Tell us about your book

This book, The Suite Life – The Magic and Mystery of Hotel Living, is the book I have always wanted to write, always intended to write, but never got around to writing until the perfect set of elements and circumstances converged in a kind of wonderful harmony that allowed me to not just write the book but to write it exactly as I had always envisioned it and to literally live a long held dream at the same time.

Throughout my youth I was always mesmerized by hotels and hotel livings – I was conceived in the Royal York Hotel and my grandparents both worked there. I grew up hearing the name “The Royal York” so much that it became part of my subconscious and came to mean something much more than just the name of a place. Then throughout my professional life as a writing and celebrity interviewer for television I found myself doing those interviews in the Royal York because it was a location I was more comfortable in than any other I could come up with. Throughout my career as an interviewer I would find myself in some of the finest hotels in the world speaking with actors and writers and directors who had chosen the hotel life about why they make such a choice – I would ask that because it was something I had always wondered about and dreamed of doing myself.

Finally, after eight books published in seven or eight languages around the world I finally had the opportunity of moving in to a hotel to live and write there, not just any hotel, but my beloved Royal York Hotel, and I would finally get to write my book on hotel living and hotel culture that I had always wanted to write.

How did you research your work?

That was the beauty of writing this book – I have been researching it by actually living it – I moved in to the Royal York and for almost two years I lived and breathed the place in all its epic eccentricity and grandeur. Before that I had been living the research with every trip to hang out with a celebrity in the fine hotels of New York, Los Angeles, Miami, France and many other parts near and far in the world.

Describe you ideal writing environment.

I don’t have an ideal environment to write in but I do prefer to write everything in long hand first – handwriting to me is part of the romanticism of the writer’s life that I first dreamed about as a kid when I would ditch school to go reading in the library and would get lost in biographies of Hemingway and Hecht and Chandler and Melville. To this day I have written all nine of my books in long hand first, all of the countless magazine and newspaper profiles and pieces in long hand first.

What inspired you to write your first book?

Being an author was what I had wanted to be since I can remember first wanting to be anything but before getting to actually be that I took a detour into the world of television as a host (celebrity interviewer and movie reviewer) and it was through that circuitous route that I ended up being able to realize the dream of becoming an author. I was in New York City interviewing film director James Cameron for television – Cameron enjoyed our conversation so much he kept copies of the tapes to use parts of the interview in the corporate video for his production company, Lightstorm Entertainment. When the interview aired it caught the eye of an editor at Doubleday who suggested to me that a book on Canadian James Cameron was something they would love to work with me on. This lead to the writing and publication of my first book – Dreaming Aloud – The Life and Films of James Cameron.

What are your reading right now?

Currently I am reading a new biography of a filmmaking hero of mine – the brilliant writer and filmmaker and raconteur John Huston. The book is called John Huston – Courage and Art by Jeffrey Meyers.

Year after year, my family and I would celebrate by watching the local fireworks show from our backyard. We’d feast on delicious barbecue, huddle under blankets, and wave sparklers around until the awe-inspiring display would erupt overhead. The night would end with the ceremonial burning of paper schoolhouses, which I’m now told are extremely lame, but as a kid, I thought were oh-so-cool and rebellious.

Things have changed a lot since then. I no longer live in my hometown, though I’m lucky to be close enough to family that I can go back whenever I want. Instead, my last few Canada Days have been spent in Toronto, trying to reconcile my small town memories with the big city celebrations. Sometimes I end up feeling lost amongst all the clamour – too many things are happening and there just isn’t enough time to do it all.

This year, I have developed a strict timeline to optimize everything that Canada Day has to offer. I will be taking in an afternoon Jays game, followed by dinner at a wonderful Mexican restaurant (what could possibly be more Canadian?!), and then the ultimate search begins… first, for the best possible location to scope the fireworks, and second, for the best treat ever invented by mankind: funnel cake.

