The short story Snow Day came about as a result of Canada Reads, a project by CBC radio to get all of Canada to read a particular book. I was one of the panelists for the very first Canada Reads, in 2002. The idea was that each of us would pick a book to defend, and then we would go into the CBC studio and battle with each other on air to see whose books would get chosen -- kind of like playing literary Survivor. In 2005, I got a phone call from CBC. The five Canada Reads shortlisted books had been chosen, and they were asking a few panelists from previous years to each write a short story that used the titles of all five books, but not as book titles. And what, I asked, were the titles? The answer: No Crystal Stair, by Mairuth Sarsfield; Rockbound, by Frank Parker Day; Volkswagen Blues, by Jacques Poulin; Beautiful Losers, by Leonard Cohen
...and Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood.

"You want me to use the phrase Oryx and Crake in a sentence?" I asked the producer.

Yes, apparently she did. And if she liked my story, it would be recorded and broadcast on CBC Radio. Who could resist a challenge like that? Here's an excerpt from Snow Day:

"Watch out!" came the smoky voice. I heard a scraping, screeching sound and leapt out of the way just as a car skidded up onto my sidewalk, missing me by inches. My front steps stopped it. The stairs shook, but held, although all the ice splintered away. No crystal stair, not any more.

A man leapt out of the driver's side. "My god, I'm sorry!" he said. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," I told him. But really, I wasn't paying him much attention. I looked to the raccoon that was still crouched on the fence. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," it growled. "Just consider it payment for the tomatoes."

"That was you, then. You destroyed all my plants."

The raccoon shrugged.