Local author and artist shares his talents

By Joan Janzen

FLAXCOMBE — Dave Kennedy lives a quiet life in Flaxcombe, where he keeps busy sketching portraits and writing fantasy novels. He’s spent a lifetime indulging in his artistic endeavours, and is now excited to announce he is having his first book published, which will be released sometime in January 2027.

Dave Kennedy lives in Flaxcombe, where he sketches and writes fantasy novels. His book, “Caput Draconis (Head of the Dragon),” will be released in January 2027. He uses the pen name Wyatt C. McKay in his fantasy novel.

A sketch Dave drew of a child who lived next door.

A pencil sketch of a big cat Dave drew in December 1994.

“I wrote this book in 2015, so I’ve waited a long time!” Dave said. “I’ve been walking on clouds for two weeks now!” He’s excited about having his book, “Caput Draconis (Head of the Dragon),” published by Parker Publishing. He uses the pen name Wyatt C. McKay in his fantasy novel.

“The book is geared for people who love fantasy. I incorporated mythical creatures and fictional characters. It’s got a lot of twists and turns to keep the pace up. I made it so I can do a sequel from it,” he explained.

He became intrigued with fantasy novels as a child after his elementary school teacher read “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” to his class.

“I was captivated! After a while I wasn’t even hearing her voice; I was just one of the four kids in Narnia,” he recalled.

It was the beginning of his writing journey. However, he had difficulty completing any of his projects until he read a book by Stephen King about writing. “Stephen King said you should write about what you know because it makes it more real,” he said. “I was a security guard at the time, guarding an electrical substation, and I incorporated those two things into my book.”

Since then, he’s written several books and a number of short stories, creating mythical characters which he develops in his imagination and then sketches their images.

“I don’t remember when I started drawing; it was like I was born with a crayon in my hand,” he said. The teachers in his high school art class weren’t able to offer any helpful suggestions; they just gave him straight A’s. His high school painting of a hockey player was displayed in the school’s showcase for six months.

“It was never work for me. It was easy for me to imagine something and draw it,” he said.

He has a collection of a few dozen portraits in his home, but most of his work was gifted to friends and family. He’s also crafted pieces of welding art, one of which was displayed in the Nanaimo Art Gallery, where it was purchased.

Dave is originally from Nanaimo, B.C., and first moved to Saskatchewan in the winter of 1981-82. “It was the most brutal winter ever!” Dave recalled. However, he endured seven years in Saskatoon and another year in Kindersley before returning to Nanaimo.

Nevertheless, he found himself returning to Kindersley in 2001 for a couple of years, going back to B.C. and finally moving to Flaxcombe in 2024. In spite of the cold winters, the warmth of the Saskatchewan people kept drawing him back to Saskatchewan.

But whether he was in B.C. or Saskatchewan, sketching and writing is something he’s always loved. “In this book I invented a town with two people working there. They go to a mythical island called Avalon. Supposedly legend has it that King Arthur was taken there,” he explained. But if you want to hear the rest of the story, you’ll have to buy his book when it’s released in the new year.