Yes, it’s true.  As an adult, my enjoyment of Canada Day really does come down to whether or not I can get my hands on this amazing fried confection. It’s one of the best things I’ve discovered since moving to the city that I could never find in my hometown.

If you haven’t tried funnel cake, you must. Right away. Don’t wait! You will not regret it. Deep-fried dough topped with strawberry preserve, powdered sugar, and yes, vanilla soft-serve ice cream. I defy anyone who is not immediately smitten by its deliciousness.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that in lieu of my old family traditions, I’m trying to make new ones. Funnel cake may have replaced homestyle bbq and burning schoolhouses, but my feelings about this awesome holiday still haven’t changed.

So what are your plans for this long weekend? Do you have any Canada Day traditions to keep alive this year?

If you’re like me, you silently thanked the meteorological gods that you work in an air conditioned office, and spent your nights listening to the thunderstorms that rolled by.

There’s also been a lot of talk among my friends this week about summer getaway plans. Since the heat has finally pushed away the cold, dreariness the entire month of May brought us, suddenly plans for the cottage, or weekend trips to Niagara county are being tossed around more seriously. Images of lounging lakeside on a Muskoka chair, with a beer and a full bottle of SPF 60 nearby are becoming more realistic… and of course, there’s always a book with me on the dock.

My summer reading has kicked into overdrive, and I’ve had more conversations with friends about “what I’m reading” and if I can “recommend a good book.” I normally pride myself on being able to suggest titles to friends that suit their tastes and interests, but I’ve been reading some pretty random stuff as of lately, mostly focused on classics. Not all people dig that kind of literature. That being said, I’m pumped that I’ve found a solid go-to recommendation for an engaging series to soak up as you take in your vacation scenery.

Last summer I was all about Don Easton’s Jack Taggart series (the fifth, Dead Ends, is due out in July! Have you pre-ordered yet?), but my time so far as been dedicated to C.B. Forrest’s Charlie McKelvey mysteries.

The Weight of Stones is the first novel, and introduces us to McKelvey, a Toronto cop no longer happy on the job, slowly losing grip on his marriage, and so deep grieving the murder of his son that the only thing fueling each day is a quest to prove a kingpin biker gang mogul is responsible for the crime. Forced retirement leaves McKelvey to focus on his rogue investigation full time, where he discovers some surprising figures who knew his son and were involved with his death. I devoured this book in two days!

I’m now in the throes of Slow Recoil, the second in the series. It’s fresh off a nomination for the Arthur Ellis Awards in the Best Crime Novel category (note: The Weight of Stones was also nominated when it released!), and shows us a McKelvey that is seemingly sinking back into a less-than-happy existence after a glimmer of hope was offered in its predecessor. McKelvey is now investigating what he believes is the disappearance of a Bosnian immigrant, but underneath what seems like a missing person’s case is a conspiracy for war crimes retribution.

These books are gonna suck you in, and when you’re looking for a temporary retreat from the rat race while you lounge about in the heat, these are just the ticket. I should also mention that the third installment, The Devil’s Dust, will be releasing next year. Perfect time to get addicted (uh… no pun intended).

What are you reading this summer?

Image taken from Google Images

Greetings everyone, and happy belated new years wishes to you all!

We’re getting back in the swing of things here at Dundurn after a bit of an extended holiday break. It’s taken a while for us to settle into our routine, and even longer for some people in particular (read: yours truly). After finally getting comfy back at the promo lounge, I’ve spent the last two weeks diving straight into our winter and upcoming spring releases. What better way to kick of 2011 than give you all a preview of things to come?

Many of us around here are excited for Six Metres of Pavement by Farzana Doctor to arrive back from our printers. It’s already gotten some great early praise from Publishers Weekly! Cases of parents and/or guardians accidentally leaving their children locked inside over or under heated vehicles have made the news more frequently in recent years, and Farzana’s book explores the aftermath of such incident for one man. Look for Farzana’s book trailer coming soon as well!

