Michael J McCarthy Reading Series Recap

Well, last night was a great reading. Paul Butler, with his beautiful, rich prose, kept us all hanging on his words. Trudy Morgan-Cole made me feel sad and smile at the same time with a scene that made me feel I was right there, in her book, and Russell Wangersky, well, his reading was wonderful as well. It was my first exposure to Wangersky and his fiction writing, unlike Paul’s and Trudy’s who I have been a fan of for a while now. Christine, who organized this event, told me she was reading Russell’s book and that I should not read it because I would not want to write again, it is so brilliant. She was right. He read a short story called “I Want It” and I loved it. I want it. Giller had it right putting him on the long list but leaving him off the shortlist was a mistake (of course, I think that about Kenneth J. Harvey’s Inside and Wayne Johnston’s the Custodian of Paradise too--I’d like to see an all Newfoundland and Labrador Giller shortlist—we’ve come close before). Anyway, everyone was wonderful so run out and buy Paul Butler's NaGeira, Trudy Morgan-Cole's The Violent Friendship of Esther Johnson, and Russell Wangersky's The Hour of Bad Decisions. Oh, yeah, and my book, this much is true (bad self-promoter, Tina, forgetting your book like that, bad).

Christine Hennebury hosted the event and organized it as well. The lady should do organizing and event planning for a living. She gets everything down to the last detail, plus her love of Mount Pearl and support for all things local there is great. Mount Pearl should name her its citizen of the year, she does so much for the community. She does all this while raising two, young boys and writing as well. I love her writing. When The Independent decided to revamp and, in the process, lost Christine’s brilliant weekly column, I was very disappointed. I miss her weekly compositions about parenting—the humour, the information and the way it made me feel like I wasn’t the only one feeling unsure and searching for answers about how to be a good parent. I hope I get to see her in print again very soon.

Afterward we stood around and chatted. It is always nice to hear about new things people are working on and also things like hockey games and homework. And, just as I promised him, I got home in time to kiss my little guy goodnight. All in all, a great night.

(As I reread this post, I thought that reading it, and other recaps of readings and writerly things I have attended, must sound like it might be a bunch of hooey. All the writers around here can't really get along, can they? We can't say good things about each other's books and tell our friends to buy the books of others, can we? Well, that has been my experience. Perhaps people secretly go home and stick pins in dolls representing other writers, but I have seen and felt nothing but kindness and encouragement from the writers I have met, both from my membership in WANL and from going to readings, signing, etc. It's true. Not sure if it is like this everywhere else, but around here, writers make up a very supportive community, at least the ones I have met do. I consider myself very lucky.)