Fictitious tonight, plus a busy agenda

Looking forward to tonight's Fictitious Reading. Though a little anxious about conducting the onstage chat. Eeks.

I met Vancouver writer George K. Ilsley briefly on Friday when I delivered some books to where he was staying in Parkdale. Seems like a really nice guy. His novel ManBug is great and thoughtful: the oddly told love story of Sebastian, a gay entomologist with Asperger's, and Tom, a charismatic dyslexic bisexual. Plus there's lots of bugs in it.

Also reading is Susan Kernohan, who is a Toronto writer and teen librarian who I published in a recent issue of This Magazine>. She's a really smart writer, very funny and natural, and her stories feature some great characters.

The reading takes place at 7:30 tonight (have you turned your clocks back?) at This Ain't the Rosedale Library (483 Church Street). PWYC. BYOB. Win door prizes. Details right over here.

IN OTHER NOOSE

Heaps of stuff coming up in the next month or so: four school readings and workshops, a reading for teens at Parliament Street Library on Thursday, a panel and reading at next weekend's Bookfest Windsor, a workshop on at This Ain't on November 11 called "There's More to Memoir than Fiction" (register now! 416-929-9912), a panel at the launch for the Coach House anthology State of the Arts on November 26 (and another Fictitious Reading — with John Degen and Jen LoveGrove — that same evening), the Toronto Small Press Book Fair at the Victory Cafe on Nov 11 & 12 (I'm doing a table on the second day), Going to Press at Marc Garneau Collegiate on Nov 16, and This Magazine's birthday bash at the Gladstone on November 8.

And the McFadden selection to be finalized. And my own poetry manuscript to be finalized. And a couple of rush editing jobs. And the Padgett book to get to the printer.

I think I'll go back to bed.

Over and out.