Click here to read about what Greystone Books of Vancouver has been doing to aid the environment through their publishing programme, and to view a lovely video they’ve created about a recent publication, The Flight of the Hummingbird. There’s a message in this small, but important Canadian-published book for everyone in the world.

To buy a copy, check with your local bookstore, or visit Greystone’s website for more information.

I seem to be living in the Capitol City lately. But there are many customers there who I have been seeing with the Fall list, and I’m learning how to get around the streets much faster than I thought, what with these repeated trips. The job is starting to settle into a routine though and, once I have some time to breathe and think again, I hope to be able to further organize myself and become even more efficient - that’s the plan, anyway.

In the meantime, it’s Stampede Week here in Calgary and I’ve been missing most of it. The excitement of Stampede wore off for me many, many years ago, and I’m glad to not be working in the downtown core where I know that the smell of sausages and bacon from all those free Stampede breakfasts served outdoors in the streets permeates everything. Still, lots of fun though to see everyone (else) in the city dressing Western and getting into the spirit of the celebration. The fun, positive attitude of Calgarians kicks ass of any other city I know! And I did think of participating by buying a pair of really nice cowboy boots. Maybe for next year… My old, battered (and dusty) cowboy hat from the 80s remains in Bequia, however.

I heard from Ann today. She has promised to write an update for my blog very soon, but in the meantime, you can read a bit about her recent adventures by clicking here…

This week’s question on Booking Through Thursday is easy:

It’s a holiday weekend here in the U.S., so let’s keep today’s question simple–What are you reading? Anything special? Any particularly juicy summer reading?

One of the perks of being a publishers’ rep is that I receive lots of advanced reading copies (ARCs) of many of the books I sell. This season I’m lucky to be selling one of my favourite authors, Ivan Doig, who has a new novel titled The Eleventh Man. It’s great, just like all his previous novels, but won’t be published until October, so you’ll just have to take my work for it.

One of the drawbacks of being a publishers’ rep is that I receive lots of ARCs that I should read so I can more effectively sell the books to booksellers and librarians. That means that any books I’d like to read for pleasure are placed on a stack for when I have time. That stack is very tall right now. Can’t wait to get at it!

(This past Tuesday, July 1st, was our holiday in Canada - but I worked! Had to get ready for a sales trip to Edmonton, where I am right now writing this. Another drawback of being a publishers’ rep…)

This week at Booking Through Thursday, the question asked was:

What, in your opinion, is the definition of a “reader.” A person who indiscriminately reads everything in sight? A person who reads BOOKS? A person who reads, period, no matter what it is? … Or, more specific? Like the specific person who’s reading something you wrote?

A reader is someone who pays attention, who reads with the intention of getting something out of whatever it is they happen to be reading, who makes an attempt to understand what has been written, who enjoys the intricasies of story (if it’s fiction or creative narrative) or the research that has gone into the writing of non-fiction. A reader is someone who is not afraid to have an opinion if they disagree with the author of the piece.

All other reading is glossing and doesn’t constitute the kind of engagement that I see is necessary for any real reader to do a serious writer’s work justice. After all, if the author has put a lot of effort into writing their piece, and has done the absolute best they can do, any serious reader should have the courtesy to put a lot of work into reading the piece as well.

Than a summer cold!! Suffering with a cold in the tropics was also pretty bad, but at least there I didn’t have a job, never drove the car, so could take time to rest, look after myself, and recover. Not here in the big city where I am incredibly busy with work at the moment, and had already planned a two-day trip to Edmonton this week that cannot be cancelled now. So, with all the preparations for that today, and the lengthy drive there and back, plus all the driving I will have to do while in Edmonton, I can’t afford to take the time, or the medication required, to recover from this quickly. Went to bed very early last night, but hardly slept for all the hacking, teary eyes and runny nose. Then I woke up with an even more inflamed throat and I can barely talk. I don’t want to infect anyone else with this, but I do have to meet with some people today. Will try to remember to turn my head.

Grrrrr!!! Why now, of all weeks?????? I didn’t even have enough time to enjoy the success of my Canadian Day presentations on Monday morning. Thank goodness the cold held off until that night, at least.

