Suzanne Sutherland

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday Party

2012-01-29T14:32:00.001-05:00

I'm enjoying a nice lazy day, filled to the brim with books. I've been reading Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, and am excited to dive into the haul I brought home from the River Trading Co. yesterday: Dora Borealis by Daccia Bloomfield, Three Fates of Henrik Normark by Christopher Meades and Ground Works: Avant-Garde for Thee edited by Christian Bök.

And don't forget about the triumphant return of the Brockton Writers Series, this Wednesday, February 1 at St. Anne's Church. I'm going to be reading from my novel, due out next year with Sumach Press (that's still so much fun to say!), alongside some terrifically talented other folks! Facebook event thinger is HERE.

Book! Book! Book!

2012-01-20T18:54:00.003-05:00

My best-ever-holy-cow news can now be made officially official on the Internet! Sumach Press, an imprint of the all-new, all-1978 by Daniel Jones-publishing Three O'Clock Press, is going to be publishing my first book, a young adult novel tentatively titled When We Were Good, in spring 2013!

The book is a coming of age story set in Toronto, and is a love letter in equal parts to CanLit, punk rock and the city itself.

I am far too stoked for my own good.

Also, don't forget to come party with the gang from Dragnet Magazine and me this Saturday at the Academy of the Impossible. It's going to be a real swell time. Facebooky details are here: https://www.facebook.com/events/171376899629900/

Reading the New Year

2012-01-07T23:58:00.002-05:00

I'm going to be reading at two fabulous events in the next couple of months!

The first is the launch party for Dragnet Magazine's fourth issue, in which I've got a little story called "Cat: A List" about cats and pizza pies. It looks to be a swell party--come hang out!

And then! Come ring in the shortest, slushiest month of the year with the return of the Brockton Writers Series, in fine company with Koom Kankesan, Maria Meindl and Jeffrey Round.

In other real big news, I'm leaving my post at Book City, where I've been working for the past three and a half years. I'm sorry to be leaving such a wonderful store, but I'll be taking on an editorial internship at Doubleday Canada, which I am very excited about.

And, in less real big news, I'm now on Twitter. Get at me here: http://twitter.com/sutherlandsuz

CanCon Can

2011-11-16T20:34:00.000-05:00

Reading Writing Gordon Lightfoot by Dave Bidini, and loving it, hard Canadian style.

Also, here's a re-post from the always fabulous Farzana Doctor, originally adapted from a post from Steve Pitt:

This Holiday Season, Give a Canadian Book

When you give a Canadian book as a holiday gift, you give a gift to all of Canada.

Have you noticed lately that most of the holiday gifts filling up Canadian store shelves these days are not made in Canada? Even gifts bearing the most recognizable Canadian symbols are rarely made in Canada any longer.

One exception is Canadian books. Canadian books are written by Canadians for Canadians. Behind every Canadian writer is a Made in Canada team of editors, graphic designers, lay-out artists, publicists, printers, warehouse staff, delivery drivers and book sellers. Every year the Canadian book industry pumps hundreds of millions of dollars into the Canadian economy which creates jobs and pays taxes.

Canadian books also offer unbelievable choice. From Romance to Home Renos, Humour to Who-dunnits, Canadian books are second to none anywhere in the world. No matter what the age, gender or personal interests are of all the people on your gift list, there is a perfect Canadian book for each of them.

Finally, Canadian books are about Canadians like you. They are written about places you know, people you have heard of and things that matter to you.

When you are shopping for holiday gifts this year please consider giving a gift that is unique and truly Canadian. It is a gift that creates and keeps jobs in Canada.

Give a Canadian book!

Achieving Achievements

2011-11-14T23:02:00.002-05:00

Today I signed up to run my first ever 5k race on December 3! I've been getting into running the last month or so, prompted in part by a piece that a friend of mine wrote for a zine called Get Fit for the Pit, about punks and their participation in sports. Fortunately I've been able to combine my love of 90s alt-rock and cheesy puns with this new fitness kick. Let's just say that I've got some Dirty Boots from running with My Friend Goo! Groan.

I'm also going to have a story published in issue 4 of Dragnet Magazine, coming out some time in the near(ish) Internet future. Sweet!

Woman!

2011-10-30T16:50:00.003-04:00

In better-late-than-never news, I had a reading list posted over on Canadian Bookshelf last month!

The list is called Woman of the Year, and highlights some exceptional Can Lit ladies for being tough and/or vulnerable as all get out. Being, you know, beautifully human. Woman! Of! The! Year!

Brockton November

2011-10-30T16:38:00.000-04:00

This Wednesday is the next Brockton Writers Series! Come on out to St. Anne's for some fine, fine readings by Jean Rae Baxter, Kristen den Hartog, Mariatu Kamara and Judy Fong Bates.

