Autumn is creeping up on me. It’s getting dark earlier and there are more cloudy days, neither of which my light-sensitive brain is very happy about. But as things get a little greyer, I’ve been gifted two enormous reasons to celebrate.

Polar has just won the Science Writers and Communicators of Canada Book Award! The SWCC made the announcement at their virtual AGM, which I attended from a hotel room in Alberta, while tethered to my cell phone because the wifi was too weak for Zoom.

Despite the sketchy wifi, it was great fun to talk about science writing with other science writers, and as a huge bonus, I got to meet Polar’s illustrator, Byron Eggenschwiler! For those surprised by this, let me explain: publishing houses usually keep authors and illustrators as far apart as possible, to avoid any clashes of ego or vision. And Byron and I live in different provinces, so while we emailed each other around the time of the book launch, we’d never actually met. He’s great, and I still maintain that you can buy Polar for the illustrations alone and feel like you got your money’s worth. They are that good.

Which brings me to good news part 2: Polar is on the shortlist for the Lane Anderson Award!! I was lucky enough to win the Lane Anderson for Fuzzy Forensics in 2015, and I’m just so thrilled to be nominated again.

I got the news while standing in my sister-in-law’s kitchen, while Tech Support, his nephew, and a dog named Bandit tried to pick the lock on a family trunk that hadn’t been opened in about 65 years. This was them:

This was me:

In case you’re wondering, the trunk contained a quilt, a yearbook from 1959, and an overpowering smell of mothballs – though mysteriously, the mothballs themselves were missing.

And in case you’re eager to read or recommend Polar, it’s available at independent bookstores, and online at:

Chapters/Indigo

Barnes & Noble

Amazon.ca

Amazon.com

How is September treating you? Share your good news in the comments!