Rebecca and Tara chat about their great day at the annual Eden Mills Writers' Festival in Eden Mills, Ontario. Check out the link below for the entire day's lineup of authors and titles discussed on the podcast.
https://edenmillswritersfestival.ca/featured-writers/
Rebecca (@canadareadsamericanstyle):
- Driving the Green Book: A Road Trip Through the Living History of Black Resistance by Alvin Hall
Tara (@onabranchreads):
- Instagoner (A Bark and Blog Mystery Series) by Sydney Leigh
- God Isn't Here Today by Francine Cunningham
- Tear by Erica McKeen
This is Canada Reads American Style, featuring two friends who love Canada Reads and Canadian literature. Welcome our host Rebecca from Michigan and Tara from Ontario. Hi everyone it is Rebecca and Tara and today we have our I hope which it gets to be annual for many many years to come but we have our annual wrap-up of the Eden Mills Writers Festival which Tara will talk about in detail in just a minute here but before we get started I am going to ask you Tara what are you currently reading? Okay I am currently reading a cozy mystery so it's called Insta-Goner by Sydney Lee it came out on August 27th and I'm actually reading an arc even though it just published a few weeks ago and I'm excited because Sydney Lee I'm talking to her I think later this week so the episode will be published later this month about the book of course and the process of writing a cozy fiction and because it's it is obviously its own genre I'm not like saying like something whirlwind or anything here like you know but I find it really interesting when I'm reading a cozy mystery usually it's just for like a palate cleanser but reading this one in prep to speak to the author I'm kind of like looking at it as how you write like the elements of a cozy fiction and putting them together to like make a cozy fiction that people are going to enjoy and want to return to and I assume is it a series then yes this is book one I think it's called Barker and Blog series because the main character is a blogger social influencer and she has a dog it's kind of cute actually very cute okay any book with a dog in it is I'm sold I love it yeah and he's very cute Murray it's a great name - that's cute yeah I like that and what about you what are you reading I am finally reading the green book which has been announced so many times over the past year it's ridiculous but I will say this about it I do have one I'm only got I've got maybe about 60 pages left but I'm gonna say it now because I have to I feel compelled to say it it's about the green book was the book that African Americans used during the from 1936 to basically 1966 to find businesses hotels restaurants etc where if they were doing a road trip they would be able to find black owned businesses to be safer on the road right so it's absolutely fascinating history the book is fascinating but here's my big question if and the person that wrote it elven Hall I think it is he did a road trip from like Detroit down to Louisiana whatever anyway you would think he would write it as like an on-the-road kind of book so that as he goes to all these places you would get a sense of hey we start out in Detroit we go here da da da it would be an actual road trip book about a road trip book right yeah no he didn't do that it's bizarre to me so I'm enjoying it it's absolutely historically fascinating but I just feel like he missed a really big opportunity to write a book that the sort of the outline of it could have been completely or the style of it could have been completely different and I think it actually would have been a better book I think you just missed an opportunity there so that's all I'll say right now but I am really enjoying it yeah it sounds like it it sounds like it would just be a natural element to the book exactly right yes that is exactly it and I and I there is one big thing I'm gonna I won't say now because I'm gonna do a teaser so for our next book chat there is one thing that's very very very cool that I discovered about my hometown that is as a result of this book that I'm gonna do a little bit deeper dives in it and I'm really excited about it because you have to stay tuned for what I'm gonna do because maybe by then I will have done some of it and I will be able to share it on our next book chat I'm intrigued it is it's really I mean it's the kind of thing about reading historical nonfiction it that just gets me really really excited but it adds a component that is just so cool and I would and when people hear it maybe they'll go out and do it for their own communities as well it's very very cool so there's my little teaser for the book awesome okay shall we move on to the reason that we're here yes all right so Eden Mills Writers Festival Rebecca and I met up with a couple of our friends so like Colleen friend of the podcast and my mom so mom of the podcast and an answer the podcast and we went to Eden Mills in Ontario so the Eden Mills Writers Festival is an annual event that's going on in 30 plus years 30 years 25 plus for sure I know it's been a while and it takes a whole Sunday in September so this year was on September 8th the village of Eden Mills closes down to vehicular traffic and it's only pedestrian and you go from site to site listening to authors read from their books and now they've just introduced a new element a few years ago and that's also become discussion as well so it used to be originally when I went that each author would be an hour long session generally you'd have three authors and they would read for 20 minutes each from their book it's now become like a five-minute read from their work and then its questions open the questions and discussion even from the audience and stuff then you have time in between to visit the bookshelf which is the independent bookstore in Guelph they have a table set up and then independent small publishers have table set up you can visit them local authors have little table set up it's and then you can