PWYC (suggested $3-$5). Readings, Q&A. Books available for sale. (I'll be the one selling them!) Everyone welcome!

Writers' networking session, 6:30-7:10pm. Open to all writers, emerging and established. Facilitated by May Lui.

The show starts at 7:10pm.

Thanks to the Jeremiah Community at St. Anne's for providing the space to us. We regret that the space is not wheelchair accessible (yet--stay tuned for more news on this).

Word on the Street

2011-09-25T19:25:00.003-04:00

Today was another fantastic edition of Word on the Street, which has to be one of my all-time favourite Toronto events. As always, the day was perfectly sunny and I picked up a sweet haul of readables.

My loot:

Love Block by Meghan Austin and Shannon Mullally, and Terroryaki by Jennifer K. Chung, both 3-Day Novel Contest winners
Roll With It by Heather J. Wood (Roller derby YA? Yes, please.)
An Adventure of Your Own Choosing #1: No Desire To Die by the fabulous folks at Wooden Rocket Press
We Could Be Like That Couple by Sarah Steinberg, a steal of a deal at the Insomniac Press table
The Armadillo, Descant's Now Hear This anthology numero one-o
And a back-issue of Prism International from 2008

All carried in style with a swanky Shameless tote bag.

Granted!

2011-09-23T19:38:00.003-04:00

I am so, so thankful and stoked to have received a Writers Level One grant from the Toronto Arts Council.

Dudes!

Poetry, sometimes

2011-09-13T23:20:00.003-04:00

I took Stuart Ross' 'Walking the Poem' workshop back in August and had a lot of fun working with a form I don't usually engage with. Namely, you know, poetry.

And it seems like I got some decent work out of it, because two of the poems I wrote in the workshop are going to be published in Burner Magazine Issue 05 at the end of the month. Neat!

In the meantime, back to drafting query letters and waiting anxiously for grant-related news in the mail.

Working on a new project that is also an old project

2011-09-10T13:03:00.002-04:00

So after the creative rush of the 3-DN, I'm finally energized to start properly editing the novel I started last year. After a bit of soul(and first draft)-searching, I think I figured out that it's actually a novel for young adults. Neat!

And, dudes, I have found the secret to editing a novel: you just take out the words that aren't any good.

Guys, where is my medal?

3-Day Novel Contest, Wrap-Up

2011-09-06T00:42:00.000-04:00

So 72 (and a bit) hours later I've got a pretty little 83 page novella I call Amateur Night. Not bad, 3-Day Novel Contest, not bad.

Sleep now.

3-Day Novel Contest, Day 3, Part 2

2011-09-05T12:16:00.001-04:00

12:17 pm -- Twelve, twelve, twelve, twelve hours to go - I want to be sedated.

3-Day Novel Contest, Day 3, Part 1

2011-09-05T00:57:00.001-04:00

12:57 am -- my first draft is done! Time to get a good night's sleep and wake up early for HEAVY EDITS.

3-Day Novel Contest, Day 2

2011-09-04T14:57:00.001-04:00

Hours into the contest: 39
Caffeine consumed since waking: 200 mg
Total pages typed: 49
Number of planes from the air show at the CNE which have threatened to spoil my concentration: 1
Favourite artists for the day: Neutral Milk Hotel, Nick Drake, Okkervil River

3-Day Novel Contest, Day 1

2011-09-03T15:31:00.000-04:00

Hours into the contest: 15
Caffeine consumed in the last 24 hours: 400 mg
Pages typed: 18
Foods ingested: carrots, crackers and candy

Some summer

2011-08-29T00:53:00.000-04:00

It's been a busy season, though admittedly not the most productive. It's time to get down to business (the business of getting down--any Ozma fans out there?).

I'm gearing up for the 3-Day Novel Contest which begins September 3rd and wraps up on the 5th. I've been working out some rudimentary plot details and character sketches so I've got some idea of where I'm headed.

Here's a hint: Empire Records meets The Big Chill.
Can I get a "Yeesh!"?

Pobby and Dingan

2011-07-08T16:12:00.000-04:00

Okay, okay. Read Pobby and Dingan by Ben Rice.

Canader Day reading, hard Canadian

2011-07-02T10:50:00.000-04:00

I spent part of yesterday afternoon reading Finding the Words in the park, which seemed appropriate enough for Canada Day.

I was touched by the short piece Gord Downie wrote about meeting (and playing, and interviewing) Gordon Lightfoot for a CBC broadcast. In addition to a turn where Downie reads an email from his brother describing his experience hearing "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" for the first time, he also talks about a friend apprising him of a new project, calling it "hard Canadian and dope." He says "the term 'hard Canadian' stuck with me."

