My Quill and Quire review of All That is Solid Melts into Air, by Carole Giangrande ...

... is now online at the Q&Q website. This book takes on the formidable task of recreating the events of 9/11 in fiction, and as I say in the review, Giangrande does a splendid job. As I also point out, you may require an oversized crane to suspend your disbelief that so many of protagonist Valerie's loved ones could be tangled up in the events of that tragic, historic day, but if you can look past such an acute implausibility, you're in for a sharp and well-written read.

Out and about with The Slip and So Much Love

So RR and I are on the road here in the Maritimes doing a combination book tour/vacation, and it's been an interesting few days to say the least. On Monday of last week, we read before a small but mighty crowd at Tidewater Books in Sackville, NB, and then made our way to PEI for an event at Charlottetown's Confederation Library last Thursday. The day before that event, we got to do a wonderful interview with CBC Charlottetown's Angela Walker for her show Mainstreet, which you can listen to here.  

And speaking of radio interviews, I was also pleased to see this interview I did with the super-talented Jamie Tennant for McMaster's 93.3 FM CFMU campus radio in Hamilton about a month ago was posted while we were here. Tennant is an accomplished novelist in his own right, and his show, GET LIT, is a perfect platform for his serious interviewing chops.

Finally, there was also this lovely review of The Slip posted the other day on Brenton Dickieson's blog, A Pilgrim in Narnia. Some of you may recall that Brenton, who lives here on PEI and with whom I went to high school, wrote a very generous review of my previous novel, Sad Peninsula, for his blog earlier this year. I am, as always, eternally grateful for the care and insights he has shown in his attention to my work.

Despite all this business, RR and I have managed to get some relaxation/family time in as well. The photo above shows us at Rustico Beach with my parents shortly after we arrived on PEI, and we've had some spectacular meals, lazy strolls, family-filled visits, mornings of sleeping in, a Scrabble game or two, and various other rejuvenating activities we don't get to partake in very much in our busy lives back in Toronto. It's nice to get a break.

M.

New poems in Numero Cinq

So I woke up to news this morning that the online literary journal Numero Cinq has published four poems in its new issue, which I'm very excited about. If you follow my blog you know I contribute regular reviews to this magazine, but this is the first time I've published more creative work in its pages. These pieces come from a new poetry manuscript I've been working on for about a year or so now, and I'm glad to see them out in the world. Check them out.