As part of the requirements for my program at school, I was scheduled to perform a public reading of my work with a local (to the Tri-Cities) organization called Words in the Burbs.
Clearly that all went to naught, and The Writer’s Studio accordingly arranged for an online reading with fellow TWSO writers. Shortly after my first reading was scheduled, I received a message from Words in the Burbs. They created an online event instead of the one in person, which was supposed to take place this past Wednesday evening, and asked me to read.
In a move quite unlike what I’ve thought myself to be in the past, I said yes immediately, without hesitation. Last night I read the first few pages of my next book, the first in the Romi series, to a “room-full” of strangers.
And it felt great!
I’ve been following Words in the Burb since I started doing research for a local public reading. The usually in-person gathering is hosted/organized by a book store in Port Coquitlam that actually carries my first book Letters to the Mountain, Western Sky Books. They happily introduced me using a quick author bio I drafted on Tuesday (I just drafted a couple of author bios for school—one long and one short—it was a timely assignment!). And they even mentioned that the book store carries my book. Which was so sweet!
[I sure hope the people don’t expect the same thing as what I read last night if they look up my memoir! I don’t think it was funny …]
Ready for another online appearance. 😛
As I mentioned in reference to my most recent blog post, I am currently reading Untamed by Glennon Doyle. I placed it on hold with the library online based on recommendation. I jumped on the bandwagon, hoping that it was as fantastic as everyone was saying. The prologue had me in tears, it was so touching. As I read, I thought that maybe it wasn’t as good as the prologue, hoping that I was wrong. And as I approached the halfway mark, I seriously could not put it down, happy to be wrong. It has inspired me, spoken to me and reassured me on a level that is unlike any voice I have ever heard. Her firm assurance that we will find happiness when we listen to ourselves, follow what we truly feel and ignore all the rest (the shoulds, society’s cruel influence, the lies that we learn along the way that tell us to supress our true desire, what she refers to as “the Knowing.”). It is an absolute must read for anyone that has ever doubted themselves. Period.
Now my only problem is when to finish. When I really get into a book, I tend to put the kids in front of the tv so I can read. But every time we give the kids a movie or something lately they get even crazier afterwards! Take yesterday afternoon when I wanted to try and draft this blog post. Maverick decided he didn't want to watch Cars, instead throwing the picture frames off our entertainment unit, for no reason. He broke the glass of one frame and wrecking the back of another, but thankfully did not hurt himself.
Just another day in the life of Maniac-Maverick.
Wish me luck,
Anya
PS: You can find a video of my first reading of the Romi excerpt here and read the first five pages in this blog post.