If there's anything more Canadian than a Canadian band (Our Lady Peace) covering another Canadian band (The Tragically Hip) in an arena called the Canadian Tire Centre in the nation's capital it's starting a singalong of the national anthem, which happened last night too!

A clip from OLP's cover of  Locked in the Trunk of a Car last night:

 

 

Anyone who has lived in this country awhile is these days no doubt experiencing much the same thing as I am, which is a unity and demonstrative pride in Canada unlike any I've ever seen outside of Canada Day, the Olympics or hockey games. Much as Canadians love this nation, we're not ordinarily showy about it. With few exceptions Canadians are traditionally not flag-wavers, and when we sing the national anthem aloud (which is not often) it's generally underneath our breath. 

 

An antagonistic United States, making threats to our sovereignty and repeatedly disrespecting our Prime Minister, has unleashed something inside us that won't be put back in the bottle anytime soon. We're shopping Canadian, avoiding U.S. products and travel, and wearing our hearts on our sleeves.

I don't know how well you can make the sound out on the below video but OLP's Raine Maida had the CTC audience singing the national anthem late in their show in Ottawa last night. I've never seen anything like this at a rock concert before. The emotion in the arena was incredible.

Here are a couple of other clips from Our Lady Peace's amazing show in Ottawa last night. I always find myself thinking of Finn, from One Lonely Degree, during Clumsy in particular. She was fifteen when the book was released in 2009 which would make her around thirty-one now, but I know she'd still be hitting Our Lady Peace concerts.

 

 

 

Bill Withers, 1976 | public domain photo

I was so sad, this morning, to hear of the passing of the great Bill Withers. I was feeling edgy walking down narrow pharmacy aisles yesterday trying to pick up all the things on my list. Some of the aisles were closed off for restocking and there were people in others so I had to circle around and come back when they'd gone. All in all it was taking ages and the longer I had to remain at the store the more nervous I felt about being out among even a small number of people during the COVID-19 pandemic. Then Lovely Day came on over the speakers and it felt like a sign, I relaxed.

Thank you, Bill Withers, for all the amazing music. It's made a difference in the lives of so many people and will continue to do so. In fact, in this crazy, uncertain and terrifying time we need your music more than ever.

Re-posting from my Tumblr yesterday:

This is what’s on my mind today as is the case with most of my countrymen: did anybody ever understand what we could be at our best and reflect it back to us the way Gord Downie did? We were incredibly lucky to have him for the time that we did, but this is such a hard day for Canada.

Yes, February made me shiver. This winter has been unusually brutal, extremely cold and snowy with very few breaks. And I can't believe we lost Philip Seymour Hoffman and Harold Ramis before their times. Such sad news.

This month I also started going to physio for knee and arch woes (ouch!). My dad's furnace broke down and had to be replaced and my mom was in her third snow-related car accident (thankfully she's fine but her car was totalled) within six weeks. So February hasn't been the best of times, but neither has it been the worst of times and I wanted to blog about some of the good things that happened this month before it gets away from me.

Things like Paddy having Valentine's Day off which allowed us to spend the day together. We spent part of it tromping around Oakville in the snow. Indeed the laneways were such a wintery white that the town nearly appeared like someplace else.

Below you can see Oakville's " Homecoming Trail" looking ever so pretty in the snow. If you gaze closely enough you'll see the pier jutting off to the left. Even years after writing Come See About Me the location always make me think of Leah and Liam!

I felt a bit sorry for this reindeer buried under layers of snow in a Christmas arrangement outside a local business. Surely with the holiday long behind us the reindeer should be off duty by now and allowed to go on its merry way?

Wonderful Canadian author Monica Kulling (who penned the Mister Dash books and the Great Ideas series) very kindly sent me a copy of her beautiful new picture book, The Tweedles Go Electric this month. Thanks so much, Monica! The Tweedles have already garnered a glimmering star from Kirkus which described the book as, "A fine joke, well-delivered, and as clever as it is timely."

And here's what I had to say on Goodreads:

"The clever Tweedle family are bound to attract a slew of young fans with this infectiously fun and visually fetching tale. I wanted to jump into the book the way Mary Poppins and her young charges did with chalk drawings, and stay there awhile."

Don't you just love the Tweedles' spiffy green electric automobile? Every time I look at the cover I like to pretend I'm the woman on the Penny Farthing bicycle.

I couldn't possibly talk about February without mentioning the fantastic Blue Rodeo gig Paddy and I caught at Massey Hall on the 20th. If you live in the GTA you'll remember that day as the one we caught unexpected late afternoon/rush hour snow which turned to evening rain. But what better way to spend a rainy night than watching Blue Rodeo play most of the tracks from their new album, In Our Nature, as well as old favourites like Rose Coloured Glasses and 5 Days in May? You can take a look at the entire setlist here.

We were fortunate to have fourth row centre tickets and from my seat I had a good view of one of the security folks singing along with Head Over Heels (he knew all the words) in the centre aisle.

Below are a handful of concert shots I took on the night, and to hope that the rest of the month will be as much fun as the Blue Rodeo show would be wildly unrealistic, but at least I have The Tweedles and their world to keep me company. There's no snow where the Tweedles live, I've noticed, and no chilly temperatures. No need for snow tires or outerwear any heavier than a blazer!

 

I think I may just have set a record for days between my blog entries. The short trip to Montreal in early May aside, it's been all WIP all-the-time. But now I'm going to catch you up a bit, starting with the Come See About Me cover change. When I released my new adult book last June, it was with cover number one (pictured below). Browsing through tons and tons of stock photos for purchase this melancholy looking girl seemed to perfectly represent main character Leah's emotional state for much of the book. Physically she's the right age and type too. But one of the interesting things about self-publishing is that content and covers need not be set in stone.