And I have to say, it's sticking with me too.

Album of the moment: Gordon Lightfoot - Summertime Dream

Brockton Writers Series

2011-06-21T11:45:00.000-04:00

The Brockton Writers Series' next event is coming up July 6th, and I'm very excited to be a new volunteer. Come by and check out the readings and say hi to me at the books/donations table!

From the Facebook event page:

This month's talented writers are Antanas Sileika, Ian Malczewski and Diana Fitzgerald Bryden.

PWYC (suggested $3-$5). Readings, Q&A. Books available for sale. Refreshments! Everyone welcome!

Writers' networking session, 6:30-7:10pm. Open to all writers, emerging and established. Facilitated by May Lui. Antanas Sileika will be our guest and will discuss publishing and the Humber School for Writers.
...
No open mic tonight.

The show starts at 7:10pm.

Thanks to the Jeremiah Community at St. Anne's for providing the space to us.

We regret that the space is not wheelchair accessible (yet--stay tuned for more news on this).

BIOS:

Ian Malczewski is a Toronto-based writer, educator and urban planner whose work almost always revolves around the intersection of story and place. He contributes regularly to Spacing magazine on urban issues ranging from neighbourhood revitalization projects to social etiquette on public transit. His poetry was most recently published by Maple Tree Literary Supplement, and he has read at a number of festivals in Toronto, including Keep Toronto Reading and the inaugural LuminaTO festival.

Diana Fitzgerald Bryden was born in London, England and moved to Canada as a teenager. Her poems, essays and short fiction have been published in journals and anthologies in Canada and the U.S. She is the author of two books of poetry, Learning Russian (Mansfield Press), short-listed for the Pat Lowther Award, and Clinic Day (Brick Books). Her first novel, No Place Strange, published by Key Porter in 2009, was short-listed for the Amazon.ca First Novel Award and long-listed for the IMPAC/Dublin Award and the ReLit Award. She is currently working on her second novel, Tunapuna.

Antanas Sileika is the Director of the Humber School for writers and the author of four books, including three novels. He has won a national magazine award, and been nominated for Toronto and Leacock awards. His last novel, Woman in Bronze, was a Globe best book. His most recent novel, Underground, was released to excellent reviews this spring.

All punk fiction talk all the time

2011-06-20T18:09:00.000-04:00

I had a pretty slammin' weekend with the Small Press of Toronto Spring Book Fair, and a small storytelling event in conjunction with the launch of Static Zine. The Static party also featured the excellent Jessica Westhead, who read from her new book And Also Sharks. Plus there were cookie-in-a-cookies: double stuff Oreos baked into chocolate chip cookies. I know, right?

One of the highlights of SPoT fair was finally getting my paws on a copy of the newly re-printed seminal Toronto punk novel 1978 by Daniel Jones. It's gritty and good, y'know? Three O'Clock Press is responsible, and they deserve major kudos for bringing this book back into print.

I was also really excited to see a review of a new novel called Ten Thousand Saints on the front of the New York Times book review while cleaning up the weekend papers at work this morning. I found a copy on our shelves and can confirm that it's a terrific lookin' book. I'm adding this little number to the top of my to-read pile, and will hopefully be adding Eleanor Henderson to the list, next to Jennifer Egan and Joe Meno, of highish brow literarians who are making punk fiction a reputable genre.

And, and, and: the last part of my story, Blue Beach is up now over at Wooden Rocket Press. Checkit owwt.

Canadian Bookshelf

2011-06-16T17:42:00.000-04:00

CanadianBookshelf.com has a good thing going so far. The site is aimed at promoting CanLit, and has a pretty great interface that allows you to make lists of your favourite Canadian books and share them with the whole wide Internet. Neat!

I made a list which was apparently featured on the site's frontpage for a bit of books to help you find your way around a new city. It's right here.

Back to the Beach, Books

2011-06-12T21:52:00.000-04:00

Part three of Blue Beach is now up!

I'm reading Bob Mould's new autobiography right now, See a Little Light, which he wrote with Michael Azzerad (Our Band Could Be Your Life, Come As You Are). It's pretty good is what I'm saying. Even if you're not a huge Hüsker Dü fan, he's a pretty interesting fellah.

Rule of Last Clear Chance by Judith McCormack is the other book I'm picking my way through right now. Her stories are rich, I'm really enjoying them.

Beach Bald

2011-06-08T23:35:00.001-04:00

Part two of Blue Beach was posted over at Wooden Rocket on Sunday.

I also have a very small piece up on Wordbusker, a new lit-blog that asks readers to donate money (via Paypal) directly to writers whose work they publish. My story is called Cancer-Bald and you can read it by clicking on this here sentence.