It seems like only yesterday that I wrote my last birthday celebratory post to this blog - but that’s a long ways-away, both in time and physical distance, and so much has happened in my life this past year. Last year, on this day, I was still living on Bequia, taking writing courses online, and getting ready to have dinner at my favourite restaurant, Tommy Cantina. This year, I’m in Calgary (where the weather is actually expected to be quite spectacular today), am trying to avoid working for at least this one day, even though I still have much to do to prepare for a presentation of Canadian books I’ll be giving on Monday to booksellers and librarians, and anticipating a wonderful dinner with Judy and Paul this evening at their home. I haven’t worked on my creative writing for awhile (haven’t had time, what with the new job, new life and all!), so maybe I should treat myself today and prepare a few story contest entries. And I should also go to the Bow River, find an unoccupied, shady park bench, and just sit for a while to relax. No computer, no phone, no deadlines. Although I should try to set up the new MP3 player Dennis bought for me and take that along for company… And I should also buy a new digital camera which was meant to be my present to myself. So not completely unplugged, it would seem. But at least I can use that kind of technology and read a book at the same time… One that I don’t have to worry about selling; one I can read strictly for pleasure. Yeah, that’s the ticket!

And, on a bit of a sobering note, I woke up to the radio news that today would have also been Benazir Bhutto’s 55th birthday. We shared the exact same birthdate, something I didn’t realize before. I’m thinking of Benazir today as well, mourning the loss of a great woman, but celebrating her life as well as our shared birthday.

So, Happy Birthday to ME! And to Marilyn who is also celebrating her birthday today! And Prince Wills, too, come to think of it…

This week, the question at Booking Through Thursday is:

Think about your favorite authors, your favorite books . . . what is it about them that makes you love them above all the other authors you’ve read? The stories? The characters? The way they appear to relish the taste of words on the tongue? The way they’re unafraid to show the nitty-gritty of life? How they sweep you off to a new, distant place? What is it about those books and authors that makes them resonate with you in ways that other, perfectly good books and authors do not?

It’s all about the words and how an author strings them together. If a writer has true talent, the story can be about anything at all, but the author will entice the reader in, and make them believe that their particular story is the best one in the whole world, if the words are strung together masterfully. That’s what Wallace Stegner, Richard Ford, Ivan Doig, Ian MacEwan, Graham Swift, Barbara Kingsolver, Cormac McCarthy, Joan Barfoot, Aritha van Herk, Fred Stenson, and Guy Vanderhaeghe all manage to do. All are masters of constructing perfect sentences, and of finding the exact word that fits their needs to present the stories in the best way possible. Words, beautiful words from all of these authors - that’s what makes me love them above all others.

And the quality of the writing, over everything else, is what an editor considers when reading a submitted manuscript. You can always fix a story, or a character, or make and suggest many other changes, but if the author can’t write well, the editor likely won’t read past the first page.

Well, acutually, Melanie Watt, as author/illustrator of Scaredy Squirrel, Chester, et al, was the winner in last night’s Ex Libris Awards, handed out at Book Expo Canada in Toronto:

The evening’s only double winner was Scaredy Squirrel author Mélanie Watt, who took home prizes for Children’s Author of the Year and Children’s Illustrator of the Year.

(See next post below for my brand, spanking-new Scaredy Squirrel widget, courtesy of Kids Can Press!)

And a big congratulations to my colleague in Vancouver at Kate Walker and Co., Dot Middlemass, for being named the Gordon S. Garner Sales Rep of the Year!! Way to go, Dot! But a very well-deserved honour. (And I do believe that Kate Walker & Co., and Stanton & MacDougall Ltd., which it was before Kate bought the company, may hold a record for the number of times their reps have won this award. I know there were a number of us sitting around the sales conference table in May, and among company retirees, who have received this award.)

Read all the results of the Ex Libris Awards here.

I asked Kids Can Press to create a widget that could be added to my blog so I can show everyone how cool Scaredy Squirrel (and his creator, Melanie Watts) is - and he is cool! He will even have his very own TV show soon that will be broadcast on Treehouse TV.

So, here it is:

And I hope this all works because I tend to be technically challenged lately - have been scared by technology, in fact. Oh, no!!! How would Scaredy Squirrel deal with this? Why, he’d probably go to the beach, of course…