you toss out what you've written, you've improved your style just that much with your 6 a.m. cup of tea (or whenever).
3. Read constantly! And read good books. The good writers' style and messages will seep into your brain.
4. Print out and edit what you've written. I know, I know: editing sounds boring. But when you have a first draft in front of you it's like viewing an aerial landscape of a village. You can rearrange places and people to make the story better.
5. Like Prime Minister Winston Churchill (pictured) said, "Never never never never give up!" Admittedly, with his glorious, plummy accent he said "Nevah." But you get the idea. Be stubborn. You will succeed if you keep trying.

2007-07-09T12:13:00.000-07:00

Pantelli and I log into a new mystery

Anyhow, Pantelli and I zoomed away from the Dubuques, Constable Dassios and assorted other adults with irritating questions. We smashed through a couple of garden hedges, scrambled over a sagging fence, pushed through lilac bushes, and ended up in the overgrown garden of our neighborhood haunted house.

From the cackles and giddy “Wheeeee!”s inside the crookedly open French doors, the inhabitant of the haunted house was having a rip-roaring good time. Parting long dandelion stalks and wavy grasses, Pantelli and I tiptoed closer.

We saw a skinny woman with long brown hair flinging herself about to the catchy music of Logdriver’s Waltz:

2007-06-29T09:13:00.000-07:00

Dinah and Shakespeare

The Stratford City Gazette on Shadows on the Train: “Dinah is being shadowed by two mysterious characters, nicknamed The Whisperer and Bowl Cut. Evidently, they are pursuing a treasure that Dinah doesn't even have! Then various passengers on the train, including Dinah's music teacher, begin to disappear! Are they being kidnapped? ... This is the fifth instalment in the award-winning Dinah Galloway series of hilarious, wacky mysteries for children. There's absolutely no room for boredom on the part of young readers who accompany the spunky, unstoppable Dinah on her adventures!”

Listen, Shakespeare got his start in Stratford, so why not me? I'm a Shakespeare fan myself, by the way. Especially for his bloodier plays, natch. I mean, you really can't top Macbeth, now can you? Though I always wondered why Lady Macbeth had to do laundry commercials – y’know, that line about getting spots out. Guess she needed extra shillings.

The stuff I'm not so crazy about is that “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” nonsense, which Jack spouts to Madge – sooooo tedious.

2007-06-19T15:56:00.000-07:00

Now revealed: the reason behind the kidnapping!

Am I your bulldoggish neighborhood detective, or what? Through perseverance -- a.k.a. pest-like sleuthing -- I found out that the sinister Hoodie spirited my author off to star in a movie. So much for agents, huh? Anyhow, Melanie's new flick is called Life Is Serious.

Here's a shot of the set. You can see that quite a sizable crew and a whole lotta equipment were involved. Stay seriously tuned.

2007-06-12T13:27:00.000-07:00

Melanie's kidnapping: the distressing video!

2007-05-29T12:20:00.000-07:00

Shocker: Melanie gets spirited away!

In a horrifying development, my author, Melanie Jackson, has been kidnapped right out of her own back yard! Video coming soon -- convenient that we happened to be filming Melanie at the time, huh? Not so convenient that she'd promised me a hearty, deep-fried lunch at Memphis Blues on Commercial: now I'm hungry as well as horrified.

Anyhow, my tree-loving buddy Pantelli will be subbing for Melanie at the Vancouver Public Library launch of lotsa new books by BC children's authors, June 9, 1-3 pm. Including -- not to stop you in your tracks -- Shadows on the Train! Melanie belongs to CWILL (Children's Writers and Illustrators), which is organizing the event.

But, of course, since she's been KIDNAPPED, she won't be there; Pantelli will, in all his leafy glory.

Hey! Why don't you figure out where Melanie is? To find her location, try this Word Jumble out, if you dare ...

2007-04-30T16:13:00.000-07:00

The Mystery, Unearthed

So where were we? Ah, yes. That Arctic-icy voice: “Just what are you doing?”

I glared back at the green-eyed woman. “We’re digging up Mrs. Dubuque, if you don’t mind.”

Green Eyes jabbed a green-nailed forefinger at me. “How can you do that – when I’m Mrs. Dubuque?”

I launched into a derisive HA! – only to stop. Just before the exclamation mark, to be exact.

