Authors, it turns out, are people too. Of course, I knew this on some fundamental level, but whenever I picture my favourite authors, they are magical and whimsical. They live in houses that suit their style of writing (i.e. Neil Gaiman would live in a house of gothic proportions, while Isaac Asimov’s house would have been a modern monolith, a futuristic house with the latest gadgets emitting the faintest humming noise that could be heard from the streets). But alas, my fantasies were shattered when I visited the house of Charles de Lint, author of many wonderful flights of what has been referred to as urban fantasy.
Now, before you get the wrong idea, no I have no taken to stalking my favourite authors. Not yet, anyways. I was at that house to avail myself of Mr. de Lint’s annual yard sale, a culling of books that he has collected over the years. I pulled up to a quiet, non-descript house in a quiet, non-descript area of Ottawa and walked up the short driveway to find rows upon rows of books stacked up on folding tables. The house I imagined would have resembled those of his books, perhaps tall and expansive, or old and full of the crackling magical energy that permeate his books. I think a part of me even expected some sign that an Important Man lives here (to some people, important people consist of politicians and policy makers, to other actors and musicians. To me, the Most Important People are authors and imagination encouragers). Of course, there was no such sign, but there were plenty of books to go through: fantasy, comic books, science fiction, all genres, in fact. What fascinated me most were the advanced copies of books that had already gone to print. These are unique editions, with errors intact and with space for authors to give their comments and opinions. These editions are not something that can be found in every corner store, they are one of a kind items that give someone like me, interested in the process of publication, an intimate look at an important step of how a book gets from an author’s imagination to the reader’s hands.
Having found some treasures, I went up to pay and who should greet me but Charles de Lint himself. Now, I should probably mention that he is a very approachable individual. But for me, this was akin to a normal person meeting someone popular, like, I don’t know, George Clooney or Susan Boyle (or whoever YOU deem to be an Important Person). I have only met two authors previous to this, and, since they were both also popular wrestlers (the likable Mick Foley and the great, yet troubled Bret Hart), I had a total of perhaps two minutes with each of them. I was unsure if this would be a similar experience.
I paid him for the books and most likely proceeded to make a fool of myself (I’ll be honest, I tend to sound eloquent in my head or on a page, but when I open my mouth, mush comes out). I gushed about his books and thanked him for inspiring me to come to Ottawa in the first place (his book, Moonheart, takes place in Ottawa, and I read that prior to choosing which university to apply to. When I noticed Carleton University in Ottawa had a journalism program, I put two and two together and decided to apply. It was Charles de Lint’s book which made it a little less scary to leave home and try to build a life in a different city). He grinned broadly and said that he hoped that it all worked out for me (let’s see: loving wife, good education, good job, nice house, excellent comic collection, I’d say that it worked out just fine).
It occurred to me afterwards that I didn’t even introduce myself to him, but I’m hoping that this is just the first time of many that my paths will cross with this wonderful wordsmith. Although it may be a paltry thing to some people, I am happy that I was able to express my appreciation to a man whose books changed my life. I can only hope that one day someone will pick up a book with my name on the cover and have a similar experience. For why do we write if not to try to make the world a little bit better, through poignancy, enlightenment, laughter, or just plan entertainment. We writers do all this as we do everything: one word at a time.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
So many books, so little room in my suitcase
Tomorrow, we jet off to New York, one of the literary hotspots of the world. Whether I’ll see anything of literary note, I don’t know, but I will be visiting one of the largest comic book shops in the world, so that should be fun!
One of the most difficult parts of packing is deciding what to bring to read. I tend to overpack on books while neglecting to bring the essentials (just ask my sister-in-law who innocently offered me a pink, sparkly t-shirt when I forgot my pyjamas years ago while I was visiting the future Mrs. Caboose). I know I won’t have that much time to read, but that doesn’t stop me from carrying as many books as I can!
First thing that goes in is the book I’m currently reading, Someplace to be Flying, by Charles de Lint. This is one of my favourite books, one that I’ve read six or so times now, and one I will discuss in greater detail upon my return.
Now, I’m fairly confident that even though I’m already halfway through the book, that I won’t have the time to finish it on the vacation, what with the shopping and the touring and the shows and the New Yorkers who will beat me up for telling them how great the Toronto Blue Jays are. However, that doesn’t stop me from bringing a second book, Odd Hours, by Dean Koontz. This is number four in a series of books starring the character of Odd Thomas, a person who can communicate with ghosts. Although these books aren’t exactly intellectual fodder, they are a ton of fun and I find the character has a unique voice that I enjoy revisiting time and again.