Triumph at Kapyong by Dan Bjarnason is a detailed look at one of the probably least-known Canadian war efforts. During the Korean War, a group of rag-tag Canadian soldiers were attacked by a band of Korean soldiers. Outnumbered and outpowered, it seemed only a matter of time before the Canadians fell… but they didn’t. They heroically stood their ground throughout the night and overpowered the skilled Korean forces. With the anniversary of this battle to be celebrated this April, the book honours an important part of our military history.

And for you mystery-fanatics out there (me! me!), Jill Downie’s Daggers and Men’s Smiles will surely hit the spot. It’s a sexy, international thriller, set on the English Channel Island of Guernsey. A film company is being attacked on the set of a new production, but when vandalism escalates to murder, the pressure is on Detective Inspector Ed Moretti to solve the case.

This is just a quick look at the titles I’m most looking forward to reading, and in some cases, working on. We’ve got a season packed with exciting YA, interesting regional history, and much more. Hope you all stay tuned!

In our publicity efforts for Toronto Sketches 10 and for his spring release, Trillium and Toronto Island, I asked Mike to share with me some “little known facts” or simply put, interesting trivia, that I could include in my releases to help pique the interest of potential reviewers. He always sends me over some great information, so I thought it might be worthwhile to share these with our readers.

Enjoy!

Toronto: DID YOU KNOW…

1) In addition to Babe Ruth hitting his FIRST home run as a professional baseball player here in Toronto in September, 1914, what else was special about that particular game? The “Babe” pitched a shut out game (Providence – 9, Toronto – 0).

 2) If a shipbuilding company somewhere in the world hadn’t already selected the name, the city’s restored Toronto Island ferry would have been christened Arbutus.

 3) Toronto’s first automatic electric traffic signals were installed at the corner of Yonge and Bloor streets in 1925. Those drivers who were unfamiliar with the new controls and ran the red light were stopped by the police and forced to back up through the intersection, where they would have to wait for the light to turn green before proceeding.

 4) The creator of the famous “Vimy Ridge Memorial” (a permanent monument in France for Canadian soldiers from the First World War) was Toronto sculptor Walter Seymour Allward. His earlier work, “South African War Memorial,” commemorates Canada’s involvement in the Boer War, and stands at the Queen St. and University Ave. intersection.

 5) Recently restored and renamed the Allstream Centre, the CNE’s Automotive Building opened in 1929 and has the distinction of being the location of the first public viewing of Ford Motor Company’s new Edsel automobile.

BookCrossing is an online community of booklovers and book-sharers. Members release books into the wild and give other members clues about where to find them — a bit like a booklover’s treasure hunt! Once a member finds a book, he or she visits the site, records the find, and enjoys the book. When done, he or she releases it into a new location and waits for another member to pick it up and take it some place new.

Self Condemned against some stately ivy

This year, we wanted to release Self Condemned, a satirical look at wartime Canada by Wyndham Lewis, set in a fictionalized Toronto at a fictionalized UofT. So, I took a trip to the hallowed, ivy-strewn campus of the University of Toronto (or, to Wyndham Lewis, the University of “Momaco”) and found the perfect release spot for this book.

Will you go on the hunt for it? I can’t wait to see who finds it and where they take it — I’ll let you know once we learn where it goes. For our beloved blog readers, though, I’ll offer one more pictoral hint:

Good luck, blog buddies!

Nightshade was inspired by my first visit to Quebec City in 2004. My wife noticed a sign for a detective agency on the Grand Allée, and I put this together with a scientific conference and an art exhibition that were happening then in the city. My detective, Ottawa-based Sam Montcalm, was suggested by the family history of a relative of my wife’s who worked for C.D. Howe in Ottawa in the 1950s. He and his family later moved to California, with tragic consequences.

Writing Nightshade I found myself attempting to update my hardboiled hero, to place him firmly in some real environments, and to avoid jocularity and parody in favour of a more in-depth look at a very proud man– intelligent and embarrassed by his failures– a man who is a bit of a dinosaur, but also acutely conscious of the present.