Because Green Eyes’s face did look familiar, on closer examination. I’ve seen that face, a much more ample version of it, that is, on a plump body puttering about the garden. And over a large bowl of Snickers on Hallowe’en night, accompanied by the buttery-voice words, Help yourself. Hee hee. I know I do!

“Mrs. … Dubuque?” I venture, with an uneasy sensation similar to the time I was gobbling up tomatoes from our neighbours the Rinaldis’ garden, when I thought the Rinaldis were safely far away – but weren’t.

“Mrs. Weight-Loss-Retreat Dubuque, IF you don’t mind.” Green Eyes, a.k.a. the transformed Mrs. Dubuque preened in her triumphant new thinness. “Not only did I shed fifty pounds, I dyed my hair a romantic raven-black, and got green contact lenses. You see, Dinah, my favourite song has always been Green Eyes. A delightful 1940s instrumental. Perhaps you’ve heard of it?”

“Er – yes,” I stammered. “But the things that were buried. I mean,” I gulped, trying desperately to salvage the situation, “think of Hitchcock film Rear Window (see sinister photo, above). When Raymond Burr digs in his garden, it’s not to plant tulip bulbs. He’s knocked off the missus. Naturally,” I finished, with what I hoped was a winning laugh, “I thought … ”

“At my request, Mr. Dubuque was burying XX-large-size dresses to motivate me to never, but never, indulge in so many sweets again!"

Constable Dassios snapped her notebook shut. “I think we can pronounce Case Closed on this particular mystery, Dinah.”

Mr. Dubuque, beefy face red with anger, stomped over like a one-man herd of elephants. “Causing me trouble again, eh, Dinah? Wasn’t it offensive enough that you hid on our roof last Hallowe’en pretending to be a raccoon? Oh yes,” our neighbour laughed bitterly. “I figured out it was you. I’m not stupid, you know.”
A shocked, melodramatic gasp from Pantelli. “You did what, Di? You mean, you trespassed?”

Pantelli has a shovel-like quality to him: that is to say, always ready to offload blame. As I recalled quite well from that particular The Man in the Moonstone incident, Pantelli had been just as culpable as I.

Which is why, swivelling, I started after Pantelli.

“Wait,” shouted Mr. Dubuque. “I haven’t done with reaming you out!”

“Wait,” his wife echoed. “I haven’t done with describing my makeover to you!”

But I was speeding after the fleeing Pantelli. I followed him through a brambly hedge, into the overgrown garden of a skulking, graystone house – a sinister, unkempt place we’d always thought of as haunted.

2007-03-16T16:14:00.000-07:00

Interrupted Train of Thought

"Just what are you doing?" exclaimed an Arctic-icy voice behind us.

I whipped round to see --

"Hold on, there, Dinah," Talbot interrupts. "Don't you think you oughtta make Shadows on the Train the subject of this post?"

Why ... I guess Talbot's right. I should. (Er -- later, Mrs. Dubuque.) This month my newest adventure, Shadows on the Train, chugs into bookstores! You can read all about my, Talbot and Pantelli's slightly off-track adventures with a mysterious treasure that someone is trying to steal. Problem is, we don't know exactly what the treasure is, except that it's worth a whopping eighty grand. And, as we travel by train across the country, a nice little old lady vanishes from the dining car! Very Hitchcockian, my mother would say. I'd say, I hope the old lady got to finish her crumpets first. I mean, thwarting someone's attempt to eat -- now that's brutal. Anyhow, you can get all aboard! with our fearful adventures by slinking amongst the deadly ... Shadows on the Train.

2007-02-22T20:04:00.000-08:00

The Woman at the Window

Constable Dassios flipped open her notebook. "So where did you say this, er, body was, Dinah?"

I pointed at the Dubuques' flowerbed, sprouting bright orange zinnias whose black centers seemed to be winking knowingly at us. "That patch of pink in the middle of them is no sprig of posies, Constable. That's Mrs. Dubuque's housedress. I haven't seen her here in weeks. Her hubby's bumped her off and buried her."

Constable Dassios chewed the end of her pen. "Hasn't been seen for weeks, huh? Let me have a talk with Mr. Dubuque."