Finally, to satisfy the comic nerd in me, I am bringing the fourth volume in the Ultimate Invincible Collection. Invincible is a superhero saga, cleverly written, beautifully drawn, and, despite the familiar super-themes, has entertaining twists on the classics.
So there you have it. Three books, which I’m fairly sure I won’t get through, but my motto is like the Boy Scouts: Be Prepared. Of course, I would be lost in the woods (for years, if someone asked me what direction north was, I would point up), but plunk me down in a long line-up or waiting room and I will always be ready to stave off boredom.
When I return, I hope to have plenty of adventures to blog about. Until then, I wish the Internet a fond adieu. Oh, and don’t touch my stuff!
One of the most difficult parts of packing is deciding what to bring to read. I tend to overpack on books while neglecting to bring the essentials (just ask my sister-in-law who innocently offered me a pink, sparkly t-shirt when I forgot my pyjamas years ago while I was visiting the future Mrs. Caboose). I know I won’t have that much time to read, but that doesn’t stop me from carrying as many books as I can!
First thing that goes in is the book I’m currently reading, Someplace to be Flying, by Charles de Lint. This is one of my favourite books, one that I’ve read six or so times now, and one I will discuss in greater detail upon my return.
Now, I’m fairly confident that even though I’m already halfway through the book, that I won’t have the time to finish it on the vacation, what with the shopping and the touring and the shows and the New Yorkers who will beat me up for telling them how great the Toronto Blue Jays are. However, that doesn’t stop me from bringing a second book, Odd Hours, by Dean Koontz. This is number four in a series of books starring the character of Odd Thomas, a person who can communicate with ghosts. Although these books aren’t exactly intellectual fodder, they are a ton of fun and I find the character has a unique voice that I enjoy revisiting time and again.
Finally, to satisfy the comic nerd in me, I am bringing the fourth volume in the Ultimate Invincible Collection. Invincible is a superhero saga, cleverly written, beautifully drawn, and, despite the familiar super-themes, has entertaining twists on the classics.
So there you have it. Three books, which I’m fairly sure I won’t get through, but my motto is like the Boy Scouts: Be Prepared. Of course, I would be lost in the woods (for years, if someone asked me what direction north was, I would point up), but plunk me down in a long line-up or waiting room and I will always be ready to stave off boredom.
When I return, I hope to have plenty of adventures to blog about. Until then, I wish the Internet a fond adieu. Oh, and don’t touch my stuff!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
A Very Caboose Mother's Day
Mother’s Day is here, and I would be remiss if I didn’t give my own mother her due as one who influenced my love of words. For you see, my mother came to Canada via Israel, via Brazil, and she came to this country not exactly ready to converse with the landlord about why I was found crawling around in the air ducts (okay, that never really happened, but I’m sure I could have found a way in if I would have tried, and then my mother would have had some explaining to do. Luckily, as a baby, I couldn’t be blamed, which served me well until my brother came and I wasn’t the baby anymore. That was very discourteous of him, so I bit his toes. You know, one day I should figure out how I go off on these non sequiturs and perhaps analyze why the tracks of my train of thought was built by a committee of cartoon ducks. And, as history has shown us, cartoon ducks are shoddy craftsmen, so the tracks don’t exactly go anywhere.)
(I was pretty sure I was talking about something…oh right, my mother) One of the ways my mother would practice English would be to read to me out loud the daily comics in the newspaper, many of which use simple language and visual gags to allow people to understand the joke, even if they don’t understand the words. My love of reading, and certainly my love of all things comics, can be traced back to my mother, who made sure not only to love me unconditionally, even when I did bite my brother’s toes, but also to allow me the opportunity to begin, at an early age, my love of reading.
I am forever indebted to my mother, and I am forever thankful that I was raised with compassion and with books. Happy Mother’s Day to one and all! (Now go give Hallmark some money or writers who work on funny limericks will be out of a job.)
(I was pretty sure I was talking about something…oh right, my mother) One of the ways my mother would practice English would be to read to me out loud the daily comics in the newspaper, many of which use simple language and visual gags to allow people to understand the joke, even if they don’t understand the words. My love of reading, and certainly my love of all things comics, can be traced back to my mother, who made sure not only to love me unconditionally, even when I did bite my brother’s toes, but also to allow me the opportunity to begin, at an early age, my love of reading.
