Another Turning Pages interview - this one's a little different

Here's another in the series of interviews from last season of Turning Pages.  The show concerns itself with all things literary and this particular interview was a real treat for me.  At the 2015 Elora Writers' Festival (following which a good number of these interviews were filmed) two of our authors were represented by the same literary agent.  When I discovered that she was attending the festival I took her aside and asked her if she would allow me to interview her for the show.  It was an excellent opportunity to show our viewers publishing from a different perspective.

Please enjoy my informal chat with literary agent, Carolyn Forde of Westwood Creative Artists.

Clifford Jackman interview

Here's another interview from Turing Pages that we shot last season.  Since the interview, Clifford Jackman has enjoyed some much deserved critical acclaim for his novel, The Winter Family including being shortlisted for the 2015 Governor General's Award.  Here's a link to Clifford's CBC interview about the book but before you navigate away, please enjoy my much better interview with him right here...

Another Interview...and a near miss

I'd been waiting for some time to hear back from a place where I'd submitted a bit of longer fiction.  They'd had the story for (quite) a while but a month or so ago they posted that they were taking longer to make decisions and asked for patience.  Well, I heard back from them yesterday and although they said they really enjoyed the story they had filled their available slots and won't know if they'll continue soliciting this length of fiction until they see how this initial offering sells.  They apologized for holding the story so long and emphasized how near a miss it was.

That's the way it goes.

On another note - Roxanne and I will be filming a few spots this evening for the new season of TURNING PAGES.  Tonight we have a young person who I know very well speaking with Roxanne about British YA novelist, Derek Landy and Roxanne and I will review the novel IRENE by Pierre LeMaitre.

For your viewing pleasure here's an interview from last year's season.  I've spoken about Richard Pierpoint, the early black settler who won a tract of land about five hundred meters from where I type for his service in the War of 1812.  Author and editor Peter Meyler speaks to me about Captain Dick and another notable early black settler from up Chatsworth way.

Enjoy.

More Turning Pages...

Here's what might be my favourite author interview from last season.  They're all good but there's a lot about my talk with Rio Youers that sets it apart.

The first is that I saw Rio read at one of my very first Elora Writers' Festivals.  This was long before I was invited to get involved with the committee that presents the festival each year.  He had just published his very short novel, End Times.  It's a dark, dark little book.  Rio had obviously taken a great deal of time choosing just the right passage for an reading that would pack a punch - but then he noticed a kid in the crowd - a girl - probably around 8 years old.

"Oh my," he said (or words to this effect).  "I can't read that part...let's see."  He did find a passage that was dark and disturbing but lacked the language and perhaps graphic content of his initial passage.

I love that Rio is local and that he, like me, chose this community to call home.  He lives just five minutes from me with his editor wife and young family.  There's a moment in the interview when I asked Rio about his first reader and his response could just as easily been my response.  My very first reader is also my wife - with similar results.  My wife laughed aloud at that part of the interview.

And he's also a really great writer.  I enjoyed his book, Point Hollow but I loved Westlake Soul.  Read them both - it's time well spent.

The thing I like most about this interview is that it's not the first one we taped for Turning Pages.  Rio and I got together a few weeks before this interview was shot at the Fergus Library.  We picked out a great windowed spot and Larry Peters, the show's producer, filmed a wonderful segment.  The following week Larry approached me somewhat sheepishly while Roxanne and I were shooting some interviews at her bookstore.

"Say, Dave," he said.  "I'm really embarrassed and this has never happened before - I somehow lost the footage of that interview you and Rio shot last week."

It was a happy accident because we had originally planned to re-shoot the Rio interview in the same spot - to kind of recreate what had been lost.  When I asked the Library if I could take over that particular corner they informed me that there was a tour coming through at the time we'd arranged for the re-shoot with Rio.  Since it was a beautiful day, we moved everything outside and, I think, ended up with a fairly good interview.

Here it is - enjoy my conversation with Rio Youers:

To find out more about Rio and his writing, please check out his website by following this link.

After a long absence...

WOW!

The last time I posted here was following Fan-Expo last September.  SEPTEMBER!  2015, no less.
A lot has happened since then.
A half dozen assorted holidays and at least three family birthdays.
Different things are currently in the air and I'll have a little something nice to crow about in a few weeks, I think.  For now, I'll talk about Turning Pages.