While Come See About Me remains exactly the same story as it was last summer, in early fall of 2012 I altered the cover a little. I liked the idea of having Leah and Bastien's relationship appear on the cover—the sight of what Leah has lost. You'll notice the third cover is extremely similar to the second. Ultimately I wasn't happy with the white band in the centre where the title appears on cover two. I still like this third cover better than the second but I missed the simplicity of that lone image of Leah. So after some many hours in Photoshop trying to hone that image and simplify it futher, I arrived at the current and final cover of Come See About Me. If you've watched my web page over the years you know I can tinker with graphics forever and a day, but I'm not going to do that anymore with this cover. I'm finally wholly satisified with it.

The new cover already appears on Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, iTunes etc. but it takes awhile for the changes to filter down to various vendors so you may happen to see it with an older cover up for sale somewhere. If you purchase a paperback copy through Amazon or CreateSpace this is what the jacket will look like!

Something I want to point out for anyone who enjoys middle grade adventure stories of the Choose Your Own Adventure/Which Way variety is that I've posted for free a similar style book I penned at seventeen/eighteen. It's called Indigo Island Adventures and netted me my first publishing rejection when I sent it to Bantam in 1987. You can click the below cover to download your own pdf copy. It's suitable for readers 9 and up and typing it into Word I still got a kick out of it all these years later.

In just over three weeks I'll be heading off to Ireland for the annual visit which means it's about time I posted something about our trip to Montreal. The Billy Bragg shows in both Toronto and Montreal were fantastic (as always). But the Montreal gig was especially enjoyable because it was at such an intimate venue. Here's a clip of Tank Park Salute from that night (May 5, Club Soda, Montreal) shot from the vantage point of the balcony:

and here's a snippet from Sexuality that same night:

The Montreal magic started on our train journey from Toronto when a crying baby prompted an older gent a few rows up from us to treat our entire car to a beautiful rendition of I'll Be Seeing You. And the magic never let up. Every day of our early May trip was a perfectly sunny 24 - 27 degrees Celsius. It was as if summer arrived on May 5th, the day we stepped off the train in downtown Montreal, and funnily enough it hasn't been as consistently warm since. Because I've snapped plenty of photos of Montreal in the past I didn't take quite so many this time, but there are a few below. And you can click check out my Montreal snaps from April 2010, April 2011, and December 2007.

Outside Notre-Dame

Place Jacques-Cartier, Old Montreal.

Shop front in Old Montreal

Square St-Louis was closed for construction while we were in town (don't miss this spot if you're heading to Montreal during fine weather, it's one of a kind), dashing out hopes of having an ice cream there. But there were still a handful of people in the park and after some observation we discovered the gap in the fence.

so couldn't resist heading inside anyway.

Billy Bragg on the marquee, Club Soda, May 5

Having lunch at St-Viateur Bagel on the Plateau-Mont-Royal. I would eat lunch here every day if I could and in this photo I'm smiling extra hard in anticipation of a scrumptious bagel lunch and knowing that back-lit you won't be able to see me (not a huge fan of getting my photo taken).

Cool shop on the Plateau-Mont-Royal where I bought a neat courier bag. But, yeah, the Coca-Cola stuff helped draw me in.

Ah, the architecture!

Merci, Montreal! À la prochaine.

I tend to write a lot of blog entries in my mind. Many that don't make it to the page because of the time involved and especially lately I've been concentrating on fiction. Spending quality time with my grant book. It's been wonderful, at times, and challenging, at times. Sometimes it's both of those things at the exact same time! But I hope that when I'm finished the new YA book I'll be able to translate some more of my unwritten blog entries into words.

Before any of that happens, though, I'll be taking a short book break to spend a few days in Montreal. Billy Bragg's currently on a North American tour and since I haven't seen him live since 09 catching only his Toronto gig didn't seem enough. So we're heading out to Montreal to see him play there too: Bragg-o-mania! In anticipation I've been listening to his new album, Tooth & Nail, over and over today.

When I'm sitting at my laptop actively working on a book I need silence but today has been what the Irish call "a doss day." A lovely one at that. The warmest, sunniest day we've had in Southern Ontario in months and months. So what did we do with it? Well, we drove out to the next town over (Billy Bragg accompanying us on the stereo) where we didn't have to pay for parking because a woman leaving the lot generously gave us her unused minutes. Then we munched on melts and pasta salad in a cute little coffee house, strolled on the beach and sat on the warm sand. Drove halfway home (Billy Bragg once again providing the soundtrack) and stopped into a European supermarket, terrific used bookstore that must not have been open long because I've never seen it before, and a wonderful British import shop that I love to death. Bought crisps, British chocolate and an off-shoot show of Spooks that I've never seen: Code 9. If you've read my new adult book Come See About Me this shop will be familiar to you because it's one of a few that I based Leah's workplace on. In my dreams I win the lottery and buy a shop exactly like this!

While at the bookshop I overheard a customer at the register. Upon realizing he was offering too much money for his books (overpaying) he remarked to the clerk, "Oh well, it's only money, —I would rather have the books." The remark made me grin to myself in my corner of the bookstore. It was a perfect comment in a perfect day. I hope that before I get back here to blog again you all have some perfect days on the way too! And thanks, always and forever, to Billy Bragg, for the music, the poetry, and for being a voice of compassion and reason.

Just a reminder that the Yesterday blog tour begins tomorrow at Diary of a Bookworm! There are also some swoon-worthy reviews of Yesterday starting to appear including ones from CM Magazine: Canadian Review of Material, Happy Owl Books, Dark Faerie Tales, Stacked, Boekie's Book Reviews and YA Reads where Yesterday is the book of the month and you can enter to win 1 of 3 copies.

With Yesterday hitting shelves this coming Tuesday, sadly it's time to wrap up my nostalgic musings on the 80s. But first, here's the concluding post about music from 1980-1985.

