The Gold Star

Words of praise arrived unexpectedly from the somewhat reclusive, legendary Montreal novelist and playwright Seymour Blicker. Receiving this note I felt the thrill of being in elementary school again and getting a gold star from the teacher (which didn't happen much when I was a kid).

...Regarding HALBMAN STEALS HOME – Once I began reading it I didn’t want to put it down. It is a wonderful novel, suspenseful, dramatic, and filled with pathos and humour and some artfully executed surprises. It is also an excellent tour of contemporary Jewish Montreal as seen through the eyes of our guide, Mort Halbman. Congratulations on having crafted an insightful and unique work. I’m looking forward to your next one.

Is the book up for the Leacock Award? It should be!...

Anyways, I’ll be touting your book to all and sundry and I hope it will be a best-seller.

One more for the scrapbook

Rotchin’s latest novel, Halbman Steals Home, is one that anyone with a sense of humour won’t be able to put down. While the story is set deep in the suburbs of Montreal, the storyline is one that can be appreciated by any reader for the characters described could live just about anywhere.

The rest here.

Toronto Star Review of Halbman

She liked it!

Rotchin is adept at sketching character and creating convincing dialogue. He’s one of those writers I want to read in gulps, resisting the need to put down the book for a minute. Halbman’s cronies, his children, his wife, his city are immediately recognizable and Rotchin has an uncanny ability to draw us in with the clarity of his prose and charming narrative. It makes me yearn for a Fairmount Bagel.
The rest here.

The Irving Layton Centenary

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Canada's greatest poet of the 20th century. There are a couple of celebrations planned that I know of, the first in the nation's capital. Looks like a very interesting event to attend if you happen to be within 100 kms.

Irving Layton: A Centenary Celebration

Poets and Members of Parliament celebrate Layton’s legacy

Sunday, March 11, 2012, 2:30 p.m.
University of Ottawa
Room 129, Simard Hall
60 University Street, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5

The Vered Jewish Canadian Studies Program
and the Department of English welcome you to a celebration
of the writings and legacy of Irving Layton (1912-2006),
with readings from his works by Ottawa poets
and brief reminiscences from friends and associates who knew him.
Participants will also include Members of Parliament
Irwin Cotler and Mauril Bélanger.
The Centenary Celebration will be hosted by Professor Seymour Mayne.
Reception to follow. Admission to the event is free.
For further information: Professor Seymour Mayne, mayne@uottawa.ca

Online author interview

The good folks at Open Book: Ontario have posted an online interview with yours truly in advance of the release of my new novel Halbman Steals Home. Read it to find "why writing a novel is like driving at night, why humour matters and how life can imitate art in the most uncanny ways."

Road to Thunder Hill by Connie Barnes Rose

I recently heard a novelist declare that a great novel achieves three criteria: It's unputdownable, it's unforgettable, and it's timeless. Seeing as only future generations can attest to whether a novel attains the third criteria, I'll concern myself with the first two, which seem valid enough, if not to determine a novel's greatness, than at least as to whether it's worth recommending. By this standard Road to Thunder Hill by Connie Barnes Rose more than succeeds. There are many ways to fashion an unputdownable, unforgettable story. Barnes Rose does it by creating a setting and characters that are so deeply authenticate, honest and affecting it is hard to imagine they aren't as real and present as the folks living next door. The story is told by Trish Kyle, forty-something and at a crossroads in her twenty-year marriage to Ray who spends his weeks working several hours away in salt mines. A freak April snowstorm hits, blocking roads and knocking out power, which exacerbates Trish's loneliness and fragile state of mind. The storm that rages outside is nothing compared to the one wreaking havoc in her heart. Trish is convinced that Ray is having an affair and she's at her wit's end. On Thunder Hill, seeking refuge has always been a way of life for its inhabitants, whether it be in the arms of friends, family, lovers, or escaping in booze and narcotics. Trish has done it all, particularly the latter. Now she has strong memories and emotions to contend with, including an attraction to rugged Bear James, Thunder Hill's 'failed hermit' and Ray's best friend, and resentment toward her alleged half-sister Olive, who now lives in her childhood home and is apparently bent on making Trish feel inferior. When the refugees all find themselves around Olive's kitchen table to ride out the remainder of the uncertain weather, the question Barnes Rose beautifully conveys is when and how - it's never really a question of 'if' - love and forgiveness will finally emerge on Thunder Hill, like the first crocuses of spring.

A New Year Poem by Dave Margoshes

A New Year poem from Dave Margoshes in my inbox is becoming an annual event. It's a way to start the year for which I'm grateful.

DEFINITELY NOT

“We are not alone!” So the tabloids say,
just below the latest on the Mayans,
the bleak countdown. Not alone,
without indication of God or just some gods
or curious travelers from far abroad.
Well, yes, there are stars, supernovas,
black holes. Clouds cumulous
and cirrus, gamma rays, ozone holes,
the rank odour of modernity and progress.
All around us, evidence of intelligence
and stupidity, the betting not yet settled.
Sunrise, sunset and the heart-piercing cry
of a loon, the hungry wail of a cat in an alley,
a speeding siren, more heartbreak.
And back to those stars, blinking
down with neither passion nor compassion,
nor comprehension. No, we are not alone.

- Dave Margoshes, copyright 2012