Archive for the ‘Speaking gigs’ Category

My first virtual e-book signing…

Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

This was kind of neat. Margaret Atwood has a stake in a company called iDolVine that has created software and a social networking site that allows authors  to meet virtually with book lovers, and then inscribe their ebook  remotely. I tried it out yesterday for an event organized by the bookstore at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, while I was sitting in my office here in Toronto. It all worked very well. A steady stream of customers (well it was steady for a few minutes!) sat down in the hotseat and pulled on the headset so we could chat for a few minutes through cyberspace. Then at what seemed like the appropriate moment, I inscribed the cover of my second novel, The High Road using a stylus and a tablet computer. Then I hit the “Send” button and the electronic image was sent to the customer’s email address. I’m told that when the system is fully developed, the inscribed cover of the novel will actually be embedded directly into the customer’s ebook stored in his/her online library, whether it’s with Kobo, Kindle,  iBooks, or other ebook services. Slick!

Posted in Canadian political novel, CanLit, comic novels, Leacock Medal, Margaret Atwood, podcast novel, Speaking gigs, Terry Fallis | No Comments »

It’s shaping up to be a busy spring/summer…

Monday, January 30th, 2012

 

With my role as resident blogger for Canada Reads winding down, I’ve started to look ahead to what’s coming up for me on the book front in the next several months. It’s going to be a very hectic, but fun, time. I’m on the road a bit (Moncton, Vancouver Island, Winnipeg, Moose Jaw, and Ottawa), which is always a bit of challenge given that I work fulltime. It means that I use a few vacation days to make it all work. It also helps that my colleagues here at Thornley Fallis are very supportive and understanding. Anyway, here’s what the sched through to the end of the summer looks like, though it changes day-to-day as new gigs come in. To see it all, click here, or on the Appearances tab up on the upper-left side of this blog. With my third novel, Up and Down, being released by McClelland & Stewart on September 16th, the autumn is filling up, too!

Coming up…

  • Tuesday, January 31, 2012, 7:30 p.m.: A talk and reading at a book club in Richmond Hill, Ontario.
  • Thursday, February 9, 2012, 12:00 noon: A luncheon talk to the Ontario Bar Association, Toronto.
  • Monday, February 20, 2012, 7:00 p.m.: A talk and reading at a private book club in Toronto.
  • Monday, March 5, 2012, 4:00 p.m.: A talk to a CanLit class at Lakehead University that is studying The Best Laid Plans, Orillia, Ontario.
  • Tuesday, March 6, 2012, 7:00 p.m.: A talk and reading at a private book club in Toronto.
  • Thursday, March 15, 2012, 10:00 a.m.: A talk and reading at the Twin Lakes Probus Club in Orillia, Ontario.
  • Saturday, April 7, 2012, Time: TBD: A talk and reading at the Listowel Public Library, Listowel, Ontario.
  • Thursday, April 12, 2012, 7:00 p.m.: A talk, reading, and signing at the Taylor Branch of the Toronto Public Library.
  • Sunday, April 15, 2012, 1:00 p.m.: A reading and signing for the Writers & Friends, a fundraiser for Horizons of Friendship, Memorial Hall, Kingston City Hall, Kingston, Ontario.
  • Tuesday, April 17, 2012, 11:00 a.m.: A talk and reading at the Gateway Probus Club in Collingwood, Ontario.
  • Thursday, April 19, 2012, 7:00 p.m.: A talk and reading at the Tweed Public Library, Tweed, Ontario.
  • Friday, April 20, 2012, 1:30 p.m.: A talk and reading at a private book club in Bobcaygeon, Ontario.
  • Friday, April 20, 2012, 7:00 p.m.: A talk, reading, and signing at Dunsford United Church in Bobcaygeon, Ontario.
  • Thursday, April 26, 2012, 1:00 p.m.: Talks to students at College Avenue Secondary School, as part of Woodstock Reads in Woodstock, Ontario.
  • Friday, April 27 – Sunday April 29, 2012, Time TBC: Talks, readings, and signings at schools and other venues as part of the Frye Festival, Moncton, New Brunswick.
  • Thursday, May 3, 2012, 7:00 p.m.: A talk, reading, and signing in Dundas for the Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale Federal Liberal Association.
  • Wednesday, May 8, 2012, 10:00 a.m.: A talk, reading, and signing at the Probus Club of South Muskoka, Bracebridge, Ontario.
  • Wednesday, May 9, 2012, 7:00 p.m.: A talk and reading at a private book club in Toronto.
  • Monday, June 4, 2012, 10:00 a.m.: A talk, reading, and signing at the New Appleby Burlington Probus Club, Burlington, Ontario.
  • Wednesday, June 6, 2012, 7:00 p.m.: A talk, reading, and signing at the Innisfil Public Library, Cookstown, Ontario.
  • Wednesday, June 13, 2012, 2:00 p.m.: A talk, reading, and signing at a Women’s Probus Club in Collingwood, Ontario.
  • Thursday, June 14, 2012, 10:00 a.m.: A talk, reading, and signing at the Probus Club of Wasaga Beach, Wasaga Beach, Ontario.
  • Wednesday, June 20, 2012, 12:00 noon: A talk and reading at a book club at St. Christopher’s Church, Burlington, Ontario.
  • Thursday, July 5, 2012, 10:00 a.m.: A talk, reading, and signing at the Midland-Huronia Probus Club, Midland, Ontario.
  • Thursday, July 26, 2012, 12:00 noon: A talk and reading at a private book club in Scarborough, Ontario.

