Wine and Literary Pairings, Dec. 9th

I will be taking part in the Wine And Literary Pairings event, Wed. December 9th from 7 - 10 PM at 100 Wines, 1109 Olympic Way SE, put on by the Writers Guild of Alberta. There will be over thirty local authors on hand selling copies of their books paired with a matching wine. And what more natural pairing, I ask you, than wine and writers? So come out, taste some wine, buy some books, get a start or finish on that holiday shopping.

CKUA interview; Read, read, read; Happy anniversary

Brenda Finley's interview with me for the CKUA program Bookmark will air next Sunday, November 22, at 12:30. They're at 93.7 FM or at www.ckua.org, where you can also listen to archived episodes at your leisure. This was my first taped interview and I think it went pretty well for the most part, though I have to say a couple of the questions threw me for a bit of a loop. Still, it was great to talk about Nothing Sacred and I look forward to hearing it on the air. I've been listening to CKUA since 1984 and I still think they're the greatest radio station on the planet. And I'm so glad that Bookmark is there to promote Alberta writers -- we need all the help we can get.

Manuscripts continue to roll in for my CAA writer-in-res gig (submission details on the right side of the page). I'm getting close to my limit for the first half of my term, which ends December 13th. But if you have something you'd like me to look at, by all means send it along. If I can't get to it now I'll be more than happy to read it after I resume the residency January 15th until April 15th.

Friday was the first anniversary of the launch of Love Minus Zero. Wow. Was that really only a year ago? It's been an eventful year since then, no doubt. Next year, however, I'd like to get back to doing some writing. I've been so busy with all the other things I've hardly done any in the last year. An early New Year's resolution, maybe?

Back in Town; flu; Bookmark

Had a swell time in Edmonton, as I always do. Enjoyed the Audrey's reading very much and also enjoyed having beers at 1905 with my pals Suzanne and Joe after. The next evening I facilitated (as best I could) the writers circle session at the Canadian Authors Association meeting. Really interesting variety of work was discussed, I enjoyed it very much, as well as the presentation by Glen Huser that followed.

Next day it was back to Calgary and Hallowe'en. Trick or treat. Guess what we got in Alberta? No H1N1 shots (unless you're an NHL player), but Dan and I managed to come down with the flu (Nick and Bruce are ok so far). And it sounds like a whole lot of other people have it, too. It's not SO bad. I have definitely been sicker on many occasions. But we're listless, achy, chilly / fevery. Dan has sinus stuff, too. But I'm sure we'll be fine in a few days.

So the other day my publisher told me that Brenda Finley wants to interview me for CKUA Radio's Bookmark program this Thursday. Yeah! Only there's that little flu thing. I'm hoping a phone interview will be acceptable. Apparently the segment will air on Nov. 22; I'll post more information when I know.

Off to drink tea now.