I have been so fortunate this week to meet and speak with two outstanding authors, both of whom were very inspirational to me when I was writing The Bridge Club. I have followed the careers of these two novelists with great interest.
Today I attended Podcamp at Ryerson University with my friend and fellow author Patricia Caviglia. Walking out of the building, we had the lovely surprise of meeting Canada Reads winner, Terry Fallis, on his way in. With absolutely no one else around we introduced ourselves, congratulated him, and chatted for ten minutes about the wonderful success of his novel, The Best Laid Plans, and the writing world in general. He is as charming and friendly in person as he appears in the media and it was a thrill to have that time with him.
Last Thursday I attended an author event at the Chapters/Indigo flagship store at Bay and Bloor. There I had an opportunity to speak with Lisa Genova who wrote the amazing Still Alice and has just published Left Neglected. Also speaking at the event were Jeannette Walls and Elena Gorokhova It was interesting to hear them compare their experiences and habits as writers and discuss their motivations for writing these best-selling novels. This event was presented by Chapters/Indigo and hosted by CEO Heather Reisman who has probably done more for encouraging reading over the past few years than any other Canadian with her “Heather’s Picks” and support of literacy programs in schools.