Phew… I’m tired… but no time to rest, the new novel and a busy autumn beckon…

Posted in Canada Reads, Canadian political novel, CanLit, CBC Radio, comic novels, Leacock Medal, McClelland & Stewart, podcast novel, Speaking gigs, Terry Fallis, Up and Down | No Comments »

Five years later…

Sunday, January 1st, 2012

Time to look back on my writing year, as I’ve done annually since starting this blog back in January, 2007. It was another year of counting my literary blessings. Here are a few highlights that made 2011 such a memorable year for me:

As you can see, it was a very happy fifth year in my life as a writer. I am one, very grateful novelist.

Looking ahead, there’s more excitement coming in 2012. First and foremost, my third novel will hit bookstore shelves in September. Beyond that, who knows?

 

Posted in Canada Reads, Canadian political novel, CanLit, CBC Radio, CBC Television, comic novels, Doug Gibson, Leacock Medal, Margaret Atwood, McClelland & Stewart, podcast novel, Speaking gigs, Terry Fallis, Writing | 4 Comments »

Lovely Eden Mills…

Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

I spent a good part of the weekend in the picturesque village of Eden Mills less than an hour’s drive west of Toronto, for the 23rd annual Eden Mills Writers’ Festival. What a wonderful festival. I drove down on Friday night with the hilarious writer, playwright, and broadcaster Erika Ritter. We both read at the Gala dinner that kicked off the festival. The audience was large, warm, and welcoming. After the after-party, Erika and I drove back to Toronto. This was truly a commuting festival for me as I made three trips in all.

The book table at Eden Mills efficiently managed by the good folks at The Bookshelf.

On the Saturday, I drove back to Eden Mills for the Author Dinner on the beautifully landscaped grounds of a volunteer’s home. Festival founder Leon Rooke spoke, we were serenaded by an amazing guitarist, and we ate until we could eat no more (at least , I did). It was great fun and very relaxing to be among so many wonderful writers and festival volunteers. It was during the Author Dinner that I crossed another threshold in my writing career. All writers hit these milestones as you progress in your journey. You know what I mean, your first book, your first reading, your first prize, the first time you see someone on the subway reading your book, etc., etc. Well at the Author Dinner, I was named in my first ever writer Port-a-Potty tweet. I’m not sure what to make of it but I think it means I’ve somehow “arrived” even though I had just “gone,” if you know what I mean.

On Sunday, it was another enjoyable commute to Eden Mills in the company of Erika Ritter. My reading was at 2:30, at the Mill. It’s a beautiful outdoor venue on the side of a gentle grass slope that runs down into the river. It seemed to go well, although the allotted 20 minutes flew by. I signed books at the outdoor book store afterwards and chatted with readers, which is always a favourite part of any festival.

There was another great dinner Sunday night as the proceedings wound down. They must have served a dozen different kinds of pie for dessert. I may have had a piece of each one but I can’t really remember now. I think it’s possible that I was drunk on pie.

