Planted will be at Holiday Alley's Makers' Market!
This weekend, Planted will be at its first market!
The book will be for sale at the Wishme Makers’ Market in Selkirk on Saturday, November 26, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m at the Gordon Howard Centre (384 Eveline Street). The market is a part of Holiday Alley, the annual winter festival. I'm actually going to be out of town this weekend (I’m going to Toronto for a concert featuring Ukrainian artists alyona alyona, Jerry Heil, and Kola!), but my amazing sister Rayna, who illustrated Planted, offered to go to the sale with the book.
There will be a limited number of gift-wrapped signed copies, so all you have to do is slip it under the tree. I also printed some Planted stickers at the wonderful Iqonic Design, so you can grab one of those for your water bottle/coffee thermos/laptop/whatever!
Besides the book, there will be a few other treasures at the table.
Rayna is one of the most artistic people I know and creates beauty in everything, whether that’s drawing/painting, decorating her home, or dressing her little sister for any trips she goes on so she blends right in with the fashionable locals (this Toronto trip was so easy to pack for because she just handed me a bag of clothes).
She also does floral design (see her creations on her Instagram page Prairie & Yard Floral Design) and will have some stunning wreaths available at the market this weekend. She also plans to have a few of the ceramics she’s made, including a beautiful wall hanging.
So you should be able to get quite a bit of holiday shopping done at our table alone! There are a ton of other great vendors at the market as well — Patent 5 Distillery, Métis Branded, and Cloverdale Forge, to name a few (see the full list here). I hope you can stop by!
Planted ebook available now
If you or someone you know have a Kobo or Kindle eReader, you can now add Planted to your collection! You can get it for $9.99 from the Kobo store or on Amazon. I have a Kobo, and I tested it and it looks good on there, but if you have a Kindle and notice any formatting errors, let me know!
$5 from each ebook will be donated to aid in Ukraine. I'm still raising money for Come Back Alive, and I hope that I can meet my next fundraising target this holiday season.
Something Else To get you in the holiday spirit
A couple weeks ago I went to Kalush’s concert in Winnipeg. Kalush is a rap group from Ukraine and the winners of 2022 Eurovision. Some of their songs blend ancestral sounds and themes with modern beats (you may have heard their song "Stefania," which won them Eurovision).
One of the songs they sang at the concert in Winnipeg was a Ukrainian New Year's carol, complete with costumes. Right now, the song is available only on Spotify, so you'll need an account (a free one is fine) to listen. You can listen to "Shchedrivka" here.
Stay up to date with news in Ukraine
Sadly, russia's war against Ukraine is ongoing. Many Ukrainians are now living with limited or no power due to hits on energy infrastructure. Buildings in residential areas are still being attacked.
While russia's invasion is still very much happening across Ukraine, news coverage across the world doesn't necessarily keep the war in the headlines. One place doing consistent reporting on Ukraine, from Ukraine, is the Kyiv Independent. Check in on their website, sign up for their newsletter, or follow on Instagram or Facebook to stay up to date.