grab a coffee grilled cheese sandwich it's the best day it is the best day yeah I'm only two years in but I it is something I look forward to and I hope it goes on for many many many more years because it is just the best day ever yeah book people you if you're even remotely close I highly recommend that you attend because it is just so much fun yeah and you're like for Canadian it's all Canadian authors and you're going to get big names and you're going to get like up and coming authors authors you haven't heard of before and it's just like a wonderful exposure to whatever kind of literature you want it's really a special moment yeah and one of the things I love is there really is you're supporting these you know authors like you say up and coming authors or are established authors who maybe are with independent presses that have more difficulty getting their the word of mouth out there right so and that's kind of some of the books that I bought today I kind of feel that that might be where some of these authors might might live in their careers and I'm just so excited to be able to support them it's just such a fun day and there is nothing more beautiful than this quaint town of Eden Mills what a beautiful setting absolutely so the day they come it's comprised of four sessions and each session is an hour long and there are multiple locations so four maybe three or four locations right Rebecca so you have your choice and unfortunately sometimes you have to make a difficult choice about which author you want to see because you're you're not always going to get the seed your favorite author you've got to make a choice yeah you're going to be in the meadow you're going to be in the cottage sometimes you you can't never can you be in the same place I was going to say sometimes you can't be but never can you be in the same place so Rebecca and I both started our day off in the first session and did the same session together and then we split our our ways and we would see each other and passing and then at the end of the day yeah so let's start the first session we both attended was titled these words at this moment and it was the two authors we had Carol off who was a former journalist with CBC and her latest book is called at a loss for words conversations in an age of rage and the author who we are both really there to see was Tanya Talaga with her new book called The Knowing Rebecca let's hear your thoughts oh my gosh well first of all I didn't know who Carol off was she was absolutely fascinating and I was a little worried about her book only because it had these words like freedom and democracy and woke and all these words that she sort of writes about and the meaning of them and how they it's shifted etc and I was a little worried because those are all trigger words for me in the US politically and stuff so I was kind of a little nervous about it but the book sounds fabulous and I'm still not quite sure I would read it just because of all of that but she was a fascinating speaker I loved it and then Tanya oh my gosh when she read the opening part of her book it just gave me chills I cannot wait to read that I'm gonna wait a little bit but she is she makes me speechless honestly she's just so I don't know even what I all the superlative adjectives you could apply to someone I don't even know she's one of my all-time favorite indigenous writers Canadian writers whatever people female writers whatever name all the different things she's at the top of my list she's phenomenal and I assume you kind of feel the same way the exact same way I will say even before they started speaking when she went up onto the stage she had a black like Satine jacket on and she turned around and on the back in letters was a lineage of matriarchal badasses or something like that and I'm just like oh that's the best jacket the best jacket I'm like it just kind of set the mood for the talk before it even started it was perfect I only saw she turned around first I didn't even realize it until she sort of turned for a split second and I saw badass on there and I was like I don't know what the rest of it says but I'm gonna agree with it whatever it is it was fantastic and then Carol off who I've heard for years I'd listened to her on the radio I loved I love her voice anyways I loved hearing what she had to say about her book and stories that she told outside of the book I I think I put a hold on the book from my library like during the session because it is one I want to read yeah yeah I loved what she had to say like she had six words I think right is what the book was and one of them was freedom which and she talked about it in she mentioned how it's been co-opted for like the freedom convoy and stuff like that and it's just but her whole thing is that we need to take those words back and start using them the way that they're meant to be used and I that really that struck a chord with me because every time I see a Canadian flag now in certain circumstances I get really pissed yeah and upset because it has been taken away that you know so yeah I agree yeah totally agree time to take those words back mofos sorry oh I agree I agree with that okay shall we move on to session - yes okay why don't you start so I decided even though this one was a challenge because there were some really great speakers in this session but in the second session I went to women on the move and there were three authors three women authors that the one taught and and I by the way I linked to the Eden Mills author session so you can click on it and you can get it you can see all the titles so I'm not going to mention every title that everybody wrote but anyway Lindy Myshevsky she wrote a book about the what's that called the the Camino in Spain where people walk the Camino Dicompostolo whatever it's called anyway she walked it but she's also a person who writes a lot of books about food she's like a food writer and so she talked about that and then Pamela Malloy she wrote a book