Before I get this entry started, I must rectify an omission I made in my last entry.  When I wrote about my time in Hamilton I neglected to mention that I stayed for two nights at the Inchbury Inn, which is a wonderful bed & breakfast run by Doug and Solange Trudel.  Those of you who read this blog know that I tend to stay at B&Bs when I'm traveling and have written about many of the terrific places I've stayed at.  I am happy to say that the Inchbury Inn ranks right up there with the best of them for comfort, affordability and all around hospitality.  The inn is really Solange's baby and she runs it with great care.  Her breakfasts are delicious and her friendly demeanor brightened up the mornings.  If there was anything I needed, she and/or Doug were always happy to help out.

My last night in Hamilton was spent at the home of writer Jean Rae Baxter and her playful terrier Robbie.  Jean has published a few books and is connected to the Hamilton reading series Lit Live, which is how I came to be billeted in her home.  On a free afternoon I had, Jean was happy to drive me around Hamilton to show me some of the sights. We also took a drive to nearby Dundas for the the buskers' festival. 

Since returning home from Toronto and Hamilton, I have been pushing ahead with my novel.  I am under the gun to get this draft finished in time to send it to my agent, whose reading period ends in September. So I have roughly six weeks before the just-under-the-wire deadline and I have to say I'm feeling the pressure.

That said, I am off to Antigonish, Nova Scotia next week for the annual Great Blue Heron Writers' Workshop.  This will be my fifth consecutive year there, which makes me think I should be getting some kind of diploma or something.  I will be in Alistair MacLeod's group (this being my second time working with him) and, as usual, I am expecting a terrific week of literary socializing and work.  Being at GBH, or at most writing workshops for that matter, is much like being at summer camp for writers.  Writing, being the solitary activity that it is, means spending most of the year holed up in my office, so it is always refreshing to meet up with other like-minded souls and share our similar obsessions.  Just call us word nerds but don't call us late for last call.

This year GBH is offering a free day during the workshop week, which happens to fall on Friday July 3rd.  I'm taking that opportunity to make a day trip to Halifax to do a reading at Frog Hollow Books, 1459 Brenton Street (their brand new location), at 2:00 p.m.  Hope to see you there.

I'm back on my favourite red soil once more after two weeks in Toronto and Hamilton.  It was a tough haul shlepping all those books around, but it has also been a lot of fun.

My first day in the Big Smoke I had two readings: the Unionville Library in the afternoon and the Press Club that evening.  Getting to Unionville proved quite easy and fast on the GO bus, a mode of transportation I'd never used in all the 17 years I lived in Toronto.  Finding the library was a bit more problematic. I had been given walking directions, but the lack of visible street signs ensured that I made a wrong turn somewhere. I ended up walking the length of the town's picturesque Main Street.

In a place as small as Unionville one would think a library would be centrally located. Unfortunately, it is well-hidden, but after about 30 minutes and many requests for directions from the local townspeople I finally found it. An audience of seven were in attendance (more than I expected) and a fully engaged group they were.  For almost a full hour I read them stories and talked about the creative process.  They asked intelligent questions and some even bought copies of the book.  Well worth the walk.

That evening I was one of three writers on the bill for the Pivot Reading series, which is held every two weeks at the Press Club on 850 Dundas Street West in Toronto.  One of the other readers was rob mclellan, an Ottawa poet who has one of the most amazing blogs that features interviews, book reviews and general literary news.  He has sent me one of his on-line interviews, which I filled out.  I gave him a copy of Fatted Calf Blues to review.  I expect both review and interview to appear soon.

The reading itself went well.  I opened with Home, James, which I felt didn't go over so well, but my second offering, Phone Booth, a story I had never read in public before, really hit the mark.  It is a first person narrative of a stalker waiting in a phone booth across the street from the girl of his dreams and I felt almost like I was improvising the text as I slowly found his voice: erratic and obsessed by the object of his desire.

