On Tour Blog
April 25, 2008
...although the near-white-out blizzard over Kootenay Pass last night came close. At first it was like we were in the Starship Enterprise, with millions of tiny asteroids flying at us and not much else in the blackness to give a sense of perspective. Very surreal. “We’ve reached warp speed,” Mr. Spock, I mean David, said, though in fact Bryan was inching along at a judicious 10km/hr or so, ready to stop and/or turn around the second we started sliding. For a few alarming moments somewhere short of the summit we were indeed in a complete white-out, and it looked like we’d be slouching back to Creston for the night .... but THEN, ghostly lights appeared up ahead; we crawled on and found ourselves behind the shield of a towering 18-wheeler with its hazards on. Other transports had pulled over, so we could only hope we weren’t following the path of Bob the Crazed Trucker of the Kootenays (if we were, I suppose we could only hope at least one of us would survive to write the story). Over the summit we went, and gradually the snow lightened. Some cocky youngster in a hot little car raced past us at 30 km/hr. Who knows what his/her fate was. We four travelling authors were safe and sound with Our Man Bryan. We love Bryan.
I should say that our visit to the Cranbrook Library last night was worth the adventure. One of those intimate gatherings with interesting questions and discussion ... and several keen folks walking away with four new books in hand. Yay! The matter of money-making occasionally comes up during Q&A sessions, and while we all ardently, and honestly, insist that our motivation for writing and touring comes from a passion for those endeavours (and that going into the writing biz for the money is usually a wacky idea), it’s always heartening to have people show their interest and their faith in our work by getting themselves a copy.
Signing off with best wishes from the Kootenay Roast coffee shop in Castlegar ...
Heather
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April 25, 2008
As those of you following this blog must be aware by now, every evening the four writers on the Kootenays leg of the B.C. Book Prizes tour visit a different public library or café. After Bryan Pike pays homage to the legion of corporations and organizations that have funded the tour, he introduces us and we each read from our books.
None of us is being mobbed by the kind of audience that you might imagine one meets on a book tour—people who have read our books and are dying to meet their authors—fans, in other words. Speaking for myself, I don’t think I’ve run into anyone on this tour (other than a teacher or librarian setting up the reading) who has actually read my book. Now, if this sounds like a complaint, believe me, it’s not. I’m grateful to anyone who takes the time to show up at these events and listen to us.
Most of the people who turn up fall into one of four categories:
1) People who are literary buffs who track these sorts of things.
2) People who spotted the poster in a bookstore window and found themselves free that evening.
3) People whose children saw us at school earlier that day.
4) People who just happened to be at the library, minding there own business, when these literary hooligans tumbled out of a minivan and started reading out loud, making it impossible for them to concentrate on whatever it was they really came there for.
But always lurking among them are the writers–-the people just as keenly interested in the craft as we are. You can see their eyes glittering from the back row. They’re often shy. Polite. Tentative-–sometimes to the point where you have to coax it out of them: “So . . . do you write yourself?” I’m not the most intuitive guy in the world, but I can usually spot them. At least, I think I can. Who knows how many more are out there, wearing camouflage just a little too effective to pick out of the crowd?
The fact is, most of them want to be spotted. I always love meeting these people. I know some writers don’t. They keep waiting for that 800-page manuscript to thump to the floor between them and their new best friend to say, “Did you drop something? Oh, wait, that’s my novel. How did that get there?”
I don’t know why I like talking to these people so much. Maybe it’s the anticipation of that moment when the admission that they, too, are writers spills from their lips. Maybe it’s because sometimes I have the impression that right then, when they’re saying the actual words to me, is the first time they’re saying it aloud. Or even to themselves. And as I do my best to embolden them, usually just by talking about writing—the process, what it’s like when it’s going badly, what it’s like when it’s going well—I can see them warm to the idea before my very eyes. “I am a writer. I must be. After all, I’m talking shop with other writers!”
At the same time, these conversations are always just a little awkward for me. That’s because these people seem to assume that I have some advantage over them, that I know some secret they don’t, or even, perhaps, that I am a better writer than they are. That may or may not be true. I believe that getting published is a combination of talent, hard work, and luck. You need all three in some proportion. If you’re hugely talented, you need only a little hard work and luck. The world will beat a path to your door. If you’re incredibly lucky, you don’t need much hard work or talent. And if you work really, really hard—well, you still need some talent and a bit of luck. But for me, becoming an author has been a long and incremental process.
So I never know quite how to address these people, because I look at them and I still see me. Maybe they’re not published because they’re unlucky. Usually, I suspect, they just haven’t given it quite enough time. My point is, I never really know if maybe I shouldn’t be asking them for advice. There’s no way for me to know until I’ve read some of their work.