Blue Beach Part One

2011-05-29T11:30:00.001-04:00

So I wrote a story about going on vacation with a bereaved boyfriend and Wooden Rocket Press has now posted the first part of it on their website right here.

You can read the rest of the story over the next three Sundays as part of their Sunday Papers series!

Bananas, Rockets and GRRR!

2011-05-01T13:33:00.000-04:00

I've got a story called "Rockin' the Suburbs" in the new issue of Steel Bananas. The issue, number 27, is free for the downloading right here: http://www.steelbananas.com/sb27/

I've also got a story coming up over at woodenrocketpress.com as of next weekend. They're doing a series called the Sunday Papers where they serialize a longer short story over four Sundays. Looking forward to having the story I wrote in Cuba, "Blue Beach," see the light of the Internet.

Tonight is also the first performance by the GRRR! Women's Poetry, Art & Performance Collective. It's happening at the Gild, a house on Dupont near Brunswick, and I'm going to be ready a story called "A Younger Artist" about going home and letting Franz Kafka out of the closet. There is some info about the event here: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=141162395952353

Descant Launch Tonight

2011-04-06T12:12:00.000-04:00

Tonight's the night! I'm stoked to be heading over to the launch party for Descant 152: Ghost and the Uncanny. My short story, "Why I'm Leaving" is featured in the issue--my first professionally published story to boot!--and the whole thing looks pretty excellent. You might enjoy reading my story if you used to be a punk, still are one, or occasionally run in to the ghosts of your old friends.

"Why I'm Leaving" is a part of my short story collection We're All Getting Better At Being Ourselves, which is as-yet unpublished.

Hey, you! You run a great small press? Wanna publish my stories? Let's talk.

Stealing Home

2011-03-30T22:39:00.000-04:00

I published one of my own stories over at GutLit.com called Stealing Home Go read it! You might like it if you enjoy dreamy Sunday bike rides that end in theft.

The story came out of a writers group I recently joined, and I'm very happy to have found a small group of like-minded folks to work this kind of stuff out with. Good old times.

Getting Better

2011-03-18T23:24:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I make music! I've been involved in an on-again-off-again band since last summer with a rotating cast of friends that was called Beatrice Sparks, and then Daycares, and now might be something else entirely.

You can hear a song I wrote called Getting Better here: http://communitynoise.bandcamp.com/
It was recorded in early September of last year by Chris Landry at the Rehearsal Factory on Richmond.

Gut!

2011-03-08T09:23:00.000-05:00

Hey, friends and good-looking strangers,

After very little deliberation (triggered largely by the Community Noise meeting I took part in on Sunday), I have launched a web-based (for now) literary project called Gut.

The call for submissions is now open, and will remain as such for ever and ever, or until the project dies a mysterious death (whichever comes first). Send Gut your finest short fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction!

Gut Gut Gut

Community Noise

2011-02-24T23:12:00.000-05:00

I'm very excited to be taking part in the first meeting of Community Noise, an artist/activist community endeavour spearheaded by my gentleman friend, Demian.

Community Noise seeks to bring together like-minded folks in Toronto, with the aim of fostering a communicative network of artists and individuals. The first meeting, for any and all interested parties, is happening at Demian's apartment next Sunday, March 6th, and I'm going to be giving a reading.

Details for the event can be found here. You can also join the CN Facebook page.

Stranger Than Fiction

2011-02-24T21:44:00.000-05:00

CBC posted a little story I wrote about a lame double-date I went on when I was fifteen.

http://www.cbc.ca/books/strangerthanfiction/yourstories/date/by-suzanne-sutherland-toronto-on.html

Words

2011-02-01T01:26:00.000-05:00

Words of encouragement for the person who makes me want to write poetry
even though I don't like poetry all that much

And I will wrap up every kind word I know—
though the letters form clumsy shapes
and it's difficult to get the wrapping paper
to form tidy corners around them—
and leave it on your doorstep
(the parcel is a bomb)

Cuba and Falling Down

2011-01-27T22:37:00.000-05:00

I just got back from spending a week in Varadero with two of my closest friends. Apart from a bit of thievery and some serious bug bites we had an amazing time.

While we were there I started working on a new story called Blue Beach.

The first line is:
Nate and I went to Cuba, to Varadero, three weeks after his mom died.

And the last line is:
I didn't make it into work today.

I'm excited to see how this one turns out, I've got a good feeling.

I've also started work on a flash fiction serial called Falling Down - based on the act of, you know, falling down - which will appear only on this here blog. It's nice to have something small but thematic to work on, and I hope you like it, whoever you are.