Over the course of  the weekend, I reconnected with lots of other writers and bookish people who I’d seen at other festivals and reading gigs including Drew Hayden Taylor, Robert Wiersema, Clare Hitchens, Andrew Pyper, Bill Deverell, Nino Ricci, John Vaillant and Alissa York. I also spent some time with writers I met at Eden Mills for the first time including the Booker longlisted Alison Pick, Sylvia Tyson, Dan Vyleta, Lorna Crozier, and Giller winner Johanna Skibsrud among others. It was my first time at the Eden Mills Writers’ Festival, but I really hope I get the chance to go back. My thanks to the more than 100 volunteers who made it all happen. Hope to see you next year…

Posted in Canada Reads, Canadian political novel, CanLit, comic novels, Drew Hayden Taylor, Eden Mills Writers' Festival, Erika Ritter, Leacock Medal, McClelland & Stewart, podcast novel, Speaking gigs, Terry Fallis | 1 Comment »

There’s still space open in my course at U of T…

Wednesday, September 7th, 2011

Starting next Wednesday evening, September 14th,  I’ll be teaching a course at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies in the Creative Writing program. The course is called How to Build an Audience for Your Writing. It runs for five Wednesday evenings and covers a range of techniques including blogging, podcasting, YouTube, Facebook, speaking gigs/readings, Twitter, and awards. The last session is a class reading, which was really wonderful in the first class. This is the second time I’ve taught the course. Last term we had about 25 writers in the class. It looks like the September enrollment is a little lighter, so there’s still plenty of room if you’d like to register. Click here or on the graphic below for more info on the course and how to register. Why not give it a shot?

Posted in Canadian political novel, CanLit, comic novels, Leacock Medal, podcast novel, Speaking gigs, Terry Fallis, University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies | 1 Comment »

I’m back from vacation and back to the blog…

Thursday, September 1st, 2011

My apologies to the dedicated readers of this humble blog, a small but mighty community, for the rather lengthy interregnum since my last post. (Sorry, I’ve always liked the word “interregnum”  although that’s not why I haven’t posted since August 9th.) I’ve been down in Nova Scotia (or in the car driving to and from Nova Scotia) for the last couple of weeks on a family vacation. We had a great time and I confess I rarely thought about what was going on back at the office. When you work with such great people, you can actually go away for two weeks and not worry.

On the writing front, I made great progress on our holiday. While my family slept, I got up every morning, usually between 6:00 and 7:00, and dug in for a few hours on novel #3 (still untitled). I wrote just shy of 20,000 words while I was away and am now nearly 70,000 words into what will probably be a 95,000 novel. My December 1st deadline to submit the manuscript to McClelland & Stewart is not quite so daunting with only five chapters yet to write. We stayed in a wonderful 160 year old house on the south shore of Nova Scotia, about 20 minutes from Chester.

Here’s a shot of the house. It was tough to sneak around inside. Everything creaked. But I guess we’ll all creak at 167 years old.

Here’s the view out the dining room window where I wrote every morning. That’s Little Tancook Island across the water.

After a week on the south shore, we stayed with my wife’s parents in the Annapolis Valley, a second home to us. As I have for each of my previous two novels, I wrote part of what will be novel #3 in the K.C. Irving Centre at Acadia University in beautiful Wolfville. I love writing in this room…

The fall is going to be very busy with quite a few upcoming appearances at several writers festivals. You can check out the heavy schedule here. But I still need to find time to finish the manuscript for novel #3.

Finally, stay tuned for some big news in the coming weeks that I just can’t quite share yet…

 

Posted in Canadian political novel, CanLit, comic novels, Leacock Medal, McClelland & Stewart, podcast novel, Speaking gigs, Terry Fallis, Writing | 1 Comment »

The Sunshine Coast Festival was amazing…

Tuesday, August 9th, 2011

I’ve just returned from a few days in Brisith Columbia where I presented at the 29th annual Sunshine Coast Festival of  the Written Arts in Sechelt. It was a wonderful trip from start to finish. I arrived in Vancouver last Wednesday and spoke to an audience of about 100 at Simon Fraser University. I actually used a PowerPoint presentation to illustrate my talk and it seemed to go over very well. Lots of great questions, and several in the audience had brought their own copies of The Best Laid Plans and The High Road for me to inscribe. Always a great feeling.

On Thursday afternoon, I headed down to the harbour in downtown Vancouver to catch my floatplane for the Sunshine Coast. Yes, a floatplane. How cool is that? When I checked in, I asked what kind of plane we’d be taking and was informed we’d by flying in a six seater de Havilland Beaver. This was serendipity of the highest order. In my third novel, a Beaver floatplane plays a small but critical role. I’ve only watched YouTube videos of the Beaver, an iconic plane that opened up Canada’s remote reaches in the 1940s and 50s. And here I was about to fly in one. What a thrill. At the appointed hour, my fellow passengers, including the Governor General’s Award-winning non-fiction writer John Vaillant, and I dragged our bags across the dock to the Beaver. The pilot asked for a volunteer to ride up front in the co-pilot’s seat. I sprained my shoulder throwing my hand up in the air before anyone else. I crawled up into the co-pilot’s seat and donned the headphones the pilot handed me. What a ride. We flew the 25 minute trip at about 700 feet off the water so the scenery was unbelievable. The plane I was “co-plioting” (which means I touched nothing, but took photos with my BlackBerry and tweeted them the whole trip) was built in 1962. Yes, you read that right. We were flying in a plane that was nearly 50 years old. That’s how good and reliable a plane the Beaver is. Here are few shots.