People's relationship to music was very different pre-Internet and as a teenager I haunted my local record stores to browse and purchase new music. Better still was when I could travel to downtown Toronto to hang out in Sam the Record Man, with its vast collection of offerings (I've never stopped missing Sam's!). I also spent alot of time—more than most people I knew—listening to the radio and watching MuchMusic and the video shows that preceeded it.

The 80s was a terrifically dynamic time for music and I think many people would agree that pop music doesn't get any more angsty than Morrissey singing:

"There's a club if you'd like to go
You could meet somebody who really loves you
So you go and you stand on your own
And you leave on your own
And you go home and you cry
And you want to die."

The 80s just wouldn't have been the eighties without the edgy ache of new wave. I still ache when I hear songs like How Soon is Now, Yazoo's Nobody's Diary, Depeche Mode's Somebody, Tears for Fears' Mad World or Bronski Beat's Smalltown Boy. How could anyone not?

There's a naked honesty in these songs—a depth of emotion that I have wonder if we've almost become afraid of in this age bent on cynicism and obsessed with superficialities. Not that 80s music consisted solely of opening up an emotional vein and bleeding onto the vinyl, to be sure. The first half of the decade (since that what's I'm concentrating on in this series) is also chock full of damn fine lighter fare too, songs full of sunshine and optimism or even ones that didn't have much to say but just made you want to dance or punch the air. Remember these fantastic tunes?

The Go-Go's, We Got The Beat:

Banarama, Shy Boy

Duran Duran, Is There Something I Should Know

Howard Jones, Things Can Only Get Better

The Belle Stars, Sign of the Times

In a Big Country, Big Country

Haircut One Hundred, Love Plus One

If you've already read Yesterday you'll remember that early on main character Freya becomes friends with a couple of new wave kids who stick out in the school hallways. During 1985, as I lived, it there were very visible groups of new wavers at school—diehard fans of bands like The Smiths, Depeche Mode, The Cure, The Psychedic Furs, and Echo and The Bunnymen who emulated the style of such bands. But the new wavers weren't the only hardcore music fans at my high school—there was a second group that was equally passionate about hard rock and heavy metal bands. At that time, teens ins Southern Ontario referred to this group as "rock-ons." While the new wavers generally wore pale makeup, dyed their hair black and dressed in dark clothing, the "rock-ons" had their own distinct style which consisted mainly of mullets and Kodiak boots (perpetually untied). Although overall I enjoyed new wave music more than hard rock I never fully committed to either camp and bought music from across the spectrum (all my babysitting music went on tapes, vinyl and concert tickets). Here are a few of my favourite hard rock songs from the early 80s:

Scorpions, Still Loving You

Saga, Scratching the Surface

Def Leppard, Photograph

AC/DC, You Shook Me All Night Long

Marillion, Kayleigh

Van Halen, I'll Wait

Twisted Sister, We're Not Gonna Take It

Finally, although the 80s isn't generally regarded as a sexy time like the free love era of the sixties (which Freya visits in virtual reality) there were some pretty hot songs. Here are some of my personal favourites from 1980-85.

Modern English, I Melt With You

INXS, The One Thing

Adam and the Ants, Physical THIS ONE IS HEAT FACTOR 10.
Proceed with caution!

Romeo Void, Never Say Never

'You Shook Me All Night Long' by AC/DC (embedded earlier in the page! Scroll up)

Bryan Ferry, Slave to Love

Bryan Ferry, Windswept

Blondie, Call Me

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, I Love Rock N' Roll

The Rolling Stones, Start Me Up

Sheena Easton, For Your Eyes Only

There's nothing like music to hurl you back in time and in a way that means I visit the 80s not infrequently, but I'm happy to have had a longer stay in the past thanks to Yesterday. If you read the book I hope you'll also enjoy the trip.

The best music is both a pathway to the past and timeless and I'm going to close this entry on a song that is both those things a tune I consider to be one of the most inspirational songs from the 80s from British band Talk Talk.

Read the Rest of the series:
* The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there
* The past is a foreign country: 80s TV
* The past is a foreign country: 80s Movies
* The past is a foreign country: 80s Toys and Technology

To celebrate Yesterday's release, in the run-up to September 25th I'll be blogging about the early 80s (1980-1985). Just like Yesterday's main character, Freya, I was sixteen in 1985 and if you were a teenager then too, these blog entries will be a trip down memory lane, back to the days of new wave music and the glory of Atari. If you weren't around for the early 80s, welcome to the time before cell phones you could fit in your pocket and the Internet as we know it today! This first post is an introduction to the period and will give you an idea (or remind you) what was happing culturally and politically during that time. Ready? Let's get started.

1980

* The arcade game PacMan is released in Japan in May and then in October in the U.S.A. sparking PacMan mania in 1981.
* John Lennon is assassinated in New York City.
* Ted Turner establishes CNN, the first all news TV service.
* The Rubik's Cube gains worldwide popularity.
* The world population is 4,434,682,000.
* In 1980 the average new house in the U.S. costs $68,714., the average U.S. income per year is $19,170 and a gallon of gas costs $1.19.
* Terry Fox launches his Marathon of Hope, a cross-Canada run to raise money for cancer research.

1981

* An assassination attempt is made on U.S. President Reagan.
* AIDS is first recognized by the CDC: five men in Los Angeles have a rare form of pneumonia seen only in patients with weakened immune systems.
* IBM introduces Personal Computers (PC).
* After fourteen months, fifty-two American hostages are released, ending the Iran hostage crisis, within minutes of Ronald Reagan succeeding Jimmy Carter as the President of the United States.
* Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer are married at St Paul's Cathedral in London drawing a global TV audience of over 700 million people.
* On August 1st the 24 hour a day music television station MTV is launched on cable television in the U.S.
* The first launch of a space shuttle (Columbia) occurs.
* Luke and Laura get married on TV soap General Hospital. Their wedding becomes the second most watched in history.

