Signings today and tomorrow

Just a reminder to those of you who might be in Churchill Square this afternoon, or the Avalon Mall tomorrow, I will be signing copies of this much is true at Bennington Gate in Churchill Square from 4-6 today and at Coles in the Avalon Mall from 2-5 tomorrow. Drop by and say hi.

The Book Worm and Downhome Magazine

Another book signing has been added and I am excited to say I will be signing copies of this much is true at The Book Worm in Gander. This pleases me to no end because Gander is like home to me. It was and is the satellite town for those who live in Aspen Cove and Ladle Cove. It is where you go to get furniture, visit doctors and dentists, get prescriptions filled, get the groceries and dry goods not available in the local stores out home, etc. So, whenever we drive out to Aspen Cove, when we reach Gander there is a sigh of relief, a feeling that we are back home. I am really looking forward to going there to sign copies of my book which, I hear, are selling well there. I will be signing on November 10, at 2-4 pm.

Also, When you have a book about a Newfoundlander who moved away to Toronto to find work, which is for sale at Chapters and Coles stores across the country, it is hard to reach people who live outside the province. For me, I have tried to do this with my blog and my web page but I don't think the word is getting out too much. Then yesterday my mom emailed me to tell me that my cousin Kim, in Windsor, Ontario, who has a subscription to Downhome Magazine (previously the Downhomer), had read about my book in there. I hadn't gotten the new Downhome yet but hubby went out to buy the October edition and there was a nice, short review of my book there. Janice Stuckless says of Lisa Simms, the main character: "She has a kind heart, a quick wit and a fighting spirit". I love the last line of the review: "Readers will love Lisa Simms, a character who, when times are tough, squares her shoulders, tosses back her hair and says F--- it!" So, yay and a big thank you to Janice of Downhome Magazine!

Crossing my fingers about Grey's Anatomy

I know, I know, I should get a life but hey, I've been busy and a little R&R in front of the TV is a good thing in moderation. Just a reminder that CTV is supposed to show the real season premiere of Grey's Anatomy at 9:30 NL time tonight (9:00 in Labrador and 8:00 pm ET) after the SNAFU from last week. I say supposed because the schedule on their website says ER will be on then and also, our CTV is from ASN and they might not run it, for all I know. Of course, if ABC would let Canadians look at the episodes they have online, that would be good too but if your IP is from outside the US, it is a no go unless you want to do some IP spoofing and hide where you are from. See, I have a life. I haven't spoofed my IP to see the episode (yet). Anyway, fingers crossed that we'll get to see it tonight.

Updated--Honda takes a jab at Nissan commercial

City Honda has created a radio ad in response to Nissan's Bonavista commercial. The ad makes fun of Newfoundland stereotypes in Ontario and takes a poke at Premier Dalton McGuinty as kind of a bland, uninteresting person. Donna McCarthy, creative director of Dora Advertising, who did the commercial, said that McGuinty represents the idea that "there is no real Ontario personality". Wish I had a link to it and will work on getting one.

Updated** I have a link up now to a sound file on my web page (hope City Honda won't mind).

*From Lori Hogan

Governor General enters cyberspace

Today's youth are flocking to the Internet to read about what is happening and to be heard themselves. Myspace, Livejournal, Blogger, and MSN Messenger, (also Blue Kaffee locally) to name but a few, are ways people communicate today. So now Governor General Michaëlle Jean is launching her own web site, complete with chat sessions, moderated forums and a blog. And why not? I think it is a great idea to bring the youth into discussions about Canadian current events. I'm not sure they'll be flocking there in droves but they might. It's about time the Canadian Establishment realized that times are changing and the web is the new medium. The website has the tagline: "Breaking Down Solitudes" and Jean says she wants to break down all solitudes, and hopes the site "will be a useful tool to allow Canadians of all ages and from all walks of life to talk to one another and break down solitudes". Good on her, I say, even though I am guessing much of the discussion will revolve around the position of GG itself and whether or not we need it anymore. My two cents is that I think the GG office is a lot of pomp and circumstance but I think this Governor-General seems to be intent on bridging the divides in this country and if someone can do that, someone who is not a politician and does not have to worry about getting elected again, then I think she should. At least for now, because of Michaëlle Jean herself, I am in support of the office of the Governor General.

