Winnipeg moments

I feel like there’s more to write about than this Winnipeg trip, but what I want to write about is less of any actual thing and more about that expectant, spring-y feeling of possibility that seems to be in the air right now…in spite of Montreal’s continuing iffy weather.  Maybe I just feel that way because I’ve come to the end of a long string of public writerly responsibilities (which are really wonderful to have, but which weigh on me heavily), and I feel like I might be able to get back to some happy medium of actual writing and seeing friends, neither of which seems to have happened very much in weeks and weeks.  In other words: hurray!  It truly does feel like school is out, and me with it.  Maybe that’s really all there is to say about it, so… done!

This past weekend, I went to Winnipeg to give a reading at McNally Robinson as part of the Thin Air Winnipeg International Writers’ Festival. I view this trip as a landmark in that it is probably the first trip in my entire life where I did not overly stress out about packing for it in advance.  (Yes, it’s only a weekend trip, but that hasn’t stopped me from insane packing stress in the past.)  I spent almost no time packing and my suitcase was even really light (especially for me)….until this happened:

A fundraising book sale for the Thin Air festival...can't beat those prices!

My friend K enabling me.  Her hubby A. carried their adorable baby 

while my books got wheeled over to the hotel.

I know my husband and I need to go through and prune our collection…and I know we just paid a back-breaking sum to clean the ones we have, but I couldn’t help myself.  This was actually the restrained pile because as I was browsing I noticed a bunch of books (mostly CanLit) that I’ve purchased over the years and STILL haven’t read.  With my selections this time I tried to take into consideration a) what I will actually read  and b) what is not likely to be available at the university library (hence the inclusion of more than a few mysteries/thrillers/YA books).  Unfortunately, I was so excited about my purchases that I actually managed a faux-pas of plugging the used book sale while at the bookstore for my reading (doh!!)  But in my experience, book lovers aren't deterred from buying new books by the prospect of buying used books at some point later, so I hope no harm was done.

Thanks to some very accommodating friends, I was able to pre-schedule seven separate hang-outs over the course of the weekend, along with the planned bookstore reading. I saw new babies, new houses, and shared a cup of bacon.  I had the most delicious homemade brunch in St-Boniface, a wonderful salad at Prairie Ink, and gin and tonics in Wolseley.  I dished with poets, fiction writers, graphic novelists, and above all, loved all the low-key hanging out and catching up with friends. I miss you, Winnipeggers!  So nice to see you all. The reading itself went well, I think, and at least was not entirely populated by people I know.  Most importantly, there were people there (never a guarantee!).  Thank you so much to everyone who showed up!!

Check out this amazing display!!! McNally Robinson is the best.

Me and the indefatigable G.M.B. Chomichuk, just before the reading.

Before the reading, I had a nice dinner and chat with fellow Banff alumnus and brilliant novelist (and reviewer, as previously blogged here) Joan Thomas, whom I'm sorry I didn't get a picture with because she was looking lovely and so summery.  On the other hand, it gives me an excuse to post this photo instead, from a few years back, that I don't think I ever blogged:

Hanging out in the Rideau Hall bathrooms

 at the Governor General's Literary Awards (2009?) 

The few parts I’ve been reading from Bone and Bread at different events didn’t seem to be quite long enough for the time I needed to fill, so I decided to read a section that I haven't read aloud in ages.

I last read it at the QWF mentorship reading many moons ago, and I remember hearing my voice high, tight, and probably near-hysterical sounding.  Definitely my worst reading ever.   For some reason, the section felt so strange and raw and interior, and I could sense it wasn’t connecting with anyone in the audience.  I think it’s possible the readings or some selections of them were being recorded for broadcast on the radio (and this might have contributed to some extra nervousness), but I’m sure they wouldn’t have used mine.                     

So I was happy I decided (at the very last minute…while standing at the podium!) to read that part and kind of own it, for lack of a better term.  It might not have been the most brilliant delivery in the world, but it wasn't awful, which was the previous baseline.  I don’t think the passage has changed at all (if so, only very slightly) in the intervening years, but I’ve changed, and the way I was able to read it in front of an audience has changed, and that makes me really happy.  

The next three photos below all courtesy of my friend Greg Chomichuk (you can follow him on Instagram here):

 Me in conversation with the lovely Charlene Diehl, 
the warm heart at the centre of Thin Air

 Signing stock at McNally Robinson

After the reading, I went out with some friends, most of whom used to be part of a writing group I was in that grew out of a class with Dennis Cooley at the University of Manitoba.  At least four people from our class have now published books (some more than one), and I expect that list to grow in years to come. 

Writers group alumni! (Can Lit quiz: can you spot the 

experimental Canadian poet and critic?)

