Vive Montréal

You have to love Montreal. Spring arrives and the streets and parks blossom with people as joyful and colourful as the city’s signature Profusion crabapple flowers. I had the pleasure of speaking on Sunday at Paragraphe’s Books and Breakfast at the Hotel Sheraton. This event has been one of the highlights of the literary scene in Montreal for many years and is attended by droves of devoted readers. Two of my role models, Warren and Muriel, were able to join us, as well as several Montreal friends.

The seriously talented Anne Lagace Dowson hosted the event. She also interviewed us on her CJAD Saturday afternoon radio show. One of the delights of the weekend was getting to know Anne, as well as meeting the other speakers and hearing about their books: Harvey Cashore, Isabelle Lafleche and Catherine McKenzie.

A big THANK YOU to Paragraphe Bookstore for its support for writers. Weeks ago they filled their window with copies of my book (see photo below) and now only a few remain.

Montreal was the final stop on a month-long book tour that took me to nine cities. A more celebratory or welcoming reception is beyond my imagination. I thank every one of you for being part of this journey. And my heartfelt gratitude goes to my publisher Thomas Allen. I could not have wished for a more supportive or talented marketing and publicity team. A special thank you is reserved for all the seniors, both those I interviewed for the book and all the others who participated in the events. They are our role models.

I will continue to blog about your feedback to the book and will post interesting links. So please keep visiting – and keep writing!