Why My English is Different Than Yours

One of my favourite non-Religious-Studies courses at Memorial University of Newfoundland was the study of the linguistics of Newfoundland (there was no Labrador on the name then). I think it was called Linguistics 2210. I love the different dialects: how some places call a dragonfly a horsefly or a horse-stinger; how what they call that insect is related to where the first settlers in their communities originally came from. It is all so interesting. If you find such things as linguistics and dialects interesting then you should check out the lecture "Why My English is Different Than Yours" by British sociologist Dr. Peter Trudgwill. The details are:

Why My English is Different Than Yours

Time: 8 p.m.-10 p.m. Location: Arts & Administration, A-1043
Description: Leading British sociolinguist Dr. Peter Trudgill will explore why English doesn’t sound the same wherever it’s spoken, and explain how language diverges to form unique dialects like the one spoken in this province. This public lecture is part of the Henrietta Harvey Distinguished Lecturer series. Parking is available in Lot 15 (off Russell Road). A reception will follow.

Courtesy today.mun.ca.

Book signing Recap One

I heard a story once about Stephen King who, while at a booking signing, signed until his fingers started to bleed, then the fans wanted some of his blood. May be an urban legend, I don't know. I can't imagine how much signing it would take to make your fingers bleed. Anyway, no matter, my point is that last night at my signing, my fingers were in no danger of bleeding. But I was not lonely. Kathleen dropped by and spoke to me for a while. She had emailed me before and it was very nice to meet her in person. And Christine, God love her cotton socks, came by with her little guy and must have been there a half an hour, telling those few people that didn't walk around the long way to avoid my table altogether, or who did not avert their eyes as they passed, that my book was great.

There was the guy who stopped to look at my book but told me he only reads comic books (he did say that he might buy it if it was on tape or CD so Janet Russell from Rattling Books...think about it), an author who had a book out a few years ago and wanted to tell me how she cannot get published anymore (very encouraging) and the publisher who wanted to tell me about the upcoming books from his company. There were other nice people as well, and I enjoyed talking with them. But, I have been on the other side of that table and I know how you feel bad if you slow down to look at the book or even, God forbid pick it up and read the blurb, then don't buy one. You feel like you perhaps let the writer down. Well, you know what I found out? That is not true. I was grateful to every one who picked up the book or asked me about it, even if they did not buy it. It means they were interested or intrigued and they may very well ponder it and pick it up later, maybe mention it to a friend they think might like the book.

I got to people watch, something which I don't do much usually. I found out that about 99% of the people in the Village Mall, at least the ones in my line of sight, go to the Dollarama store. It was rare to see someone walking around without a Dollarama bag in his/her hands. The other 1% go downstairs to the food court and most of them take out Subs, I noticed.

So, I have more signing coming up and there may be more foot traffic for those and there might be more people interested in the book but there might not be. So, will I do it again? Absolutely! I said that if I sold just one book, it would be worth and it was worth it. Even if I had sold zero books, I still got to talk to people about my book. And the whole time, even as I was twiddling my thumbs, I kept remembering that I was at a book signing. For my book. That I wrote and a publisher published. What a great way to spend an evening.

A signing and a book launch that's not mine

Oh my, I have been torn about what to post here because I want to tell you to go to my book signing tonight but my friend Maura Hanrahan is also launching her book, Domino, The Eskimo Coast Disaster, at Chapter's tonight at the exact same time and I want to tell you to go to that. She has been such a great mentor/supporter for me and really encouraged me with my writing and web design. So I will tell you this: it only takes a couple of minutes to get a book signed so you actually have time to do both. If you can't swing both, and are absolutely sure you won't be by the Village Mall to get a book signed, then I highly recommend going to Chapter's, Kenmount Road, from 7-9, for the launch of Maura's book. Onto regular blogging:

I have my first signing tonight. It is at Coles bookstore in the Village Mall from 7-9. Other writers and people in the publishing biz seem to look at me sadly when they know I have a signing, as if it will be a very hard experience. I think that is because a book signing, especially for a first-time, unknown writer, can be a lonely time. I could, quite conceivably, sit there the whole two hours without signing one book. But a couple of things make me not too nervous about this first signing: First of all, I know the truth. I am aware that I may not get to sign a whole lot of books (please, dear readers, feel free to prove me wrong and shock me--wouldn't that be fun?). I know this because, as I have said before here, I am obsessed with reading, watching and learning about writers writing. I have read books and watched Book Televsion and Arts and Minds episodes where writers told in great detail about the horror of a bad reading or signing. One series (I can't remember which) had a section called Road Diaries, I believe. Famous writers told of awful readings where no one would show up. One memorable one was from a man who sat through two hours at a bookstore without signing a book and then, as he was packing away his pen, someone breathlessly ran through the door of the bookstore, asked him if he was "author's name" and when the author replied that he was, the person said, "thank God, I drove for hours to get you to sign my book". Feeling thrilled by this, the author took out his pen and asked the man his name. "author's name", he said. "That is why I drove all the way here. I have the same name as you. Isn't that cool?"