A love letter to punk fiction

2011-01-11T21:09:00.000-05:00

I'm in the middle of reading Love Minus Zero by Lori Hahnel (Oberon Press, 2008) right now, which is a fictionalized account of the punk scene in Calgary in the early 80s, written by a woman who lived it. Which is to say: this book is rad. It was an easy sell for me because I love punk fiction. Love. And for some reason it seems like few other people do.

I know that not everyone who listens to punk wants to read about it, fiction or otherwise. And I know that people without a vested interest in punk may feel out of the loop reading stories with a decidedly punk bent. But I love that despite the target audience being a minority of a minority, punk fiction is still written and published. And with that in mind, I give you, in no particular order, my top five favourite books of punk fiction.

#1: Tales of a Punk Rock Nothing by Abram Shalom Himelstein and Jamie Schweser (New Mouth from the Dirty South, 1998)
Don't let the dorky, Judy Blume-riffing title fool you, this book is so great. It's about the DC scene in the early 90s, and is told through journal entries, letters, and zine excerpts that provide a surprisingly genuine tone. Look out for a fictionalized Fugazi (a band called Markou), and riot grrrl politics. The perfect fictional company to Dance of Days by Mark Andersen and Mark Jenkins (Akashic Books, 2003).

#2: Hairstyles of the Damned by Joe Meno (Punk Planet Books, 2004)
Joe Meno is the best, okay? This is a coming-of-age book that eschews traditional plot structure and makes you want to shout I ain't no goddamn son of a bitch! It's messy, it's smart, and it makes you want to love the Misfits.

#3: Grrrl by Jennifer Whiteford (Gorsky Press, 2006)
I rescued a copy of this book from the bargain bin of the bookstore where I work. Despite being bummed out that a book this cool made it into the bin in the first place, I couldn't have been more excited for it: a first-person diary style story of punk and riot grrrl in the early 90s. Our main girl Marlie thrifts, starts a band, goes to Seattle, kisses a girl, dates an older guy, and finds a nice little nook in my heart.

#4: Beige by Cecil Castellucci (Candlewick Press, 2007)
I met Cecil at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival this past May, and told her how much I loved the comics she'd done as part of DC's Minx series, targeted at teen girls (The P.L.A.I.N. Janes, and Janes in Love). She was super sweet, and sold me another book she'd written more recently for the YA market, Beige. Beige is snappy and wise little story that follows non-punk Katy as she reunites with dad, a punk lifer in LA. The more she resists his guitar-wielding charms, the sweeter you know the ending is going to be. Plus each chapter is named after a classic punk tune from the likes of X-Ray Spex, the Minutemen, and Scream among others. All tweens oughta be exposed this stuff.

#5: Punker Than You by Dave McIntyre (self-published, 2009)
When this book showed up on consignment at my store, I flipped. It follows one Paul Cartwright through the fictional Morganfield (located somewhere near Scarborough, ON) hardcore scene, and examines how a punk grows up. I tried to give this book to my young cousin for Christmas last year, but it never quite made it into his hands on account of the book's salty language. Be that as it may: it's one worth hunting down.

Tranzac Benefit Reading

2011-01-09T20:51:00.000-05:00

I had a tonne of fun at the Toronto Zine Library-hosted Tranzac fundraiser yesterday. I read a story called Why I'm Leaving which is going to be published in the spring issue of Descant.

I took this picture of some of the friendly faces at the event before I started reading (with a cough drop in my mouth to stay the nasty cold I've been fighting all week):

New year, new desk

2011-01-04T00:08:00.000-05:00

I am not a desk person. I haven't used a desk on a regular basis since middle school, preferring to do my homework, and now my writing, sitting on my bed. I am not a desk person, or I wasn't until yesterday.

The guy in my life, Demian, gave me a desk for Christmas after watching me toil away like an idiot: straining my wrist by insisting on writing the first draft of a novel over the course of three weeks, sitting on my futon with my computer in my lap.

I've been rearranging my bedroom in order to make space for this new beauty, and in tidying things up and putting them in suitable places I've found a bunch of old notebooks and scraps of paper with ideas, fragments and reflections. And so, some false starts:

Untitled from the tiny red speckled notebook that says Vulgaris on the front (which was going to be the name of a coming of age story about brutal acne, which seemed like a great idea at the time) - late 2009

He crossed his ts so close to the top. Sometimes wholly disembodied from the base below. These ts looked capable and unafraid, wise and untethered. She knew from his ts that she was in love.

His handwriting had begun arriving in her mailbox on a semi-regular basis three months before. It had taken only nine days from its first arrival that Love had made itself apparent.

She was not a person for whom Love happened easily. Judgmental by nature and uncomfortable in most social situations, she had few friends and even fewer lovers. She ordered groceries online and ordered books over the phone.

