Such good news! After three months of delay, the audiobook I taped in early September is finally available for purchase on Audible.com. If you know someone who likes to listen to books while they jog or commute or work - here's the perfect Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Whatever you celebrate present! Please tell your friends.
And more excitement: I did a live interview this afternoon for Allison Dore's program The Breakdown on SiriusXM167. She's lively, bright, interested in books and much else, and has a 3-hour program every afternoon. Our interview about "Loose Woman" was supposed to last 15-20 minutes, but we talked intensely for close to half an hour. Enjoyed every minute.
And more - friend and student Ruth Miller wrote a gorgeous essay for class, one of her best, which we insisted she send off to the Globe. They've just accepted it, and it'll appear soon; stay tuned. I myself sent an essay yesterday to the Star about vaccine scepticism and my dad's polio but have not heard, will send it elsewhere if they don't get in touch soon. The nineties was my essays period, when I was sending out constantly with scores of pieces in newspapers and magazines and on CBC. I stopped writing essays to concentrate on books. This is the first time since that I've started in a serious way to write and send essays again. Do-able, as they say. Not the long term grief of books. Short term pain.
And more - Anna has been volunteering with a group making meals for Indigenous elders and the unhoused, often with traditional ingredients. They've just received a big grant from the city, so soon this will be her official job. When Covid is over they will actually welcome people to sit and eat, but in the meantime, they prepare meals for delivery. Both my children, for some strange reason, make their living feeding people, welcoming them, serving them. Proud mama here.
Last night, flipping around on the TV, a doc on inter-species friendships - a goat who spent his life patiently guiding a blind horse, a deer and a dog who are best friends, greeting each other and frolicking together - very moving. Steve Paikin chatting with musicians about Beethoven, what is it about his music that endures? He showed a YouTube clip - a rapper from the projects listening to a symphony for the first time, the 5th, beginning to cry, saying, in his inimitable way that I cannot imitate, If this is number five, what are numbers one, two, three, and four like?
My good friend the TV. My good friends FB and Twitter which keep me in touch, despite the stern disapproval of my blog friend Juliet, who reprimanded me after my last post. And then my actual friends - talked to Lynn today on Skype, she in Montpellier having to isolate after a possible exposure to Covid. Monique, of course. And besides that - no one. Not a soul. Just moi. I did go for a walk, do an exercise class on Zoom, practice the piano briefly, sit at my desk all morning. Got embroiled in a controversy about the choice of firm for the next stage of the Regent Park development, sent a flurry of letters of protest, including to the man in charge at Toronto Community Housing who replied within 15 minutes! Beware an articulate woman with a word processor and Google.
Tonight, a reward for good behaviour: the last two episodes of the Crown, and reading. Routine is key.
From Duncan: Your book is a very compelling read Beth. Wow, such honesty and clarity, something that eludes me in my own writing. Your kids must love this book?
I wonder if they'll ever read it.
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