Ruth Walker Author Meeting

I'm pleased to report that the Ruth Walker Author Meeting this past week was a huge success. Ruth was engaging, witty, and pleased to address all questions related to her book, Living Underground.
Personally, as a wannabe/undeveloped/amateur author, I like to hear the behind the scenes stories about how the story came to paper. How long it sat in a drawer, or how many times it was re-written, or shopped around to publishers etc. It makes it feel like writing is something I could do if I could actually get around to putting some ideas to paper and taking the time to write. I have this image in my mind of the Ruth Walkers of the world (and the Stephen Kings, and the Margaret Atwoods) that they get an idea today, and by the end of the month they have a finished pile of manuscript pages that they send off to other people to correct or edit and then they are done. Their final published book is so wonderful that they make it seem so easy. I like to hear that they struggled with a character, or with a plot twist, or with making the transition between one scene and another. It makes it all seem so achievable from my point of view.
I had the same feeling when I read King's "On Writing". How many re-writes some stories go through. Or how many stories never see the light of day because he feels they are  just not good enough.

 

Again I'm super-pleased to report that the Ottawa Book Club has our first "Sponsor/Perk". Jon Phillips is the editor and publisher of Bookmarks magazine. A book-geek review magazine that I have been reading since their first issue several years back. They do book reviews, author interviews and profile different authors of various genres every 2 months (six issues per year). It is the magazine I use to help me decide what to read next.

The magazine website is here www.bookmarksmagazine.com­ maybe a great idea for a Christmas present for someone who loves books!

Jon has been generous to offer members of the Ottawa Book Club a discounted rate on a subscription to their magazine! But first, I need to know how many would be interested as the discount increases with more members using the perk. The “normal” Canadian subscriptions rate is $37.95 for 1 year. If we get 10 subscriptions together the cost would be $34.95. More than 20 would be $31.95 and over 30 would be $29.95 per year.

Please check out the Bookmarks website for more info on their mission. Or if you are interested in a subscription please do NOT apply online on their website yet or you will pay full price. Just send me a note at letobook@yahoo.com so I know what subscription rate we can qualify for. Then, when we know the discount, I will send interested people a promo code they can plug into the website when they register.

Please help your fellow book-lovers get this discounted rate and pass along this message to anyone (friends, family, coworkers) you think may be interested in a subscription. Just e-mail me back with your name and the number of subscriptions wanted.

Chris

Feeling a little awestruck, as I also received confirmation recently that Ruth Walker is going to come and speak to the Ottawa Book Club next month about her latest book: "Living Underground" on Monday October 21st, 2013.

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Format: Trade Paperback
Dimensions: 288 Pages, 5.91 × 8.66 × 0.39 in
Published: August 15, 2012
Publisher: Seraphim Editions
Language: English

The following ISBNs are associated with this title:

ISBN - 10: 192707908X
ISBN - 13: 9781927079089

A woman's lover from her youth resurfaces in her adult life, and she is drawn into the turmoil surrounding disturbing accusations about his Nazi past. From pre WWI Dresden, Germany to contemporary urban Toronto, the dual point of view narrative crosses continents and moves through time as it explores the ambiguity of human emotion, how our natures can embody both the ideals and delights of love alongside the most base and dispassionate sensibilities.
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Yesterday we confirmed Nancy Richler for Feb 3 of next year, and this morning we confirmed Denise Chong for Tuesday Nov 12th to come and discuss her new book "The Lives of the Family" (Available Oct 8, 2013) .

For details, please check out www.OttawaBookClub.com.

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International bestselling author of The Concubine''s Children, Denise Chong returns to the subject of her most beloved book, the lives and times of Canada''s early Chinese families.

In 2011, Denise Chong set out to collect the history of the earliest Chinese settlers in and around Ottawa, who made their homes far from any major Chinatown. Many would open cafes, establishments that once dotted the landscape across the country and were a monument to small-town Canada. This generation of Chinese immigrants lived at the intersection of the Exclusion Act in Canada, which divided families between here and China, and 2 momentous upheavals in China: the Japanese invasion and war-time occupation; and the victory of the Communists, which ultimately led these settlers to sever ties with China. This book of overlapping stories explores the trajectory of a universal immigrant experience, one of looking in the rear view mirror while at the same time, travelling toward an uncertain future. Intimate, haunting and powerful, Lives of the Family reveals the immigrant''s tenacity in adapting to a new world.
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It's starting to feel like a real "thing" now. I was just able to tweet our first official guest speaker! A lady in our book club (Thanks Laura) was able to secure author Nancy Richler for our meeting on Monday Feb 3rd of 2014. Location still to come, but it felt great to "tweet" a real announcement!

Ms. Richler is the author of 3 books:
Throwaway Angels (1996)
Your Mouth Is Lovely (2003)
The Impostor Bride (2012)

But on feb 3rd we will be reading/discussing The Imposter Bride.

It's been a great first full week of the completed online social network empire that is www.SmelltheBook.com and www.OttawaBookClub.com. I have been impressed and surprised by the level of help that fellow book-geeks and authors are willing to offer. I've never had followers on Twitter before, now I have 34 people hanging on my every word. I've made contacts and expanded my network to now include some published authors and some literary agents as well as some other book-bloggers. I've even made contact with a nice lady who runs the local Ottawa Writers Festival. I've got some interviews "in the can" and more accepted from authors who can complete the interview once I've finished their books (I like at least to have some of the interview questions to be customized and specific to their work). Who knew authors would be so agreeable to being interviewed by some small-time schmuck who loves books! It's been a great experience and it's still very early in the process. I've even got my first author interested in sending me their book for review!! I won't say who until it's confirmed, but it feels really good to see things moving forward.

I reserved the domain name www.OttawaBookClub.com this week and have it pointing directly to the Meetup site. Seems more professional for promoting than the long meetup URL. I've always felt the simple URL's were easier to remember, promote, and were more pleasing to the eye. The club is still near and dear to my heart but I actually had to miss my first ever monthly meeting due to a family dental emergency! Thanks to my unofficial second-in-command Caroline who took the reins and helped to keep the meeting going.

And now for the reading!! At the moment I'm still reading The Old Curiosity Shop by Dickens. And in the reading hopper I've got "Living Underground" by Ruth Walker so I can present her with the Interview. And the Book Club choice for next month is "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen but I've got a bit of time before then.

Setup of the site is almost complete. I'll let my wife have the final say on colors and layout as that is not my particular forte, but the domain name is secure, I have the same name for my Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads etc. so any reviews should be geared for maximum exposure and feedback. Nerys Parry has agreed to be the first official author interview so that is exciting! I will also likely ask Denise Chong and Ruth Walker as they have some exposure to the group through the Ottawa Book Club.