Talbot and Pantelli were sitting on top of the fence between my house and the Dubuques'. Talbot looked quite pale beneath his soulful dark forelock; he'd got along well with Mrs. Dubuque. But then Talbot got along well with all adults. Pantelli, meanwhile, was crunching his way through a bag of popcorn. He'd microwaved it specially for this "entertainment," as he called it.

"Hey -- there's Green Eyes!" he shouted, pointing to the window.

The green-eyed babe stared out at us for a moment, then let the curtain fall in front of her face.

"She's why Mr. D. killed his wife. Dead," I added pointedly, because the Constable did not look as impressed as she ought to. A tiny doubt entered my mind. Should I have waited till Mother was home to call the police? Talbot thought so. He feared I was being impulsive.

Me, impulsive? Donuts, holey?

"I'll handle this," said Constable Dassios. She started to walk up the deck steps to the Dubuques' back door.

I shrugged at Talbot and Pantelli. Mr. D. and Green Eyes would simply deny any accusations. I would just have to take matters in hand, so to speak. Grasping the pink patch of cloth, I gave a yank --

And toppled backward on the grass. I was holding Mrs. Dubuque's trademark pink housedress all right.

But there was no Mrs. Dubuque in it.

2007-02-11T18:55:00.000-08:00

Di-vine thanks to my support staff

Yep, that's 'em: (from left) my author, Melanie Jackson, along with Wilfred the Cowardly and Mad Maybelle, Melanie's tekkie during author presentations. And the presentation they're smiling about here is the January 27 WriteOn! literacy event at Vancouver Public Library, hosted by the Lower Mainland Chapter of the International Literacy Association (LOMCIRA), Literacy BC, and of course VPL itself. Poet Bob Heidbreder romped the audience through his catchy rhymes, then Melanie presented my own personal tour through the screamingly fascinating History of the Mystery. There were lots of writing activities, too. Another THANK YOU, btw -- to Meredyth Grace Kezar of LOMCIRA.

Oh ... the Dubuque mystery? Well, stay tuned for an update on this very grave situation.

2007-01-23T12:28:00.000-08:00

Enter Green Eyes

A mysterious woman has started visiting Mr. Dubuque. The married Mr. Dubuque, I should note disapprovingly. The mystery babe has raven-dark hair, wickedly sparkling green eyes and – the ultimate villainess giveaway – wears a fur coat over her slim frame.

Mrs. Dubuque wasn't like that at all. Mrs. Dubuque was comfortably plump, with wispy gray hair that she didn't bother brushing. Mrs. Dubuque shuffled around in worn slippers and an old, faded pink housedress. Not the glam-villainess type at all.

You'll notice I refer to Mrs. Dubuque in the past tense.

“Because of course Mr. Dubuque killed his wife to make room for this new dame,” I explained at dinner last night. We were having one of my favorites, spicy garlic roast chicken. I waved a drummette around for emphasis. “My theory is, he buried her in the garden. I wouldn't be surprised if Green Eyes helped him.

"This explains why Mr. D. dug up his flowerbed a couple of months back and then replanted the whole thing. He replanted it over his late wife.” Having made my point, I chomped into the delicious, sauce-covered meat.

Strangely, Mother and Madge set down the pieces of chicken they’d been eating. “I hope you don’t share your grisly theories about our neighbor with anyone else,” Mother frowned. “Your over-active imagination could get us into a lot of trouble, Dinah.”

Jack, also at the table, erupted in something that sounded like a laugh. He transformed it into a hoarse-sounding cough, and reached for some potato salad.

“You know quite well that Mrs. Dubuque is on an extended trip,” Madge reproved me. She pushed her own plate of chicken away; Jack and I helped ourselves.

“I know that Mr. D. mutters and hurries away when I question him about that trip,” I retorted. I leaned over the table confidentially. “If you ask me, she went on a permanent trip, as in, the one-way kind.

“And … ” I held up my now efficiently gnawed-to-the-bone drummette for silence. “I now have proof that Mrs. D.’s sleeping with the worms.”

“Really, Dinah!” Madge stood up, threw her napkin on the table, and marched out of the room.

Jack licked the last of the potato salad off his fork. “And what proof, pray tell,” he inquired, “is that?”

I smiled triumphantly. “A corner of Mrs. D's old pink housedress is sticking out of the flowerbed.”

