The Pass; Book Club Buddy

Just got back from a relaxing three night spring break trip to the Crowsnest Pass in southern Alberta. I always enjoy the Pass. It isn't a glamorous type of vacation spot, to be sure. The scenery is breathtaking, though, and the history of that string of former coal-mining towns is fascinating. We visited museums, something we all love to do, hung around second-hand shops. Wanted to snowshoe, but the snow was slushy and the wind was insane. We saw a trailer at the side of the highway that had blown over onto its side. Yeah. Windy spot.

Thanks to Pearl Luke at Book Club Buddy for posting these interviews with me about Nothing Sacred and Love Minus Zero. Book Club Buddy does a great job hooking up readers and writers. I encourage you to check the site out!

Deadly Fall launch Thursday March 24th!

That's the eye-catching cover of my friend and colleague Susan Calder's debut mystery novel, Deadly Fall, which she's launching tomorrow evening at 7 PM at Owl's Nest Books. They're in Brittania Shopping Plaza, 815A 49th Avenue SW. Looking forward to Susan's reading, schmoozing, and of course, wine and refreshments. Come on down and bring a couple of friends! Deadly Fall was already number three on The Calgary Herald's bestseller list this week. I predict number one this week. Congratulations again, Susan!

Tales From Behind the Calgarian Hotel

What the heck, Lori, you're wondering. Why the title change? Well, I'll tell you. I had a blog for six years called Tales From Behind the Calgarian Hotel which I began mainly as a way to vent my frustrations in the days when I was struggling to get my first book published. Did it relieve my frustration, which was becoming pretty enormous by the end? I don't know. Maybe. But when it did eventually come to pass that I had a book deal, and in short order, another, I realized that all the nasty, whiny things I'd said on my blog about the publishing industry may not have been stuff I wanted floating around cyberspace in perpetuity. Although I hasten to add that I said nothing that wasn't true. Oh, yes, all those things about lost manuscripts, two year rejection waits, bitchy rejection letters -- all true.  But in the interests of uh, starting anew, I decided to delete the original TFBTCH -- sounds like some kind of texting term, don't it? -- and go with a happier, more sticking to the facts approach.

Turns out that was kind of a bore. So we're back to the old title. And we'll see some new kinds of posts here in the coming weeks. Exciting, eh?

Freshwater Pearls; Deadly Fall; Salon; Writing in the Works 4

The Naomi K. Lewis presentation and workshop at Memorial Park Library last week were a lot of fun and very interesting. Thanks to Naomi for doing a great job, and to the folks who braved the weather to come out to them.

I was very pleased to find out, earlier this week, that a short story of mine has been selected for inclusion in Freshwater Pearls: The Alexandra Writers' Centre Society 30th Anniversary Anthology, being published this September by Calgary's own Recliner Books. It looks like I'm going to be in excellent company! And I'm sure the launch party will be epic. Very exciting.

In other news, looking forward to the launch of my friend and colleague Susan Calder's first novel, Deadly Fall, a mystery being published by Touchwood Editions. The launch is 7 PM on March 24th at Owl's Nest Books in Brittania Shopping Plaza.

A couple of weeks later, I'm reading at a salon on the afternoon of April 10th, graciously being hosted by Barb Howard. More details as they become available.

And finally, a reminder of our annual readapalooza, Writing in the Works 4, which is coming up at 1:30 PM, Saturday, May 14th at dear old Memorial Park Library. This year's lineup is: Naomi Lewis, Susan Calder, Inge Trueman, Elaine Morin and yours truly, and emceed by our own Rona Altrows. Join us for an afternoon of readings, refreshments and book sales by Shelf Life Books.

Over and out for now.

Naomi K. Lewis events, March 2 and 5 at Memorial Park Library

Below are the details for two events Naomi K. Lewis is doing for Canadian Authors Association in the first week of March. Spots are filling up, so if you're interested, register now.

The Canadian Authors Association and its Calgary Writer-in-Residence, Lori Hahnel, are proud to announce two upcoming events to be presented by multi-talented writer and editor Naomi K. Lewis.

Becoming a Ghost: A Free Presentation   Wednesday, March 2 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
Ghostwriting can be satisfying and relatively lucrative work for experienced writers. But how can you know if ghostwriting is for you? How do you find clients, and how do you decide which to work with? This one-hour lecture and question-and-answer period will cover the pros and cons of ghostwriting, a standard ghostwriting contract, and some essential tips for getting started.

Shaping the Story: A Workshop    Saturday, March 5 10:30 am to 4:30 pm
CAA Members: $40; Non-Members:$70 (Lunch included)

Do you excel at developing characters in compelling settings, and write scene after glorious scene, but lament that you stories don’t seem to go anywhere? In other words, do you struggle with narrative structure, or plot? In this workshop, participants will experiment with a variety of plotting techniques, looking at the different shapes a story can take. While much of the content will apply to novels, memoirs, plays, screenplays, and creative nonfiction essays alike, we will concentrate on the particularities of the short story. Participants should bring a story in progress, whether a full draft or an outline, or something in between. Both events will be held at Memorial Park Library, 1221-2nd Street S.W., Calgary.

To register, email: registrar@canauthorsalberta.ca

Auburn reading; W-i-R

Last night's reading at the Auburn Saloon was a great time. We had a good crowd and some fanastic open mic readings before my portion of the evening. Thanks to Kirk and Alyson for hosting and to Rea, Rita, Catherine and Doreen for stepping up to the mic and doing such fine readings.

In other news, due to unforseen circumstances, I am temporarily returning to the post I held last year as Canadian Authors' Association Calgary writer-in-residence. Since I agreed to do this on short notice, I am not able to set up writer meetings. But if you or someone you know wants to send me an electronic submission before April 1, I will read and respond to it. You can send up to 20 double spaced pages of prose, or up to three poems, to me at:

cwir@canauthorsalberta.ca

Further information about the program can be found at the CAA Alberta branch website.

Over and out for now. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Thanks again, CPL!; Auburn Reading This Sunday Night

Writers' Weekend 2011 at Calgary Public Library was "an outstanding success", in the words of one of the organizers, and I couldn't agree more. It was great to see so many people come out on kind of a miserable February morning and share their passion for the written word with us. I think Rona and I had about 200 in our session, and I hear there were more than 600 total registrations for the day's events. That's not even including the folks who just showed up. A lot of fun! So thanks again to Calgary Public Library and our wonderful bookseller for the event, Pages on Kensington. For me, this event was the perfect antidote to all the doom and gloom stories lately about publishers declaring bankruptcy and the death of the printed book. 

There's the poster for the reading I'm doing this Sunday night at the Auburn Saloon. We have me, the music of Morley Challenged and an open mic. I know a couple of talented authors are planning to read at the open mic portion of the evening. So come on down and read, if you're so inclined. And if not just come and listen. I'm sure we're going to enjoy ourselves.