about train travel but it was fascinating I liked her because she talked about she said often people will say to her what's the like what was your favorite train ride and she said hey I haven't ridden the big ones like the Siberian Express and the Oriental you know express whatever it is she said I haven't done those but hers was more about kind of like that smaller travel like she took trains from like Ontario somewhere in Ontario to the east coast and she talks about that so that book sounded really interesting as well and that's actually why I went was for that one however interestingly the third author Nicola Ross she is the reason I ended up loving that session even more because she wrote a book again you'll see it in the if you click on the notes she wrote a book about like 40 hikes in 40 days about the Bruce trail and I didn't know anything about the Bruce trail in Ontario but she talked so beautifully about how she grew up near the escarpment around the Niagara area I guess or I don't know well I don't know where she grew up exactly but anyway she just talked about how that was her landscape and how what these trails meant to her and I don't know she just when you come across somebody who is so passionate about something and they portray that it grabbed me right away so it's a book I did not pick up that day but I figure the next time I'm in Sarnia at the bookkeeper I will get a copy of that book because that just sounded just she just made it sound so amazing so I love that session those three women talking about women in travel and that was one of the points they made is that there aren't a lot of women travel writers to the level that there are men and it's often white men so they are really kind of carving out a niche for themselves and for other women to jump in and write those kinds of books and I loved it yeah I didn't realize it was a women in travel that's that that's a Rebecca session absolutely yes okay I went to the session entitled let me tell you a story and this was the three authors the first was Connie Gold and her book was the the Rasmussen papers it was interesting oh I should say this was the session that Sydney Hegaly who you interviewed recently this was the session she was supposed to be in okay Connie ended up when Sydney couldn't make it this Connie popped in and replaced them so Connie is not an author that I'm familiar with and it sounds like the book what I got for the gist of the book was that she was inspired by a Henry James book but she went about a biographer and two women and she kind of threw it flipped it and had like a female biographer and two men inserting herself into the life of two men that's all I haven't read them not familiar with it that's it was an interesting conversation but it didn't grip me mm-hmm the second author was David Hubert and his book is oil people also not an author I was familiar with and the book talks about the petroleum industry but in Ontario which I did not realize we had one and it's the history of the petroleum industry starting in Sarnia oh yeah yeah like back in the 1800s and then in the two contemporary times it sounded fascinating actually it sounded really I knew nothing about this period in history geography that you know anything about about it but it sounded really good and he was quite nice to listen to third author which was the reason I was there was Heather O'Neill with her new book the capital of dreams and she is the lightful Rebecca so funny she gave like little insights into her new book into her writing process her researching her family background that helped that also influenced the book and stuff like this and she was just so funny so funny like really delightful I could listen to her for hours and even I went with my mom and my aunt joined me and if you watched Canada Reads last year you know that Heather O'Neill talks a lot with her hands so my aunt will just let me choose sessions and she just goes along with it but she was kind of like so the hand thing drives me crazy but by the end of it all three of us were like she's amazing like you don't care but it was fun to watch the hand because she had to hold one hand was holding a microphone while the other hand moves and she would sometimes switch hands so the microphone so that the other hand could move yeah and at one point she had books in one hand and the microphone in the other and she put the books down so she could use the hand it was really I'm making it seem like it was all about the hands it wasn't that was just like an aside that you couldn't help watching but she if you get a chance to see her in person or listen to her speak about her book I would do it she is really funny that is very cool to know I like that it was a good session okay I want to go back and just mention the titles because I just found in the the guide Tara that where the titles are so the first book about the Camino is walk eat repeat culinary adventures on the Camino de Santiago and then Pamela Malloy's book is off the tracks a meditation on train journeys in a time of no travel and then Nicola Ross's is 40 days and 40 hikes loving the Bruce trail one loop at a time so officially the titles are there now okay moving on to session three Rebecca where did you go I went to the meadow and it was personal stories on the page so I saw E. McGregor and she wrote what fills your house like smoke which was a poetry it sounded like a really interesting mix I think it was poetry but I think it she said it sort of told a story almost like a fictional arc kind of thing and it was about her grandmother and as everybody probably knows at this point I struggle a little bit with poetry but I thought I didn't buy it but I thought I think I might look into this one because I loved how she talked about her grandmother we got it got a few laughs it was very funny but because her grandmother sounds like she was a very feisty woman and I do want to give it a try and see how well I can do it and that was one of them and then