2007-01-06T19:47:00.000-08:00

Everything's coming up roses

Pardon me -- you can probably tell my mouth is full. I crammed back three devilled eggs before I started writing this. Yes, three. Egg-zactly. What, you expect me to be dainty?

Anyhow, I'm feeling pretty darn rosy because my friend B.L. sent me the cool plot summary of the story she's writing. Does B.L.'s story ever sound good! BTW, I'll update you on the sinister, wife-disposing -- well, I think he's wife-disposing -- Mr. Dubuque in the next post. For now, enjoy B.L.'s creativity:

"Mika is brought to a mysterious land with no name, where she meets a 12-inch dragon by the name of Dreamkatchur. Her mission is to help save the faeries of the forest from the trolls, whose regular diet is unicorn, but they've switched for some odd reason. When Mika thinks she's figured the whole thing out, she realizes that it's not the trolls who are feasting on the faeries, it's the dragons, and they've tricked her into coming here for the largest feast of all; she doesn't find out until the last sentence of the book that she is a faerie (PURE FAERIE) in human form."

Whoa. A 12-inch dragon! You might call that ... a real ruler of a dragon!

2006-12-19T10:00:00.000-08:00

Have a Dickens of a Christmas!

Mother, Madge, Jack and I are heading off to midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. This year I'll be stepping forward from the rest of the choir to do a solo: O Holy Night. And on Christmas Day, we'll each read aloud from Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, about this sour old man named Ebenezer Scrooge who slowly comes to realize the value of caring for others as opposed to the value of a bank book. My favorite part is when he buys Tiny Tim a fat goose for the roasting! Num! For myself, I happen to like finding goose-egg-sized chocolates bulging up my Christmas stocking.

Read the book -- and see the 1951 movie starring Alastair Sim. Watch out for the ghost of events yet to come, though. Scareee!

Hey, be like Scrooge -- the reformed Scrooge -- and think of others this Christmas. Like the homeless animals at the BCSPCA! And, hey, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good Silent Night.

2006-12-07T19:59:00.000-08:00

A Royal Thank You

... to my buddy B.L. of Vancouver, who introduced my author, Melanie Jackson, at not one but TWO school presentations. Way to go, B.L.! And I happen to know you're an ace writer, so keep on writing!

This being a royal thank you, I have an excuse to blather about my personal heroine, the very royal, very cool Elizabeth I. That Queen Elizabeth, who lived way back in the 1500s – hey, around the time Melanie Jackson was in kindergarten! – was redheaded and spitfire-determined, just like me. She reached the throne purely by her wits, after having a whole pack of enemies plot against her life. And then she reigned for a whopping forty years. I suspect Elizabeth was stubborn - another trait we have in common - and determined not to give up, no matter what. Yay, Elizabeth! There's a great historical novel about her called Young Bess, by Margaret Irwin. It was made into a movie, too! The photo shows Jean Simmons as Young Bess. Ahem, movie producers: ever be interested in casting a musical version of Young Bess? Puh-leeze, consider yours truly.

Speaking of stubbornness, I marched next door to ask Mr. Dubuque what had become of his wife. "Mrs. Dubuque - you do remember her," I said.

"Yeah. Well," Mr. Dubuque grunted, closing the door. Or trying to: it met my foot. "Ursula's visiting relatives back east."

"Funny," I said, though I wasn't smiling. "I once practiced my Junior Sleuth Club interrogation techniques on Mrs. D. Asked her about her background. She said her entire family lived in Sweden."

"Ja?" Mr. Dubuque scowled at me. He rammed the door against my foot. I had to withdraw it, or for the rest of my life look like I was walking on the side of a hill.

And then there's that garden he'd uprooted and replanted. Weird thing to do in late autumn. From my bedroom window I stared down at the rich orange zinnias freshly growing in the Dubuque garden - and wondered, and wondered.

2006-11-28T19:28:00.000-08:00

A huge round of applause for S.P.!

My buddy S.P. from Vancouver sent me in this cool-sounding plot for a novel she's working on. I love it when kids write stories. Take it away, S.P.!