1982

* Argentina invades the Falkland Islands.
* Michael Jackson releases Thriller which sells 20 million copies making it the largest selling album up to that time.
* The Vietnam War Memorial opens in Washington, DC.
* Prince William is born in West London.
* Sony launches the first consumer compact disc player.
* The Commodore 64 PC is released.
* Time Magazine names the computer its man of the year.
* The first artificial heart transplant takes place, the receipent lives 112 days.
* The Toyota Camry is introduced.

1983

* The popularity of Cabbage Patch Kids causes a Christmas shopping frenzy in the U.S.
* Camcorders are introduced.
* President Reagan announces a defense intiative to intercept enemy missiles, a plan which becomes popularly known as "Star Wars."
* The first flight of the Space Shuttle Challenger occurs in April. Several months later Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space.
* A Provisional IRA bomb kills 6 Christmas shoppers and injures 90 outside Harrods in London.
* McDonald's introduces the McNugget.

1984

* The PG-13 Movie rating is created.
* The Apple Macintosh is introduced and swells the ranks of new computer users.
* The Space Shuttle Discovery lands after its maiden voyage.
* Stonewashed jeans are introduced.
* Famine in Ethiopia begins, killing a million people by the end of the year.
* Crack, a smokeable form of cocaine, is first introduced in the LA area and soon spreads across the U.S.
* Canadian Music TV station MuchMusic launches on August 31.
* Novelist William Gibson coins the term cyberspace in his book Neuromancer.

1985

* Continuing famine in Ethiopia prompts the Live Aid Rock Concerts in London and Philadelphia which raise over $600M for famine relief.
* The Hole in the ozone layer, first detected in 1977, is now indisputable.
* Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the last president of the Soviet Union.
* New Coke hits the Market, flops and is quickly replaced with Coke Classic ( the original formula).
* The wreck of the Titanic is discovered.
* The first Nintendo home entertainment system is introduced.
* Leaded gas is officially banned in the US.

And that, in a nutshell, was the first half of the 80's, the backdrop of events against which we all lived our lives from 1980 - 1985. Next time I'll be talking about my personal favourite TV shows from the period. Future posts will also cover music, movies and favourite technology/toys from the era. In the meantime, if you need more 80s in a hurry check out my post on my blast from the past vacation in 1981. Don't miss the photos!

Read the Rest of the  series:
* The past is a foreign country: 80s TV
* The past is a foreign country: 80s Movies
* The past is a foreign country: 80s Toys and Technology
* The past is a foreign country: 80s Music

I'm planning to post the first two chapters of Come See About Me up on my website in mid-April, with an e-book release date late in June. In the meantime there are several YA books I can't really talk about, in various stages of evolution—some ready to be submitted, one in an evaluation stage and yet another that's just a seedling at the moment (which means I've been working on it, but so far only in my head). At this point I'm wrestling with the seedling book nearly nonstop, except during the rare moments when my attention is being entirely directed elsewhere.

Twice during the last few days the seedling book has been forced out of my mind by exposure to other art. Specifically, terrific Canadian art. On Sunday I saw the French Canadian film that swept the Genies last month: Monsieur Lazhar.

The most emotionally intense moments of the film don't appear in the trailer but when they occur they're filled with a stunning amount of depth, warmth and truthfulness. In my opinion there's not one false note in the film and the two child actors with the largest parts offer breathtakingly subtle performances. Hands down this is the best movie I've seen since 2006's Children of Men. Please, please check it out if you haven't seen it. I know it's out on DVD now (not sure about Netflix because I don't have it) and if you're in Toronto, tonight is Monsieur Lazhar's final night at the Lightbox.

I was also lucky enough to get tickets to Our Lady Peace's sold-out gig at the Phoenix last night. Read a full review (and check out the setlist) at Canoe. It's such a treat to see an iconic Canadian rockband like OLP in an intimate club setting like the Phoenix. The crowd were pumped, the band was stellar and the show was a perfect blend of classics and material from the new album, Curve (which was released only yesterday), that left me dying to pick up the new CD. It's tough to pick a favourite song rendition from such a fantastic show but I have to go with 4AM.

I'm just sorry that the gig is over and that I'm not there now. Not that I don't want to hang out with seedling book some more but the breaks, and the inspiration are much appreciated!

Yes, I've stolen the title of a Billy Bragg track for my heading here. Any excuse to mention Billy Bragg! I haven't been to a Bragg gig since 2009 (the last time he was in Toronto) and find myself very much in withdrawal lately. So before I really get started pull up a chair and enjoy some Billy Bragg philosophy & music with me:

Young Bill on The Tube singing A New England in 1983

Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards with 2011 Lyrics

Interview and music clips from the Rapido show in the early 90s (sadly his comment on "the failure of capitalism to deliver the fruits of society to the majority of people" is ever more relevant)

Three of the greats—Michael Stipe, Natalie Merchant & Billy Bragg—perform Hello in There by American country/folk singer-songwriter John Prine back in 1990

Valentine's Day is Over

You'll notice, if the song Valentine's Day is Over is new to you, that Billy's singing it from the point of view of a survivor of domestic violence.

If you want to talk about it well you know where the phone is/
Don't come round reminding me again how brittle bone is

Thank you for the things you bought me thank you for the card/
Thank you for the things you taught me when you hit me hard/
That love between two people must be based on understanding/
Until that's true you'll find your things/
All stacked out on the landing, surprise, surprise

Clearly this is not a love song in the traditional sense, although it is very much a song about self-worth. I have to wonder if the girls and women who were tweeting things along the lines of I'd let Chris Brown beat me any day in the run-up to the Grammy's would get that or if domestic violence is just a joke to them? Because I remember those pictures of Rihanna after Chris Brown punched her in the face and to me there's nothing funny about that, or about being willing to swallow toxic cultural messages that say if you're powerful and rich enough (not to mention male) you can treat women however you want and still get invited to play at the Grammy's.

