A short story about three friends.
photo by Leanne Dyck
What's Wrong with Michelle?
Have you heard the one about the three friends who meet in a restaurant? Amanda, Sarah, and Michelle have known each other since they were teenagers.They talk the way old friends do--letting their guard down, just being themselves.
Michelle gestures with her hands and bounces around like a beach ball. "It's so lovely to see you again, Amanda. It's been too long. That's such a lovely scarf." Her focus shifts to the window and out to the tree-lined street. "It's such a lovely autumn. The leaves are so lovely at this time of year. Oh, look there's a squirrel. A squirrel. A squirrel."
The squirrel darts out of sight and Michelle goes to freshen up.
"Everything seems to be lovely in her world." Amanda chuckles.
"Yeah, you'd think," Sarah says. "So does she, but I know she's miserable. And it's all because of the shaggy lump on her sofa. She has changed her entire life for him and all he does is growl. He sheds all over the carpet and pittels on the rug in the bathroom. This is the first time she's been away from him since he moved in. She thinks she has got to be there when he barks."
"Oh, when did she get a dog?"
"Dog--exactly. Now, tell me, how do we get rid of the creep?"
Owlkids Books
Owlkids Books is currently looking for non-fiction...picture book manuscripts
Sharing my Author Journey...
Every year I cuddle with CBC TV's airing of the Scotiabank
Giller and dream. The Giller is one of the most prestigious awards for literature in Canada. And, as I watch, my mind fills with what-ifs... What if that was me sitting at one of those tables? What if that was me walking to the stage? What if that was my book being honoured? What if...
The 2016 nominees were...
13 Ways to Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad
published by Penguin Canada
Yiddish for Pirates by Gary Barwin
published by Random House Canada
The Wonder by Emma Donoghue
published by HarperCollins Publishers
I thoroughly enjoyed Emma Donoghue's Room--the book and the movie.
Party Wall by Catherine Leroux
published by Biblioasis International Translation
translated by Lazer Lederhendler
The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittal
published by House of Anansi Press Inc.
The 2016 winner...
Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
published by Alfred A. Knopf Canada
Michelle gestures with her hands and bounces around like a beach ball. "It's so lovely to see you again, Amanda. It's been too long. That's such a lovely scarf." Her focus shifts to the window and out to the tree-lined street. "It's such a lovely autumn. The leaves are so lovely at this time of year. Oh, look there's a squirrel. A squirrel. A squirrel."
The squirrel darts out of sight and Michelle goes to freshen up.
"Everything seems to be lovely in her world." Amanda chuckles.
"Yeah, you'd think," Sarah says. "So does she, but I know she's miserable. And it's all because of the shaggy lump on her sofa. She has changed her entire life for him and all he does is growl. He sheds all over the carpet and pittels on the rug in the bathroom. This is the first time she's been away from him since he moved in. She thinks she has got to be there when he barks."
"Oh, when did she get a dog?"
"Dog--exactly. Now, tell me, how do we get rid of the creep?"
Picture Books in Canada
'Owlkids publishes entertaining, unique, high-quality books and magazines that nuture the potentials of children and instill in them a love of reading and learning--about themselves and the world around them.'Owlkids Books titles
Owlkids Books is currently looking for non-fiction...picture book manuscripts
Sharing my Author Journey...
Every year I cuddle with CBC TV's airing of the Scotiabank
Giller and dream. The Giller is one of the most prestigious awards for literature in Canada. And, as I watch, my mind fills with what-ifs... What if that was me sitting at one of those tables? What if that was me walking to the stage? What if that was my book being honoured? What if...
The 2016 nominees were...
13 Ways to Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad
published by Penguin Canada
'In her brilliant, hilarious, and at times shocking debut, Mona Awad simultaneously skewers the boy image-obsessed culture that tells women they have no value outside their physical appearance, and delivers a tender and moving depiction of a lovably difficult young woman whose life is hijacked by her struggle to conform.'
Yiddish for Pirates by Gary Barwin
published by Random House Canada
'a hilarious, swashbuckling yet powerful tale of pirates, buried treasure and a search for the Fountain of Youth, told in the ribald,philosophical voice of a 500-year-old Jewish parrot.'
The Wonder by Emma Donoghue
published by HarperCollins Publishers
'An Irish village is mystified by what appears to be a miracle but may actually be murder'
I thoroughly enjoyed Emma Donoghue's Room--the book and the movie.
Party Wall by Catherine Leroux
published by Biblioasis International Translation
translated by Lazer Lederhendler
'shifts between and ties together stories about pairs joined in surprising ways.'
The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittal
published by House of Anansi Press Inc.
'explores issues of loyalty, truth, and the meaning of happiness through the lens of an all-American family in the brink of collapse.'
The 2016 winner...
Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
published by Alfred A. Knopf Canada
'tells the story of three musicians in China before, during and after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.'
