Just a couple of pieces of great news for now. First, last week my wife won an iPad through The Peak’s iPad a Day in May contest, and then I won one this week. We’re selling hers, but I’m writing this from my first Apple product! So far I like
Continue readingTag: personal
A Novelist's Mind: Lilian Nattel Online: A Brief Encounter with Meaning
Today I walked to the post office to mail a copy of my book to my dear friend J who is currently living in China. I’ve meant to do it for ages, but I was too busy and then I was recovering from being too busy. So this afternoon I
Continue readingA Novelist's Mind: Lilian Nattel Online: #8!
BookNet bestsellers: Canadian fiction in great company! Web of Angels hanging out with Why Men lie by Linden MacIntrye, The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak, Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan and Room by Emma Donoghue! | Quillblog | Quill & Quire http://ow.ly/aDxgZ Filed under: Literary, Personal Tagged: day brightener
Continue readingwmtc: new york moments
I’ve just returned from a lovely brief trip to New York City and points nearby. Apologies to friends who I didn’t notify that I was coming in; I was in dire need of less running around and more downtime. I had excellent quality time with my mother and siblings, enjoyed
Continue readingwmtc: happy diego day!
One year ago today, we adopted Diego. I had just gotten home from my spring New York visit. Allan and I had been looking at dogs online, and had decided Diego was our guy. I called Toronto Animal Services to ask about him, thinking we would go there in the
Continue readingwmtc: happy opening day
Red Sox! Baseball! Today! The beginning of a new baseball season is a harbinger of spring, bringing hope, renewal, and… the end of school! In a few days, I’ll be done with another term and can turn my attention back to the rest of the world, including wmtc. Also in
Continue readingA Novelist's Mind: Lilian Nattel Online: From Grimsby to Winnipeg: Web of Angels Travels
If only I had a cell phone with a camera I’d have taken a shot of the view of the lake and the city skyline across from it yesterday evening. I was reading at the Casablanca Winery Inn, Grimsby, aka Ontario’s wine country. The Grimsby Author Series attracts a dedicated
Continue readingwmtc: shit men say to men who say shit to women on the street
A long time ago, when I was in my early 20s, I was once venting to my mom about some ongoing street harassment. There was a construction site near my workplace, and all the women in the area were forced to run a gauntlet of catcalls and obscene chatter, every
Continue readingA Novelist's Mind: Lilian Nattel Online: Shout-Out to Young Women
Picture the Isobel Bolton Hockey League finals, Blue team against White. Blue had been the best team from the beginning of the season. But White came from behind, improving week by week until they were facing Blue in the final game. My older daughter M was on White; a classmate
Continue readingA Novelist's Mind: Lilian Nattel Online: My Favourite Spot for an Interview
I met Greg Quill (Toronto Star) at Faema’s, a coffee shop 5 minutes from my house. It’s on Dupont Street near the Jaguar dealership which is rumoured to be turned into a Target or Walmart in the next few years. It’s large, airy and bright with natural light from the
Continue readingA Novelist's Mind: Lilian Nattel Online: Celebrating a Bestseller in the Best Way
Here’s what my children did yesterday. First a creation by H landed on my desk. Pen holder by H, click to enlarge The congratulations section swivels to reveal To and From, click to enlarge Then M cleaned the kitchen counter and stove top within an inch of its life, upon
Continue readingA Novelist's Mind: Lilian Nattel Online: Web of Angels: Bestseller
This morning, after oatmeal (with maple syrup, a Sabbath treat), I was at my desk drinking coffee. Emails had arrived from my agent, editor, and publicist. After I read them, I walked downstairs to share the news with my family, weeping and scaring them in the process. “It’s good,” I
Continue readingA Novelist's Mind: Lilian Nattel Online: Braving the Police Station
Some of you may remember how I had to overcome my shyness to do the final research for Web of Angels. I’m very comfortable in interviews and I can do the extroverted thing when required (though admittedly after days of it, I just want to sit quietly in a semi-dark
Continue readingA Novelist's Mind: Lilian Nattel Online: My Girls on IWD
There are a lot of posts today about important things: women’s safety, rights, equality or lack thereof all around the world. But this morning, I was talking with my 13 year old, who is just a few months from high school. I spoke about what she’s going to start seeing
Continue readingwmtc: information please
In at least one respect, I am a born librarian. Friends have said there should be a sign over my head: INFORMATION. Everywhere I go, people ask me for directions. In New York City, it was a rare subway trip that I wasn’t approached. “Does this train go to Grand
Continue readingA Novelist's Mind: Lilian Nattel Online: Flavour of the Moment
I love this song: 32 Flavours. Filed under: Personal Tagged: Ani DiFranco
Continue readingA Novelist's Mind: Lilian Nattel Online: Chatelaine P. 176 and Loblaws!
I’ve become a bit of a maniac in the grocery store. It started with the Toronto Sun. I stood at the newspaper stand, flipping through it to find the Star Spaces story about my “decorating,” complete with a photo of the mural I painted with M & H. An old
Continue readingA Novelist's Mind: Lilian Nattel Online: And the Winner Is…
Me! Because I got to watch the Oscars last night with the 2 most amazing kids in the universe. H stayed up for the first half. (And had trouble getting out of bed this morning. It required several loud Uh Oh’s on my part and “your nose has grown to
Continue readingwmtc: you can fight your excessive water bill
I’m posting this for Googleability. If you’ve received an excessive water bill, there may be an error in your reading, even if the water meter is working correctly. My partner and I recently filed a small claims lawsuit against the Region of Peel to recover excessive water charges we were
Continue readingwmtc: in which we kick peel’s butt!
Win? That doesn’t even begin to describe it. This was a rout. When the smoke cleared, we were celebrating and they were gasping for air. $429 and change that we should never have been charged? Check. $175 in court costs? Check. But wait, there’s more… $100 for our preparation time,
Continue reading