* * *

Untitled from a notebook made from an old copy of Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit - November 2007

One day I will write a novel about the things I've learned from people, and what I believe in. It will take a year or years. The end will suggest the kind of vision I have for the world: hopeful but incomplete, inconclusive. Not quite closure. While writing I will recollect fondly the advice that has been thrown my way, and pause to consider whether this will all end in embarrassment. I will scribble and scrunch. Inject pop culture references and scrutinize whether my narrator is me or whether I am my narrator.

It will never be published.

* * *

The state of things, nowish - May 2010

Outright:
I am five months or so into a short fiction collection to be finished for September 30,2010.
I am, for the most part, on track.
I ate like a whole pesto, olive, mushroom and artichoke pizza I (mostly) made for dinner and lordy do I feel full.
Loveless, but not unlovable. I like my last line of the last story I wrote in my green notebook:
"And I walk home, thinking maybe all good people will find love."
Might believe it, still haven't decided.
Okay, okay, alright.
Okay.
Fine.
Alright, alright.
Okay.
Fine.
Okay.
Okay.
Fine.

O L D Issue 2 is ready to roll

2010-12-25T22:26:00.000-05:00

The multi-talented Brooke Manning has just finished putting together the second issue of her micro-pressed magazine O L D Q U A R T E R L Y. The theme of the issue is vision, and I have a story in it called Old No Face.

Please check out this pretty little mag and support the fine work that Brooke is doing.

Tranzac fundraiser + reading in January

2010-12-22T22:21:00.001-05:00

I'll be taking part in a Toronto Zine Library fundraiser for the Tranzac on Saturday, January 8th.

This event is going to be close to my heart: in 2005 I co-founded the library, and in early 2006 the Tranzac offered us free space for the collection. Since then, we, the members of the TZL collective, have worked our tails off to make the collection one of the best in Canada. I left the group at the beginning of 2010, but the library has continued to thrive. The Tranzac, it's sweet home, however is in some trouble and in need of cash money.

So! Come out to Caffiends, 91 Charles St W, room 111 in Old Vic at Victoria College (U of T). I'll be reading at 1, which will be followed by a screening at 2 of Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo. The event is $5, or pay what you can.

Go forth and get stoked.

Plus, you know, happy holidays and all that. Assuming you are into holidays and all that.

Good news and lots of work

2010-10-19T19:33:00.000-04:00

One of the stories from my new collection is going to be published in Descant's spring 2011 issue on ghosts and the uncanny. It's about what would happen if your best friend died when you were in high school, then came back to haunt you when you had finished university and didn't know what to do with your life. It's called Why I'm Leaving.

Also, I'm in the midst of a first draft for what may well turn out to be my first novel. The working title is: The Boat Dreams from the Hill.

Funtober

2010-10-05T16:58:00.000-04:00

I finished up work on my short story collection, We're All Getting Better At Being Ourselves at the end of September, and am feeling good about new projects to come. Also, about having a social life again. Remember fun? Let's have some.

Also, some pretty cool CanLit news today: the shortlist for the Giller prize this year is dominated by indie publishers. Plus two of the five contenders are short story collections.

Caaan you dig it?

Busy day!

2010-09-17T20:18:00.000-04:00

I also had a story published in Left Hand Waving today.

This one is true. It's about fire alarms, French toast, and Gordon Lightfoot.

Handmade Skin

2010-09-17T10:35:00.000-04:00

It's Fiction Friday over at Black Heart Magazine, and they've published one of my stories, Handmade Skin.

Handmade Skin is part of my new collection, and it's about getting your heart stomped on, freaking on, and then stick-and-poke tattooing your entire body.

Reading!

2010-09-16T09:16:00.000-04:00

I'm going to be taking part in the second Technicolour reading and music series next Tuesday, September 21st at the Naco Gallery, on Dundas St W (west of Dufferin) in Toronto.

The Facebook event listing is here.

It's going to be a great night, and I'll be reading a story from my new collection - which is almost, almost finished! - We're All Getting Better At Being Ourselves.

My Bad

2010-08-22T18:46:00.000-04:00

This story was originally supposed to be part of a collection of fictional apologies--turns out that the concept wasn't as strong as I thought. I wound up including it in a zine of short stories I put out last summer called My Bad.

Yes I Put Your Purple Belt In The Laundry With Your Karate Uniform But It Doesn’t Look That Bad

I’m sure no one’s going to notice. Okay so maybe you’re a little purple but it’s a kind of like a lavender, it’s nice. I bet the girls in your class are really going to like it. We don’t have enough money right now to buy you a new uniform. You’re going to have to find a way to make it work. Maybe in six months we can talk about getting you a new one. Money’s a little tight right now since I got laid off. The upside is that I’ve been able to take care of things around the house. Like laundry.