I am forever indebted to my mother, and I am forever thankful that I was raised with compassion and with books. Happy Mother’s Day to one and all! (Now go give Hallmark some money or writers who work on funny limericks will be out of a job.)
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Returning to the Caboose
Time gets away from me.
The last three weeks have been about everything except for blogging. I'm hoping that will change in the near future as I get back into a groove. Here are a few short snippets on what I've been up to, the books that I've read and the thoughts in my head (Rhyming rules!):
Canada Book Day
This was back on April 23, which is a wonderful day to look back at the hundreds of books that I've read in my life. I am so blessed to not only live in a country where literacy is encouraged, but also where it is so readily available to anyone who wants it. Canada Book Day probably passed by without you noticing, but trust me, we should always be thankful that books offer an alternative to Wii and Playstation and Morgan Freeman.
Toronto visit
I can't write a blog entry without mentioning one of my favourite literary locations, the one where it all started: my house in Toronto. I would spend hours sitting in my room, or around the house, reading book after book. The shelves would be filled with library books, many of which would go unread, and books new, used and handed down from generations past. And I cannot help but mention my parents, who instilled a love of reading at an early age, and who did everything possible to nurture my passion for words. (Although I'm certain they would have been happy if I had come up for air every so often to go outside and play sports. I think I compromised by reading a few books about sports. That counts, right?)
The Venetian Betrayal, by Steve Berry
This is a gloriously fast-paced book, with shallow characters and a plot that mixes history, conspiracy and a fictitious Asian conglomerate. You won't find anything new or groundbreaking here, but like a summer action movie, it provides solid entertainment for 500+ pages. And the hero’s name is Cotton Malone, which is one of the best names for a character that I've seen recently. Plus, really short chapters for those with short attention spans, which is pretty much me.
New Dan Brown
The biggest news in the literary world is that Dan Brown's new book is set to debut in September. His other books are of the vein of The Venetian Betrayal: history, conspiracy and mystery combining to create a compelling tale. His last book sold a zillion copies and no doubt his next novel will sell another zillion copies; Hollywood will make it into a movie starring Tom Hanks; and Dan Brown will buy an island and marry J. K. Rowling to form a super writer that will no doubt destroy us all. I'm beginning to hoard. Just in case.
Toronto Blue Jays
No real literary connection. I'm just impressed that they're one of the best teams in the league. Many an afternoon and evening has been wasted yelling at the TV in hopes that they won't blow the game instead of writing blogs. So really, I'm going to lay the blame squarely on the Blue Jays' shoulder. It's their fault I haven’t blogged.
Free Comic Book Day
Oh glorious day! I woke that morning chastising my wife for not wishing me a Happy Free Comic Book Day (my sister-in-law remembered, however, to wish me Many Happy Returns, which was impressive). This is a great day for comic books, as I get to stroll (and by stroll, I mean drive) to a comic shop to pick up a slew of free comics, some I greatly look forward to, others I pick up just because they say "free" on the cover (let's be honest, I'm not reading the free Archie Comics, but I’m compelled to take it because they gave it to me and it’s in comic book form). I love this day, not only because of the free comic books, but also because of the sight that greeted me as I came into the shop: fathers and sons and mothers and daughters, coming together to enjoy the medium. I hope that these kids, like I did, grow up to respect and admire comics as not only a fun way to kill an afternoon, but a real literary experience, on par with any novel.
Star Wars Day
Also nothing to do with literacy. May 4th is Star Wars Day, because "May the fourth be with you". Get it? It's so corny, that it's funny.
Shatterday, by Harlan Ellison
“Writer’s take tours in other people’s lives.”
The first short story in this collection begins with this line and other subsequent stories repeat it, driving home Harlan Ellison’s point. This collection turns sci-fi, horror and fantasy into literary gold, each story displaying the author’s strength as a storyteller and his love of the English language. If there is one thing that a writer can take away from these stories is that you can’t be afraid to write what is in your heart. You can’t be deterred by what people might think and you have to be prepared to bare your soul to the reader and hope that they can sift through the fact and fiction to get to the truth of what the author is trying to say. So really, while Harlan Ellison took tours in other people’s lives, he also took a tour through his own, and it is one that I have voyeuristically enjoyed. (Not in an icky way, though) This book has given me inspirations for my own short stories, which I hope one day will be half as good as what Ellison's imagination has conjured.