I don't think I've written here about Turning Pages before.  Well, last year - back in the aforementioned 2015 and perhaps as far back as 2014 - local cable station, Cogeco Cable 14 here in Fergus approached our local independent book seller, Roxanne Beale, and asked her if she would be interested in creating a "book show" for their station.  She told producer, Larry Peters that she was interested but that she'd need some help - a co-host - and she thought of me.

The three of us developed a format and thought of a name - I wanted to call it The Book Club for Shut Ins but I was (quite rightly) overruled and the show is called Turning Pages.

The mandate of the show is to cover all aspects of books, writing, reading, literacy, creativity, poetry etc.  We have author interviews, and we've interviewed editors, librarians and had people come on the air and tell us about their favourite author or genre.  It's a lot of fun and, from feedback that people give me, well-received in the community.

We shot a full season last year and have just finished an initial planning meeting (over beer and wings) to brainstorm the upcoming season.  We'll maintain (mostly) our current 3 x 8 minute segments for 24 minutes (approximately) per show.  But we might have a field trip (or two) and we'll try to get outside a little more and try more interesting camera work.

Now, the show is owned by the Cogeco.  It is intended for their subscribers but they have generously posted the author interviews on-line so that individual authors who have agreed to be interviewed  may link to them from their own websites.

Here's the first interview we did on the show.  It's children's author, Lisa Dalrymple.

In the coming weeks - in a effort to be a little more diligent about the blog - I'll post other interviews from last season.  For now, enjoy watching and listening to Lisa and Roxanne talk about children's stories...

FanExpo Toronto 2015

The family, still bleary and suffering from travel and jet lag from our trip to Hawai'i (I may post something about that later) made our weary way to FanExpo on Sunday.  It was a day of long lines, huge crowds, celebrities and wall to wall merchandise.  My daughter sported a steampunk outfit she made herself and my son wore a jumpsuit from the video game Fallout 3.  My wife and I opted for the "tired parent in tow" costume that seemed popular this year.

Here's everyone being patient while the line crawls forward.

The great irony of this particular show is that most of it is held in what basically amounts to the world's largest basement.

There was a lot of cosplay going on and when I've gone in previous years, there was a lot of steampunk.  This year - not so much.  It looks like anime and gaming were well represented, as were comics.  There were more Castiels (from the TV show, Supernatural) than you could shake a stick at.

There was also a cadre of Daleks.

The Red Dalek was wonderful, telling my daughter, "No need to be nervous, Human.  Regardless of your emotional state you shall still be exterminated!"

It was, of course, crowded.

I've been to FanExpo before and knew what to expect.  My family, I think, were a little overwhelmed by the shear volume of people.  They were also impressed by the variety and (sometimes) quality of the convention's guests.

Here's Malcolm McDowell signing autographs.

Speaking of quality guests, we attended Q&A with both Gillian Anderson of X-Files fame and Hayley Atwell, star of Agent Carter.  As the dad of a 14 year old girl and a 12 year old boy, I think it's a good idea for them both to see capable, independent women who play capable, independent roles.

My daughter and I attended a panel that featured authors who belong to the Horror Writers' Association, Ontario Chapter.  The panel's title was "What's the next big thing in horror fiction?"  I know one of the panelists and recognized the names of a few others.  In all, the panel was a disappointment.  Almost from the start, the seven fiction writers (most of whom had books they were trying to promote) ignored the written word.  The discussion lead invariably to movies and film.  Example that could easily have been made citing books and short stories were made through references to movies and video games.  At one point, the moderator got onto the subject of desensitization and immediately spoke about a YouTube video that depicted a beheading.  From that point forward the moderator seemed obsessed with the subject of snuff films, returning to it so often that members of the audience began to leave and members of the panel looked increasingly uncomfortable.  Eventually - I think audience questions finally got the panel onto the subject of the horror fiction - there was some talk of Stephen King's recent crime fiction but the panel never really delivered on its promised subject matter.

Fortunately the panel experience didn't sour my daughter's day.  She and her brother had a great time, entirely enjoying spotting particularly well pulled off homemade costumes.  The best of the day was a Sharknado costume made from wire, cotton batten and toy sharks that lit up from the inside.  Totally inspired.

FanExpo IS wall to wall geek and yes, a goodly number of the people there have poor hygiene and even poorer social skills but anything that can draw together so many people with shared interests in a safe environment for mutual enjoyment can only be a good thing.

God help me, we'll likely attend next year too...
    