Maybe you should be doing your own laundry. You don’t want to be one of those guys who are thirty-five and still bringing their laundry home. In fact I think we need to be seeing this whole incident as an opportunity. Do you want to learn how to sew on a button too? I know you think that all girls want in a guy is money and a cool car but I think you might be surprised. If you go on a first date and tell the girl that not only do you do your own laundry but that you can sew a button back on too you’re pretty much guaranteed a second date. And if you can cook something then forget about it, you’re totally in.

Did I ever tell you about how I wooed your mother? Spaghetti sauce, I kid you not. I know I’m not much of a cook now but in university I ate a lot of spaghetti. I got pretty good at throw together some tasty noodles. You know what my secret ingredient was? Cinnamon: just a pinch. That’s something I gotta show you. I haven’t made that sauce since your mom left actually but I think it’s time I bring it out of retirement.

You’re tough enough to handle this.

My bad,
Dad

Totally Romantic

2010-08-20T13:58:00.000-04:00

The only time I let him touch my boob—just the right one, under the shirt, over the bra—was when we watched The Princess Bride at my mom's house. He'd never seen the movie before and I bet him two dollars he'd think it was totally romantic. I walked him to the bus stop afterwards. He kissed me and gave me the money. At school the next day I told Janna.

Doesn't that make you, like, a hooker? she said.

No, I said, fuck off.

That afternoon I dumped him and two other guys tried to ask me out. I wished I'd listened when Janna said you should always buy waterproof mascara.

OK, OK

2010-08-19T15:22:00.000-04:00

So I may not excel on blog content follow-through, but it isn't for lack of productivity. I'm currently at the beginning-of-the-final-stages phase (ish) of completing a short fiction manuscript. It'll be thirteen stories in all and is tentatively called We're All Getting Better At Being Ourselves.

This story isn't from the collection. I read it at Hallow-zine, a Halloween-themed reading held at the Toronto Zine Library last October (I was wearing a fake beard at the time, you shoulda been there), but it has yet to find a more substantial home.

An Open Letter to the Person Who Puked at Kipling Station Near the 49 Bus Stop on Wednesday October 28, 2009 at Approximately 11:30 pm

What the hell happened here, babe? There's no way you were having that much fun on a school night in Etobicoke. Was it cocktails with the girls and America's Next Top Model? It's cool, I get it, I'm rooting for that freaky redhead. But I can't believe your friend's mom didn't clue in that you guys were drinking. Wasn't she a bit surprised at how much Crystal Light you were going through? Couldn't she smell it on your breath when she gave you a lift to the station? Or maybe her mom wasn't home. Or maybe she's the one that mixed the drinks.

OK, but come on! You were so close to the bathroom! I know it smells like rancid milk in there – not really, it's impossible to name that precise Kipling stench – but didn't your friends help you make the dash? Maybe they just laughed at you.

I hope it wasn't like that night I was biking home up Spadina and saw a guy with his cell phone out taking a video of a girl puking in the street. I yelled, “Come on, be nice!” as I passed, but they looked pretty frosh fresh and I doubt my protest registered.

My point in all of this is that I hope you're safe. That next time your friends will baby you without being condescending. That they'll give you water, rub your back, and make you swear you won't mix beer and vodka again. I hope you're not sick with swine flu or something, and I hope that whatever you had for dinner tasted delicious on the way down. Don't let the suburbs swallow you up, alright? Feel better.

Rejected

2010-02-22T20:12:00.000-05:00

There's this frivolous little part of me that would really like to get something published on McSweeney's website. These are the last two things of mine that they turned down:

Bucket List

of water
of chicken
of sand
of beer
of blood
of golf balls

Dinner and a Movie

The Bicycle Quiche
Kebabs in Toyland
Schindler's Blintz
Some Like it Hot Wings
Lean Cuisine on Me
Reservoir Chili Dogs
When Harry Met Salad
Fondue the Right Thing

Sorry, J.D.

2010-01-29T11:51:00.000-05:00

This is a story I wrote about a year ago which has been rejected once or twice by lit journals. It was also in a zine I put out during the summer called My Bad.

I realize that Salinger would have thought I was a phony for ripping off his work, but I've always loved the Glass Family stories so I did it anyway. Hey, at least I didn't pull a John David California.
RIP, you lovely, crazy man.

For Franny with Love and Squalor

She fell onto the subway tracks. The tracks at St. George station, the southbound platform. She fell, almost fluttering, and no one said anything. No one called for emergency assistance and no one stopped the train. There was no delay and no one riding the train was inconvenienced. It seemed that no one had taken any notice. But one man did – the one who let her fall. He had tried to cry out but could find no voice. He had tried to jump down and save her but could not feel his legs beneath him. And the train rolled on.