I have also read the book Mortification: Writers' Stories of Their Public Shame, a must-have for any new writer embarking on the journey of readings and signing events. In this book, writers from Margaret Atwood to Roddy Doyle tell stories that would make you cringe, stories of readings to an audience of one or less, signings where no one showed up, and horrible interviews gone wrong.

The second reason I am not too scared about this first signing is that I have the benefit of having done four public readings, a book launch and two radio interviews before this signing so, after the terror of those things, sitting at a desk with a pen in my hand and a smile on my face doesn't seem so scary. Even if I don't get to sign books, hopefully I will meet some nice people and get to talk to them. We shall see, we shall see.

Grey's Anatomy Arggghhh

Okay, so I watched the Grey's Anatomy Season Premiere tonight, the one I have been desperately waiting to see and... oh, yeah, no I didn't. I watched a new episode of the series and kept thinking I was missing something. I felt there was a huge gap in the storyline. At the beginning of the show, I thought maybe they would deal with it in flashbacks or something but it never happened. Then, at the end, when CTV stopped their stupid simulcast, I saw a preview of next week's show on ABC. Guess what? It was the show I had just watched!!! They showed next week's episode and did not show the premiere. It's the simulcasting. They screwed up. I watched ABC but got CTV and their stupid mistake. Even though this is CTV's mistake, it is still the simulcasting which is regularly screwed up. Like when they simulcast a completely different episode over the first half of the season finale of Rock Star: Supernova. I am fed up with this stuff. I feel a satellite purchase coming on. This is just ridiculous.

A Bulletin of Doyles on Performance Hour

Remember when I told you about an Evening of Doyles, AKA A Bulletin of Doyles? Well, highlights from the show will be on CBC Radio's Performance Hour this Saturday, September 23. It will be on here in Newfoundland at 5:35 P.M. and in Labrador at 5:05 P.M. Listeners from outside Newfoundland and Labrador can listen to the performances and readings by Mike "Caribou" Stevens, Damhnait Doyle, John Doyle, Marjorie Doyle, Alan Doyle, and Tom Doyle, all hosted by Shelagh Rogers, on the Internet at cbc.ca/nl (listen live links are on the right sidebar).

Chad Vader and Unnecessary Censhorship

I don't get a lot of free time to really get into You Tube. I love geriatric1927 (a 79-year-old sweetheart who tells his life story through his videos) and have laughed at some other things on You Tube. But while searching it the other day for something (I have completely forgotten what), I stumbled upon Chad Vader, Day Shift Manager from Blame Society Productions. Chad is the younger, less-successful brother of Darth who manages a twenty-four hour grocery store. He is the ultimate sad-ass guy who thinks he is more important than he is and is desperate for success, oh and a date with a lovely clerk who works at his store. He reminds me of Dwight/Gareth of The Office. The fourth episode of this series is coming out soon but in the meantime check out Episodes One, Two, and Three.

Also while at You Tube, I searched "Jimmy Kimmel Unnecessary Censhorship" because I happened to be flicking through the channels last week and found Jimmy Kimmel Live's All-Star Salute to Jimmy Kimmel Live!. I have never been a fan of Kimmel's (never noticed him, really) but when I saw a segment called Unnecessary Censhorship, I laughed so hard my jaw cramped up. He had a best of reel, including one from Dr. Phil about a grizzly bear that was the kicker for me. Unnecessary Censhorship is where Kimmel and his staff bleep and blur television footage whether it needs it or not. By doing this, they can make the most innnocent statement seem filthy. It is hilarious. The one I saw is here (video quality is not great) but you can see lots of them if you just search You Tube.

School volunteers need to get police check

Beachy Cove Elementary in Portugal Cove-St. Philip's is requiring a police check for all volunteers at the school. Um, yeah. So, why isn't that being done at every school? I say bravo to Principal Aubrey Dawe.

