Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan

I just finished reading a great book, Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan.

Berlin, 1939. The Hot Time Swingers, a popular jazz band, has been forbidden to play by the Nazis. Their young black trumpet-player Hieronymus Falk, declared a musical genius by Louis Armstrong, is arrested in a Paris cafe and never heard from again.

Berlin, 1952. Falk is now a jazz legend, and the Hot Time Swingers band members Sid Griffiths and Chip Jones have appeared in a documentary about Falk. When they are invited to attend the film's premier, Sid's role in Falk's fate will be questioned launching the two old musicians on a surprising and strange journey.

From the smoky bars of pre-war Berlin to the salons of Paris, Sid leads the reader through a fascinating, little-known world as he describes the friendships, love affairs and treacheries that led to Falk's incarceration in Sachsenhausen.

This was a fabulous book which kept me hooked all the way through. The story is told by Sid and moves from present to past and back again. I loved it. No wonder Esi won the 2011 Giller Prize for this. Oh, her new book, Washington Black, won the 2018 Giller. Wow!

I was at a talk given by Esi in January, which was put on by the Toronto branch of the Canadian Author's Association. Not only is she a great writer but a great speaker too. If you have a chance to go to one of her readings, you won't regret it.

About Esi Edugyan

Esi Edugyan has a Masters in Writing from Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars. Her work has appeared in several anthologies, including Best New American Voices 2003, ed. Joyce Carol Oates, and Revival: An Anthology of Black Canadian Writing (2006). Her debut novel, The Second Life of Samuel Tyne, was published internationally. It was nominated for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, was a More Book Lust selection, and was chosen by the New York Public Library as one of 2004's Books to Remember.

Edugyan has held fellowships in the US, Scotland, Iceland, Germany, Hungary, Finland, Spain and Belgium. She has taught creative writing at both Johns Hopkins University and the University of Victoria, and has sat on many international panels, including the LesART Literary Festival in Esslingen, Germany, the Budapest Book Fair in Hungary, and Barnard College in New York City.

She currently lives in Victoria, British Columbia.

Kissing Books: Cultural Diversity and Publishing Options in Romance and Romcom

Tonight I attended an event, Kissing Books: Cultural Diversity and Publishing Options in Romance and Romcom, put on by the Toronto Chapter of the Canadian Authors Association .

Canadian Authors – Toronto is excited to welcome three Toronto romance writers to discuss cultural diversity and publishing options in the romance and romcom genres. Authors Farah Heron, Jackie Lau, and Kasey Goldstraw each bring their own perspective and experience with publishing romance. Farah will represent the traditional publishing track with a short talk about her debut novel, The Chai Factor, out this month with HarperCollins Canada. Jackie will share how she became a one-woman indie publisher of her own romance novels, and Kasey will discuss pulling her 20-year-old manuscript out of hibernation and bringing it to life with the help of a hybrid publisher. Farah and Jackie will also talk about personally adding to the growing cultural diversity of the romance genre by populating their romance novels with Chinese-Canadian characters and “brown people falling stupidly in love.” A Q&A with the authors will follow their presentations. And each author will be selling and signing copies of their books.

It was an enjoyable night. All three authors spoke of their experiences in each of the different areas of publishing. Oh and just so you know, there is no easy route to publishing a decent book. It's all hard work.

Farah and Jackie also spoke of the challenges of being published as a person or even woman of colour, even to the idea of how publishers can be hesitant to have non-white people on the cover of their books. There was a Q&A afterwards. It was quite interesting.

There was ice cream. There was also door prizes. I won a book, Year of the Slut, a feminist version of Fifty Shades, by Jennifer Lieberman. I'm looking forward to the Toronto Chapter's next event.

About tonight's authors:

Farah Heron

After a childhood raised on Bollywood, Monty Python, and Jane Austen, Farah Heron self-rejected her writing career before jotting down a single word, despite admitting her ultimate fantasy was to be a writer. But when she could no longer keep the story arcs straight in her daydreams, she started writing a few years ago and never looked back. She writes romantic comedies and women’s fiction full of huge South Asian families, delectable food, and most importantly, brown people falling stupidly in love. Prior to writing, Farah had careers in human resources and psychotherapy. She lives in Toronto with her patient husband, surly teenager, and delightful middle-grader. Farah is the president of Toronto Romance Writers. Farah’s debut novel, The Chai Factor, is due out on June 11 from HarperCollins Canada and has been featured in Elle Canada, Quill &Quire, CBC’s The Next Chapter, Bustle.com, and Book Riot.