the next one was Zoe Whittall and she wrote no credit river and this one was interesting because again it sounded like it was poetry it was prose it was autofiction it was fiction I mean she had this real mix and it hadn't even been she had a copy in her hand but it wasn't even available to purchase yet because it's not quite ready to pump I mean to be out in the world but again that one sounded fascinating the way she talked about it because these again these are all personal stories on the page so I kind of want to take a look at that one see if I can find a copy at some point I'd like to at least give it a try both great talks but the one that frickin blew my mind was Danny Ramadan he wrote crooked teeth and the full title is crooked teeth a queer Syrian refugee memoir and he was so funny I don't even know this is that kind of humor when people are this funny naturally like they just find the right word the right intonation the right way to say something that isn't like if you read it on a page you might smile but when you hear them speak the words it is so freaking hilarious so I fell in love with him I just think he's so great and Eden Mills was the first day of his book tour so that was really cool so I think if you have an opportunity to go see him check him out look up his book tour go and listen to him live he is I guarantee you will forever love this guy he is just hilarious so I am looking forward to reading that book for sure that was the one that's the why I went to that session in particular I wanted to hear him speak how about you okay my session three was different in that it was just a single author with the moderator so that's right yes one was called our green heart the soul and science of forests the author was Diana baresford Kroger a woman that I'm not familiar with even though she is a world-renowned biochemist botanist climate activist yeah I wasn't familiar with her but I went because I love nature books so I was like this and I loved books about trees I'm like this is the one we're going to power house holy this woman was amazing she is 80 years old she was introduced and she popped up I'm not going to give it in the right order of how she did it but she went after she was introduced she stood up because she's like I speak better when I stand so she stood up and she just gave us her life story from an orphan in Ireland oh wow to becoming a biochemist and then when she's as a biochemist she's like I will tell you what I have accomplished which I love like how many times do you see people women in particular stand up and say I'm going to tell you what I've accomplished and what you can thank me for because if you had cancer you can thank me for this tree you know I'm like yeah phenomenal to see and then she also has here in Ontario her own farm that she is creating a global seed bank of all trees but at the moment she's really working on the collecting the seed bank and growing trees that are natural to Ontario oh yeah so this was her book was her latest book oh my gosh it's big so much it was she is she's just up she's so phenomenal oh I also have to wrote down I'm gonna make paraphrase this a little bit but she also said at one point because she is a climate change activist and she got up and she very forcefully said we will put the fire to the feet of the men making the decisions it was a brilliant moment because she has such hope she has such hope like she and she knows what's going on in the world she knows what's going on with climate change with the trees but she has such a strong sense of hope she had said that in every family or in each household if each person in a household plants one tree for the next six years we will stop climate change because we are releasing on the trees we'll be releasing the oxygen and then we are taking the carbon dioxide out right and it's just like well we can all do that right she's phenomenal like it's you you step out of this and you're like I'm planting a tree like you know I like I am I will be planting a tree this year I will be planting a tree every year she then told us like a thing about forest bathing that's how she ended it at the end like with forest bathing and said to go in find a white pine which is the I did not realize this is the provincial tree of Ontario and for 15 minutes like once a month just walk around the tree sit beside the tree like just breathe in the tree because you're going to breathe in all these helpful chemicals that the tree releases and just the whole process has a whole thing it's in her book you must get the book apparently she tells you so much and you just leave going googling where can I find a white pine even my mother who's not like sorry if you're listening mom but you know this but yourself she's not a hokey-pokey she's not embracing this like hippie lifestyle my mom walked out of that going I need to find a white pine I need to find a walk around this white pine like it's she's she does not mince words she tells you exactly how things are but then she gives you hope and the steps to take moving forward right which I think is what we all want when it comes to climate change we at this point if you don't know there's lots of books that you can read about climate change but they don't always give us actions proactive steps that each person an individual can take that could make an actual difference but planting a tree we can all do that mm-hmm so she was I mean I know this sounds silly and trite but she was an inspiration she's an inspirational speaker totally and this her book is just been published she is currently on tour like I think the next night she was at my local bookstore here in Burlington so if you have a chance run to wherever she is because she is funny delightful strong forceful a feminist like just get out there and see her she's amazing wow that yeah and it's so funny obviously they knew that about her which is why she was the only person on the panel for that no one else although the moderator I didn't