No Such Thing as a Free Launch! Or Notes & Images from my Book Tour

Dear Friends,

I am catching my breath back in my Montreal 'hood, home to celebrate our youngest child Rosamond's b-day with some eight little girls for a sleepover this Friday night, followed by a pot-luck dinner and movie night on Saturday eve for our teen son Tobias, which leaves Sunday, bloody Sunday, for Michael and I, two weary, geriatric parents to renew, regroup, and recover.

I've had great visits so far to Quebec City (Champlain St. Lawrence College and Maison Anglaise Librairie ), as well as Toronto (The Jewish Book Fair and Holocaust Education Week) and will leave soon for Vancouver's Jewish Book Festival for events with Robert Freedman, Edeet Ravel, and King David High School. I'm psyched! I have not been to Vancouver since I was 16 yrs old (a few yrs ago) and took up the rear on an expert level Canadian Rockies Hiking and Biking Adventure. I remember the landscape as paradisally beautiful and I am thrilled to be returning to this special part of the world.

Back to reality.

To read my responses to Toronto's Open Book 10 questions on The White Space Between, which includes thoughts on my inspirations, writing habits, and work in process, take a look at: http://www.openbooktoronto.com/news/ten_questions_with_ami_sands_brodoff

Up in Quebec City, I enjoyed giving a talk to students from Champlain St. Lawrence College. Their excellent questions stimulated plenty of lively discussion. Heather, at Maison Anglaise Librarie, was kind enough to come with plenty of stock of The White Space Between and Bloodknots.

I had a long chat with journalist Scott French from The Chronicle Telegraph about why and how I wrote my novel. He interviewed English teacher Bob McBryde, my host, and a number of students, posing the controversial question of whether the Holocaust will soon be effaced from collective memory. The students' responses are both disturbing and enlightening, underlining the need for a commitment to Holocaust Remembrance and a willingness to see that not only can an atrocity like this happen again, atrocities like this are happening now. What are we going to do about it?

Please see left for an excerpt from the review that just appeared in The Montreal Review of Books.

In Toronto, I read and spoke on a stimulating panel with three other authors on the topic: Women Writing the Holocaust to explore the question of what particular perspective we, as women, bring to this dark chapter of history. Emma Rodgers of my publisher, Second Story Press, took the photos and The Canadian Jewish News did a cover piece with a short bit from each of us on the panel.

After perusing this post, any empathetic and sympathetic techie who has time to give me a lesson in posting article excerpt and photos, please come forward! I need you!

Behind the scenes confession: I spent about two exhausting hours trying to get this stuff up here in the right sequence. I did my best...for now. Where there is life, there's hope.

-Ami