I’m already at work on a second Sam Montcalm novel and this one will be partially set in Los Angeles. That seems a good template—part of each Montcalm novel to be set in Ottawa and other parts in world cities with which I’m familiar.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received as a writer?
I started writing before creative writing workshops became ubiquitous (although I founded the fiction workshop at Carleton University and taught it for ten years), so I took my advice where I found it. In England, I heard a wonderful interview with Graham Greene, who confessed to a love of plot and melodrama. And E.M. Forster (somewhat reluctantly) admitted that “oh, dear, yes, the novel tells a story.” I love the up-front story-telling of the mystery novel, which as Simenon and others have shown, needn’t undermine the seriousness and depth of the fiction. My children’s novels all have good stories, and I’ve been a bit disappointed that this seems to be no great virtue in the eyes of some Canadian reviewers. Of course these are often the same reviewers who miss more artful components, such as the mythical resonances of my YA novel, Demon in my View or the retelling of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” in Doom Lake Holiday.  (Kate Jaimet of The Ottawa Citizen, on a panel, was a big exception!)

In the mystery novel, plot has a special necessity: the writer is playing a game with the reader, and it’s very important that the “guessing game” (the “whodunit” part) doesn’t distort the natural flow of the plot.

One of my biggest discoveries in writing novels is that the characters “speak because they want to speak” (as an academic analyst puts it). That means that once you have a character of any dimension in your story the character tells you, the author, what he or she will or won’t do. If you force such a character to fit into a preconceived plot the novel crashes. The writer has to listen to his characters. They’re far more important than the critics or reviewers!

What’s the most memorable response you’ve ever had from a reader?
When I was trying to market Coming of Age in Arabia, a very well-known American literary agent (president of U.S. agents association) called me and told me how good he thought the book was. Unfortunately, he didn’t think he could sell a lot of copies and didn’t take it on. After the book was published by Penumbra Press in Canada in 2004, a very distinguished Stanford fellow and senior professor at the University of the Americas in Puebla, called me from Mexico to congratulate me on the book, which he called one of the best books he’d ever read on a British colony. In a quite different but equally important realm, two young people thrilled me with their enthusiasm—a high school girl who approached me rather shyly at a reading and told me: “I have to tell you that I loved Mercury Man.” And a 12-year old reader in Indiana who wrote ( just a few months ago) a wonderfully intelligent and upbeat on-line review of Doom Lake Holiday. Nothing trumps the enthusiasm of youth! And it’s very inspiring to writers—to me at least!

What did you read as a young adult?
I read historical novels by writers like Dumas, Joseph Altsheler, and Kenneth Roberts, and in my teens I discovered the Russian novelists, including fairly obscure ones like Ivan Bunin, and the Scandinavians, including Johannes V. Jensen, Knut Hamsun, and other Nobel Prizewinners. I also read a lot of quality American literature, from Poe and Hawthorne to Mark Twain, Willa Cather, Hemingway and Faulkner. (Radio drama was also a huge influence)

What is your next project?
I am just finishing The Boy from Left Field, a novel about a group of Toronto kids who find Babe Ruth’s lost 1914 baseball, and I am well underway on the second Sam Montcalm novel, which carries Sam to Los Angeles in search an unusual woman caught in the centre of a bizarre international political and emotional tangle.

Tom Henighan’s numerous works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry include The Maclean’s Companion to Canadian Arts and Culture, The Well of Time, and the YA novel Viking Quest. He lives in Ottawa, and teaches at Carleton University.