The festival itself was wonderful. The venue was amazing and the audience of more than 300 book-lovers at each author appearance was very enthusiastic and full of great questions. I gave my hour long talk about my strange publishing journey on Fridayafternoon at 1:00. It seemed to go over well. (They laughed, they cried, and nobody left.) Afterwards, it took about an hour for me to sign all the books the audience had purchased. They sold out of both novels — a very nice problem to face. I got to meet and spend time with some great writers, which, other than meeting readers, is the best part of these festivals. It was so nice to chat with John Vaillant, Robert Wiersema, Zsuzsi Gartner, Sarah Selecky, Margaret Trudeau, Judy Fong Bates, Charlie Foran, Alex MacLeod, Susan Juby, Ivan Coyote, Anna Porter, Wayne Grady, and Merilyn Simonds. I also enjoyed the other authors’ sessions and made it to almost all of them.

Needless to say, I was very sad to leave BC, but eager to see my family after five days away.

While away, I did manage to keep up my writing on novel #3 on planes and in airports, and am pleased to report that I made it past the halfway-point in the manuscript. I’m enjoying the story and hope to write a few more chapters while we’re on our family vacation in Nova Scotia starting  next week. Stay tuned…

Posted in Canada Reads, Canadian political novel, CanLit, Charles Foran, comic novels, John Vaillant, Leacock Medal, McClelland & Stewart, podcast novel, Robert Wiersema, Speaking gigs, Susan Juby, Terry Fallis | 2 Comments »

Writing update…

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Sorry for the long stretches between blog posts lately. It’s been so busy at the office and with readings, talks, and festivals that I haven’t been able to post as often as I’d like. Anyway, I thought it had been a while since I’d updated you on the status of novel #3. I think the last time I wrote about it was back on April 23rd when I announced that I’d finally started writing the manuscript. This came after spending a year or so thinking through the story and a couple of more months actually laying it out using my rather rigorous outlining process. Now, some three months later, the manuscript is coming along, although I’d hoped to be further into the novel by now. As of this past weekend, I’ve finished six of 18 chapters and am up to about 33,000 words. I’m pleased with what’s written so far, but there is still plenty of editing and polishing to do.

My outline for novel #3 is only about 30 pages long, while the outline for my last book was 65 pages long. I decided that there could be two reasons for this discrepancy. Either I’m more confident that I can write a 5,000 word chapter based on only a page of bullet points as opposed to two pages, or I really don’t know my story as intimately as I did the first two times around. I was hoping it was the former, but it turns out it’s the latter! But all is well. It just took me a bit longer to get the first third written. I know much more about the remaining two thirds of my story, so I think the rest of the manuscript should unfold more easily.

As usual, I’m getting most of my writing done on weekends as I’m still working fulltime during the week. Sometimes I”ll get a few hours in on weeknights, but not very often. My aim has tended to be to write a 5,000 word chapter over the weekend. It hasn’t always been possible, but lately I’ve managed to come close. With six chapters behind me, I now feel the gathering momentum of the manuscript and it fuels my motivation to keep it going. I’m away in British Columbia in the first week of August for book-related appearances, and then in Nova Scotia for our family vacation. I’m hoping to get a big chunk of writing done then. In any event, I’ll keep you posted as the chapters pile up. December 1st is my contractual deadline to hand over the completed manuscript to McClelland & Stewart, so I’ll be hard at it straight through the fall. I have not intention of needing or seeking an extension! Fingers crossed, at least when they’re not burning up my laptop keyboard…

Posted in Canada Reads, Canadian political novel, CanLit, comic novels, How I write, Leacock Medal, McClelland & Stewart, podcast novel, Speaking gigs, Terry Fallis, Writing | No Comments »

Speaking gig round-up

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

I’ve been on the road quite a bit lately doing readings and talks. As I’ve noted before in this space, I truly enjoy getting out and meeting readers, talking about my novels and sharing my rather unexpected publishing journey. My dance card continues to be filled nearly to capacity. It seems that as one gig is done, another is put in the calendar. No complaints on my end.  So here’s a quick rundown of the last week:

Thurday, June 23rd, Creemore, Ontario

What a great time I had in Creemore speaking to a group of 100 or so. It’s a lovely, picturesque, and arty little town. Michele and Jennifer from the Clearview Public Library met me at an amazing restaurant called Chez Michel. We had a great dinner and then headed over to the Station on the Green. The kind folks from Curiosity House Books were on hand to sell The Best Laid Plans and The High Road. I gave my talk and then the audience fired some very thoughtful questions my way. Then I signed books for a while and got back on the road for the drive home. My thanks to the Clearview Public Library for inviting me to come. I had a great time.