A brief reminder, in the form of a police statement, of the abuse Chris Brown committed against Rihanna:

A verbal argument ensued and Brown pulled the vehicle over on an unknown street, reached over Robyn F. with his right hand, opened the car door and attempted to force her out. Brown was unable to force Robyn F. out of the vehicle because she was wearing a seat belt. When he could not force her to exit, he took his right hand and shoved her head against he passenger window of the vehicle, causing an approximate one-inch raised circular contusion.

"Robyn F. turned to face Brown and he punched her in the left eye with his right hand. He then drove away in the vehicle and continued to punch her in the face with his right hand while steering the vehicle with his left hand. The assault caused Robyn F.'s mouth to fill with blood and blood to splatter all over her clothing and the interior of the vehicle.

"Brown looked at Robyn F. and stated, 'I'm going to beat the sh-- out of you when we get home! You wait and see!' "

This is what you're saying you're cool with, girls. And what the Grammy's is saying they're cool with.

Of course there were also people who were extremely upset about Chris Brown being invited to perform at the Grammy's:

* "It is absolutely unacceptable that someone who is known to have perpetuated violence against a woman has been so uncritically welcomed and promoted by the music industry."

—Feministing

* "Chris Brown twice? I don't get it. He beat on a girl ... Not cool that we act like that didn't happen."

—Country Star Miranda Lambert

* “We – the grown-up influencers in this country, the people with platforms and with educations and with power – are allowing a clear message to be sent to women: We will easily forgive a person who victimises you. We are able to look beyond the fact that you were treated as less than human, that a bigger, stronger person decided to resolve a conflict with you through violence. We know it happened, but it’s just not that big of a deal to us”.

—Sasha Pasulka, 'I'm not okay with Chris Brown performing at the Grammys and I'm not sure why you are'

* "All along, the business, Brown himself and just about every celebrity who's had anything to say about Rihanna and Chris Brown have treated the assault as a private domestic matter - or even, most creepily, as just one dark element of a star-crossed romance. The outright condemnations have been few. When it comes to partner assault - and when it comes to attitudes about women in general - big parts of the music industry seems to lag the rest of North American society by at least a half a century."
—Vancouver Sun

However, seemingly there were not enough irate people to convince the Grammy's Chris Brown had no place on their stage. I didn't watch the awards but I understand he was "welcomed with wild applause and a standing ovation."

I thank the people who publicly voiced their opposition to Chris Brown playing at the Grammy's, but if we want to reach a pointed where something like this doesn't happen again, and where our culture quits producing young women who say they're willing to be punched bloody by a celebrity, and where one in four women isn't physically abused in her lifetime, those of us—both male and female—who see domestic violence for the evil that it is and not something to be joked about or ignored, need to make a hell of a lot more noise. Speak up for your daughters, your friends, your sister, yourself. Valentine's Day is over.

Happy Groundhog Day! Apparently, Punxsutawney Phil has predicted another six weeks of winter but because so much of this winter thus far has felt distinctly April-like up here I can't really complain. Let winter roar or whisper, whichever it feels inclined to do I'm okay with at this point. Six weeks isn't long.

Since I last posted on the blog a synopsis for Yesterday has appeared on the Random House site so I've also added it here. I always find it both exciting and nerve-racking when the book I've been working on in my den begins to step out into the world. I want to show it off but shield it from danger and inclement weather at the same time. Yes, I am nothing if not conflicted!

Interestingly, I feel less protective the longer a book has been out there. So I don't worry about my first three books so much anymore (they're all grown up!) but I still feel protective of My Beating Teenage Heart. By the way, I found out that I Know It's Over made The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books February 2012 bulletin titled “Down and Dumped: A Heartbroken Dozen.” It's a Valentine's Day list for people looking to read about heartbroken protagonists and I Know It's Over is on there with lots of other great YA novels like The Boyfriend List, Audrey, Wait and Other Words for Love.

I also happen to be writing a book about love right now so I'm feeling by turns elated and raw. It's a total rollercoaster ride and there are a couple of lines from the Sam Roberts song Without A Map which sum up what I want this book to be:

“I surrender to the very mention of you/I hope I get to see you again.”

So in a way Sam Roberts is helping me write this book. And with that kind of help, I cannot fail!

The Christmas holidays may be a great time for turkey, plum pudding and sledding (if you have the weather for it), but one of the other things I love about the season is the feeling, after the main festivities are over with, that it's okay to slow down and smell the roses or, er, the snowflakes. I haven't been doing any writing during the past few days but I've been doing a heck of a lot of movie watching (including the adventures of my childhood hero Tintin!) and reading. One of the novels I devoured over the holidays is Amplified by Tara Kelly, which I'd been especially looking forward to tackling because I have a big ol' crush on rock fiction. Now I can officially say I have a big ol' crush on Amplified too. Main character Jasmine Kiss is an awesome guitarist, one hell of a strong girl and one hell of a mess too. Delicious drama with a hard rock edge.

Reading Amplified prompted me to put together this list of my favourite rock fiction. It was originally intended to be a top ten list but I couldn't decide which of the Superchick trilogy novels should make the list and even if I just named one, that would've left me with a top eleven list. Most of the below descriptions are the publisher's (because I'm lazy at this time of year and have a bad memory at the best of times) but they're all fantastic, highly enjoyable books, some of them YA and some of them adult. I consider them all perfect examples of crossover books, ones that would appeal equally to older teen and adult readers.