The last three weeks have been about everything except for blogging. I'm hoping that will change in the near future as I get back into a groove. Here are a few short snippets on what I've been up to, the books that I've read and the thoughts in my head (Rhyming rules!):
Canada Book Day
This was back on April 23, which is a wonderful day to look back at the hundreds of books that I've read in my life. I am so blessed to not only live in a country where literacy is encouraged, but also where it is so readily available to anyone who wants it. Canada Book Day probably passed by without you noticing, but trust me, we should always be thankful that books offer an alternative to Wii and Playstation and Morgan Freeman.
Toronto visit
I can't write a blog entry without mentioning one of my favourite literary locations, the one where it all started: my house in Toronto. I would spend hours sitting in my room, or around the house, reading book after book. The shelves would be filled with library books, many of which would go unread, and books new, used and handed down from generations past. And I cannot help but mention my parents, who instilled a love of reading at an early age, and who did everything possible to nurture my passion for words. (Although I'm certain they would have been happy if I had come up for air every so often to go outside and play sports. I think I compromised by reading a few books about sports. That counts, right?)
The Venetian Betrayal, by Steve Berry
This is a gloriously fast-paced book, with shallow characters and a plot that mixes history, conspiracy and a fictitious Asian conglomerate. You won't find anything new or groundbreaking here, but like a summer action movie, it provides solid entertainment for 500+ pages. And the hero’s name is Cotton Malone, which is one of the best names for a character that I've seen recently. Plus, really short chapters for those with short attention spans, which is pretty much me.
New Dan Brown
The biggest news in the literary world is that Dan Brown's new book is set to debut in September. His other books are of the vein of The Venetian Betrayal: history, conspiracy and mystery combining to create a compelling tale. His last book sold a zillion copies and no doubt his next novel will sell another zillion copies; Hollywood will make it into a movie starring Tom Hanks; and Dan Brown will buy an island and marry J. K. Rowling to form a super writer that will no doubt destroy us all. I'm beginning to hoard. Just in case.
Toronto Blue Jays
No real literary connection. I'm just impressed that they're one of the best teams in the league. Many an afternoon and evening has been wasted yelling at the TV in hopes that they won't blow the game instead of writing blogs. So really, I'm going to lay the blame squarely on the Blue Jays' shoulder. It's their fault I haven’t blogged.
Free Comic Book Day
Oh glorious day! I woke that morning chastising my wife for not wishing me a Happy Free Comic Book Day (my sister-in-law remembered, however, to wish me Many Happy Returns, which was impressive). This is a great day for comic books, as I get to stroll (and by stroll, I mean drive) to a comic shop to pick up a slew of free comics, some I greatly look forward to, others I pick up just because they say "free" on the cover (let's be honest, I'm not reading the free Archie Comics, but I’m compelled to take it because they gave it to me and it’s in comic book form). I love this day, not only because of the free comic books, but also because of the sight that greeted me as I came into the shop: fathers and sons and mothers and daughters, coming together to enjoy the medium. I hope that these kids, like I did, grow up to respect and admire comics as not only a fun way to kill an afternoon, but a real literary experience, on par with any novel.
Star Wars Day
Also nothing to do with literacy. May 4th is Star Wars Day, because "May the fourth be with you". Get it? It's so corny, that it's funny.
Shatterday, by Harlan Ellison
“Writer’s take tours in other people’s lives.”
The first short story in this collection begins with this line and other subsequent stories repeat it, driving home Harlan Ellison’s point. This collection turns sci-fi, horror and fantasy into literary gold, each story displaying the author’s strength as a storyteller and his love of the English language. If there is one thing that a writer can take away from these stories is that you can’t be afraid to write what is in your heart. You can’t be deterred by what people might think and you have to be prepared to bare your soul to the reader and hope that they can sift through the fact and fiction to get to the truth of what the author is trying to say. So really, while Harlan Ellison took tours in other people’s lives, he also took a tour through his own, and it is one that I have voyeuristically enjoyed. (Not in an icky way, though) This book has given me inspirations for my own short stories, which I hope one day will be half as good as what Ellison's imagination has conjured.
* * *
That is the sum of my thoughts for tonight. Seriously, that's all I got. I tried coming up with a clever line to tie it up, but I'm coming up with zilch. So do me a favour and just imagine I said something funny or intelligent or meaningful here.
That is the sum of my thoughts for tonight. Seriously, that's all I got. I tried coming up with a clever line to tie it up, but I'm coming up with zilch. So do me a favour and just imagine I said something funny or intelligent or meaningful here.
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