The rain finally stopped in Toronto, but how can we be sure it’s actually spring when our neighbours to the east (Montreal) are blanketed in snow? We can’t. For now, I am gleefully staring out the window at a clear sunny sky.
Excited is a word I use all the time. And it’s true! I am excited for the readings we have this month! But really, I am impatient. I have so much personal work on my plate, and distractions like logarithms and radicals that I have only cracked open one of the books! If you’re wondering about the math, kid is in college, and with cognitive challenges and math anxiety, I’ve been spending a lot of time at the dining table teaching myself with Dr. Khan. My grade 11 high school teacher would be happy to know that I could actually pass math now (I failed it three times and she gave me 51% only after I promised I’d never need it…lmao). If you’ve been wondering why we’ve had fewer events this Spring, this is why. Alison from last year was smart enough to remember she needed this time.
So yes, I am excited, but I also wish I could escape to a quiet room and dive into these great books!!
On Thursday April 25 at 12:00pm ET, I get to chat with Melia McClure on Instagram Live! Melia lives in France, so we’ve set up an Eastern Time lunch time date, and a Central Europe Time dinner date. Plan accordingly. Melia enjoys culinary experiments, so you can make a meal you’ve never made before and join us.
Published by Radiant Press in 2023, ALL THE WORLD’S A WONDER is a magical and emotional novel that explores artistic practice in a unique and exciting way. This conversation promises to touch on all the writerly things: structure, themes, narrative voice, characters and how everything merges into a truly unique and magical reading experience. “A playwright possessed by her muses, an actress desperate to succeed, and a doctor haunted by a lost love. Three people cross time and space to meet through the playwright’s bizarre creative process: to create, the playwright must become her characters; to tell her tragic story, the actress must speak from the grave; to heal his harrowing past, the doctor must surrender to his patient – the playwright.”
The First Thirty is an Instagram Live writers’ series that focuses on writing in the context of an author’s new book.
On Sunday April 28, we are back at TYPE Books in the Junction for in-person readings, and a Q and A, with Michael Mirolla, Dave Hurlow and Danila Botha. PWYC at the door or through our Eventbrite page, where you can also access the Zoom event (yes, we livestream our in person events!).
Micheal Mirolla returns to Junction Reads with his latest literary offering, THE COLLECTION AGENCY FILES from Exile Editions. “What if there was an evil more dangerous and long-lasting than the Nazis? An evil that continues to spread to this day? Welcome to The Collection Agency Files. Blending historical facts and alternative history themes, the story chronicles the ruthless activities of an all-powerful debt “collection agency” in Nazi Germany – and the cunning undertakings of Agent Claudius in the midst of a rapid rise, and an even more rapid collapse, of the Thousand Year Reich.”
Dave Hurlow brings his second book, DEEP SEA FELINE to Junction Reads and we’re thrilled! From Latitude 46, “Charlie Potichny, a failing musician, lost his mother at a young age. Twenty years after her death, a mysterious creature from another world visits him through one of her renowned paintings, gifting him with music that will turn his life and musical career upside down. As Charlie’s life changes, his best friend Greg, a hedonistic opera singer, sinks into a rut of depression and drug abuse as his marriage falls apart. It slowly emerges that in passing off the mysterious creature’s work as his own, Charlie has upset the power balance between two ancient gods. To restore their lives and homes, a colourful cast of neurotic artists and musicians must face their darkest fears, stage an epic opera and navigate the strange and wondrous realms of the ancient gods.”
Danila Botha’s fourth book, THINGS THAT CAUSE INAPPROPRIATE HAPPINESS is her third collection of short stories and as you know, I love a great collection of stories! From Guernica Editions: “From the bullied twelve-year-old (Born, Not Made) to the musician saved from sleeping in doorways (Blasting Molly Rockets), to the sculptor who builds a golem and fulfills her Holocaust survivor grandmother’s wish to protect her sister (Able to Pass) to a student who overdoses on opiates and meets an adult Anne Frank (Like An Alligator Eyeing a Small Fish), these stories pulse with Botha’s signature empathy and originality. Botha also addresses what it means to be Jewish, with characters who rethink their whole identity (Soulmates) to those who hold on at all costs (Dark and Lilac Fairies).”
Doors open at 6:00pm with a 6:30pm start. PWYC at the door or online through our EventBrite page (event will be live soon). ALL proceeds go to the authors. We will also have a raffle of books and a special gift from TYPE Books. Bring cash!!
Junction Reads 
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