Elora Writers' Festival 2015

The 2015 event happened over this past weekend and everything came together beautifully.  Although not as well attended as our last two festivals, it still felt like a rousing success to me.  Here's this year's poster, created in partnership with the local high school's media arts department:

They also did a wonderful job designing our brochure:

Our festival has a blog and here's a linkto follow for a description of the day:

http://elorawritersfestival.blogspot.ca/2015/05/festival-2015-great-stories-great.html

This was the fourth EWF I've been involved with (though for my first one I just showed up and looked pretty) and I must say by the time the day rolled around I was glad to see the end of it.  Don't get me wrong - I love the event and I love the sense of satisfaction of seeing a year's worth of hard work come together on a lovely afternoon in May.  Three years ago I initiated a Q&A session that has been well-received and from which I derive so much pleasure that it should probably not be allowed.
But this year it felt like a slog.  As I was loading the borrowed plants we used to brighten the venue from the local nursery (Little Tree - follow the link and patronize the hell out of them for their generosity)  into my van at the end of the event I was drained.  Physically and emotionally I was spent.

I still had a number of interviews to conduct for the local cable book show I host with fellow committee member and bookstore owner, Roxanne Beale once I got to the committee after party .   The interviews went well (I think) and the party was a wonderful opportunity to decompress with my fellow committee members and better get to know the authors and their guests.

As I drove home in the best smelling car in the world (loaded with live flowers and likely a hundred and one bees) I was exhausted.  It was a year's worth of execution all coming together and this time around it really felt like a year.  I don't know exactly why this one took so much out of me and I'll ponder the reason over the coming weeks.  All I know is that it's a worthwhile festival and it makes the spirit and soul of our community just a little bit richer each year.

Glutton for punishment that I am, I'm already thinking ahead to 2016.

Wallopin' Websnappers!

This happens this evening:

I had the opportunity to get a sneak peek at the exhibit last Friday.  The exhibit features gems from a mysterious unnamed local collector who, I believe, has a copy of every issue of Amazing Spider-Man ever published.  The crown jewel, I think, is the Amazing Spider-Man #1 signed by Stan Lee.

I am part of the panel that will speak tonight.  I bring only my expertise as a person who collected many titles avidly for a span of about 20 years.  I will also speak about Spider-Man as literature, focusing on a story line from 1987 written by J.M. DeMantteis and penciled by Mike Zeck.  KRAVEN'S LAST HUNT was a six part story spanning the three existing Spider-Man titles that ushered in an age when Spider-Man stories became amazing again.

 DeMantteis adopted William Blake's poem, The Tyger for the story-line, with the refrain, "Spyder, spyder burning bright..."

Tonight is made even more special by the inclusion in the panel of my old high school chum, Stuart Immonen.  Stuart is the penciler for any number of DC and Marvel titles, as well as producing his own graphic novels with his wife Kathryn.  I'm very much looking forward to catching up with him today.

I'll post more after the event.

John Beynon September 15th, 1939 to March 16th, 1995

20 years ago today John Beynon, my father, lost a brief and brutal battle with mesothelioma.  There is not a day goes by that I don't think of him and when I think of him I feel cheated.  Even after 20 years I still feel that it is so unfair that my children never got to know him, nor he them.  But like my father taught me - life isn't fair, but we should always try our best to be fair in spite of it.  Presented in no particular order save the first couple, here's a photo journey through my dad's life.

Terry Pratchett

I was just answering a telephone call from London, England when I saw on my computer that Terry Pratchett had died.  It was very sad news and I found myself immediately thinking about his documentary Choosing to Die, where he examined the touchy subject of assisted dying.  If you haven't watched the documentary, I encourage you to follow the link above.

A few years back I was shortlisted for the inaugural Terry Pratchett Anywhere But Here, Anywhen But Now First Novel Prize.  I was able to attend the awards ceremony where Sir Terry was especially generous with his time and his suggestions regarding my shortlisted novel, The Platinum Ticket.  He was a gentleman and an absolute class act.  Here's an account of the evening.

He was a lovely, talented writer and the world is poorer without him.

Embracing Something New - Part 2 (Finally)

           

What seems like a lifetime ago now, I promised to talk about doing something that I didn’t imagine I’d enjoy.  Like the bullfighting post from a while back, I ended up with a new appreciation that came about simply from jumping at a new experience.

It’s important to repeat my lifelong friend, Ann Swallow’s words at this point:

“You have the chance to do something you've never done before. Put on your best pair of shoes, grin, and go! This applies to just about everything.”

A year or two ago I was introduced to an Irishman and, since he’s Irish, let’s call him…oh, I don’t know…Pat.  Pat is an incredibly likable man.  Smart, witty, funny …and a competitive international shooter.