get the name of the moderator she was also fantastic like the two of them together were were wonderful but it was all about Diana yeah letting her talk very cool has she written a lot of books did you go back and look and see if she's written a lot yeah like her eighth book oh so you'll be going and you'll be reading some of those I bet yes yeah which is funny because you know that I love the Robin Walt Kimmerer the American author with a reading sweet grass and she has a moss book that I've read and I think she has a new book coming out so I'm very excited but I've also been like where's like my Canadian Robin Walt Kimmer well I found her in Guyana Bearsford Kroger so super nice oh my gosh okay so the last session I went to this topic was the way forward and it was historical fiction and there was one book in particular I really wanted to read but also Leslie Shimo Takahara who wrote Sisters of the Spruce who I interviewed and I wanted to hear Leslie speak publicly and I wanted to see her and so I was really excited about that so I saw Leslie that was great and then Edward YC Lee wrote The Laundryman's Boy and it's basically based on his grandfather's story where he came from China came to Canada St. Catherine's turns out there was a large population of Chinese workers in St. Catherine's Ontario and he was working in a laundry and he but his father was a scholar and he had dreams of an education and so it's about this fictional character which is based on his grandfather and it he just first of all he just had this you know some people just exude like this beautiful like now I'm gonna sound like very very hippie and stuff but this beautiful sort of aura just like around his face and his smile and he just had this energy that was so calming and beautiful and I thought and then he read from it and as soon as he read from it I was like I'm sold that sounds like a great book so I do want to read that one so that's also he was the second one and then the third one was Barbara Jones Scott and this is why I wanted specifically to go to hear her as well she wrote a book called The Taste of Hunger also based on her grandmother and it is about the Ukrainian people settling in is it a sketch one now I can't remember I think it's a sketch one I think so and her grandmother so it's based on her grandmother loosely based on her grandmother but so the main character she's 15 years old and she is paired with a 29 year old she is absolutely miserable and it really is kind of talking about the generational experience of the family with when it starts out with a young girl who doesn't want to be in this marriage basically now she does say when she read from it I just thought this is where somebody truly writes literary fiction the language of that opening was so beautiful and she does admit it is a she was it's not a depressing story but it is a dark story and you know I like that kind of stuff so anyway so I got to see all three of them I'm getting more and more kind of into historical fiction so I'm enjoying that whole process and these three books again sisters to the spruce I read and loved the other two are sound fantastic as well I noticed I'm not familiar with the Barbara Jones Scott but I was after that session I was at the bookshelf table find books and there was like an influx of people looking for her books so I had a feeling I was like oh like I'm like yeah she must have been good and let me just say to that I guess throw this part in because I thought it was really funny so all three books in that session were based on because Leslie's book was also based on her grandmother so all of them wrote fictional stories about their grandparents which I loved I really really loved it but but Barbara's grandmother she really goes into quite it was hilarious the detail about how like ornery her grandmother was and how she was a tough old woman and whatever so I said to her because you know they have asked if you have any questions and I was literally sitting in the front row on the lawn and I immediately raised my hand and I just said Barbara I said what do you think your grandmother would have thought about this book if she had read your novel a based based on her life and right away she just said oh she would not be happy with the amount of sex that's in it she just would not like that and everybody had a great laugh you know but because that's what I was kind of thinking it's like all three grandparents were kind of exposed on some level and I just always think what would the grandparent actually think if they read their these novels I just thought that was kind of fun okay my last session was in the meadow I did not do all the walking that Rebecca did I think I did two in the meadow one in the cottage and then back to the meadow so I did not have to walk nearly as much except when I was like I think I got to go check out this book I did walking to the book table so mine was called finding your voice and it was three genre authors so we had Hannah Mary McKinnon with her latest thriller only one survives and she also writes Christmas holiday romances as well under a different name but I can't remember now so she was there interestingly there's I was able to meet Hannah earlier in the day because oh I'll just step back I should have said so the current book that I'm reading my current read was Instagon or by Sidney Lee Sidney was at one of the first sessions that I went to or the second session I think I went to this that afternoon so I introduced myself and she was there with Hannah and Hannah's latest book is the book that my in-person book club is going to be reading this month as well so that was a nice little like local connection that I I was excited to meet Sidney in person before speaking to her later this week so anyway so sorry so Hannah Mary McKinnon was there with her book Robert G Sawyer not familiar with his stuff although he was introduced as the godfather of Canadian science fiction his newest book is the downloaded and it