Which happens, sometimes. A man approached me this evening after we gave a reading to a small but enthusiastic crowd at the Cranbrook Public Library. He had written and illustrated a children’s book, and asked me to take a look at his manuscript. I’ll be reading it on the drive home to Vancouver, tomorrow. I don’t know if I can do anything for this man, but the least I can do is read the work he gave me. He was polite, he was brief, and he was direct—oh, and he also bought one book from each of the writers present and then asked him or her to sign it.
In addition to being talented, hard-working and/or lucky, it doesn’t hurt to be smart about it, too.
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April 24, 2008
Meg and David enjoy a nice walk outside as we reach the sumit of Kootenay Pass
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April 24, 2008
tea heaven
Posted by Claire Mulligan
Like Arleen, I am a blog virgin, and so I did a bit of research first about the history and how tos of this strange art. I learned that blogs can be arranged around a theme, or written more as a journal. I learned that it was first called web journaling, web diaries, or blithering idiots writing on the internet. I learned that a marker of blogging is its ‘interactiveness’ meaning that others, if they have nothing better to do, can add their too bits to your commentarty. Aha, blogging is the modern version of the bathroom wall, except it’s legal, and cleaner. I learned there is now something called the blogosphere which I picture as a vast green blob hovering about our heads, no doubt because of that B movie way back. I learned that it is best to blog anonymously or have a pseudonym. The pseudonym cannot be too easy, so that I should not be Erialc, which is my name backwards. This anonymous business is important, apparently, because ‘your relatives might be shocked when they read your uncensored thoughts,” you might be fired, your marriage ruined.. Well, this blogging sounds mighty dangerous, so perhaps I’ll just stick to a safe topic: tea. I have been living in the belly of the Empire for the last several years—this author tour has been a wonderful excuse for a holiday—and although America is a large nation there is not a tea pot to be had. Even the finest restaurants will serve you a tepid cup of water with a red rose tea bag on the side. It might go back to that business with the Boston tea party; I’m not sure. Or perhaps being such individuals they can’t stand the thought of sharing a large pot of tea. Because at dinner parties you are all given that tepid cup and then offered an enormous choice, one tea bag per person, which seems, not only wasteful, but needlessly democratic. Sooo, at the moment I am in tea heaven. Even a Tim Horton’s gives you a tea pot, and at the moment we are at this lovely cafe in Oliver. Not only do I have a tea pot, but it is a beautiful ceramic pot, with loose tea and a tea ball. The cups are actual china tea cups like Grandma used to have, all are different. And the teaspoons are made of silver. I’m on my third pot on this rainy day as we wait for our gig at the Oliver public library. I think we’ve been a great team. And I am so impressed with the work of my tour mates. I’ll be sad when it’s over and I’m banished back to tea-pot-less America.
Cheers, Claire
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April 24, 2008
Cranbrook
Posted by Meg Tilly
We are sitting in the pub at the Mount Baker Hotel in Cranbrook. I had a delicious poutine with really good gravy. All five of us are typing away on our laptops. Music blasting, guitars squealing. Loud raucous male laughter from the table behind me, the dialogue interspersed with a lot of bulls__t. Bulls__t? Bulls__t! No kidding me? Bulls__t. And then, “HA…HA…HA…HA…HA!” These guys know how to enjoy life. It makes me smile listening to them.
But on to more important matters. The reason I feel compelled to write on this blog before I write on my own personal blog is I want to talk for a moment about Amy Woodland Elementary.
I LOVE this school. Love it. The minute you walk into the school, you can feel the commitment and dedication of the teachers. These kids are so lucky with this staff. I got such a wonderful feeling from every single person I met on the staff. And you can feel it with the children. Their enthusiasm, their eagerness to ask questions, the way the teachers were there supporting this event, involved. It is a wonderful heart-warming thing to see.
And then, to make this visit even more special…
Bryan had driven by the school around 45 minutes before we were due to make sure we knew where it was and didn’t get lost. And to my delight, we were treated to the sight of kids running, playing, swinging, in their pajamas. PAJAMA DAY! My favorite! Then when Bryan drove back into the part of town where the shops were, I saw a Salvation Army and it seemed like a sign if I ever saw one. So I decided to forgo the coffee shop and went into the second-hand store and bought myself some pajamas instead.
How much fun is that?! When we got to the school, I disappeared into the Staff bathroom and changed out of my carefully chosen authorly clothes into some lavender pajamas and a wonderful fluffy pink robe that was so soft. I love that robe. It is definitely coming home with me.
