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CanLit is Sexy, an anonymous blog, has just popped up twisting the titles of selected Canadian novels in rather suggestive ways. Now, the National Post has jumped on board, too. Some of these are hilarious. Have a scroll through and perhaps suggest others. I’m honoured to have been included in this august list. Although, I figure with the word “laid” in the title, it was an easy call… (creepy photo of me too, which seems kind of appropriate under the cirsumstances.)
I’ll be leaving for Vancouver on Thursday for the Vancouver International Writers Festival. I’m really looking forward to it. I’ll be doing two readings and speaking on two panels on Friday, October 22nd. The first panel is on Friday afternoon and is called Day Job. It will revolve around that familiar challenge of fitting writing into your daily life while juggling a family and a full-time job. The second session is in the evening and is called Funny Guys. The focus, as you might expect, will be humour in writing.
In anticipation of the Vancouver festival, the National Post is running a series of Q&A style interviews with various writers attending VIWF. Mine ran today…
A few weeks ago, I was interviewed by Mark Medley for a story on self-publishing in the National Post. It seems I forgot to mention it here on the blog (at least I think I forgot). It ran in many Canwest papers across the country. In any event, here’s the piece. Thanks Mark.
Vote early and vote often. But seriously, if you have a moment, head over to Canada Also Reads and register your vote. The polls are open until March 12th at 1:00. The winner will be announced on Monday, March 15th. Consider this to be part of your obligation as Canadians! Canlit needs your support!
The essays in defence of the Canada Also Reads shortlisted books started yesterday. Two essays each day are posted on the National Post‘s Afterword blog. This afternoon, Andy Maize’s defence of The Best Laid Plans appeared. Andy Maize, co-founder and lead singer/songwriter with The Skydiggers has written a wonderful piece in support of TBLP. I love it and I’m grateful for the time, thought and care Andy clearly took in composing his essay. But it’s not over yet. On Monday, March 8th, starting a 1:00 p.m., the National Post and Afterword blog will host an online chat with all of the panelists and authors. Should be fun. Then, Canadians will be able to vote online for the Canada Also Reads winner. Here’s hoping all of you loyal readers of this humble blog will cast your vote for TBLP when the time comes.
Quill & Quire has assembled on its blog some quotations from several authors capturing a selection of writing rules. Not sure how I made the list but Q&Q is clearly excerpting the Canada Also Reads piece the finalists were asked to submit last week for the National Post’s Afterword blog. I’m delighted to be there amidst some wonderful writers and their sage advice.
You may recall a blog post I wrote at the end of December about being long-listed for the National Post’s Canada Also Reads competition. I was really happy to be among the more than 60 books on the list. So imagine my delight late this afternoon at finding The Best Laid Plans on the shortlist. What’s more, my old friend, Andy Maize, co-founder and lead singer of the great Canadian roots rock band the Skydiggers has agreed to defend the novel in the competition. I’ve known Andy for more than 25 years. He was the lead singer in our band at McMaster University. He was by the far the best of us, as his subsequent music career illustrates. I’m looking forward to reconnecting with Andy.
Starting on March 1st, the defenders will author articles about their designated books, extolling their virtues and urging Canadians to read them. There will also be a live online chat with the authors and defenders in early March. Finally, Canadians will vote for their favourite. So there will be a role for all of you in making sure TBLP has a good showing! There are some wonderful books in the running including Cathy Marie Buchanan’s The Day the Falls Stood Still, so check them out.
I’m over the moon that TBLP is a finalist. This is wonderful news, particularly with The High Road being published in September. Stay tuned and get ready to vote!
Now that entries have closed for the 2010 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour, I decided to check out the list. Wow! Sixty-one books entered this year. That’s a larger field than usual. It may well be the largest field since the award was established in 1947. There are some really big names in the running this year, including three-time winners Stuart McLean and Arthur Black, two-time winner Will Ferguson, 2009 Leacock finalist William Deverell, CODCO founder Greg Malone, CBC Radio personality Jonathan Goldstein, National Post gossip columnist Shinan Govani, and the very funny travel writer Jane Christmas. I would not want to be deciding from among these hilarious authors.
The next step is the unveiling of the short list, usually in late March. Then, the winner is announced, usually in late April at a wonderful luncheon in Swanmore Hall in Orillia, just next door to Stephen Leacock’s home. Time to start reading some of these great and funny books!
Trust me. Winning this medal can change your life:
This morning, the National Post‘s Canada Also Reads longlist was released. There was some criticism of the annual CBC Canada Reads selections this year. Not because they weren’t all great books, but because many of them were well-known, already-recognized CanLit offerings. So the National Post, using Twitter, solicited nominations for an alternative program dubbed Canada Also Reads. Nominated books had to have been published in the last two years. There was quite a response from Canadians. The good news is that TBLP made the cut, albeit, along with 60 other books. There are some big name writers on the longlist including: Michael Crummey, Cory Doctorow, Cathy Marie Buchanan, Pasha Malla, Lorrie Moore, Donna Morrissey, Alice Munro, and Zoe Whittall.
The next step, sometime early in the New Year, is the announcement of five finalists, and five panelists to defend the shortlisted books. If you’re interested in being a panelist, just send an email to theafterword@nationalpost.com with the name of the book you’d like to defend. Who knows, your book choice may be a finalist and you could be a panelist. Thanks to all of you who nominated TBLP for the longlist. It seemed to work!
As promoted earlier this morning, I did in fact participate in the National Post‘s first live blogging experiment with a host of prominent authors and publishers today. It was a little surreal sitting at my desk over the lunch hour typing in my modest contributions and enjoying the insights of my fellow live bloggers. Towards the end, the floor was opened for visitors to ask questions. The technology worked well. Click here or on the photo montage above to review the transcript of the live blogging session.
Welcome to terryfallis.com where award-winning novelist Terry Fallis blogs about his writing life and podcasts his novels.