sounded really good by the like he was he loves Star Trek he is he was quite a personality - he's a he loves Star Trek and the download it was about if prisoners were given the chance to instead of serving a prison term to have their brain their whatever download it for like six months or a year would they do that rather than serving a prison term and the character in the book does that but when he is when his download period is over I don't know I'm not using the right technology he thinks he's coming back to his family but it's 500 years in the future and it's so it's you know so I was like wow fascinating it sounded really good plus he just he really talked well you know I love it when authors can just really talk about the book and you're like I must read that book mmm-hmm even though it might not be a genre that I'd normally read and the final author which was the reason I was there was Drew Haid and Taylor the author of Cold which I read I think over the winter anyways a few months ago I'm going to do like Drew Haid and Taylor and not tell you who the monster in the book is because it's a word that the indigenous people don't say because you might bring along it's present so you'll have to read the book but it's a horror book it's so good sentrato in the middle of winter Rebecca's going to read it because she loves cold books yes and this one you will be cold and there is hockey and it's just a fantastic book so that's why I was there to see him because I loved that book I wanted to hear him speak because he's pretty funny it was lovely to hear him and I even then because I borrowed the book from the library I ran over and I bought the book just so why I could like get the chance to go up and have him sign it and meet him which I did and I was a big goofball but he's a goofball too so it was fine we were both like awkward goofballs around each other but it was lovely now was he I know he writes he he's very funny in his writing so was he funny in his presentation or was it yeah how was yes yeah he was exactly like what I was expecting you know cool yeah and it was the three of them just talking about their writing and how they write their genre you know it was just it was a fun it was a nice way to end the day yeah yeah and I wanted to see him that because that was so when Tara opened up by saying sometimes you have to make a hard decision that was my hardest decision because I really well actually had two hard decisions I wanted to see Tonya Talaga and then our good friend Hallei Gattery was presenting as well and I really wanted to see her but I have to admit I did go to see Tonya same thing with Drew I wanted to see him but then I wanted to see Leslie and that other historical fiction author as well so I had to make that hard decision because I figured there's a million interviews I can watch with Drew Hayden Taylor yeah but I won't be able to see it for the other three people so that's why I want I did I made that decision but yeah so can we now talk about books that we purchased of course okay of course so as everybody knows I always say I don't like to have a lot of TV physical TBR because I kind of creates this weird anxiety for me which by the way somebody a friend shared a post this past week of somebody who spoke exactly how it causes them to feel and that she literally only ever has three physical TBR which I think is that's phenomenal and as soon as I saw it I sent it to Tara and said so I'm not alone I'm not just the only person with this kind of crazy thing that somebody else feels the same way now she's great because she only has three I went to Eden Mills saying I'm gonna buy two books these two books and then it went off the rails it went off the rails I'll I'm gonna say I'll show you in a minute but it completely went off the rails so all I'm doing is feeding my own anxiety what the hell anyway so of course I bought widow fantasies by Halle exactly we both showing each other we both bought it I absolutely had to own this book because I loved her a fan a short fiction and I love the cover of this book and I needed to own it physically she had given us an arc but I had to own it like the other one I yeah the other one I did was I did get Sisters of the Spruce by Leslie Shimotakahara again I had an arc I love this book so much I wanted to own it so I bought a copy and that is where theoretically I was going to stop do you want me to keep going or do you want to do show yours it's up to you what do you think I bought three I'll let you go okay well I'll do my so we already as we said the hallways we bought both bought hallways widow fantasies and I was very excited so then rushed over and I got halle I met halle and person and had her sign the book which was delightful it was like a really nice moment to meter in person and can I just say I totally spaced because I forgot the way Eden Mills because it's only my second years I kind of forgot that right after they speak at their session they go to a table and you can have them sign and like an idiot I totally forgot and I was in a rush to get back to get to the next session and I totally blew past the opportunity to meet halle and person so I was very bummed because I did say I'm like Rebecca's here too like yeah anyway so now I'm gonna remind myself next year there is a procedure it's not like halle was gonna stay till the bitter end and I could meet up with her some other point I needed to do it in a moment and I just completely spaced on it so well you were in you were in the moment yourself though you were in the moment of either was right you're right I was overtaken exactly okay do you want me to go next well I'll do oh no you do you go ahead cuz you have more I went up to a table and it had children's books and last year I bought some books for one of my nephews great nephews and he loved the book so I thought I'm gonna go over look at the kids books again so I went over and bought Salma SA LMA series by Danny Ramadan right so I bought the three books I