TOP 13

* Amplified (by Tara Kelly, 2011)
When privileged 17-year-old Jasmine gets kicked out of her house, she takes what is left of her savings and flees to Santa Cruz to pursue her dream of becoming a musician. Jasmine finds the ideal room in an oceanfront house, but she needs to convince the three guys living there that she's the perfect roommate and lead guitarist for their band, C-Side. Too bad she has major stage fright and the cute bassist doesn't think a spoiled girl from over the hill can hack it. . . .

* Chartbreak (also known as Chartbreaker, by Gillian Cross, 1987)
When Janis Finch storms out of a family row, it starts a chain of events which transforms her whole life. For it's in the motorway cafe, minutes later, that she meets the unknown rock band, Kelp, who talk her into coming to their gig that night. Janis goes along for the ride and finds herself increasingly provoked by Christie, Kelp's arrogant lead singer. He pushes her into singing with them, and winds her up into a fever of rage, awe, and attraction. So when Christie asks her to join the band, Janis feels powerless to refuse—and her life explodes.

* The Commitments (by Roddy Doyle, 1987)
Barrytown, Dublin, has something to sing about. The Commitments are spreading the gospel of the soul. Ably managed by Jimmy Rabitte, brilliantly coached by Joel 'The Lips' Fagan, their twin assault on Motown and Barrytown takes them by leaps and bounds from Paris Hall to immortality on vinyl. But can The Commitments live up to their name?

* The Exes (by Pagan Kennedy, 1998)
A hip and hilarious tour of the world of rock 'n' roll. The Exes, an up-and-coming indie band, is made up of people who used to be lovers. Progressing from jam sessions in a basement to second-rate clubs to a cross-country tour that requires them to share seedy hotel rooms—with their exes—the four band members reveal their quirks, their problems, and their fantasies in alternating narratives.

* Girl (by Blake Nelson, 1994) Meet Andrea Marr, straight-A high school student, thrift-store addict, and princess of the downtown music scene. Andrea is about to experience her first love, first time, and first step outside the comfort zone of high school, with the help of indie rock band The Color Green. *There's also a sequel called Dream School which came out on December 6th.

* Guitar Girl (by Sarra Manning, 2003)
Seventeen-year-old Molly Montgomery never planned on becoming famous. Molly's band, The Hormones, was just supposed to be about mucking around with her best mates, Jane and Tara, and having fun. But when the deliciously dangerous Dean and his friend T join the band, things start happening fast. Soon The Hormones are front-page news, and their debut album is rocketing up the charts. Molly is the force behind the band, but the hazards of fame, first love, screaming fans, and sleazy managers are forcing the newly crowned teen queen of grrl angst close to the edge. Fame never comes for free, and Molly's about to find out what it costs.

* High Fidelity (by Nick Hornby, 1995)
Pop music junkie and record store owner Rob finds that his myriad diversions after the breakup with his longtime girlfriend are not as entertaining as he thought they would be. This international bestseller was Nick Hornby's first novel.

* Live By Request (by Rob Payne, 2002)
On paper, Jay Thompson is a 26-year-old bartender going nowhere. But his burning desire is to be a working musician, or failing that, a working songwriter. Together in pursuit of the dream is his band, Archangel: Tyler, headstrong composer of the experimental rock opera "Space Oddity"; Jan, the sassy bass player and object of Jay's affection; and Noel, the Gap-wearing, scissor-kicking guitar player, who spends his days labouring in the corporate world. Set on the Canada-US border, Live By Request follows the exploits of a band on the run from bscurity, boredom, and sometimes, even themselves.

* Rock Star Superstar (by Blake Nelson, 2004)
Music is Pete’s life. He’s happiest when playing his Fender P-Bass. He doesn’t care about prestige or getting girls; it’s the quality of the music that matters. Then he meets the Carlisle brothers. They can’t sing and they can barely play, but somehow they have a following. Pete can’t resist, and he joins The Tiny Masters of Today. When the band gets a chance at real stardom, Pete wonders if he’s ready. He knows the music should come first . . . but who knew selling out could be so much fun?

* Superchick (2004), Rock and a Hard Place (2006), Ride On (by Stephen J. Martin, 2008)
The Superchick trilogy follows Jimmy Collins' journey from Dublin middle manager to full-blown rockstar along with his perpetually randy bandmate Aesop. All three novels absolutely bleed Irish sensibility which is a big part of their charm. I keep hoping some talented filmmaker will get them onto the screen and give these books the exposure they deserve.

* Vinyl Princess (by Yvonne Prinz, 2009)
Summer's here, and 16-year-old Allie, a self-professed music geek, is exactly where she wants to be: working full-time at Berkeley’s ultra-cool Bob and Bob Records. There, Allie can spend her days bantering with the street people, talking the talk with the staff, shepherding the uncool bridge-and-tunnel shoppers, all the while blissfully surrounded by music, music, music. It’s the perfect setup for her to develop her secret identity as The Vinyl Princess, author of both a brand-new zine and blog. From the safety of her favourite place on earth, Allie is poised to have it all: love, music and blogging . . .or is she?

Rock on!

I'm having my own personal eighties week up here in Southern Ontario with a Howard Jones gig this past Tuesday and Duran Duran show tonight and believe me, the air around me is rife with nostalgia and excitement. I was an enormous fan of both musical acts when I was a teenager and that music still totally gets to me. I mean, I still feel wistful when I hear Duran Duran's Save A Prayer, charged up when I listen to New Moon on Monday and like I want to make peace with the whole world when Howard Jones sings Like to Get to Know You Well. My Simon Le Bon crush is recorded in my old school yearbook (in the form of a French poem) for everyone to see and Howard Jones has to be one of the most positive performers I've ever seen play live. That's as true now as it was when I saw him at the Kingswood Music Theatre and Maple Leaf Gardens in the mid-eighties. He's infectiously warm, endearing and hopeful. How could you not love someone who sings about throwing off your mental chains?

