My first collection of snapshots with other writers seemed to be well-received so I thought I’d pull together a second. As I noted before, my writing life has given me so many wonderful experiences and opportunities, including spending time with other writers I admire and respect. So here’s the second edition of Snapshots.
Linwood Barclay
Before becoming one of the world’s leading thriller writers, Linwood Barclay was a witty and erudite columnist for the Toronto Star. He’s still witty and erudite and his books have sold in the millions around the world. In fact, one of his novels, I think it was No Time for Goodbye was the highest selling book in the UK (over a million copies) the year it was released. Now that’s an achievement. We’ve done a number of events together over the years and he was good enough to blurb my seventh novel, Albatross. Very kind words.
Tish Cohen and Bianca Marais
Two wonderful writers and lovely people, too, this is a selfie Tish Cohen, Bianca Marais and I took just before an event we were doing north of Toronto a few years back. Brilliant writers, both! We had a great time at that event. I’ve done a few events with Bianca since she arrived in Toronto from her native South Africa and we both teach at U of T. I blurbed Bianca’s first novel back in 2018.
Shilpi Somaya Gowda
International literary heavyweight Shilpi Somaya Gowda and I did an event together a few years back in Burlington as she was promoting her then, new, novel, The Shape of Family. Her books continually grace the bestsellers lists in multiple countries, in particular, her blockbuster novel The Golden Son. As you might expect, she’s also a kind and generous writer.
Yann Martel
What a thrill it was to have lunch with Yann, his wife, the great writer Alice Kuipers, and at least a couple of their adorable kids (they have four). I was in Saskatoon for Word on the Street when this get together happened. Spending time with Yann and his family in a Chinese restaurant in Saskatoon, you’d never know he’s the internationally revered author of The Life of Pi. The feature film based on his novel won four Academy Awards!
Cathy Marie Buchanan and Ania Szado
I can’t remember where we were when this shot was taken, but it’s safe to say it was some kind of book-related event. I’ve known Cathy for years. She’s the New York Times bestselling author of three novels. I was honoured to blurb her second novel, The Painted Girls. Ania Szado is another fine Canadian bestselling novelist who wrote Beginning of Was and Studio Saint-Ex. Good friends.
Ami McKay
Bestselling author of The Birth House and several other outstanding books, Ami McKay and I first met when our novels were finalists for the 2011 edition of CBC’s Canada Reads. In fact, our two novels, The Birth House and The Best Laid Plans were the final two books standing before my novel miraculously was declared the winner. But through it all, Ami and I—and the other finalists—became good friends. Here we are in her home province of Nova Scotia a few years ago.
Angie Abdou
Another Alumnus of the 2011 Canada Reads competition, Angie Abdou, author of several books including The Bone Cage, has become a good friend. She lives in Fernie, B.C. where this photo was taken. I did an event she organized and hosted at the Fernie Public Library. And yes, we also appeared in the Bare it for Books calendar. A great writer, a good friend, and a tireless supporter of CanLit and Canadian writers.
Michael Redhill
Long before I became a writer, I was a Michael Redhill fan. I really enjoyed his 2001 novel, Martin Sloane. In 2017, his brilliant novel, Bellevue Square won the Giller Prize. This is not a great photo, but it’s taken in our home when Michael graciously joined us for our monthly book club meeting where we focused on—you guessed it—Bellevue Square. A lovely guy.
I think that’s enough literary namedropping for now. I may have enough shots in the archives to do one more instalment, but we’ll see. In the meantime, I hope you’re enjoying these posts and that you’ll consider subscribing. Many thanks and we’ll see you all next week.