Kingston: Novel Idea Bookstore

The crowd gathered for my evening talk and reading event on The Stone Frigate in Novel Idea Bookstore was an eclectic mix of present day RMC Cadets, RMC Professors and Ex-Cadets, friends from the Class of 1984 in town for our 35th reunion weekend, local book lovers, writing students, and even an on-air radio talent personality from Queens University Radio 101.9.

Governor General Award winning Author, Steven Heighton, The Nightingale Won’t Let You Sleep, took me under his wing as a friend and mentee several years ago on my writing journey and, to my delight, graciously agreed to introduce me during the Novel Idea Event.

During his introduction, Steven Heighton talked about his impression of my book from the perspective of being a local Kingstonian and as past Writer-in-Residence at RMC. He definitely entertained the crowd and warmed them up favourably for me! Thank you Steven.

My turn on deck started with sharing a few funny stories about my experience of writing memoir….

…and some serious sharing about compelling events in my life which eventually propelled me to tell my story.

I read a few short excerpts from The Stone Frigate to a crowd that laughed at all the right times and understood the depth of my narrative to a degree that no other reader will ever be able to achieve—given that many of the people in the room were at RMC during the years I depicted and no less than FOUR of them were main ‘characters’ in my story.

After the reading, I opened the floor for questions…..

…and such a lively discussion ensued that eventually Oscar Malan, owner of Novel Idea Bookstore, sidled up alongside me to give me the nudge to wrap it up and move into the signing portion of the evening before closing time!!

Steven Heighton had to remind me to announce that my books were for sale!

It was lovely to reconnect with friends of old….

…and new!!

We moved the festivities nearby to Milestones for the combination Novel Idea Bookstore Event wrap-party and warm-up night to officially kick start the Class of 1984 35th RMC Reunion weekend ahead!! Thank you again, Steven Heighton, for being such a great sport and tagging along with us.

Thank you everyone who came out to share the evening—it meant the world to me. xo