Tell us about your book.
The Boy in the Picture, my third book, is the one with which I have the strongest personal connection. It tells the story of young Edward Mallandaine, the boy in the iconic photo of the driving of the Last Spike in the Canadian Pacific Railway. That momentous occasion back in 1885 (125 years ago this year) resonates with me because I knew Edward – when I was a small boy and he was an old man! The book recounts his leaving home to volunteer for the North-West Rebellion, only to find the uprising quelled and Louis Riel captured before Edward can reach the prairies. His real adventure begins when he catches on as a dispatch rider carrying mail and supplies by horseback across the unfinished gap of the railway in British Columbia’s Monashee mountains. That puts him in the right time and place to be part of the driving of the Last Spike.

Did you have a specific readership in mind when you wrote your book?
I see teen-agers, anywhere from 12-year-olds to mid-teens or later, as the primary readers for this book. I have meshed story telling with the historical record and I hope I have treated Edward’s adventures with the same enthusiasm that young people bring to their view of the world. Of course, I won’t mind railway fans of all ages reading The Boy in the Picture!

How did you research your book?
My research for the book came in two phases: My personal recollections of the stories Edward Mallandaine told me when he was an old man, and archival research into papers and documents about Edward and his family. I found these primarily in the Royal British Columbia Archives in Victoria, the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, and Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa. I also dug up a lot of contemporary newspaper accounts, some of them written by Edward.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received as a writer?
The best advice I’ve ever received as a writer comes from Guy Vanderhaeghe, the stellar Canadian novelist of western themes: “Write the book you want to write and hope someone will want to read it.” What he means, I think, is that you have to believe in your own work if you expect anyone else to believe in it.

What are you reading right now?
Right now, I am reading an anthology of Agatha Christie short stories, Masterpieces of Mystery and the Unknown, a Franklin D. Roosevelt biography by H.W. Brandes, Traitor to His Class and Marci McDonald’s new book on the Christian right in Canada, The Armageddon Factor.

Ray Argyle has written for publications such as The Beaver and the National Post and is the author of several books, including Turning Points: The Campaigns That Changed Canada and Scott Joplin and the Age of Ragtime. He lives in Toronto.

The father Ivy has never met turns up in Larkin, and he agrees to take the girl with him for the summer, travelling the countryside in a horse-drawn caravan, selling shoes.

A couple of years older than Ivy, Charlie Bayliss grew up on his family’s farm outside Larkin. Although their paths have crossed before, Charlie meets Ivy officially when he buys a pair of running shoes from her father’s leftover stock. Neither of them is aware of the connection they share, but when the secret is revealed their lives will never be the same.

What was the hardest part of writing your book?
The hardest part was figuring out where to introduce the strong secondary character, Charlie Bayliss. My writing group heard early versions of the story, and some members felt I needed to bring Charlie in during the first few chapters. Others found that too jarring, saying that it interrupted the flow of Ivy’s story.

The problem was the different points of view I wanted to use. In the end, I decided to divide the book into three parts: the first is told in third person limited to Ivy’s point of view, the second part is third person limited to Charlie’s point of view, and the final part is told in third person omniscient. That seems to have solved the problem.

What was your first publication?
Although I’d published articles and stories in magazines and area newspapers, my first book was a work of non-fiction called The Movie Years. It was published in 1989 by Mika Publishing in Belleville, Ontario. Sub-titled A Nostalgic Remembrance of Canada’s Film-making Capital, Trenton, Ontario, 1917-1934, it grew out of my interest in local history.

I was fortunate that when I was doing the research for the book a number of local people who had been involved in the movie industry in Trenton were still alive. I was most interested in how the lives of ordinary citizens were impacted by the movie studio in their midst, and I conducted numerous interviews with these people.

Nick Mika closed his publishing company a number of years ago, due to the death of his wife and business partner, Helma, and to his own failing health. My book has been out of print ever since.

In your own work, which character are you most attached to, and why?
I’d have to say I’m most attached to Ivy Chalmers, the main character in Growing Up Ivy. Not only because her story is still fresh in my mind, but also because she’s “lived” with me for the past three years.