Saturday, June 25th, Bayfield Writers’ Festival, Bayfield Ontario

I had a blast this past Saturday in the beautiful town of Bayfield, Ontario on the shores of Lake Huron. In the afternoon, I read at the Bayfield Writers’ Festival in the Town Hall alongside some wonderful writers. The event was organized by Mary Brown of the lovely Village Bookshop. Joining me were Anne Perdue, author of the short story collection with the very provocative name, I’m a Registered Nurse, Not a Whore, Emma Ruby-Sachs, author of The Water Man’s Daughter, Sarita Mandanna, author of Tiger Hills, and an excellent local children’s poet, Hilary Gillespie. After the reading, we all had dinner together. One of the many benefits of participating in readings is the opportunity to meet other writers. These were all very nice folks whom I hope to see again on the circuit. Here’s the Town Hall just before we headed up to the stage.

And here’s a shot of the poster promoting the festival that Mary asked us all to sign for the store.

The next morning, I worked on novel #3 before enjoying a wonderful brunch in the Brentwood on the Beach B&B. At the appointed hour, I spoke to 50 or so attendees about my writing and answered questions. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and hope to make a return visit sometime.

Monday, June 27, McMaster Engineering Alumni event, Toronto

Last night, I spoke at a McMaster Engineering Alumni gathering in Toronto. I have an engineering degree from McMaster even though I’ve never worked professionally as an engineer. My university experience had a considerable impact on the course of my life so I was very happy to be there. I gave a talk about how my engineering education shaped my writing, a topic I haven’t spoken on before. It seemed to go reasonably well (nobody nodded off or walked out in the middle) and I had a great time meeting some newly-minted engineers and some old friends as well.

It’s certainly been a busy few months, and last week was no exception. There are many more speaking gigs coming up. It’s a good thing I enjoy it. Hope to see you at one of them…

Posted in Canada Reads, Canadian political novel, CanLit, comic novels, Leacock Medal, McClelland & Stewart, McMaster, podcast novel, Speaking gigs, Terry Fallis | No Comments »

Trevor Cole picks up his Leacock Medal

Sunday, June 12th, 2011

I drove to Orillia yesterday afternoon in what has become a June ritual for me. It was my fourth consecutive Stephen Leacock Gala dinner at which the Leacock Medal is presented for the funniest book published in the previous year. This year, Trevor Cole won for his darkly comic novel, Practical Jean. I snapped the photo above with my BlackBerry last night just as Trevor was given the medal by the President of the Leacock Association, Mike Hill. I’ll never forget the evening in June of 2008 when I gratefully received mine. It was gratifying that The High Road, my second novel, was a finalist for this year’s Leacock, but I really was very happy for Trevor’s win. His novels are wonderful and have been nominated for many of Canada’s top literary awards. And now he has a well-deserved Leacock Medal.

I was honoured to have been asked to give the toast to Stephen Leacock last night, a staple of the annual gala. Wanting to do something a little different than just preparing a garden variety toast, I decided to write mine in the form of a mercifully short poem. I borrowed the rhyming scheme Robert Service employed to much better effect in his masterpiece, The Cremation of Sam McGee. Here’s what I wrote and managed to recite last night:

A Toast to Stephen Leacock

We gather here but once a year
Wearing our Sunday best
For a grateful look at a humorous book
That was funnier than the rest
But we honour the man, where it all began
On the shores of Brewery Bay
You made us laugh back then, again and again
And we’re all still laughing today
So please raise a glass, and get off your… chair
For our dear but departed host
You split our sides, with words so wise
To Stephen Leacock… a toast

I’ll be back in Orillia next year and every year thereafter if they’ll have me. The Leacock Medal changed my life as a writer. It’s an important literary honour in this country and I’m honoured to be connected with it.

Posted in Canadian political novel, CanLit, comic novels, Leacock Medal, podcast novel, Speaking gigs, Terry Fallis | 3 Comments »

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