Nissan Bonavista Commercial Transcript

Beyond the debate about the accent of the actor in Nissan's Bonavista commercial, and the subtitles to explain what he is saying, there is also the question of what the guy is saying. There is a line in there that I cannot figure out. I am from Notre Dame Bay and I have a Newfoundland accent (a real one, not an over-the-top, fake one done by an actor from Cape Breton), but I don't have a clue what he is saying. The line is: "If that don't put a ...'Gus in your spinaker'???...I don't know what would" (subtitles: "It's cool"). I looked for a transcript online but could not find one. Could someone tell me what he says?

Also, Adpunch has featured Nissan's controversial commercial but there are no comments about their discussion of it (unlike at RJ's where there are close to 100).

Another Signing

Another signing has been set up for this much is true. I will also be signing copies on Saturday, October 7 from 4 - 6 at Costco. Yes, my book will also be available at Costco. Yay! For the full list of times and places of signings, see the News section at tinachaulk.com.

Upcoming opportunities to get this much is true signed

I will be signing copies of this much is true at the following locations and times:

• Friday, September 22 from 7 - 9, at Coles in the Village Mall


• Friday, September 29, from 4 - 6 at Bennington Gate, Churchill Square


• Saturday, September 30 from 2 - 5 at Coles in the Avalon Mall


• Friday, October 6 from 2 - 4 at Downhomer


• Sunday, October 8 from 2 - 4 at Chapters, Kenmount Road

I hope to get to meet you at one of the signings. Drop by and say hi, even if you don't want a book signed.

Reading tomorrow at ARTFUSiON

It is late to tell you about this, I know, but it has been a busy week. I will be reading tomorrow evening, Saturday, the 16th as part of ARTFUSiON, a "super-fantabulous festival of art" brought to you by the Association for the Arts in Mount Pearl. It will include eveything from live bands to medieval fighting to fingerpainting to readings.

Not only will I read from this much is true but Trudy Morgan-Cole will read from her novel The Violent Friendship of Esther Johnson and Christine Hennebury will read her short story "Warrior Mother". All this in Rosie O'Grady's Pub and Eatery (next to Mount Pearl City Hall) starting at 8:00. So come and have a drink, maybe a bite to eat, and listen to some interesting and entertaining readings. Also, take in many of the other huge list of events scheduled for ARTFUSiON tomorrow. Hope to see you there.

New blog

Alison Dyer, president of the Writers' Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador, writer, and audio journalist, has started a new blog. As an avid kayaker who likes to travel the waters of Newfoundland and Labrador, Alison's posts, including her pictures and writing, will no doubt make her blog one to watch.

Suing Starbucks

Starbucks sent out printable coupons, for a free large iced drink, via email to employees and told them to spread them around. They did, and before you could say "grande iced latté", lineups were outside the stores for the freebies. Starbucks said uh, oh and decided not to honour the coupons. Then Peter Sullivan decided Starbucks needed to pay for their error: to the tune of $114 million dollars. I wonder what is the least expensive option for Starbucks: settling the lawsuit or just honouring all those coupons. Now, the marketing person must still be using a red LED calculator as his computer since most people, and certainly people marketing something as modern as Starbucks, should know that the quickest way to spread anything—be it a virus or a warning about an exploding biscuit can—is to put it in an email and ask people to forward it on. Just look in your email inbox.

If I see yet another email telling me to "Please pass this on or someone will die/be maimed/world peace will no longer be an option/angels will cry/your penis will shrink/you will miss the biggest stock market opportunity ever/no seriously, this one is true and Microsoft will really give ten cents to Insert Your Charity Here if you forward this on to 38 people in the next fifteen seconds or else your computer will explode" in my inbox, then I'd probably delete it. But if I see a coupon for a free drink from a Starbucks employee, I'd print it. If asked to forward it on, you'd see it in this blog. As inane as these frivolous lawsuits are, and as much as I have to wonder where Peter Sullivan got this number, Starbucks may very well end up losing less if they settle.

Thanks to I Found My Childhood on ebay for the calculator pic.

Five Years Later

Five years ago today, I had just graduated from the IT program at MUN. My friends and fellow IT graduates--Bob and Jeannie--and I decided to go to a job fair that day to look for work. We met at Jeannie's house and while we were in her basement, just about to leave, her mother called out from upstairs: "a plane has hit the World Trade Centre and it's on fire". I pictured a Piper or Cessna, off-course and accidentally hitting it and thought nothing more of it. We left and went to Churchill Square where we had a smoke outside and turned on the radio in Bob's car to hear further news about the plane and the building. There was nothing. No news is good news we thought and if it was important we would have heard more about it.

