The Calgary launch for However Far Away was a roaring success: a full house at Festival Hall and the bookseller sold out of books.
Thanks to everyone who came out to support the event, Calgary Folk Music Festival for being generous and gracious hosts, Richard Harrison for his excellent MC skills, Shelley Boettcher for her deft interviewing even after I rambled on and on, Shelf Life Books and Emma for being on hand with books, and Gurvir Mangat for his dhol mastery. Thanks to CKUA Radio and Grant Stovel for a feature on the novel that included a few songs for the HFA playlist, RED-FM and SurSungam Radio for pre-launch interviews.
My time out west for the Vancouver Writers Fest was an absolute triumph. I felt blessed to be included, to be surrounded by brilliant writers with brilliant minds, from whom I learned so much, attending their events and listening to their discussions on craft, empathy and creativity. Kudos to Leslie Hurtig and her team of staff and volunteers! Having a beautiful location like Granville Island as the venue is an added bonus.
My personal highlights included:
The opportunity to read passages from HFA to Vancouver audiences and hearing their responses to my description of the South and North Shores. I have always loved reading in front of appreciative audiences and thrive on the energy and connection made with them.
Being interviewed on Channel Punjabi and knowing that HFA is getting some attention in Canada’s Punjabi population. One attendee Good Reads had driven in from Seattle especially for the event.
Having the support of family and dear old friends in attendance.
Being told by Roddy Doyle that my spoken word piece for Lyrics Night was “Brilliant!” – I will carry that compliment for the rest of my career.
Being called out, in good jest, by Carol Off as “one of those ****ing poets” from the stage at Lyrics Night. Trust me, it was hilarious! I will carry that for the rest of my career.
Now my attention is clearly on preparing for the Calgary launch of However Far Away next week. An interview with Grant Stovel at CKUA Radio regarding the event will air on Friday morning.
If you have not yet bought tickets but plan to attend please let me know so we can make sure we arrange the hall appropriately for the audience.
I have been a little remiss at posting anything about the However Far Away launch in Toronto. It’s partly because I am still somewhat overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support that I felt on that day.
It was a full house, including family, long-time friends, ex-work colleagues, fellow writers, neighbours (over twenty people from the building I live in) and perfect strangers.
Huge thanks to Hugh’s Room Live for the beautiful venue, House of Anansi Press, and Doug Richmond for playing MC,Carolyn Forde and the Transatlantic Agency, Nadia Shabaz for being a brilliant and charming interviewer, Nachde Rangeelay for the bhangra dancers and Sahib the dholi, but most of all to everyone who attended. It means a lot to me.
Dear Friends. My debut novel, However Far Away, will be officially released on August 6th and I’m thrilled to share the cover with you. Huge thanks to House of Anansi for taking the book design in a direction that I am delighted with, but not at all what I had imagined.
Thank you to Greg Tabor for the overall book and cover design and to Don Bishop for the artwork. The book opens with the lead male protagonist on a morning run beside the ocean in Kitsilano, Vancouver, and the cover image offers some clues as to his character and the novel’s themes: the inscrutable facial features; the old-school headphones as a means to enjoy music and perhaps also to shut out the world; and the faded, slightly transparent, block colours that do not entirely cover the background.
Of course, the fantastic blurb from Omar El Akkad is a wonderful addition over the image; what a generous gift! Thank you Omar.
If you would like to receive However Far Away as soon as it becomes available, you can pre-order it now. Pre-orders help to build interest in the book and get more copies onto store shelves. I would recommend ordering it from your local independent bookstore or from Indigo if you are in Canada.
In the US it is available on the Barnes and Noble website. It’s also available in other markets (Waterstones in the UK) but it may take a little longer for you to receive it.
There will be a book celebration event in Toronto in early August, but I do not have all the details yet. As always, thank you for your love and support.