Anyway, the funniest thing about the Howard Jones show (which was superb!) is that I've never seen so many people from a single demographic gathered in one place. Never. Literally ninety-nine percent of the people there were men and women I could've gone to high school with. The age range looked like it stretched from about three years younger than me to three years older and that—well it was kind of a shock. How did I get to be this old? Like, I must have fallen through a time portal or something because it doesn't seem possible. I know it's been a long time since high school (so long that it's highly possible I did go to high school with some of those folks at the show and just didn't recognize them) but I feel basically like the same person I was in university.

I guess maybe you always do because I could tell Howard Jones felt like the same person too. That's one of the things I love about seeing these fabulous acts that debuted in the eighties; they show those of us who grew up in the 80s and the bands/artists that played the songs that were the soundtrack to our lives that we're all still around doing our thing. So, hey, if in another twenty-plus years these guys are still touring I intend to still be in the audience, singing along to the songs I know by heart (even all those years later because, like Depeche Mode sang, I Just Can't Get Enough) and I'm guessing many of the people who I could've gone to high school with will be there too.

Eighties forever!

Update (October 28)

Now I can say I sang Happy Birthday to Simon Le Bon! Loved Duran Duran's mix of Wild Boys and Relax at the ACC last night. So great to see the band and audience having so much fun throughout the night.

The first time I remember seeing an Inukshuk in person was on a trip to Vancouver in 2007. It was the inukshuk that overlooks English Bay off Vancouver's west coast to be exact. Possibly I'd seen an inukshuk before that but somehow failed to register the fact, but anyway, since that 07 trip I've always found the sight of them comforting.

In recent years I've noticed that someone near our bit of Lake Ontario likes to build inukshuks. I never see them at it, mind you, just spy the evidence of their efforts. The below inukshuk was standing by the rocky shore of the lake late this afternoon. It was fairly large (although I don't think you can tell that from the below photo I snapped of it) and, as usual, it gave me a good feeling. According to my research, "The traditional meaning of the inukshuk is 'Someone was here' or 'You are on the right path.'" I especially like the idea of being assured you're on the right path and wish there were more tangible signs of this sort in our lives. Sometimes it's really tough to know if you're doing the right thing — in relationships, in your career, and in so many different realms. Like in the poem The Road Not Taken, we always seem to be coming to forks in the road. Choices.

I admit I've wondered, sometimes, if in becoming a writer I've allowed myself to travel too far down a rocky road that's only destined to get rockier or even disappear entirely. I can't imagine not writing but am I delusional to think I can make enough money to support myself by writing novels at a time when bookstores are disappearing, piracy is a chronic problem and the big publishers seem ever more like Hollywood studios in their choice of blockbuster material? I wrote that in past tense—wondered—as though I've finished turning the question over in my mind, but no, I still wonder. I wondered during the writing of My Beating Teenage and again during the novels I wrote after it. No doubt I will wonder again in the future (possibly even again and again and again) but I'm glad I didn't let that stop me from writing My Beating Teenage Heart and glad that very soon now it'll be finding its way out into the world. It's the most emotionally draining book I've ever written and while I think all my novels are both what people would term edgy while simultaneously wearing their hearts on their sleeves I believe that's most true of My Beating Teenage Heart.

I'm expecting revisions for my fifth book to arrive sometime Monday so I probably won't be posting on My Beating Teenage Heart's release day (the 27th) or the next little while, but you can catch up with the second week of my blog tour:

 Sunday, September 25: Hannah at Paperback Treasures (Character Book Picks)

 Monday, September 26: Cyndi M at Dog Eared and Bookmarked (Author Interview w/ Music Line
Answers)

 Tuesday, September 27: Kari at A Good Addiction (Character Interview: Breckon)

 Wednesday, September 28: Jen D at What's On the Bookshelf (Review)

 Thursday, September 29: Bailey at IB Book Blogging (Multicharacter Interview)

 Friday, September 30: Ashley B at Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing (Review)

If you're interested in checking out the songs I'd include on a playlist for My Beating Teenage Heart I have them posted here but the one I want to highlight today is one of my favourite songs from 2009—Geraldine by Glasvegas. I love this song to bits and, really, how many passionate rock songs about social workers do we hear? The lyrics absolutely fit the role Ashlyn comes to play in Breckon's life in My Beating Teenage Heart. I think many (if not most) of us need some kind of guiding and understanding voice/voices in our lives to get us through the hardest times. Sometimes we might be surprised who those people turn out to be. Sometimes they'll be close friends and family, other times teachers, social workers, therapists, religious figures, fellow members of support groups. And sometimes, we will be that voice for others.

I wanted to send some sort of electronic post-card from 1981 but of course since there was no Internet that wasn't possible. I did end up getting some snaps taken with a couple of my favourite bands from that time. Simon Le Bon looks so serious in this picture but he was really charming and funny (hence the fact that I couldn't stop smiling although the members of Duran Duran were obviously trying to exude a more sombre attitude here). Andy Taylor was rocking the Andy Warhol look.

You can see that I got into the spirit of Antmusic for my photo with Adam and the Ants. I admit I got kind of attached to the swashbuckling highway man look and walked around with my silk sash on for the rest of the day. Also, Adam humoured me by teaching me the Prince Charming dance and didn't even complain when I sang him my favourite line from Car Trouble in an embarrassingly off-key voice: “You don't need anything after an icecream.”

It was a fabulous trip and I highly recommend 1981 as a vacation destination. I wish I had more time to talk about it but I have to get down to editing here. I hope all my fellow Canadians had a most excellent Canada Day!

For the next little while I'll be on summer holiday and so won't be posting here (or elsewhere, for that matter). It could be some time before I return to the blog because once I'm back there's a good chance I could be jumping straight into revisions for book 5.