At the job fair we would split up, pass resumés to recruiters and then meet back. Each of us would have new stories to share about the plane crash in New York, rumours rippling through the crowd: the other tower had been hit, there were missing hijacked planes, the Pentagon had been hit and so had the White House. We didn't believe them and considered them overdramatic, too incredible to be real. At least until we got back to Jeannie's house and her mom told us what was happening. She and Jeannie were worried about Jeannie's sister in Toronto because she worked in a tall building and suddenly all tall buildings were scary. Bob went home while Jeannie and I sat down to watch TV, seeing replayed the once live images of horror we thought incomprehensible mere moments before. I remember the first time I saw the towers fall and how Jeannie grabbed my arm while we both gasped in disbelief. It didn't seem possible, even as we saw it unfold.

Five years later, Bob is gone. He died suddenly this summer and one of the few times I've seen Jeannie in the past few years was at the funeral home for Bob's wake. It didn't seem possible that day at Jeannie's house, that he could be gone five years from then.

Five years later, I have a son. Unimagined on that September 11, he makes it difficut to remember a time before he existed. Five years later, I watched him the other day, see, for the first time, the plane go into the second tower. It was a promo for something on CBC. There was no warning, just a sudden close-up of the plane, as close a shot as I have ever seen. I saw the image on the screen and immediately turned to look at my near three-year-old. He had seen it, unusual since his attention is never on the television unless a cartoon is on it. His face reflected the same thing I'd felt, we all felt, those years before. His face was confusion and fear and horror and I immediately told him that it was not real. "That is only pretend," I said, "like when you pretend to knock down your towers you make of blocks". "It's like a movie," my husband said quickly.

"Yeah," my son said, nodding, and smiled. How I envied his ability to believe the lie so easily. One day I know he will know the truth and hopefully he won't remember that I was not honest with him. But when I saw that look on his face all I wanted to do was make the reality go away, to give him a little more time before he has to find out how ugly the world can sometimes be. That's all I can do right now for him, five years later from that day none of us will ever forget.

RJ Hits the Telegram

Our own RJ was interviewed in today's Telegram about the NL blogging community's response to the Nissan Bonavista ad. He did a great job of summing up the various opinions. Get the Telegram and check out page A2. Go, RJ!

(Speaking of the Telegram, they have revamped their whole look. I like the quick news on the back of the first section but not sure about the rest yet. Just glanced at it generally, read up until A2, saw RJ's interview there and had to drop the paper and post.)

Newfoundland Dog Blog (say that five times fast)

You may not have noticed a new addition on my list of blogs on the sidebar so I will point it out to you. It is a blog of a Newfoundland dog named Newman, called Watching Newman Grow. I found out about the blog through a friend of mine and keep up on Newman on a regular basis. If you're a dog lover like me, I thought you might like to too.

Nissan's Bonavista commercial

There is a part in my novel where Lisa meets a particularly ignorant woman from Ontario. She is surprised at Lisa's ability to speak English because when she sees Newfoundlanders on TV, there are subtitles underneath to explain what they are saying. This was set in 1985 and I had heard similar stories from people who lived on the mainland but, still, I wondered if maybe people would not "buy it" and would find it hard to believe that people could be that ignorant. Ladies and gentlement, I give you proof:



As Lisa says in the book, in reference to the woman, "Ignorance might be bliss but it was downright foolish most of the time."

Updated: check out the City Honda ad in response to Nissan's.

Via RJ, Cove Blogger, Laurie, John and Townie Bastard.

Post launch/post interview/post weekend recap

Okay, I wanted the title of this post to be "Lisa Moore came to my book launch" because I could not believe she was there. Now, I think she was there because it was also Joan Sullivan's book launch for her great book Newfoundland Portfolio: A History in Portraits, but Lisa was there and she heard me read and I signed a book for her. She was very kind and so down to earth, even as I kept shamelessly fawning over her. I am very happy I got to meet her. And there were great other people I got to meet too, not the least of which were my blogging friends: Helmut, Trudy and Christine. It was so fun to meet them even though I felt like I already knew them. Trudy and Christine literally had bells on, just as they promised.