"I started a new story about a month ago and I'm still sticking with it. (I haven't gotten writer's block yet, like I always get). It's called Trouble in Tulum and it's about an eleven-year old girl called Elma Nichols who wins a two-week vacation with her parents and way-too-mature 16-year old sister to Tulum, in Mexico. But when she gets there, she hardly gets to relax at all. She gets wound up in a swirl of protests, purple-haired people, deep, ice-cold fountains, a strict substitute teacher, playing soccer in a monsoon, and more.

"So far, I've written six chapters and 63 pages. I'm really excited about it! So far, I've used dramatic irony, excitement, inner conflict, humour and exaggeration.

"By the way, here's the description I wrote for my book:

"When Elma Nichols and her family win a two-week vacation to Tulum, Mexico, they are overjoyed. Elma wants to swim with dolphins, her sister Madison wants to soak up the sun, and their parents want to relieve all their stress that's been building up. But little does Elma know that she's going to get tangled up in a mystery involving a heated protest, a day trapped at sea, and dozens of purple-haired people. Can she stop the protest, solve the mystery and still manage to make the most of her
vacation in paradise?"

2006-11-17T13:30:00.000-08:00

Brussels sprouts more than leaves
This post is dedicated to Dinah's friends C. and M. in North Vancouver.

I just got some horrifying news. I hope you're sitting down. My author, Melanie Jackson, recently served Brussels sprouts to dinner guests. Like, what is she trying to do, alienate the planet? My North Van buddies C. and M. heard about it and are in therapy right now.

Melanie remains irritatingly blasé. "Brussels sprouts are good," she insists. "Would you like to try this nummy recipe I found, where you make them with slivered almonds?"

"Sure," I reply sweetly. "That's number two on my list of choice things to do today -- right after strapping myself to the Skytrain tracks."

Gad. You can see what I have to put up with.

Here's what C. and M.'s dad wrote in his e-mail to me: "M., with a shocked look on his face said, 'But Dinah doesn't like Brussel sprouts.' C. piped up, 'Don't you remember, when Dinah was making the Brussels sprouts disappear at the dinner table, she threw the last one out the window where the bad guy was trying to get into the house. It went into his mouth and he fell into the yard. The neighbours reported a man dressed all in black, limping and chewing something with a disgusted look on his face.' "

Ah yes, how fondly I remember that episode. It was near the start of The Mask on the Cruise Ship. Brussels sprouts as Scud missiles: now that's a good use for 'em.

2006-10-31T11:27:00.000-08:00

Happy Ghoulish Hallowe'en
This post is chillingly dedicated to Dinah's friend T.M. in Toronto.

I decided to go out tonight as a salami. Hope you don't have a beef with that. I decided I needed a change from being, for example, a witch. Last Hallowe'en I went out as a witch and -- well, let's just say the evening was somewhat disastrous. You can read about it in my adventure, The Man in the Moonstone.

Anyhow, I'd had the salami-costume idea for a while, because I'm a singing salami on the radio. In commercials, I belt out tunes for Sol's Salami on W. 4th:

You'd have to be balmy
Not to love Sol's salami ...

That's the latest jingle. Sol writes 'em himself. I think he was in kind of a bad mood when he wrote that one. Oh, well. The jingle stuck in my head, so I decided a salami I would be.

It was almost the witching hour, or the trick or treating one, anyway, and I was swathed in a brown comforter with yellow scarves pinned along it. Mustard on a salami, get it? Plus, Madge had artistically twisted a brown scarf and sewed it to the top of a sunhat. When I put the hat-with-scarf on my head, it was supposed to be twisty-looking end of a salami. And she'd dangled a large price tag from the scarf. Pretty cool. And ... to make the costume even more effective, I was carrying a particularly garlicky salami in my treat bag. To give off an unforgettable aroma, if you smell what I mean.

Off I waddled on this moonless night, along with my buddies Pantelli and Talbot. Talbot started telling us the history of Hallowe'en. Talbot's into history the way I'm into -- well, the way I'm into Reese's Pieces, you might say.

"About 2,000 years ago, in Ireland, the Celts started their New Year November first," Talbot said, as we headed up the path to the Dubuques' house. "The Celts believed that on New Year's Eve, the dead came back. Sort of like a rerun. I mean, you think you've seen the last of Great-Aunt Hattie, and here she is again, though maybe without all of her flesh."

Pantelli and I laughed enjoyably at this image, though a little girl walking behind us with her dad burst into screams. I have to say this about Talbot: he really makes history come dead.