Jackie Lau

Jackie Lau decided she wanted to be a writer when she was in Grade 2, sometime between writing “The Heart That Got Lost” and “The Land of Shapes.” She later studied engineering and worked as a geophysicist before turning to writing romance novels. Jackie previously wrote erotic and contemporary romance as Laura Jardine and now writes romantic comedy with Chinese-Canadian heroes and heroines. Since she began self-publishing in May 2018, she has released six novels, including Grumpy Fake Boyfriend, The Ultimate Pi Day Party, and Ice Cream Lover, and one novella, One Bed for Christmas, a prequel to her Baldwin Village series. Jackie lives in Toronto with her husband, and despite living in Canada her whole life, she hates winter. When she’s not writing, she enjoys gelato, gourmet doughnuts, cooking, hiking, and reading on the balcony when it’s raining. You can purchase all of Jackie’s books through Amazon, Kobo, and other online book retailers.

Kasey Goldstraw

Kasey Goldstraw was born and raised in Vancouver, and she studied English at the University of British Columbia and creative writing at Capitano College. At the urging of one of her writing professors, she turned one of her short stories into a novel, but she stuck the manuscript in a drawer and left it there for 20 years while life went on. It was Kasey’s husband, Peter, who kept reading it year after year and prodding her to send it to publishers. Since teaming up with Toronto hybrid publisher Iguana Books, Kasey’s debut novel, Archibald Full Frontal, has been shortlisted for the 2019 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize. Thanks to the mindfulness skills she’s been able to cultivate as the co-owner of Toronto yoga studio Tranquility Wellness, Kasey is waiting patiently for the Kobo results to be announced on June 27. To date, she has only gnawed off a couple of fingernails.

The Toronto Raptors’ Victory Parade

This morning I was at the Princes’ Gates, the entrance to the CNE, to watch the start of the Toronto Raptor's 2019 Victory Parade. It was crowded. It was fun!

Here are some pictures of the crowd.

The parade starts. Below is a shot of a band marching by. Ha! It got better.

Here's the better part of the parade!

This girl was smart. She brought a fold-up stool!

Here comes the show!

The trophy! So much jostling around I never got a shot of the MVP award.

The workers at the nearby condos had a great, yet far away overview of the parade.

And then it was over. Here's the crowd filtering out. Many more followed the parade or went to Coronation Park across the road to watch the celebrations from City Hall. It was a fun morning. I'm looking forward to next year's celebration!

Toronto Wolfpack Run Over the Dewsbury Rams

This afternoon, the Toronto Wolfpack (15-1) played host to the Dewsbury Rams (4-12) at Lamport Stadium or what we affectionately know it as, "the Den".  It was a cool day, and threatened rain as you can see by the cameraman behind us. Thankfully it held off.

The Canadian Heritage Warplane Museum is about a 40 minute drive away and home to one of only four, WW2 Lancaster Bombers still flying in the world. We see it in the air over Toronto regularly and it flew over again today. Always cool to see.

Some pregame activities.

The Wolfpack Dance Squad

Here come the Wolfpack!.

God save the Queen and Oh Canada are sung.

Opening kickoff!

Some first quarter action.

At halftime the Wolfpack led 40-4.

The beer garden is popular throughout the game and for two hours afterwards.

Second half action.

No, this isn't a lovely moment. This Dewsbury player took a hard hit and didn't move for a few moments. He's being checked out by the teams physiotherapist.

In the end, the Wolfpack took the match, 70-8 in front of 6,735 fans. The visiting teams fans always sit on the east side of the stadium. After the game the Dewsbury players go over to salute them.

Toronto now has an 8 point lead on first place going into next Saturday's home game against the second place Toulouse Olympique. It should be a loud fun game and of course, Teena and I will be there.