mail	105 - 317 Third Avenue New Westminster, BC V3L1M5
ph	604-720-8973
web	www.wildliferescueseries.com www.facebook.com

Biography

Diane was first published at the age of six (in the Gilpin Elementary School newsletter, reproduced on the Gestettner machine in the principal's office), and submitted her first book-length manuscript to a US publisher at seven: "We publish books for children, not by children," was their response. Seventeen jobs, six magazines and 30 years later, she tried again, and Jane Ray’s Wildlife Rescue Series was born.

Diane studied world religions at the University of British Columbia. Her first job after graduating consisted of loading 25,000 copies of the newly launched Vancouver Boulevard: An Arts Magazine into her 1966 Chev Malibu and finding them homes. When the editor left suddenly, she was offered her job. Since Boulevard, she has worked as a copywriter (Douglas & McIntyre), copy editor (SFU; UBC), publicist (Stanton & MacDougall) and Marketing Director for a national, bilingual magazine (REALM: Creating Work You Want). She is currently the "Animal Instinct" columnist for the Burnaby NOW, and senior speech writer for UBC's president.

Over 18 years, Diane has written about fashion, whales, art, TV production, Native rights, storms, mental illness, eligible bachelors, the Olympics and dangerous jobs ... and she argues convincingly that writing is right up there.

For seven years, she volunteered weekly with the Wildlife Rescue Association of BC, after a canola oil spill in Burrard Inlet brought the work of this remarkable organization to her attention. She has become a student of animal welfare, returning to UBC in 2003 to learn with world-renowned researcher David Fraser, and a passionate advocate for more thoughtful and compassionate interactions between humans and the other creatures who share this planet with us.

A mystery series lover at heart, Diane is thrilled to have this opportunity to write animal-centered adventure novels, and to share her love of animals with her readers!

To contact Diane about speaking or leading a workshop at your event, organization or school, email:

janeraybooks@gmail.com

Book types: YA fiction

Guest speaker/presentation information

DIANE HAYNES INSPIRES YOUNG READERS AND WRITERS WITH THE POWER OF THE HUMAN-ANIMAL BOND.

Award-winning Burnaby author Diane Haynes speaks about her wildlife rescue adventure novels, which have become popular with both boys and girls since the series was launched in 2005. She has the presence you'd expect of a longtime theatrical performer, and her presentations ring with the authenticity that comes with having worked as a volunteer wildlife rehabilitator for over seven years. From tales of caring for everything from a magnificent frigatebird to a wolverine, to flying a floatplane through the Chilcotin Mountains, Diane's stories have captured the imaginations of students and educators from BC to Nova Scotia. As the environment emerges to become the world's number-one issue, her animal resue eco-adventures have never been more powerful than right now.

PRESENTATIONS:

I Flight or Fight (grades 4-7)
The making of the book; readings; oil spill animal rescue; oil spill bath slide show.

II Crow Medicine (grades 4-7)
The making of the book; readings; animals as messengers; drumming and journeying to find your medicine animal; wildlife centre slide show.

III Gaia Wild (grades 4-7)
The making of the book -- pulling the series together; readings; wild animals in captivity; Tina the Elephant slide show and video.

IV Animal Rescue! (grades 4-7)
How the author became a volunteer wildlife rehabilitator; readings from her books; wildlife centre slide show; how to make your own wildlife rescue kit; how you can save animals!

V Power Animal (grades 4-12)
Crow Medicine story and themes; animals as messengers; drumming and guided visualization for students to discover their own "power animals;" power animal writing exercises.

VI Animal Writes (grades 4-12)
Put your passions on the page! The author guides students through a series of activities designed to bypass the writers'-block blues and get to the heart of what's important to each individual.

VII Pen or Sword?
The Writer as SuperHero
A Professional Development Workshop for Educators
Environmental activist and author of Jane Ray's Wildlife Rescue Series for teens, Diane Haynes talks about the writer as SuperHero, writing as a tool for change, and the power of the pen as an instrument of self-expression, communication, community-building, and transformation. Learn how to give young people the phone booth and the cape, and the power to fly!

Presentation geographic range: Vancouver, Coast, Lower Mainland, Gulf and Vancouver Islands, Thompson Okanagan, Northern British Columbia, Cariboo Chilcotin Coast, Kootenay Rockies, Canada - beyond BC, USA

Presentation audience age groups: grades 4-6, grades 7-8, high school, college/university/adult

Published work

Flight or Fight (Whitecap; 2005)
Crow Medicine (Whitecap; 2006)
Gaia Wild (Whitecap; 2008)

These are the first three books in Jane Ray's Wildlife Rescue Series [www.wildliferescueseries.com].

Awards & recognition

Diane is a medallist with the Council for the Advancement of Secondary Education and a nominee for a National Magazine Award. A recipient of a Canada Council for the Arts Grant for her writing, she is a member of the Children's Writers and Illustrators of BC (CWILL) and The Writers' Union of Canada (TWUC).