All in all, it was the perfect trip (including being bumped up to first class on the way in!!) except for a small hiccup in calling a cab to pick me up from the Neighbourhood Bookstore and Cafe, which was so neighbourhoody it didn't appear to have a street address! The guy who was working asked me to check my receipt and then ran outside to look, to no avail. And apparently if you only provide an intersection, the taxi company doesn't actually dispatch you a cab...although they don't tell you that until you call back fifteen minutes later after being eaten alive by mosquitos and getting anxious about missing your flight.  

Even the employee couldn't figure out where it was.

A la prochaine, Winnipeg!

The Walrus Summer Reading Issue

Have you gotten your copy of the new issue of the Walrus yet?

I’d already noted the gorgeous cover when people were tweeting about it online. (I've never outgrown my childhood love of infinite regress pictures either...or whatever they're called.)  And I was excited to find out who the six promising new Canadian writers were.

One of my remarkable husband’s remarkable poems is in here.

Well, it turns out I already know one of them --- my husband!  Exciting new Canadian writer Derek Webster. You might say I'm not the most objective reader in this case, but I think his poetry is amazing.

Get the new issue of the Walrus and check it out!

Epic Sunday and other randomness

On Sunday morning I had a photo shoot with Terry Byrnes, which felt like a rite of passage for a Quebec writer.  (If you're not familiar with his work, you can read a little about it here.) It was so nice to meet him at last, and I’m very curious to see the results!

On Sunday afternoon, we officially moved over to our new apartment (i.e. slept over there), even though things are in shambles and we’re still missing a lot of important everyday items (curtains, coffee maker...). But I'm ecstatic, anyway. 
 
Then, on Sunday night, I had such a fun talk with a book club in Toronto.  Sadly, the connection wasn’t good enough to sustain a Skype chat (though we got a brief glimpse of each other!), so we chatted on the phone.  Thanks so much to those generous readers for inviting me in!  I loved hearing their smart insights into the novel, as well as other books their club has enjoyed over the years (note to self: read Colum McCann).  If only the snacks could have beamed through the phone, too...

I view this as major progress, by the way, that a day with two such semi-public-writer engagements didn’t totally undermine half of my week with anxiety leading up to either one.

In other bookish news, I also recently recorded an excerpt of Bone & Bread for Cityline, which you can listen to on their website here.  It’s about five minutes of me reading from the first chapter.   

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Last night I went to my first sewing class (led by the costume designer in my knitting group, mentioned before here).  I was more than a little afraid that I would be the worst one in the class (flashbacks of grade seven and grade eight home ec class!) and attending has done very little to allay those fears.  But I’m trying to hold on to some shred of misplaced confidence after sewing all those wedding banners last summer.  It is a little unfortunate, however, that accurate tracing and cutting in a straight line are among my two worst skills.

 Tracing my skirt-to-be

Other randomness:

Some pink corduroy pants I keep trying to get rid of somehow keep coming back into my life.  They’ve been given a leg up by the fire (they were in a bag in the car, and therefore smoke-free) and the unseasonably cold weather. Someone send me the strength to just stop wearing them.

I’ve been sleeping on a makeshift pillow composed of a pillowcase, a blanket, two sweatshirts, a zip-up fleece, and a towel.  I’ve finally smooshed it into exactly the right shape to be able to procrastinate on pillow purchasing for another week.

I’m desperate to sit down and read something, but these days are so busy it’s impossible to justify.  Even my lunch hour has its own list of errands.

I’ve been dreaming prolifically at our new apartment.  I’ve had more vivid dreams in the past four nights than I’ve had in as many months.

Bone & Bread is a Cityline Book Club pick!

I was really thrilled to find out that Bone & Bread is the latest Cityline Book Club pick! It's a six-week online book club, which is a relatively new feature on the show's website.  The first book they picked was Will Ferguson's Giller-winner 419, and it seemed to generate lots of interesting discussion.  You can win a copy of Bone & Bread by commenting here with your last great read.  

Speaking of book clubs, I'm Skyping in to my first book club on Sunday night and I'm nervous but excited. I really hope it turns out to be light and fun and interesting rather than awkward and intrusive.  I've never succesfully managed to be a member of a book club myself (as soon as I "have" to read something, I suddenly don't want to), but I can imagine that having the person who wrote the book turn up in one's midst could prove to be uncomfortable...as though you suddenly have to ask an insightful question, or pretend you actually liked it when you didn't, or say, actually read it all the way to the end instead of blowing it off to see the latest Star Trek movie (which, incidentally, was pretty enjoyable).  

But I think it will be fun.

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The unpacking, cleaning, and other wrangling of our possessions continues, albeit it at a slower pace that I would prefer.  There's just so much.  And even if they are things we decide to get rid of, we (I?) still feel the need to clean them first.

The de-smokified books still smell a little bit smoky, a bit musty, with a sweeter overlay of some sort of cleaning product (or ozone? does that smell?).  Basically, they smell a lot like library books now, which I think is okay.  I like the smell of library books. 

