Authors, Books and Community Events

Books & Authors

News on Robert Rotenberg author of Old City Hall.

Tasting T.O. did a great interview with Robert you can check it out here. There is also a rumour that Shaftsbury Films in T.O. who have also produced Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures(another great Canadian book) have optioned the rights to Rotenberg's first novel Old City Hall and plans to launch a television series. Plus Old City Hall was also short listed for The Crime Writers’ Association’s CWA (New Blood) Dagger Award!!

Currently Reading

Darwin's Bastards

These 23 stories take us on a twisted fun ride into some future times and parallel universes where characters as diverse as a one-legged International Actuarial Forensics specialist, a pharmaceutical guinea pig, and a far-sighted fetus engage in their own games of the survival of the fittest. From a new short story by William Gibson in which a teen disassociated from his body haunts his neighborhood through the decades, to Douglas Coupland's balls-out satire of a slightly futuristic Survivor, to Sheila Heti's meditative romp about beleaguered physicists and Oracle of Delphi-like Blackberrys, "Darwin's Bastards" is a fast-moving, thought-provoking reading extravaganza.

Elantris

lantris was the capital of Arelon: gigantic, beautiful, literally radiant, filled with benevolent beings who used their powerful magical abilities for the benefit of all. Yet each of these demigods was once an ordinary person until touched by the mysterious transforming power of the Shaod. Ten years ago, without warning, the magic failed. Elantrians became wizened, leper-like, powerless creatures, and Elantris itself dark, filthy, and crumbling.

Arelon`s new capital, Kae, crouches in the shadow of Elantris. Princess Sarene of Teod arrives for a marriage of state with Crown Prince Raoden, hoping -- based on their correspondence -- to also find love. She finds instead that Raoden has died and she is considered his widow. Both Teod and Arelon are under threat as the last remaining holdouts against the imperial ambitions of the ruthless religious fanatics of Fjordell. So Sarene decides to use her new status to counter the machinations of Hrathen, a Fjordell high priest who has come to Kae to convert Arelon and claim it for his emperor and his god.

But neither Sarene nor Hrathen suspect the truth about Prince Raoden. Stricken by the same curse that ruined Elantris, Raoden was secretly exiled by his father to the dark city. His struggle to help the wretches trapped there begins a series of events that will bring hope to Arelon, and perhaps reveal the secret of Elantris itself.

A rare epic fantasy that doesn`t recycle the classics and that is a complete and satisfying story in one volume, Elantris is fleet and fun, full of surprises and characters to care about. It`s also the wonderful debut of a welcome new star in the constellation of fantasy.


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Community

"Buildings and Backdrops" Exhibition

On Sunday, April 11th, from 1:00 - 4:00, Laura Landers is having an art exhibition entitled "Buildings
and Backdrops" at the new Temiskaming Art Gallery in Haileybury. This exhibition
will focus on the works of two artists, Laura Landers and Elizabeth Holmes. Laura
Landers is an artist who uses pen, ink, pastel, and pencil in her work...read
more

Temagami Artistic Collective Presents - Guita Pull

Join David Laronde, John Evans, Randy Becker, Lee Gagne and Robert Young of Guita Pull April 10th 2010 at the Temagami Welcome Centre Theatre at 8:00pm.
Good Music! Good Times! Seating is Limited and for more information you can call 569-2904.

Open Mic at Chat Noir Books

Satuday, May 1st, from 7:00pm - 11:00pm, Chat Noir Books is hosting an Open Mic on Saturday May 1st. We are looking for performers to come out and play a few songs
maybe read some poetry.

Seating is limited and we are asking people to bring food donation, for our local food bank.
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More news on Old City Hall

Just got an email From Robert Rotenberg and it looks like the Book Launch was a hit, just wish Jenn and I could have made it. "Old City Hall" is also getting great reviews from the media and other authors!! It is also what I currently have by my bedside table and it is a really gripping, sit on your seat kind of book that I wouldn't recommend reading before bedtime, as I was up unitl 2:00am last night!!

You can Check out Roberts website at http://www.robertrotenberg.com/ That is where I snagged the cool ad below. Not sure why there is no sound though?

Thanks for the all the fish!

So it has been a hell of a few weeks, with trying to finish up the build and the lighting for the Classic Theatres production of the "Sound of Music"! Also a good friend of ours and the Costume Designer for the "SOM" was in an car accident last Wed night. So it was so nice of the City to leave a lovely present for us after cleaning the snow from the streets last night. Thanks for taking the time guys!

