Ottawa Authors and Artisans Fair 2011

Yesterday I was very pleased to be a part of the annual Ottawa Authors and Artisans Book Fair, sponsored by the Ottawa Independent Writers, to sign copies of Blood Passage and The Ghost Man. It was a very busy afternoon and I had an opportunity to chat with a great many interesting people, which is what makes these events so special for me. Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by my table. I enjoyed meeting each one of you.

As always with book fairs such as this, I was able to take a few minutes to get to know some of my fellow authors and their work. Jasmine Aziz was signing copies of her novel Sex and Samosas while children's authors Neven Humphrey and Claude Cardinal, Margaret Singleton, vampire novelist Patricia K. McCarthy and Darren Jerome, who writes short stories based on the history of the Rideau Canal as Craig McCue, were also in attendance.  I spent a pleasant afternoon chatting with Laurel Balsor Pardy and her husband Gar Pardy at the next table. Laurel was signing two books, one a historical novel based on her ancestor and another a collection of essays and anecdotes drawn from her experience as the spouse of a Canadian diplomat.

Congratulations and many thanks to the OIW executive for having organized this event and to Randy Ray for the publicity.

Book Signing, Ottawa Small Press Book Fair

Today I appeared at the Ottawa Small Press Book Fair to sign copies of Blood Passage. It marked the public debut of The Plaid Raccoon as a small press in the small press crowd, and he got through the event without rummaging in the trash can or stealing anyone's corn. I also had with me copies of The Ghost Man, my first novel, in case anyone was in the mood for supernatural fiction.

Book fairs like these are an opportunity to meet a wide range of interesting people, and today was no exception. Friend and fellow OIC members Jasmine Aziz and Dwight Williams were in attendance. Thanks to Jasmine for snapping the photo above.

I also had a chance to meet Juliana McDonald, a visual artist with a remarkable vision. She was displaying a small portion of her 16-foot "book" consisting of photographs and text rendered as transfers mounted on acrylic, and was selling small hand-made versions of the book printed on vellum paper. I highly recommend a look at her website,  http://www.julianamcdonald.ca. Her work is quite amazing and the book is exquisite.

I also chatted with Marcella Kampman, who has published a book retelling Sumerian myths in an interpretation suitable for young readers. Inanna, Goddess of Love is visually very attractive and the stories are  well-told.

All the best to everyone in attendance today.