The launch was great--lots of drink and food and people. Great friends showed up and shared the evening with me which was wonderful. My mom and dad drove all the way from Aspen Cove to surprise me (I told them not to drive five hours for the two hour book launch but they did anyway--and I am so glad they did). I was slipping into a parking place on Water Street when I noticed a green Corolla with stripes drive by and I thought to myself, as I always do when I see a green Corolla with stripes, that looks like Mom and Dad's car, then I saw Mom in the passenger seat and thought and that is Mom then looked at the driver's side where there was Dad. Then I started blowing my horn, got out and ran down Water Street to meet them. I was so excited they were there. Mom said if you ever saw a forty-year-old running toward her parents with the expression of an eight-year-old, that was it. It felt like the evening could be perfect then with them there. They said it was one of their best days ever and, in great part because they were there, it was one of mine too.

Thank God it was a cool day because with all the people there, it was hot, hot, hot. If it had been a really hot day we would have roasted. The atmosphere was great, though, in the old building, built in the 1840s. Michelle and everyone at Jesperson really organized a fantastic evening. I could not have been more happy with it.

It was my first time meeting Joan Sullivan. She was very nice and made me feel at ease right away, introducing me to people throughout the night. Her generosity made the evening all the better. It was a real honour to share the launch with her. I highly recommend her book. I've been reading it and enjoying learning about so many great Newfoundlanders.

I did a reading and it was the first time in front of a mic. I found that hard as it amplified every nervous quiver in my voice but people tell me that once I got going, I did fine. Everyone laughed at all the right parts and many people came up after me afterward, telling me of their first time moving away from home or their children's first apartment (I read from the chapter entitled The Cubbyhole about when Lisa Simms first sees her apartment in Toronto). Everyone seemed to relate to it, at least the part I read. I even had people tell me that they were buying the book as a gift for a friend who is moving to the mainland for the first time. So things were great and before I knew it, the evening had passed (and I wished it could have gone on longer). I wish I had pictures but hubby was enjoying the evening and only took two pictures, neither is good for posting. Ah well, Dad took lots but with his "regular" camera and not a digital one so I will have to ask him to get a CD of photos done when he gets them developed. Trudy was kind enough to post one though.

I figured that I could breathe a huge sigh of relief once the launch was over but the afternoon of the launch, Angela Antle called me to do a reading for her CBC Radio show, that I never miss listening to on the weekends, Weekend Arts Magazine. I had to do that the morning after the launch so I was a little nervous about it but, as I said here before, Angela was so kind and patient with me, telling me I could read it over and over if I wanted. She then surprised me and said she wanted to do an interview. I'm glad she didn't tell me beforehand because I would have been super-nervous. As it was, I was pretty relaxed since she was so easy to talk to.

So, after the launch, then the interview, it was off to Aspen Cove and Ladle Cove for an extra long weekend. It was Ladle Cove Day all weekend so we took in those festivities, I signed a few books for people I've known all my life (very weird to do that), and we went to the Banting Memorial Park in Musgrave Harbour. The beach there is amazing--white sand everywhere. My two-year-old was in sand heaven. We buried each other in sand, made sand castles, let the waves chase us, it was a blast. You really should make a point of going. Besides the fantastic sandy beach, if you are a history buff, the park has a replica of the plane Banting crashed in (near Musgrave Harbour) and a Banting Interpretation Centre. You should make Banting Memorial Park a stop on your vacation next summer.

So, busy times of late and I am not complaining one bit. I hope anything and everything I can do to promote this much is true keeps me busy for a long, long time. In the meantime, I'll get back to some regular blogging, raising my son, some writing, some freelance work and writing a grant application for my next book. Oh, sounds like I'll be busy for a while yet.

Reading on Weekend Arts Magazine

Just a very quick post because I am at my parents' house and between dialup and computer problems they are having, posting is taking forever. It was a spur of the moment decision to come out here early for the long weekend with Mom and Dad, made when they showed up and surprised me at my book launch (yay!). I had told them not to come all the way from Aspen Cove but they did and it was great. The launch was amazing/wonderful/fun/fantastic and I will post more about it next week when I get back and can add pictures. Let's just say, it was a most memorable evening indeed. I loved every second of it, even the scary parts like getting up and reading at the mic.

Right now I want to let you know that I will be reading from my book tomorrow on Weekend Arts Magazine with Angela Antle on CBC Radio and there will be an interview airing as well. I think it will be on after the 8:00 news. Angela was very nice and walked me through it as it was my first interview and reading in a studio (very surreal). Anyway, keep an ear out for it, if you're interested. You can even check out CBC Radio on the Internet at http://www.cbc.ca/nl/(the Listen live section is on the menu at the right).

Have a great long weekend!