So now for an update on "Old City Hall". Well first off Jenn is reading the book first. After much grumbling I finally had to agreed with her that I just did not have the time to start reading the book(theatre build to do), so I handed it over to Jenn. Luckily she is a fast reader...really fast so I should have it by this weekend. Oh and New Liskeard gets a brief mention in the book as well. Also "Old City Hall" is freaking amazing!!

Have a great book release tomorrow Robert!

Old City Hall and Abby to carve

We just got in an advanced readers copy of Robert Rotenberg's new book "Old City Hall"!! I can't wait to start reading it and you know this is going to be a great book just check out these comments by other authors!

"Clever, complex and filled with an engaging cast of characters, Old City Hall captures the vibrancy and soul of Toronto" -Kathy Reichs

"An amazing debut...this one has winner written all over it." - Nelson Demille

"Breathtaking.... A tightly woven spiderweb of a plot and a rich cast of characters make this a truly gripping read...Robert Rotenberg does for Toronto what Ian Rankin does for Edinburgh." - Jeffery Deaver

As a side note Jeffery Deaver is not known for giving out cover blurbs!!

Now if I can just finish the set for the Classic Theatre's production of "The Sound of Music"!!

Monday Morning with Robert Rotenberg

You know your job is cool when Robert Rotenberg drops by your store to get a coffee and to, y'know chat about his new book.

Ok so maybe he wasn't in town to just come and see us. Speaking of which I don't have a name to give you for Robert's new book, but I can tell you that the main character is from Cobalt, Ontario!! Which would be why Robert has been hanging out around town, collecting research for his book.

Robert also picked up a copy of "We Lived a Life and Then Some" by Chalie Angus & Brit Griffin. I figured if he was researching Cobalt this would be a great piece of reference material.

I love Book cover art!! Here is the German cover art for "Old City Hall" and "We Lived a Life and Then Some".

New Year New Books

Jenn and I are back and ready for a new year of books, books and more books...and few cups of coffee as well.

Speaking of new books, here is one to look out for "Old City Hall" by Robert Rotenberg!! Before Christmas we mentions that Robert Rotenberg had stopped by the store. Robert actually stumbled upon us while visiting the area doing research for his new book, which he was kind enough to read me a small sample of. It is really kind of cool to have an author stumble into your book store but then to have him read to you from his work in progress that's special...



(I notice my hair is kind of wild here, the left over of my pho Mohawk from Halloween.)


Robert Rotenberg is one of Torontos top lawyers, defending, as he likes to say, everything from murder to shoplifting. He lives in Toronto with his wife, a television producer at CBC News; their three children; and their little dog, Fudge.

Old City Hall opens with a bang, or perhaps a stab: Canada's leading radio show host, Kevin Brace, comes to the door of his luxury condominium with his hands covered in blood and tells the newspaper delivery man: 'I killed her.'The 'her' in question is his young wife, whose body lies in the bathtub of their suite, a knife wound through the sternum.

So, if he killed her, where's the mystery? That's the question asked by the detectives plowing through what should be an open and- shut case. Even Kevin's defense attorney doesn't know what really happened, because he refuses to talk to her or to anyone else after muttering those incriminating words. With the discovery that the victim was actually a self-destructive alcoholic, and the appearance of strange fingerprints in the Brace apartment, the mystery gets more complex just as it should be getting simpler.

Robert Rotenberg claims and celebrates the city of Toronto as a character as exciting and vital as the Dickensian ensemble populating the story. Douglas Preston rejoices that Rotenberg's 'Toronto settings make this most multicultural city in North America come alive.' Elmore Leonard has Florida; John Lescroart, San Francisco; Robert Parker, Boston; Scott Turow, Chicago; George Pelecanos, D.C. And now, in Old City Hall, Rotenberg creates in modern-day Toronto a canvas as diverse and surprising as the city itself.

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On another note, I am just checking my email and Charles de Lint's(one of my Favourite Canadian authors) has sent out a new Newsletter with a reminder about Andrew Vachss' virtual book store event tomorrow night (well tonight Wednesday, Jan 14th. I am just getting to some of my email today). You can get more information about it at www.vachss.com.