The man made no attempt to shade his face as tears formed and spilled down his cheeks. He was ruined, with no dignity left to spare. And since there is nothing more uncomfortable than seeing a grown man cry in public no one took any notice of him either.

He hadn’t loved her right from the beginning. It could have been because he felt that he knew too much about her family. He knew for example that her eldest brother Seymour had killed himself while on a second honeymoon with his wife. And that her next eldest brother, Buddy, had served in the army but had taken leave to attend his older brother’s wedding. A wedding to which Seymour never showed up. Of course Seymour did eventually get married. And the no-show wedding had been prior to the incident on the second honeymoon: Seymour with the 7.65 automatic in room 507. It was all too much to know about a person without knowing that person themselves. How could he look her in the eyes without envisioning all of that unhappiness? Without seeing her older brothers and her family’s reputation looking back? No he hadn’t loved her right from the beginning.

He met her on a brilliantly sunny Saturday morning, though it was overcoat weather. She had seemed flighty and somewhat contrary, but then wasn’t that the way with all women? She had a boyfriend then but didn’t seem to care much for Lane who appeared to be so pretentious and uncaring. She was fed up with academia and was searching for something more meaningful. And it was with this revelation that the man had become smitten. He too had been frustrated. He had given up on his schooling several years before after having had a breakdown during his third year of university. The experience of the breakdown was something he had in common with his Franny. He found her preoccupation with prayer and desire to pray without ceasing somewhat disconcerting, but had observed that many happy couples held differing religious views. It was not long before she was never out of his sight.

Their relationship was something he had great difficulty putting into words for his friends and family but was never something which he himself doubted. There was however the matter of her attachment to her brother Zooey. The man had not taken the time to get to know Zooey but felt an immediate aversion to him given his close proximity to Franny. Fortunately a solution was soon reached. A pair of scissors was all that was needed to complete the operation and soon the two were detached. The man had wondered whether this imposition on his part might hinder his relationship with Franny, but it allowed them intimacy and she never uttered a complaint. She had gained independence and though it left her very thin the man had never seen her look more beautiful. He proposed that they be married and Franny did not say no.

The man made an appointment at City Hall, filled out an application for a marriage license and paid the $91.35 deposit fee. Two weeks later, a Wednesday, the man and Franny boarded a subway train headed east. He held her and told her she would never be alone again.

Pilot Short Story Contest

2010-01-27T00:07:00.000-05:00

Pilot, an illustrated literary magazine out of Toronto, is running a short story contest right now. They've gotten a handful of artists to contribute images and are asking for stories of 250 words or less that tie into any one of the illustrations.

I've given it my best shot and am curious to see how it'll all play out.

A story published and some dithering

2010-01-26T07:03:00.000-05:00

The Varsity ran a short story of mine in their Arts Issue. You can read it here.

They also invited me to a launch party for the issue and while getting ready to go, and dithering about whether or not I should change my shirt (I didn't even make it to the party, I got the address wrong), I wrote this thing below. Not all of it is true though, okay? - they did say I could bring a guest.

They Won't All Say They Love Your Work

You go to the bathroom again. You go to the kitchen and take an apple from the fridge, the last of the bag and the only Ontario fruit still available in supermarkets in January, and take a bite. It's too cold and hurts your teeth. You go back to your bedroom and re-read the fiction selections of the magazine you've just been published in. Your piece is not the most prominent but it occupies a stable place in the bottom left corner, a likely place for eyes to wander. You have made a promise to yourself never to re-read your work once it has been published but you break it. This is good, you think to yourself, this was chosen for a reason. I am a good writer.

You are trying to decide when to leave for the launch party of the magazine. As a contributor you received an invitation however as it is being held at a small art gallery you were advised not to bring a guest. This seems like a slight to you. Shouldn't they understand that as a writer you are sensitive and can be made to feel awkward at large social gatherings? You have the appearances of an extrovert but the trappings of an introvert. You check the guest list again on the Facebook event invitation. Two acquaintances are confirmed attendants.

You have only recently made the decision to be a writer. Never mind that you've only had three stories published, two of which you've never seen a physical copy of (the magazine is published in Montreal and the editor keeps insisting that he sent your contributor copies last week). This writer thing, you aren't certain of what it entails but it at least seems more noble than grad school. No, noble is the wrong word, romantic might be closer to what you mean. Besides you've never been very good at academic writing, though you've also never been very good at romance.

So, you are a writer. And you are a writer about to go to a party with many other writers. These writers have had more stories published in more distinguished places than you have. They also dress better and don't call their mothers twice a week. Their mothers wish they would call but they are much too busy being smart and funny and cool and writers to make check-in phone calls about trivial things. They do make mother phone calls but only when something important has happened. That's one difference between you and the writers, they know when something is important.