I’ll be reading from Everybody Has Everything as part of the Eh List series. Chatting, confessing, giggling permitted. Free!

40 St. Clair Ave. East, Toronto, 10:30 am -12:00

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I remember driving home from the hospital with my daughter in the dark of a hot summer night, four hours after her birth, through the “entertainment district” in downtown Toronto. Windows down, we drove past stretch limos and a man puking in a gutter, and girls tugging awkwardly at their skirts, people screaming and swearing. My husband and I looked at the little ball in the backseat and laughed: “Welcome to the world – so sorry!” But part of me felt nervous, and I remember muttering: “All that could go wrong.” Continue reading →

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I haven’t been doing too much journalism lately outside of The Globe but I was really happy to do this profile of Naomi Watts for the NY Times Holiday Movie Preview. So talented, and very normal. Weird that ‘normal’ is unusual and high praise in the entertainment world, but it is.

Here’s the interview, in The New York Times.

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I’ll be reading in London as part of the Fanshawe College Letters and Arts Society Reading Series. Looking forward to it. Please come!

Thursday, October 25, 2012, 2:00 p.m.
Location: Room D1060, London Campus
Reading: 2:00 to 2:50 p.m.
Book sale and signing: 2:50 to 3:00 p.m.

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This is a very cool thing. Saturday, I’m going to do a little reading, and, more importantly, Marvin Etzioni (and Alice Kos and Everett LaRoi) are going to be singing at Soundscapes on College St. (572 College, at Manning).

If you’ve read Everybody Has Everything, you’ll know all about the song You are the Light, which Marvin wrote and recently rereleased in a new version with The Dixie Hummingbirds. He’s in TO from LA for a very brief appearance, and I am thrilled to get to hang out with him after many decades of fandom.

Come on by for some afternoon music. Bring the family. Support a great local record stores and some independent musicians visiting our fair city. See you there.

Facebook invite: http://www.facebook.com/events/362004383881814/

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September 18, 2012 — Northern District Library, Toronto, 12:30-1:45
The eh List Reading Series

September 19, 2012 — The Press Club, 850 Dundas St. W., Toronto, 8pm
Pivot Reading Series, with Kristen den Hartog and Paul Vermeersch

September 23, 2012 — Word on the Street, Toronto
11:00 – 12:00: TypeFace, Fundraiser for Toronto Public Libraries
(I’ll be doing “hand-written portraits” of anyone who wants one!)

12:45-1:45: Random House “Remarkable Reads” Tent
with Tanis Rideout and Grace O’Connell

September 24, 2012 — Interview with Shelagh Rogers, CBC’s The Next Chapter
CBC Radio 1, 1pm

October 11 — Runnymede Library, Toronto, 7-8:15
The eh List Reading Series

October 13 — Soundscapes, 572 College Street, Toronto, 2:00
In-store appearance with Marvin Etzioni and Alice Kos
(Marvin’s song “You are the Light” is key to Everybody Has Everything — see trailer here!)

October 25 — Fanshawe College, London, ON, 2:00
Location TBD

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Everybody Has Everything made the long list of nominees for the prestigious Scotiabank Giller Prize. An unusual group of titles this year, and such good company. Needless to say, I’m a little stunned, and thrilled. Here’s the list. Good luck, all.

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Reading, that most private act, is sometimes very public. I love observing what other people are reading in libraries and restaurants, on park benches. When I was a commuter, I felt my own books were flags I planted along the bus ride, little gestures to announce myself in the morning crowd: “I care about stories! I’m no cog in the machine!” Continue reading →

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I don’t want Nora Ephron to be dead.

Yes, it’s easy to snark at a certain slickness in her romantic comedies. She set the template for a form of lifestyle moviemaking where her characters talked about pesto and drank bottled water, and consumption was passed off as a personality trait. Continue reading →

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In the last few months, I’ve heard women talking about a new bodily prudishness. Where women used to walk around locker rooms naked, or stand chatting in the showers after a workout, a new, covered-up attitude is becoming “normal.” Inspired by these stories, I wrote about what it’s like to be naked at a water spa where everyone is covered up (and didn’t used to be) in my column in The Globe and Mail last week. The piece got a ton of response. You can read the column here.

Because “comments” are generally so uncivilized, I thought it might be interesting to paraphrase a few of the more measured responses that flooded my email box. I’m struck  by the personal stories and strong feelings on this issue. Here are some reader ideas from my inbox (no names, as these weren’t for publication) that I couldn’t talk about in my little 800 words:

Continue reading →

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