Adventures with Lulu Dog & The Writing Life

Thank you to the team @unitedforliteracy for inviting me to defend Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein for the 22nd annual @gillerlightbash in support of literacy education across Canada.

Warmest congratulations to all @gillerprize long & shortlisted authors & shout out to my brilliant friends @deborah.m.willis (Girlfriend on Mars) and @thatkevinchong (The Double Life of Benson Yu) 🫶

Congratulations to *all* writers harnessing the imagination and perseverance it takes to get their stories into world.

And thank you for listening to my fireside chat, providing I figure out how to repost this video 😆

Posted @withregram @gillerlightbash

Check out @sam_and_lulu_ defending our 5th and final @gillerprize shortlisted book, Study for Obedience by #sarahbernstein, published by @knopfca

#unitedforliteracy #gillerprize
#gillerlightbash
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Still grinning into space one week after reuniting with author and friend Charlotte Gill @wordfest

It seems impossible that our lives have been intersecting for almost 20 years. So grateful for the time we were able to steal, holed up in a booth nursing a 64 oz carafe of coffee while circling the sun in much overdue conversation.

Charlotte’s new book, Almost Brown, is a thought-provoking, moving and unforgettable memoir that I will devote a separate post to when I resume weekly book content!

In the meantime — with an abundance of highlighted passages I love — I’ll close this post with a short quote drawn from one of many poignant sections:

“My true ethnic home is really no place at all. It’s a small island nation of the imagination that doesn’t exist on any map and not in geologic form. You can’t get there via any airport. You can only be born there by fateful accident. Half in and half out, formed from two worlds, belonging to both and neither.”
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last day of summer ...

So much to say about tiny wolf Lulu. Master of the moment. Guardian of classified intelligence. For now, a brief capture of her focussed coaching (river) style #best ...

between thunder storms under the full thunder moon 🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗 ...

solstice reflections — literal, figurative

#riverseason #summer
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Looking forward to interviewing author @deborah.m.willis about her fabulous forthcoming novel (Girlfriend on Mars) at her launch on Wednesday, June 14, 7pm @shelflifebooks ☄️

The evening will open with a performance by @kris.demeanor & offer a “Taste of Mars” wine & literary pairing, in-conversation, reading by the author, satirical/cosmic selfie station and an opportunity to reconnect with community under starry indoor skies! Also: Mars Bars.

$2/book will be donated to The Calgary Climate Hub @calgaryclimatehub

ABOUT THE NOVEL

Amber Kivinen is moving to Mars. Or at least, she will be if she wins a chance to join MarsNow. She and twenty-three reality TV contestants from around the world―including a handsome Israeli soldier, an endearing fellow Canadian, and an assortment of science nerds and wannabe influencers―are competing for two seats on the first human-led mission to Mars, sponsored by billionaire Geoff Task. Meanwhile Kevin, Amber’s boyfriend of fourteen years, was content going nowhere until Amber left him―and their hydroponic weed business―behind. As he tends to the plants growing in their absurdly overpriced Vancouver basement apartment, Kevin tunes in to find out why the love of his life is so determined to leave the planet with somebody else.

An audaciously original debut, Girlfriend on Mars is at once a satirical indictment of our pursuit of fame and wealth amidst environmental crisis, and an exploration of humanity’s deepest longing, greatest quest, and most enduring cliché: love.

☄️ event presented by Hamish Hamilton / Penguin Canada & Shelf Life Books
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Wildfire smoke has been pressing against the windows all day. Eerie yellow light. The smell of campfire indoors. It can be difficult to imagine how extreme conditions like 10+ (very poor) air quality really feels. Sending strength to all folks under evacuation and/or needing medical care right now. Brutal. ...

Congratulations Chris Turner @heyturner — winner of the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing for his book How to Be a Climate Optimist: Blueprints for a Better World 🌎

From the Globe & Mail this morning: “In their citation, the jury for the prize said Mr. Turner’s book is a “masterclass” in brisk, vivid storytelling.”

Lulu helped me select this title @shelflifebooks a couple of weeks ago and we’re so pleased to hear this news today!

This excellent book is also currently on the 2023 @writersguildab Literary Awards shortlist. Winners to be announced on Saturday, June 3 at the awards gala at Fort Calgary. Congratulations to all nominees on that list too ✨
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Celebrated the FULL FLOWER MOON with a long overdue visit to see Meaghan @thebotanistcalgary (for plant, gardening and full moon supplies!) and where Lulu was *over the moon* to have a play date with her twinning-pal Odin @adventuresofmoneyandodin

Looooooove this place! Thank you Meaghan & Odin for the magical urban jungle adventures 💚

#thebotanist #thebotanistyyc #gardeningyyc #fullflowermoon #calgaryplants #urbangardening #tinywolves #magickingdom #fullmoon
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Back in January I had the opportunity to attend a literary conversation featuring authors Jamaica Kincaid and Suzette Mayr @ucalgary (thanks to @ashleyjjwhite of @writersguildab) 💕

“Domestic life is a horror show,” said Jamaica during the interview, and the entire audience seemed to breathe a sigh of collective understanding over what she meant by this (—& she *did* elaborate in very poignant ways on the topic).

This statement and her elaborations have haunted me for months!

And so — on the heels of a dozen administrative & household/domestic deadlines, of organizing and filing taxes — we breathe 🤍
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moonlight & embers ...

happiest dog to be away from winter I think ...

extreme cold warnings continue
no thanks

flight points 👍
destination Bacalar, MEX (en route)
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Happy birthday(ish), Lulu — am inspired by your indomitable spirit every day ♥️ ...

closed out year of the water tiger doing water-tigery things 🌊 🐯 ...