TERMINAL
After years of carefully working the edges, a blood-commitment forces Burke's return to his former career: "violence-for-money."

Claw, once the shot-caller of a white supremacist prison gang is free . . . and terminally ill--he desperately needs a pile of cash to bet on a long-shot cure. He tells Burke about a punk who once purchased protection from him, a man who claims to know the truth behind a "cold case, " the unsolved rape-murder of a thirteen-year-old girl. The killers are all weathly men today, ideal blackmail marks. But wealth is power, and the informant needs Claw's protection again. Burke decides to roll the dice. A win would give Burke the two things he lives for: Money and Revenge. A loss would turn "terminal" from a diagnosis into a certainly, and not just for Claw.

Author Bio
Andrew Vachss is a lawyer who represents children and youths exclusively. His many novels include the Burke series and two collections of short stories. His books have been translated into twenty languages, and his work has appeared in Parade, Antaeus, Esquire, Playboy, The New York Times, among other publications. He divides his time between his native New York City and the Pacific Northwest.


This online author event is sort of new with the net being able to handle live video streams. Another Canadian author Margaret Atwood is credited with inventing this new fad but with a twist. Atwood had a robot hand called the LongPen invented for her, so she coud "attend" book signings all over the world without having to leave the comfort of her home. Combined with a remotely via video feed and robo-hand, that signs the books at the actually bookstore. Now some of you are asking will this replace the traditional book signing tour? Probabley not but the net is opening up a lot new marketing ideas for bookstores and authors!

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Anyways back to Charles De Lint who has a new adult novel coming out in March called "The Mystery of Grace"!!

Three years after his last major adult novel, Charles de Lint returns with a new tale of magic, loss, and redemption, his first book set in the Southwest. Centered on a remarkable female protagonist and entirely self-contained, this is a modern contemporary fantasy as invented band pioneered by de Lint himself. Altagracia—her friends call her Grace—has a tattoo of Nuestra Señora de Altagracia on her shoulder; she's got a Ford Motor Company tattoo running down her leg; and she has grease worked so deep into her hands that'll never wash out.

Grace works at Sanchez Motor Works, customizing hot rods. A few blocks around her small apartment building is all her world—from the grocery store where she buys beans, tamales and cigarettes to the library, the little record shop, and the Solona Music Hall. Which is where she meets John Burns, just two weeks too late.

Grace and John fall for one another, and that would be wonderful, except that they're both haunted by unfinished business. Before their relationship can be resolved, they're both going to have to learn things they don't know about the world of the living and the world beyond. About why it's necessary to let some things go.

The Mystery of Grace is a hardcover. The cover art for the "The Mystery of Grace" was created by the very talented and amazing artist John Jude Palenca.



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Thanks to my parents(We love you guys!! Best Christmas Present Ever!!) Jenn and I spent New Years in the Dominican!! My Sister and her Boyfriend and my parents came along as well and a great amount of fun and relaxation was had by all.

We didn't spent all of out time lounging around the pool or the beach! We did get out and explored the area!

Here we have sugar cane fields! Pretty.

On one of our tours we went were brought to a Fair trade family run farm, Called Maria's Place. You guessed it run by Maria's family. Here they grow and sell coca beans, vanilla, cinnamon, honey(well they don't grow honey but they do have honey bees) and COFFEE!


This is Maria's husband, who is roast coca beans and coffee beans in this photo.

Driven Magazine Featuring Joseph Boyden

Driven magazine Dec issue has a great article on Joseph Boyden the author of "Three Day Road" and this years Giller Prize winner for "Through Black Spruce". If you are like us and cannot find an issue to read, not a problem! Just follow the link below to Driven's website. You should get the current issue of Driven magazine coming up with Joseph on the cover(who cleans up very nicely!! As all of the female staff told me!) Just click on the next page arrows to page 39 and you can read the full article. Check it out! Then go read "Through Black Spruce" if you haven't yet!!

P.S. Thanks Mary!!

http://www.drivenmag.com/theissue





IN OTHER NEWS:

It has been pretty busy here at the store with the Christmas season started, hopefully we will be able to get a chance to get up or top 5 list's for this year, there are also more pictures from our Halloween Party, plus Robert Rotenberg stopped by the store. Robert has a new book called "Old City Hall" that will be out in March. This Fiction Thriller Mystery Detective novel is already starting to get some great buzz! Look for it in the new year!