Whenever I start a novel, (and I always begin with weeks and weeks of what W.O. Mitchell called “free-fall” writing) it’s usually the character who comes to me first. When Ivy appeared, I knew she was right for this story. She was such an innocent, a girl who believed in the inherent goodness of other people.

When I began, the only part of the story I knew I would write was the caravan section, those weeks Ivy spent with her father, travelling by horse and wagon around the countryside, trying to sell shoes. I’d already met the inspiration for this part of the novel and had been fascinated by the true account of her adventures.

My fictional Ivy shared my love of books and reading, and her determination to become a writer was an added connection between us.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received as a writer?
As a writer, the best advice I ever received came from Barbara Greenwood, a well-respected, Canadian author of YA historical fiction, and a teacher of creative writing. It was during a blue pencil session at “Packaging Your Imagination,” CANSCAIP’s day of workshops for authors and illustrators, held every fall in Toronto.

I was one of the lucky ones to have a session with an editor – Barbara Greenwood. I had submitted to her the first few chapters of what later turned out to be my first children’s novel.

After reading my submission, Barbara told me that I should have started my story at Chapter Two, because that’s where the action began. I’ve since learned that a story should begin on the day that is different for the main character, the day things change. One can always work the back story in later, once the reader is hooked.

I’ve never forgotten what Barbara told me. And I always pass on that particular piece of advice whenever I am speaking to young writers in the schools: take a good look at what you’ve written; maybe you should consider starting your story at Chapter Two.

Peggy Dymond Leavey’s previous books include Sky Lake Summer, The Deep End Gang, and The Path Through the Trees, all of which have been nominated for the Silver Birch Award. She has also been shortlisted for the Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award, the Arthur Ellis Award, and the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award. Peggy lives in Trenton, Ontario.

Tell us about your book.

Memories of the Beach reveals a part of Toronto, now described as “trendy”, which hasn’t changed much in appearances in the last fifty years. The boardwalk, the sand and the lake; Beach fixtures such as the Leuty Avenue Life Saving Station, Balmy Beach Canoe Club, Nova Fish and Chip Store, the Beaches Public Library, Kew Beach skating rink, Glenmanor ravine; these were the touchstones of my early years. I recall the time when play originated in the imagination, when life on the streets was safe, when commitments were firm. My coming-of-age was influenced by the movies, music and books of the day, the lessons learned observing my relatives and my parents’ fun-loving friends, and the experience of growing up with a soul mate in a tight-knit community that time forgot. Those who were lucky enough to live at the Beach, surrounded by the same neighbours, living by the same standards, formed a bond that would last a lifetime.

How did you come up with the title?
I originally wanted to call it “On the Boardwalk” but it turned out there was another book with a title too close to that, so we settled on Memories of the Beach. The subtitle, Reflections on a Toronto Childhood was to indicate that the book had a wider scope historically and geographically than just that one district of Toronto.

What was the hardest part of writing your book?
The hardest part was to figure out what to put in and what to omit to enable me to strike a common chord with a reading audience. When your book is based upon your own life experience – which is what a memoir is – you have to “sift” though your life as to what is relevant to the reader as well as to yourself. The entire premise upon which a personal memoir is built is that it will evoke memories and emotional and rational responses in the reader, even though the situations that evoke those responses will be different from the author’s. In other words, all human experience has a universal quality to it, and it’s up to the author to focus on those to which readers can respond.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received as a writer?
The best advice I received is to keep on writing even when you get stalled. Worry about editing later. The important thing is to get the story out! However, an equally important step is to belong to a writing group or find a mentor or writing program to which you can submit your (weekly, monthly) work for constructive critiques by people whose writing judgment you trust!

What are you reading right now?
Three Cups of Tea, Aristotle’s Ethics on Friendship, Ann of Green Gables, and my actor-comedian-author son Harland Williams latest book, What You Don’t Know You Don’t Know.

Memories of the Beach will be available from your favourite bookseller and library in April.  Lorraine O’Donnell Williams lives in Markham, Ontario.