Bear Witness

It was -35C in the Yukon Territory on December 13, and Baked Cafe was still packed. It’s a testimony to great friends I have in Whitehorse and the extent Yukoners will go to support musicians and writers and artists.

I felt so privileged and honoured to launch The Angels of Our Better Beasts in Baked Cafe in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.  Baked Cafe was like an unofficial office for me for many years.  I sometimes wrote there, but more often I met folks there and talked for hours.  The lattes there are perfect.  I used to order a “Husky Hazelnut” latte–which is a 2% Milk version of the Hazelnut latte.  Instead of indicating I was trying to lower the fat in my drink, though, by calling it “skinny,” I wanted to call myself “husky” instead, which is a nice way of saying, “He’s a big fella.”

Anyway, the Launch. Yes.  So happy to have Marcelle Dube and Steve Parker there to read with.  Marcelle Dube is primarily a mystery/thriller writer in Whitehorse, but she does have science fiction and fantasy stories.  Steve Parker is best known for his Skrelsaga–and we hear he’s working on a sequel.  These two writers have been my friends for nearly as long as I’ve known the Yukon.  So–reading with them, and reading in Baked Cafe was a real wonderful pleasure.

I made a video of the launch–or at least of the parts before we started reading.  I wanted to give you a feeling of what it was like to have friends be there for you in a warm space inside a cold, cold night.  Sarah MacDougall kindly lent her song, “Cold Night” to the video.