  Some unpacked but totally disorganized books.

Looking at that wall of books makes me feel like we've made a lot of progress until I turn around and see all the packed boxes of books that are still remaining:

 Boxes of books

In other news, my choir is doing a benefit concert for Head and Hands on June 9th, so there are a ton of upcoming rehearsals, which is wonderful except for all the unpacking it means I won't be doing.  

 

And in just a couple of weeks, I am heading to Winnipeg for an event at McNally Robinson with the lovely Charlene Diehl!  Winnipeg, can we hang out?? 

Soon, very soon

Soon, very soon, we'll be getting our books back from the post-disaster cleaners.  There hasn't been much time for reading or writing, though there have been a few newer reviews of Bone & Bread I'd like to share once I'm thinking about anything besides furniture placement and the best way to get smoke smells out of leather.  (A, I don't think I can risk this technique for all my shoes.)

We've been spending some time at the new apartment, trying to clean up the sawdust and preparing to move in.  My husband put up some temporary shelves in between some existing built-ins, so that when the cleaned books arrive we'll be able to get some boxes emptied right away.  

      

New bookshelves (with books that didn't go through the fire).

We also picked out a few things at IKEA and started putting them together before the rest of our things arrive.  

      

Couch!  

I'm looking forward to things being a little less eventful at home soon.  I'm trying to gear up to make a big push with unpacking and cleaning as soon as our stuff arrives, though... I'm a little too familiar with how boxes can just start to seem like they belong in a particular corner of a room. 

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend, and making the most of the perfect-for-writing rainy weather. 

CBC Books' Summer Reading List for 2013

It's true that I'm sharing this list because Bone & Bread is on it (hurrah!), but I really do think it is a wonderful bunch of books that won't steer you wrong:  

       CBC Books' Summer Reading List for 2013

They call Bone and Bread a "dazzling debut" (!!!).

In terms of the rest of the list, I read Where'd You Go, Bernadette? in a couple of days last week and really loved it.  It's hilarious and memorable and unique. Born Weird by Andrew Kaufman is also funny and brilliant and big-hearted.  

I already have had Life After Life and The Hungry Ghosts and Caught in my to-read pile...though these are now all waiting to get de-smokified (along with at least two dozen other books I am anxious to read).   I'm also really looking forward to fellow Anansi-writer Iain Reid's The Truth About Luck, and earlier this week I had to talk myself down at the bookstore from buying The Interestings in hardcover, even though I'm dying to read it, especially after reading Kerry's review of it on Pickle Me This. 

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The days are passing in a blur of laundry and lightning-fast research and decisions about our new place... looking around for furniture and (maybe this is just me...?) wondering why everything is ugly and overpriced.  (Or why everything I like somehow turns out to be $7,000?!) Even IKEA is looking expensive after all the costs associated with the fire and the renovations.  Now we're trying to decide what can wait and what needs to be right now.  Beds are a must, but tables and chairs can wait...?  Couches?  Patio furniture seems like a luxury that should go to the bottom of the list, but given the time of year, we'd also like to get it right away.  I'd love to take my time and find the perfect things for our new home, but I know that when it comes down to it, it might be nice to have somewhere to sit, eat, sleep. 

Behind the Book... and behind in everything else

I'm feeling behind in everything, and all I want to do is sit around and read and write.  And rewatch episodes of Arrested Development.  Maybe it's a side effect the allergy medication, but I seem to have less of an ability to stare at a computer screen without getting a headache after I get home from work.  As a result, I haven't sent any emails in at least a week, which is kind of a disaster.  Maybe it is some belated fire/moving/general stress exhaustion, but it is harder than usual to get motivated.

I think I neglected to post this, coming as it did right after the fire, but writer Chad Pelley of Salty Ink (one of my favourite sites!) also did a Behind the Book with me on Bone & Bread that you can read here.  I really liked his questions! 

Salty Ink is also one of a few must-read sites celebrating short story month.  Steven W. Beattie of That Shakespearean Rag is taking it to the next level with daily nuanced short-story reviews. And Steph at Bella's Bookshelves has started something called #shortstoriesforbreakfast, which is a great bite-sized teaser for things to read.  Short stories and breakfast are the perfect pairing!

I'm sure these aren't the only sites doing special features for short stories this month, but they're the ones on my daily rotations.  Let me know of any others you come across.

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At my workplace, we have to use up our remaining vacation allotment for the year before the end of May, so Tuesday morning I stayed home from work and tried to write. And I did. (Hurray!)  Though I did something I really shouldn't do and started writing something new, in a style and genre I don't really work in and which I probably won't be able to sustain.  It was fun and satisfying, though.  I really want to decide what to focus on this summer among all my different projects and make a big push forward in something because I think the summer is when I do my best work (or, at least, my most work).