thought got some girls in my family I thought they might really enjoy these books and then this person was standing at the table and he said would you like me to sign them for you and I turned and looked and it was Danny so I said oh my gosh absolutely so he signed all the books and then I did go back because I couldn't find it at first I did go back and buy crooked teeth a queer Syrian refugee memoir by Danny and I'm very excited and I did go back and have him sign or his memoir I had him sign it so that's another I had two now I added four to the mix okay well I didn't realize that Danny Ramadan wrote children's books yeah cuz he did a he did a reading from one of his children's books the Salma books during the day I just it didn't make it over to that session I would have liked to have done it but I didn't so because they do for those who have children they have a whole like all the sessions we're talking about at the same time there are sessions going on with children's authors - yes okay so the next book I bought is a short story collection and it's called God isn't here today by Francine Cunningham I saw her last year at Eden Mills writers festival she was there one of the sessions I attended so this book had been on my radar since then and I hadn't seen it the reason why I'm gonna go with my potty mouth again but it's not my fault this time because the name of the short story so last year she had read the short story called come and get your ice cream motherfuckers and it worked I loved it so then when I saw this book here at one of the tables I think it was from yes from the invisible publishing at their table I was like I've been meaning to read that book so I grabbed that book which I'm very excited about that's cool I love that so you'll have to tell me about that short story I might need to read that one in particular so okay so of course then let's say I'll just do this one since this one we both bought I did go over and buy a copy of Cold by Drew Hayden Taylor and I was in line having other people sign books when Tara was in line to have Drew do it so I threw her my book and said here get mine signed too so she did get mine signed so I appreciate that so but yeah anyway I have more to that story but anyway I did buy a copy of Cold and I am really looking forward because it's really really high on my to-be read list and especially after you said how much you'd like to and it's cold and I'm ready for cold weather and so I can't wait to read it yeah and it's creepy but there's like an unexpected element oh it's so good I know and I was like very flustered when I that's why sometimes I don't always go up get my book signed because I get very flustered and awkward so when I was talking to him and you're like here get my book signed I was like sure no problem and then I'm talking to him and then I started to walk away and you're like my book and I'm like because I totally forgot I'm like oh yes can you sign this for Rebecca and anyways it was in the even our goodbye I won't tell you it was a little awkward but funny kind of thing but yes I bought it as well you have to tell me the awkward goodbye because I have an awkward story with him as well after you left oh do you okay I'm so embarrassed I mean I'm so embarrassed so I and the reason I feel I'm gonna share this I wasn't gonna share this story but I'm gonna share it because I want to show that I also feel the same way when you go up to speak to an author like to me they are my kind of like my gods right like I look at authors because I can't do what they do and I don't care about athletes I don't care about any actors I don't care about it but authors are my are like my crew tonight right and I just want to prove that yes you can still embarrass yourself and be an idiot and I think they're okay I hope they got they're okay but do it anyway because everything I've heard authors will say please come up and talk to us come and talk to us so even when you screw it up I think it's okay yeah right what was your story okay so mine wasn't even as soon as I went up because as I said I'd read this I borrowed the book from the library but then I wanted a coffee so even as I went up I went up I introduced myself and I'm like oh I've actually already read the book and I loved it I'm blood applied bored it from the library to much information he doesn't need to know that the poor man goes he's like do you not want me to sign it then I don't know like I think I'm blabbing too much and I'm like no no no please please sign it he's like okay so then we I don't even know what we chit-chat it then and then finally I think I left him a lot I got your book signed and then I was leaving like I'm like okay now I will let you be and he this was on his offer I think for him he's probably going what the hell did I just do but he then let's me and did the sign of the cross and said God be with you or something and I did it back to him I went God with you as well I'm like what did I just do that is brilliant thing to each other it was that is the best story ever oh my god I'm you know like the $20 for the book it was worth it to have that little interaction so what did you do to the poor man after okay well I have to tell you because I wanted Leslie Shimotaka her to sign my book the unfortunate thing was the two historical writers Edward so let me just say I did buy the laundry man's boy so when I I noticed that when I went up to the table his name plate was there so I just stood there and then so Drew was next to him and then Leslie was next to Drew so all three authors that I you know like it feel intimidated by they're all sitting together which I think made it kind of worse so I handed it so I did say to Edward Lee I did say how much I loved his reading and I was trying to you know not be over-affusive which is my personality so I was trying to be because he's got such a calm gentle vibe about him so I was being very calm and whatever it was good so he signed it and then Leslie walked up and