Maggie, MJ, something else that starts with 'M'

Came across this piece by Margaret Atwood that ran in Wednesday's Globe and Mail about Harper and the arts. I think she hits it right on the head:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080924.wcoarts25/BNStory/politics/home

Mark Jarman has asked me to spread the word that he is reading at Pages on Kensington on October 31. I get a break from my candy girl duties for a change! Looking forward to getting a personalized copy of My White Planet.

Things on the domestic front are settling down. The house is gradually taking shape as it should; the piles are slowly migrating to the most obvious places for them. Dan and I are enjoying our Monday night karate classes. He was going to just sign up for it, and then I found one that we could both go to. Since he was agreeable I thought I'd better take advantage, since it won't be long before he won't want to be seen with me in public. KI-YA!

Nice work!

I was a little worried about what cover image Love Minus Zero would end up with, but Oberon has once again exceeded my expectations and come up with what I think is a really striking cover. The image is a detail from Toulouse Lautrec's At the Moulin Rouge and I think it works really well. I was afraid they might find a punk rocker with a foot-high mohawk, but this is striking, timeless and a little disturbing, somehow. Perfect!

Edmonton reading Nov. 20th

I'm now set to read from Love Minus Zero at Audrey's Books in Edmonton on Thursday, November 20th. This is great because it means I'll have my launch / mini-tour wrapped up within a week. On the other hand, the Victoria leg of the tour has definitely shrivelled up and dropped off. Betty Jane Hegerat even tried to market us as a pair of emerging prairie writers, to no avail. She could not drum up any interest either. Oh, well. Calgary, Saskatoon and Edmonton are good enough for me. It's going to be a blast!

Love Minus Zero Saskatoon reading Nov. 17 / 08

The good people at McNally Robinson's Saskatoon store are hosting a reading for me on Monday, Nov. 17th (Calgary launch is Thursday, Nov. 13th at Memorial Park Library). They're doing a bang-up job of publicity for the event, too, which I really appreciate. And which makes me rue the loss of the Calgary store even more, but never mind. Here's the event listing from their site:

http://www.mcnallyrobinson.com/event-7980/Lori-Hahnel

In other news, the move is progressing. Every time we move we have more stuff, and more stuff to get rid of. It makes me want to dump it all and live in a cave. Or just have someone else move it for me anyway. We should be all moved in by Sunday.

But I'll be taking a break from the drudgery of moving to go to Freehand Books' first Calgary launch on Friday night at Pages. Editor Melanie Little should be proud of her lineup this season, it looks great!

Makes me think I ought to try writing something again sometime.

Dispatch from among the moving boxes

Proofs arrived from Oberon on Sunday and I sent back my corrections last night. Oy, I am picky. Oh, well. So, things roll on with that. It looks good!

Attended the launch of WordFest with Rona yesterday morning and did some schmoozing. As much schmoozing as I'm capable of at 10 AM, which I'm afraid ain't much. Oh, well.

Had a photo session with the talented Jenn Tzanakos on Sunday and now I'm set up with some authorly-looking photos. Thanks so much, Jenn.

And the house is sold! That's a relief. And they get it on the 15th! Things are just insanely busy at the moment, but hopefully once we get over there it will all start to come together. Or perhaps it will just come apart. That's possible, too.