That weekend I was in Hamilton for the Jewish Literary Festival.  All the festivities took place at the Temple Anshe Shalom, starting with a Shabbos service on Friday night where, in between the prayers, poets read their work. I had not been to a synagogue service for many years, but found myself following along in the siddur  and happily trying to sing along.  Later, Steven Stern, a writer from the southern US, gave a talk and some of the others read from their works.

The two festival organisers, Lil Blume and Ellen S. Jaffe, put together an anthology called From Sinai To The Shtetl And Beyond: Where Is Home For The Jewish Writer?, which was also the theme of a panel discussion on Saturday afternoon as well as the running theme of the whole festival. Some writers had workshops or readings. I went to hear Charlottetown writer, J. J. Steinfeld read from his new book, Word Burials.

On Saturday evening there was the launch of the anthology. Klezmer singer Allan Merovitz sang and taught everyone some Jewish dances.  I read the poem I submitted to the anthology, Half A Poem, and received many wonderful compliments.

On Sunday I gave a talk called Turning Family History Into Art, during which I read my story The Two Annes, an excerpt from my novel-in-progress and two poems.  The talk was attended by an audience of 5 (again, more than I expected) and a lively discussion ensued.  My Hamilton visit concluded with a reading at the Lit Live series at the Sky Dragon Centre.

Back in Toronto, the last reading on my itinerary was the Toronto Fatted Calf Blues launch at Scratch Espresso Bar, which is owned by two good friends, Hans Wontorra and Eden Bender.  It was a terrific launch where many friends from various times in my life -- from high school to the present -- were in attendance to help me celebrate my first book.  It was a very special evening and having all these friends from the past and present bear witness made me feel like I had truly arrived.

After two weeks of down time since my Montreal trip (spent mostly recuperating from a cold), I am now ready to embark on the Toronto leg of my promotional tour for Fatted Calf Blues.  It will be a busy time with two readings on my first day - the Unionville Library  at 2:00 p.m. on June 3rd  and later that evening at 8:00 p.m. the Pivot Reading Series  at the Press Club.  Then I will have a free day to see friends and also to finally meet my agent, Denise Bukowski, with whom I signed last year.

On Friday I am off to Hamilton for the Jewish Literary Festival, where I will be reading a poem that will be published in an anthology called From Sinai to the Shtetl and Beyond: Where Is Home For the Jewish Writer? compiled by the JLF organizers, Lil Blume and Ellen S. Jaffe.

On Sunday  I will be reading at a Hamilton series called LitLive, as will some of the other writers who are participating in the JLF.  My second week will be easier, with only the Toronto launch of FCB on Tuesday June 9 at Scratch Espresso Bar at 7:00 p.m.

While I am looking forward to my Toronto trip, I can't help wondering if it is all worth it. Promoting Fatted Calf Blues has been an interesting experience and it has opened my eyes to the hard work that goes into putting together a tour (even one as small as mine) and trying to get a book into the public eye.

The question remains whether I have made any kind of dent at all in the public's awareness of my book.  There hasn't been one review so far, which is disheartening, although I did hear from someone who writes for the Toronto Star who says she will be reviewing the book.  I don't mean to indulge in self-pity, but how can I compete with the promotional machines of the big publishing houses like McClelland & Stewart or Random House?  

That's why I have to take positive signs where I can find them.  I happened to be looking at the web site for the Governor General's Awards for Literature to see when the submission deadline is (not that I don't trust my publisher to keep up on these things, but there is nothing wrong with a writer taking a healthy interest as well.).  After a little navigating I happened to find the list of books that have been submitted (just press the "GO"button)  and there was Fatted Calf Blues near the bottom of the Fiction Category (the list is in alphabetical order by publisher).

Well, didn't that give a jump start to this road-weary heart!  It's a long list and there are books from the big houses and small indies alike, first time authors like myself and veterans of the literary wars with a number of titles under their belts -- all of us on what seems to be an even playing field.  At least I can say to myself that I'm still in the game somewhere.  For the time being anyway.  Until the short list is announced in October.  But that's far off in the autumn and summer is just about to begin.