there were people in line for Drew so then well you were one of them and so then I went over to Leslie and she gave me a hug which was so sweet and I you know a little awkward because the table was there but anyway so then she said I said Leslie just had to own your book too and so she said well do you want me to write a personal note and I said oh that would be great thank you so she's actually taking a little bit of time to do it and nobody is in front of Drew so I just leaned over and I said I just have to tell you I've read chasing painted horses and I absolutely love that book and he said he goes that's actually my favorite he said because it was a play it was started out as a short story it was a play it's a book I said yeah it's just amazing I I really loved it and then I because like Leslie was still writing I was like now what do I do because he's kind of looking at me nobody else is there and I didn't know like do I just look back at Leslie I just felt so stupid in that moment so I said oh and I said I picked up a play that you wrote I said I can't remember the title but I I haven't read it yet but I did pick up a play by you as well and then because again I don't know when to stop I said to him by the way I said I have this podcast and I'd love to have you would you do you do podcast like of course he does podcast you know what I mean it's like oh for God's sake so he just said sure yeah sure of course and I said okay I'll be in touch and I thought god damn like so like couldn't you have just stopped it I love chasing painted horses you know because I felt like I just kept digging I was sinking below the earth as I was sinking into the pit I was digging myself anyway I just felt so embarrassed and I just thought God why did I do all that why didn't I just like you know what I mean so anyway so he may or may not be on our podcast if I reach out to him he'll probably be like no that wackadoodle woman I have not talking to her there's no way so maybe have you reached out to an act like he'll never remember this my podcast the podcast anyway so I figure you could just be like oh would you like to be on a pocket anyway so and maybe you won't remember any of it when I first went up to him he was like this is too early in the day for me it was 5 30 people in the evening he was like he was so early so he may have been made me I love that yeah okay good yeah I don't think they probably do you know they see so many people and they're right so I feel I'm gonna let that just water off a duck's back I love your interaction though you did the sign of the cross I know that is hilarious coming back to my like Catholic school days for that no I love it anyway so let me just say so the last book I bought I did get the taste of hunger by Barbara Joan Scott and I did ask her as well if I could I said I'm really excited to read your book and I said I want to read it first but would you be interested in being on the podcast and she said absolutely so I definitely know that I'm I feel very strongly that I will love this book and at some point maybe this year hopefully that sometime this year I will be able to interview Barbara about this story because hearing her talk about it was fascinating I think all of you would enjoy hearing those of you who like historical fiction I think you will love it as well I'm enjoying your historical fiction journey by the way I'll just put that in there part of it has been in the past I think I was reading like maybe not literary historical fiction and I was having I was struggling with it because now it never felt like authentic to the time period but now that I'm reading literary historical fiction now I can I know that the authors are doing a lot of research they're making it as authentic as they can and that is what I find absolutely fascinating but you're right I have been reading a lot mm-hmm yeah okay so I purchased one more book and mine I also purchased from Invisible Publishing they solely on the person who was working the table said oh this book's terrifying I'm like sold and it's called Terror by Erica McKean it's her debut novel I believe I looked it up and it is about a young woman who is on the brink of graduating from University she can't remember there being a lock on the door at the top of the basement stairs yet when she turns the door the knob won't open she can't tell the difference between childhood memories and we're still she can't ignore the very real tapping sound now coming threatening to break through her bedroom wall and then I know it sounds so good I didn't even read the back of it out until after I purchased it and then I read a little review somewhere online that said there was like feminist rage I'm like oh my god yes so I'm very excited to read this one as well it has a super amazing cover very creepy yeah very creepy cover yep and it sounds really good and I look forward to your review because all of what you just read that all of that would be a triggering fear thing for me and I would never I don't think I could ever read it but yeah let me know yeah it might be for me as well but yeah I had to I don't yeah anyways that's it that's our Eden Mills 2024 thank you for coming up and enjoying it with me and of course thank you for telling me about it initially and like I said for as long as that festival is around I will be there every year in September and we just really want to encourage everyone because I guarantee you even just being out in that beautiful environment the landscape is so gorgeous out that area and you just kick back relax and enjoy yourself and have a great day we we certainly did yeah we did okay happy reading everyone thank you for joining us on our bookish journey if you enjoyed this episode please consider subscribing rating and reviewing Canada Reads American style wherever you listen you can connect with the podcast and Rebecca on Instagram at Canada Reads American style and with Tara at on a branch reads until next time keep reading (upbeat music)