His costume was fun, too: he was the Headless Horseman from the story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving. Talbot wore an elongated collar painted a lovely rich shade of blood-red; his eyes peered out from holes in the collar.

Pantelli was, as usual, a tree. Pantelli's really into trees.

We reached the Dubuques' front door. Weird. No fake fog wisps attached to the door, no fake skeleton hanging from the outside light. Mrs. Dubuque was usually so into seasonal decorations, too.

Then Mr. Dubuque opened the door, snarled at us, and tossed a lone peanut into each of our bags. Whoa. His wife always shelled out tons of goodies. And remembered that I liked Reese's Pieces.

"Where's Mrs. D.?" I demanded. Maybe she was running a bit late this Hallowe'en.
"Gone," he barked -- and slammed the door.

Maybe it was Talbot's Headless Horseman, or the weird whooo-ing noises other kids were making on the sidewalk. But I thought of the way Mr. Dubuque had said "Gone," and of the strange digging he'd been doing lately, and --

I wondered if he meant that Mrs. Dubuque was gone ... for good.

2006-10-20T15:07:00.000-07:00

In the Pink – Or Not

My sister Madge and I were sitting at our kitchen table, stuffing information packets for a save-the-spotted-owl rally on the weekend. Jack, who's the coordinator of the student Spotted Owl Advocacy Committee, would be the main speaker.

There are just a few spotted owls left – a lot of their habitat, old-growth forests, has been chopped down. As Jack says, why can't we think before we act? All it takes is some planning between developers and environmentalists. Like, duh, JUST TALK FIRST, okay, guys? Jack, who wants to be a history teacher one day, says history is full of disasters, all because people wouldn't talk to each other.

Myself, I love yakking. As much and as loudly as possible.

Hey! You can check out how to save Spotty yourself: visit the Western Canada Wilderness Committee. Tell 'em Dinah sent you. And remember: the more we talk about Spotty, the more people have to listen.

Anyhow, as Madge and I were sitting and stuffing, Madge raised the subject of this blog. "It's pink," she said, shuddering.

Madge has this thing about pink. She hates it. Maybe you read in The Summer of the Spotted Owl how she totally dissed this one woman's wardrobe and car because they were, yes, all pink.

"Well, poor Spotty's not in the pink," I punned sadly. "Not for the time being. But as to regular pink, Madge. Some excellent things are pink. Strawberry ice cream. Candy floss. Bubblegum pie."

"Bubblegum – ?" Madge winced. "Please, Dinah. I don't want to know."

"But I do want to know." I set down the packet I was stuffing and stared out the window, over our fence. "About Mr. Dubuque. Yesterday he dug up a whole bed of azaleas. And now there's fresh earth on the flowerbed, and tiny new flowers. He either dug something up or buried something."

My eyes widened behind my as-always crooked glasses. "Or someone."

2006-10-18T19:58:00.000-07:00

Cabbages and Kings

Hi. You might've read about me in Orca Books' Dinah Galloway Mystery Series. My latest case is called The Summer of the Spotted Owl. Thanks for visiting my blog! Just don't annoy me by drooling over how cute my sister's fiancé Jack is. A lot of girl readers do that, and – well, try LavaLife if you're that desperate.

Anyhow, here's the latest. Mother served cabbage today. Yech! I snuck it upstairs to my room and Frisbee'd each leaf down into our neighbors the Dubuques' garden. Problem. Mr. Dubuque was digging up his azaleas at the time. Possible benefit. Briefly, Mr. Dubuque was no longer bald.

The "kings" part of this post's title? Oh, that's blatant self-promotion. Kings are on my mind because of the treasure I hunt down in my next adventure, The Shadows on the Train, out in spring 2007. Hey, check out my adventures c/o my publisher, Orca Books. Or visit my own, personal, accept-no-substitutes website.

Or ... have a banana-honey-peanut-butter sandwich. That's my fave kind of sandwich, and I intend to make one within minutes.

But back to Mr. Dubuque. Talk about mysterious! As well as angrily wrenching the cabbage leaf off his head, he threw his shovel aside and turned an unbecoming shade of mottled purple. As in, looked ultra guilty.

Why was Mr. Dubuque digging up his azaleas? Is he short on salad ingredients? Or ... is he hiding something?