I feel such gratitude to the organizers of the BC Book Prizes for giving me and David the chance to experience this wonderful school. I feel so happy that we were able to be here. Talk to these kids, slip a few life lessons in on the sly. Feel so fortunate.
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April 24, 2008
Figuring out what to read at a public event is always an interesting challenge. In the case of novels, you want the reading to be interesting/exciting, but you don’t want to give away too much ... something that’s self-contained but that will inspire the audience to track down the book and read more. Some scenes work just fine on the page but don’t translate very well to the spoken word. Scenes with dialogue require a certain amount of acting — a special challenge for solitary, writerly types! I had a couple of readings that I was happy with, but yesterday I was feeling itchy for a change (I have great admiration for theatre types who do long runs — night after night of the same role). Anyway, with David’s suggestion of a particular scene (he’s very kindly read my book) and Meg’s coaching in the area of making distinctions between different characters, I decided to try out a new reading — a tense scene with a lot of dialogue. I rehearsed at the back of a café in Creston, and last night’s event at the Creston Library offered the perfect audience — intimate, friendly, and very welcoming. I had a great time trying something new and am psyched to do the same scene again tonight in Cranbrook.
The event at Prince Charles Secondary in Creston ended with one of our best Q&A sessions so far (one student wanted to know if Rita had been influenced by Allen Ginsberg), and I’m indebted to Lynn the librarian for rescuing the new thermos I’d left behind at the school. Thanks, Lynn!
At Mount Baker Secondary this afternoon I got to try out another new presentation. The group was small enough for an interactive, creative writing type activity, and, considering it was last block of the day, with a Pro-D day tomorrow, the students were very kind to us (not to mention the very groovy librarian and English teacher who hosted us)!
Signing off from the Colonel Baker Lounge in Cranbrook, where we’ve got five duelling laptops set up (nothing anti-social intended ... we really dig each other ... we’re just incorrigible email/blog addicts) ....
Heather
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April 24, 2008
Finally get to contribute to the blog, and probably the only time I’ll do so, since my laptop exploded just before our departure on the southern leg of the tour. Today is Thursday and everything is a blur. Maybe that’s because I’ve spent too many late nights sitting in restaurants and hotel bars, listening to Ron Smith insult me. I’d repeat some of his devastating remarks, but I don’t like to use that kind of language in print. Last night I told him that he could lose ten pounds of ugly fat by cutting off his head. He criticized me for my grade two level humour, but that’s okay because most of our audiences are actually in grade two. Ron had to leave the tour this morning to go back to Vancouver, and I’m continuing without him for the next two days. Overall, we’ve been fortunate with our elementary school audiences; young kids are so enthusiastic and bursting with questions. We also had a terrific audience last night at the public library in Kelowna, which consisted of some of Claire Mulligan’s friends and even a couple that I used to know in high school and hadn’t seen since the ice age! All the readings have been done eloquently, and sometimes I feel like the inarticulate illustrator of the group, grunting and pointing at my pictures. Right now, we’re killing time in a quaint little coffee shop in Oliver,stuffing ourselves with ginger cake and tea, after which we’ll saunter down to the local Indian restaurant to stuff ourselves some more.
On the road in the Okanagan,
Ruth Campbell
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April 24, 2008
if this is thursday. this must be the cock and bull cappucino bar which is part of cantalope annie’s caffe breakfast lunch best brunch. i am sitting on plastic patio chair. there’s a large zebra skin on the floor. i have just ordered lover’s leap tea. claire ordered the buckingham palace tea and jamie is drinking chocolate mint.
i have resisted this blogging thing all week. i am not a blogger. i have been a blogee, but never a blogger. but jamie has caught up wuith me over tea and scones and devonshire cream, she is insisting i blog, now in this place of only two scones, which we will share now. they have run out of scones. they have run out of cabbge rolls too. this must be a popular lunch place. i am slightly shellshocked. all around me on the road, the desert landscape is amazing. tonight is our last night on the road. tomorrow we are back in vancouver. blessed be.
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April 23, 2008
We had a busy day yesterday. We visited schools in Salmon Arm in the morning and then hit the road to Vernon, where we visited two schools in the afternoon and then the Vernon Public Library at night. We had time for a relaxing dinner together at a great local Vernon restaurant.
Ron Smith talking about Eagles at South Broadview Elementary
Don asked the students to help him write his biography at Salmon Arm Secondary
Don, Claire, Ruth and Arleen at The Vernon Public Library
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April 23, 2008
Mike Berg from Columbia basin Trust with Donation to Redfish Elm
Nelson and Distract Credit Union donates to LV Rogers Secondary School
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