Anyway, before I go I want to tell you a bit about my vacation because this is something I'm really excited about. I'm heading someplace I haven't been in thirty years, somewhere my money will go much further but there'll be a whole lot less TV and no Internet for the masses. I've been there before but since I was really young last time around I didn't pay much attention—this time I plan to take notice of everything! Vacation destination photo hint below:

My travel agent has finalized all the arrangements and quite soon now I'll be on my way to (drumroll)...1981! For those of you who have never been there or, like me, haven't been there lately, here are some fast facts about 1981:

• the global population was roughly 4.5 billion
• the median household income in the United States was $19,074
• the cost of a new home in the United States was $83,000
• a gallon of milk went for $2.22 in the U.S.
• it was the year MTV debuted
• aspartame was approved by the FDA
• The Yukon Gold potato was introduced
• Lean Cuisine frozen dinners first appeared in American supermarkets
• IBM introduced its Personal Computer (PC)
• Pope John Paul II was wounded by a gunman
• the U.S. hostages in Iran were freed
• an assasination attempt was made on President Ronald Regan

And to give you a further cultural snapshot here are some number one singles from the U.K. and U.S. in 1981

Jessie's Girl, Rick Springfield

Prince Charming, Adam and the Ants

Under Pressure, David Bowie and Queen

Jealous Guy, Roxy Music (*caution, I think it may be impossible to watch any live Bryan Ferry performances from this period without swooning)

Don't You Want Me, Human League

The Tide is High, Blondie

There are many things I plan to do while in 1981. A few musical highlights of the trip will be watching Adam and the Ants play Tokyo (the videos up on YouTube look fantastic—it's time for me to see the real thing!), Billy Bragg (Mr. Love and Justice himself) gigging with his band Riff Raff before they break up later in the year and catching Simon and Garfunkel's free concert in Central Park along with half a million other people. Of course, I'll also have to make it into the MTV studio to watch the station's debut as they play their very first video, Video Killed the Radio Star.

You can't go back to 1981 without watching the Royal Wedding so I'll be stopping into St. Paul's Cathedral to see Princess Diane and Prince Charles tie the knot. I also plan to witness the first flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia and watch (live) Scott Hamilton win the U.S. male figure skating championship and then take gold in the World Championship. Go, Scotty!

I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark at the movie theatre during my first time in 1981 but couldn't snack on popcorn back then because of my braces. Sob! This trip will see me rectifying that wrong by stuffing my face with buttery popcorn while watching Harrison Ford proclaim his fear of snakes and battle nazis on the big screen.

As for the small screen, since I wasn't normally allowed to stay up after Love Boat to watch Fantasy Island on Saturday nights I will be good and sure to stay awake well past ten o'clock and watch both ABC shows back to back (also while stuffing my face with popcorn!) while in 1981 this time.

As a Canadian, one of the wonderful things about being in 1981 will be knowing that the country has decent political leadership back there (Pierre Trudeau). It's going to be hell coming back to an epically small-minded, cold-hearted, ethically-challenged Tory majority government, I tell you! But let's not put a dent in my holiday enthusiasm by dwelling on the negatives.

Because 1981 was the height of Pacmania I fully expect to indulge in some ghost munching during the vacation. Depending on how much spare time I have, I could drop into my old school (which back then had grades 7 to 10 but which subsequently transformed into a full high school meaning I was able to attend the school all the way from grade 7 through 13, yes we had 13 grades in Ontario then!) and tell a certain teacher of mine how much she sucked. But I probably won't. Better just to let it go, right? Who wants to deal with unpleasantness during their vacation?

One thing I will absolutely make time for is dropping in to visit my Aunt's Airedale Terrier who was the BEST DOG EVER. I wonder if he'll recognize 2011 me as the same kid he knows in 1981? It wouldn't surprise me.

Of course, there are some people I'd love to catch up with who have since passed on but are alive and well in 1981—my grandparents and several of my uncles—and other folks I've lost track of over the years but as you know, that would be breaking the rules of time travel so I'll have to be content to watch them from a safe distance.

I hope you also have a wonderful summer vacation, whether you're spending it at home, some other place or some other time. See you back in 2011 later in the summer!

There are finally some video clips from last Friday's Airborne Toxic Event show at The Opera House in Toronto up so I thought I'd post them here for fellow (or future!) TATE fans. I'm already more than ready to see the band again so I hope it won't be so very long until they're back in town.

Gasoline:

Papillon:

Does This Mean You're Moving On? (You won't actually see much later in the clip because it's one of the points during the night that lead singer Mikel Jollet disappeared into the crowd to sing):

All I Ever Wanted:

They also performed This Losing, one of the first tracks I heard from them back before their first album was released in 08. It's not on either of their albums but it's a testament to the band's talent that This Losing is every bit as good as the songs that do actually appear on their CDs. So far there's no live footage of this one from the Toronto show so the below clip is actually them playing it live at the El Ray Theatre in L.A. on April 27, 2011:

And last but not least Friday's (May 20th) appearance on David Letterman where they sang Changing:

I was also lucky enough to see Irish writer Emma Donoghue speak about her enthralling 2010 novel Room this past Wednesday. The Oakville public library will be posting a podcast of her talk which I'll link to once it's up. Room's already gathered a mountain of accolades so it definitely doesn't need me to recommend it but the narration by five-year-old Jack completely blew me away. At one point in the novel I couldn't sleep for worrying what was going to become of Jack and his mother and had to get out of bed and continue reading until two in the morning!

In speaking about the novel Emma Donoghue herself was completely candid and effortlessly charming so if you enjoyed Room it's definitely worth your time to listen to the podcast.

If you haven't read it yet, you might want to watch the Room book trailer and think about picking up a copy. While the material is emotionally challenging it's not graphic and Jack himself is such a charismatic narrator that there are times the book even seems (unlikely as it seems considering the horrifying situation Jack and his mother are in) almost whimsical.