Pat belongs to an organization called the IPSC (International Practical Shooting Confederation).  Basically competitors run through courses and shoot at targets.  Time, accuracy and gun safety determine winners.

Since the current novel I’m writing has a goodly number of folks with handguns, I thought I’d bend Pat’s ear regarding firearms.

“Have you ever fired a gun?” he asked.

I explained that I grew up on a farm.  I’d fired a .22 rifle often, a neighbour’s 30.06 maybe three times and a shotgun a half dozen times at most.

“Ever fired a handgun?”

I had to admit I hadn’t.

“Would you like to?”

I’ve always been of the opinion that handguns have one use only – killing people.  I’ve never understood the allure of the handgun enthusiast.  Canada lacks the “right to bear arms” thinking (for the most part) of our neighbours to the south, so there’s no Constitutional imperative for me to desire a gun to protect myself from King George III.  Firing a handgun has never even been on my radar as a thing I’d like to do someday, but if I was going to be writing a fair deal about people handling guns and an opportunity presented itself for some firsthand research, I’d be a fool to say no.

About two weeks later we travelled to a nearby rural gun club where Pat is a member.  Throughout the drive, Pat drilled me on safety.  Pat’s guns were each locked in its own separate container.  Each sported a locked trigger guard.  The ammo was in a separate locked box and all of these items were in a wire-reinforced carrying bag that was – you got it – locked.

When we got to the club I was expected yahoos and hillbillies.  The first person I was introduced to was the range captain.  He had long, scruffy hair, two days of beard and horrible, horrible teeth.  He looked just like someone who might wander into your camp while you’re on a white water rafting trip down the Cahulawassee River.  As soon as he spoke, my prejudice fled.  The range captain (Dan, I think) was articulate and businesslike.  As a guest on the range, Pat was responsible for my behaviour and as range captain, he was responsible for my safety.   He watched like an eagle as Pat taught me all of the rules of the range, what the flags meant and what to do when the range light was on.  Only after I was familiar with the rules that would keep me safe and, one hopes, alive, was I permitted to actually enter the shooting range.

There was a long hallway with stalls facing the open-air range.  There were lines painted on the floors and god help you if you cross one line or the other depending on the colour of the light that happens to be on.

Pat took us to a vacant stall three from the end where we waited to be “green-lighted” to enter the range and place our target.  Twenty five yards doesn’t seem like far, but when you’re aiming with a handgun at a torso-sized cut-out of corrugated paperboard (B flute – feels like a 150lb test) it seems a long way indeed.

With our target placed, we waited for a different light, then were allowed to take our place within the stall and begin handling Pat’s guns and ammunition. 

The first thing Pat told me was the gun ALWAYS points down range.

Pat next told me that you must always load your own gun.  This meant that Pat had to teach me how to load the magazine and then he showed me the proper way to insert the clip and chamber the first round.

Lots of rules, many I’ve forgotten but the biggie is this:  ALWAYS assume any gun is loaded with a round chambered and that the safety is off until you know for certain otherwise.

Once I was safe and schooled, we turned to the shootin’.  I shot sitting.  I shot standing.  I shot two-handed and one handed.  Pat let me shoot his 9mm and his .45.  For a guy who has never had any interest in handguns, I sure went through a significant number of Pat’s ammo that afternoon.

When we weren’t shooting, we watched other people shoot.  My favourite guy was a Serbian-Canadian guy with a vintage Lee-Enfield rifle that sounded like a cannon and a black powder rifle that acted like a cannon.  What a treat it was to watch this man prime his rifle and then the blast of flame and the cloud of thick smoke that accompanied each shot.

There was also a young man and his girlfriend with their civilian assault rifles.  After I asked some questions, the man asked if I’d like to hold his rifle.

“As long as you show me how to handle it safely first,” I said. 

Dan, the range captain flashed me a toothy grin.  “Good answer,” he said.

That rifle looks like it ought to be heavy but a lot of the pieces are ceramic or aluminum and the gun is deceptively light.  I tried this gun both standing and sitting and though this target was 50 yards away, I was far, far more accurate with the assault rifle than I was with either handgun.

Pat walked me around the range, showing me the different activities and ranges located on site.  Much to my surprise, I had a lot of fun.

So – am I a gun convert?  Do I want to become a weekend shooting enthusiast?

No, but I’ve come a long way to understanding those that are and do.  

My pistol target from the range.  It's easy to spot the 9mm shots from the .45s.