Woodstock Reads What Canada Reads

Last summer I was contacted by the board of the public library in Woodstock, New Brunswick. The Best Laid Plans had been chosen as their first town-wide reading program selection. They dubbed it Woodstock Reads What Canada Reads. I was thrilled and of course agreed to come out to Woodstock. Well, last week it was time to fly. My flight to New Brunswick was delayed early Tuesday morning by fog. I was to take off at 7:30 but wasn’t airborne until 11:30. This was quite unfortunate as it meant that the school visits I was to make in Woodstock had to be cancelled. I felt terrible about this as school buses were all arranged so that students from two schools could take part. Just my luck that a rare fog appearance in Toronto scuppered my school appearance in New Brunswick. I eventually made to New Brunswick’s first town where my hosts toured me through the beautifully restored Connell House, historical home to one of Woodstock’s founding fathers. I then had dinner in Woodstock’s beautiful L. P. Fisher Public Library, built in 1914, with the library’s board of directors. Lovely people and great food, too.

After dinner it was off to my talk and reading to an enthusiastic crowd waiting at the Best Western Hotel and Conference Centre. The local mayor and MP were both there to add a little lustre to the evening. We had a great time. My sincere thanks to Catherine Sutherland, Deputy Mayor, and her team for organizing a great event. I look forward to coming back to Woodstock sometime in the future. I managed to do a Skype video call with one of the student groups on Friday to try to make up for the fog-induced cancellation the previous week.

Words on the Water, Campbell River, Vancouver Island, BC

On Friday of last week, I boarded another plane, this time bound for Vancouver. It wasn’t the fog that delayed my takeoff but a wildcat walkout by baggage handlers at Toronto’s Pearson Airport. Instead of an 8:30 departure, we changed gates three times and lifted off the runway at 10:30ish. This meant that I missed my connection to Campbell River on Vancouver Island. Thankfully there was a later flight. I landed and made it to the hotel with an hour to spare before the opening of the Words on the Water festival. There were some wonderful writers at the festival. I met and spent some time with the very talented Gurjinder Basran whose first novel, Everything was Good-bye picked up a BC Book Prize among many other accolades and honours. My friend, Robert Wiersema was also there. He’s a wonderful writer and reviewer. I think he’s the funniest writer I know who seldom writes funny stuff in his books. It was great to hang out with him, as usual. As well, the funny, funny writer Susan Juby was also there talking about her hilarious novel, The Woefield Poultry Collective. The festival was very well attended and everyone, yours truly included, seemed to have a great time. For the Literary Cabaret on the Saturday night, Robert Wiersema and I read Robert Service’s amazing poem, The Cremation of Sam McGee. Lots of laughs. Thanks to Trevor McMonagle and his organizing crew for a memorable weekend in beautiful Campbell River.

Brantford Public Library Reading

This past Thursday, I was off to Brantford, Ontario for a talk and reading at the Brantford Public Library. Brantford will always have a special place in my heart. The day The Best Laid Plans won Canada Reads, I travelled to Brantford for an evening talk to a McMaster University Alumni group. I’ll never forget that day, or my trip to Brantford that night. Last week’s visit was just as memorable. Paula Thomlinson and her colleagues at the library had done a great job promoting the event so it was a packed room. It was nice to speak with former Liberal MPP and Brantford Mayor Dave Neumann whom I’d not seen for many years. I spoke, read, answered questions and signed books. Thanks Brantford!

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.

• Wednesday, February 1, 2012, 1:00 p.m.: Participating in an e-book signing with Wilfrid Laurier University Bookstore and Idolvine.

• Tuesday, February 7, 2012, 7:30 p.m.: A talk, reading, and signing at the Heliconian Literary Lecture Series, Toronto.

• Thursday, February 9, 2012, 12:00 noon: A luncheon talk to the Ontario Bar Association, Toronto.

• Thursday, February 9, 2012, 6:00 p.m.: Fulfilling authorial duties at The Book Lover’s Ball, Royal York Hotel, Toronto, Ontario.

• 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.

• Tuesday, March 20, 2012, 7:00 p.m.: A talk, reading, and signing at the L. P. Fisher Public Library, in Woodstock, New Brunswick.

• Friday, March 23 – Saturday, March 24, 2012: Talks, readings, and signings at the Words on the Water Writers’ Festival, Campbell River, Vancouver Island, B.C.

• Thursday, March 29, 2012, 7:00 p.m.: A talk and reading at the Brantford Public Library, Brantford, 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.

• Tuesday, April 24, 2012, 7:30 p.m.: A talk, reading, and signing at the Township of Russell Public Library, Russell, Ontario.

• Wednesday, April 25, 2012, 6:00 p.m.: Fulfilling authorial duties at the annual Writers’ Trust Politics and the Pen Gala, Ottawa, 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.

• Thursday, April 26, 2012, 7:00 p.m.: A talk, reading and signing for Woodstock Reads at the Woodstock Public Library, 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.

• Thursday, June 7, 2012, 7:00 p.m.: A talk, reading, and signing at the Literary Evening of the annual conference of the College Association of Language and Literacy hosted by Seneca College, Toronto.

• 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.

• Monday, June 18, 2012, 7:00 p.m.: A talk, reading, and signing at McNally Robinson Grant Park, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

• Tuesday, June 19, 2012, 7:00 p.m.: A talk and signing at the Canadian Engineering Education Association annual conference, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

• 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 19 – Sunday July 22, 2012: Talks, readings, and signings at the Saskatchewan Festival of Words, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.

• Thursday, July 26, 2012, 12:00 noon: A talk and reading at a private book club in Scarborough, Ontario.

• Tuesday, August 21, 2012, 7:00 p.m.: Keynote at the annual conference of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, Ottawa Convention Centre, Ottawa, Ontario.

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

• I did 95 talks and readings over the course of the year, a pace of nearly two each week. I travelled to Vancouver, Whistler, the Sunshine Coast, Calgary, Banff, Halifax, Ottawa, and all through Ontario.

• In early February, The Best Laid Plans, due largely to Ali Velshi’s stellar advocacy, snared the 2011 Canada Reads crown. This put TBLP on the bestsellers list for much of the year and even dragged The High Road on to the list in its wake.

• In April, The High Road was shortlisted for the 2011 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour.

• In May, I officially signed with McClelland & Stewart for my third novel.

• In June, I started teaching at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies Creative Writing program. I developed, and have now twice taught, a five week course on how to build an audience for your writing.

• In July, TBLP was the only novel included in the twelve books shortlisted for the Best Canadian Political Book of the Last 25 Years honour compiled by the Samara Foundation and The Writers’ Trust.

• In late October, I finished the manuscript for my third novel, tentatively entitled Up and Down, and in November, passed it along to my wonderful editor and publisher at M&S, Douglas Gibson.

• In November, I started my stint as CBC’s resident blogger for Canada Reads 2012.

• Also in November, CBC announced that it is developing The Best Laid Plans as a six-part television miniseries.

• In December, the City of Woodstock announced that The High Road had been chosen as the official Woodstock Reads 2012 selection.

• Finally, to close out the year, Margaret Atwood “tweeted” very positively to her nearly 289,000 followers after reading The Best Laid Plans.

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?

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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