Archive for July, 2008

This just in…

Thursday, July 17th, 2008

Mark your calendars, Vancouver folks — I'll be doing a reading in mid-September at UBC downtown.  I can't say for sure, but I suspect the event might mark the public debut of part of the next book.  Or a new short story.  Hmm… so many possibilities…

Press release from UBC Robson Square with all the details:

 

The Robson Reading Series presentsJacqueline Turner & Robert Wiersema

Thursday, September 18, 7 pm

UBC Robson Square Bookstore/Library, 800 Robson Street

Free admission

Jacqueline Turner has published three books of poetry with ECW Press: Into the Fold (2000), Careful (2003), and Seven into Even (2006). She co-edits a literary webzine called The News, writes poetry reviews for The Georgia Straight, and is on the board of directors of Artspeak. She recently edited a section of Vancouver writing in the Seattle literary journal Golden Handcuffs Review. She teaches at SFU and Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design. In 2005, she was Queensland's inaugural poet-in-residence, based at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts in Brisbane, Australia and in 2006 she was a resident poet in Tasmania.

Robert J. Wiersema is a writer and journalist who contributes regularly to the Vancouver Sun, the Globe and Mail, the Ottawa Citizen and numerous other publications. He has been a bookseller for almost twenty years, for the last ten at Bolen Books in Victoria, where he is charged with organizing one of the most highly regarded author event series in the country. His debut novel Before I Wake (Random House) was a national bestseller, and has been published in the US, UK, Australia, Germany, Greece and numerous other countries. He is currently working on a new novel and a collection of short fiction.

The Robson Reading Series is an ongoing multi-genre series that features some of the finest writers from Canada and abroad. Events are organized in collaboration between the UBC Library and the UBC Bookstore at Robson Square. For a complete list of upcoming events, please visit our website at http://www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca/

The Robson Reading Series acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the UBC Bookstore at Robson Square, and the UBC Library at Robson Square.

Posted in Before I Wake, Book tour, The new novel, Uncategorized, Writing | No Comments »

And most wickedly I did as I sailed…

Wednesday, July 9th, 2008

Which, as far as titles stolen from the song currently playing (Captain Kidd, for the record) go is probably a little misleading, perhaps whetting ones appetite for debauchery and, well, wickedness.

Sorry to disappoint.

Instead, I want to talk about an early influence on my life as a writer.  A work that shaped my perspective on what it might mean to be a writer.  No, not Garp.  Not this time (run a search if you haven't been regaled with my Garp-as-key-to-the-meaning-of-life story).  No, this time I'm referring to that seminal work of cinema arts, Back to the Future.

Yes, that Back to the Future.  Michael J. Fox.  The Delorean.  The uncomfortable Oedipal moments.  The creation of rock and roll…

So what does that have to do with me, you might be asking yourself.

There's a moment, near the end of the movie (and if any of this is spoilers for you, I'm sorry, but, dude, seriously?), when Marty McFly has righted the future and brought things into balance.  There's a box on the counter, and his father opens it, revealing a stack of glossy author copies of his new book.  Yes, the hopeless high school geek has become a novelist, and all it took was… well, time travel.

I remember watching that scene in the movie theatre in the summer of 1985 and, I'm sure, gasping out loud.  Marty could keep his hot girlfriend and his new truck and his brother not serving time — that, right there, that box of author copies?  That was what I wanted.  That was MY future.  It was just a matter of getting there.

Funny the things you remember, the things that influenced you.  And what had me thinking of this as I rode the bus to work with the boy this morning?

Two things.

First, I'm expecting some packages in the mail in the next few weeks.  Apparently the German edition of Before I Wake has just been published (according to a lovely email from a German librarian).  And the Greek edition is due out this month.  And the American paperback comes out in less than two weeks (July 22, to be exact).  So I've got the thrill of opening those packages of author copies to look forward to (and to take the edge off the relentless work on the new book).  I'm not even going to try to deny it — it really is one of the most thrilling things you can imagine, seeing your words in print.  Seeing a stack of books with your name on them all.  And seeing your words in different languages.  And with different titles (the German title, Das Engelsmädchen, apparently translates as The Angel Girl).  So far, it's a thrill that hasn't diminished one bit, and continues to exceed even my Back to the Future inspired fantasies.

The second reason this comes to mind, though, is perhaps the more significant.  Two days ago, my friend Elizabeth Genco tore open HER package, her comp copies of her first graphic novel Blue, which is on sale this month.  I couldn't be more thrilled for her — she's been a good friend and a strong supporter ever since our very strange meeting in Atlanta in 2004, but more than that, she's a fearsome mind, a tireless creator, and a genuine old soul.  Her website describes her as "writer/taroist/fiddle player and busker", but that's really just the tip of the iceberg.  My copy of Blue is on order — yours should be.

Congrats, E – you deserve it.

Posted in Before I Wake, Life, New York City, Uncategorized, Writing | 1 Comment »

Blogging means never having to say you're sorry

Tuesday, July 8th, 2008

So I'm not going to.
I mean, I'll fully cop to being neglectful of this little corner of the internets. Almost three months between posts? Awful. Unforgivable, really. I wouldn't be surprised if both of you, faithful readers, have moved on to greener pastures.

Assuming you haven't, however, there is an explanation for my lengthy absence. A couple of explanations, actually. Not excuses — genuine explanations.

So let's see, what have I done since last I posted? Hmm… I've gone to Miami, the Canary Islands, Morocco, Valencia, Barcelona, Cannes and Florence. I've spent a week in Rome. I've spent ten days in Toronto. There have been meetings with editors, publicists, fellow writers and CanLit stalkers. There have been interviews and radio shows and photo sessions, and more to come. There has been prize-jurying and gala-going. There have been family reunions and lonely weekends. There have been Atlantic crossings and staggers across the Strait.

Oh, and the book is done.

That's actually the main reason for my lack of blogging (and it's certainly formed a sub-text… counter-point?… one of those things… to all of the above activities) — the book is done.

Well, done-ish.

If you've been reading this site with any regularity (yes, you two), you'll have a sense of how I write: fountain pens. Notebooks. Almost illegible scrawl. Which is a perfect system for me, even putting aside its charming old-fashionedness, simply because it works.

Except… I've now, with two books in a row (three if you count the short stories) made the SAME mistake. That is, not typing as I go.

Which means I have a done book, a couple of looming deadlines, and 1400 pages of manuscript to type. 1400 pages of my scrawl to transcribe. I'd hire it out to someone, but I can barely read it myself (resulting in my ending up making stuff up to fit the context as I go, usually), so it really all falls to me.

You would think, after the first time this happened (with Before I Wake) I would have learned my lesson. Think again. And let me tell you, 1400 illegible pages takes one hell of a long time to type. Just how long? I'll let you know when I'm done.

So that, in a nutshell, is my explanation for not being around these parts (and I see there's a little house-work to be done, site-wise, when I've got a free moment, as well). The writing took over my life in a significant way, leaving me little in the way of energy or intelligence for these sorts of posts (all appearances to the contrary, they do require at least a modicum of both), and the typing is taking up — almost literally — all of my time.

So, no apologies, just explanations. And my word that I'll be back when all of this gets tucked away. I know, I know, you can hardly wait. Thanks for sticking it out.

Posted in Before I Wake, Life, Site, The new novel, Writing | No Comments »