Kingston WritersFest 2016
I’m honoured to be reading from Bottle and Glass at the 2016 Kingston WritersFest as part of the Hometown Heroes event, along with Kirsteen MacLeod and Julie Salverson. Our event takes place on Sunday, Oct. 2nd at 4:30PM. Here is the WritersFest notice:
Celebrate the recent achievements of local writers Kirsteen MacLeod (The Animal Game), Julie Salverson (Lines of Flight: An Atomic Memoir), and Morgan Wade (Bottle and Glass) as they break onto the scene as published authors. Each author will read from their work, and then join Mark Sinnett (The Carnivore), himself a local author though one with more experience in the world of publishing, for a light-hearted chat about the books, and about the accumulated blood, sweat, and tears that have gone into their work. Learn what obstacles they overcame, and what inspired them to keep going through to publication.
https://www.kingstonwritersfest.ca/events/49-hometown-heroes-new-authors/
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Bottle and Glass officially launched
Bottle and Glass was officially launched on October 4th, 2015 at the Jailhouse Tavern and Inn in Cobourg, Ontario. It was yet another fitting venue for a launch. The old jail was built at the turn of the last century and refitted as a tavern at the turn of this century. Lots of history and character, imposing stone and brick walls, and quality draft beer. Apparently its extensive rooms and passageways form “a hub of paranormal activity.” On this occasion, characters from Bottle and Glass did not materialize from the shadows, which is probably just as well since there wouldn’t have been room.
I had the honour and pleasure of presenting the novel along with five other authors launching their own work. I thoroughly enjoyed their readings and I’m looking forward to exploring their books.
Felicity Sidnell Reid read from Alone: A Winter in the Woods and her excerpt immediately evoked the end of the 18th century in rural Ontario with all of its fears and challenges. I’m keen to read this historical fiction set in a similar time and place as Bottle and Glass.
Brian Way entertained and engaged, reciting poetry from his collection redirection, singing parts of his ragtime-y, beat-like “Metro” and amusing with his series of sonnets dedicated to various Prime Ministers.
James Ronson intrigued with a fast-paced reading from his gritty, contemporary crime drama Power and Possessions.
David Pratt moved us with touching poems from his collection Apprehensions of Van Gogh: Selected Poems, 1960 – 2014, delivering them with a rich, measured cadence, evoking war poets such as Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, and Robert Graves.
Jim Christy read from his collection of absurdist short stories Bad Day For Ralphie and had us laughing at his equally absurd anecdotes.
I recommend that you check out any or all of these titles, they all promise a good read and I’m pleased to be part of the same North Shore Series 8.
Read MoreNovel takes readers back to Kingston’s early days
By Wayne Grady for the Kingston Whig-Standard
http://www.thewhig.com/2015/09/30/novel-takes-readers-back-to-kingstons-early-days
KINGSTON — The gathering at the Queen’s Inn, on Brock Street, was lively and boisterous. It was after 10 p.m. on Friday, and spirits were freely flowing. The clinking of glasses and the shouted greetings echoed off the stone walls and reverberated among the stout wooden rafters. Suddenly, the front door burst open and two ill-clad ruffians ran into the room, elbowed their way noisily through the crowd, and hid behind the bar. Within minutes the front door clanged open again, and a man known only as Biscuit dashed into the room and asked loudly if anyone had seen the desperadoes escaping from impressment into His Majesty’s service. No one spoke: Biscuit cursed and ran out of the tavern into the night.
Read MoreWhat to do if characters come alive in the middle of your launch?
Play along.
The Kingston “pre-launch” of Bottle and Glass went about as well as I could have hoped. We had a full house at the Queen’s Inn at 10PM on Friday, with everyone full of end-of-week exuberance. There were plenty of bar snacks (healthy and unhealthy) and the beer taps flowed. Leanne Lieberman gave a lovely introduction and I took the stage to give some background on how I came to write the book. I began to read a sample from the beginning of the book (for Ali: “Chapter 1, Page 1”).
I’d no sooner got through the second sentence when a pair of young fishermen burst through the front doors. Characters from my own novel. They made a scene, elbowed their way through the crowd, and hid themselves on the other side of the bar. They were followed closely by another character from Bottle and Glass, an objectionable fellow known only as Biscuit, who proceeded to threaten and interrogate me, as if I might be eligible for the press.
Was I rattled? I confess I was.
The Queen’s Inn (est. 1839) is one of the oldest continuously operating inns in Canada. If copper bar tops could talk, theirs would likely have many tales to tell. With all the carousing and chatter, it seems we may have shaken some spirits from the limestone crannies.
I treated with Biscuit as squarely as I could. I explained that it was a reading, that we were launching a book. He seemed unimpressed. Then, feigning confusion, I claimed they went “thataway”, out the side door. Thankfully, he left.
The two young fishermen, Jeremy and Merit, emerged from their hiding places. But they didn’t, with a grateful wave, melt back into the ancient mist whence they came. They sat at the bar and ordered two pints. They joined the rest of us. And they suggested I read on.
What else could I do?
I read on.
I continued with some back story, a brief description of Jeremy and Merit and how they came to be at this tavern … where they shouldn’t have been! … hoping they might eventually get the hint and disappear. It was uncomfortable.
But clearly they had no intention of leaving. When I mentioned Merit’s penchant for gambling and that he’d just recently fashioned a pair of dice that couldn’t lose, he jumped from his bar stool. He goaded one of the audience into a wager against his fixed dice and when he inevitably won, Merit and Jeremy hooted and hollered and danced their victory. They never learn.
Their celebration alerted the pressmaster. Biscuit summoned his superior, Captain Rowton.
At this point, mayhem. I could no longer maintain the charade of a traditional book launch. I receded into a corner and watched, with everyone else, as the story unfolded.
Jeremy remonstrated with the captain and pleaded their case, begging him to let them go. The captain would have none of it. After a sham knot tying demonstration, in which Merit got his knuckles repeatedly rapped, they gave up and signed the captain’s articles. The captain had a round of rumbustion poured and we all toasted the King. Rowton and Biscuit bundled their charges out of the Queen’s Inn, but not before disparaging the number and quality of sailors to be found in Kingston.
The crowd looked back to me. What more could I say? I decided it was time to wrap up.
I thanked Brett Christopher of Theatre Kingston and Paul Dyck, Patrick Downes, and Matt Hunt of Salon Theatre for all of their help. I thanked Richard Mitchell of the Queen’s Inn for hosting the event.
In all the chaos, I forgot to mention to everyone to look for a full-length, site-specific dramatic adaptation of Bottle and Glass, to take place in the summer of 2016, moving from tavern to Kingston tavern – a sort of play-pub crawl.
I thanked everyone for coming. Then to the bar, in search of a much needed restorative.
The scene was dark and chaotic. It was difficult to get quality photos and video. But here are a couple of clips of raw, unedited video, to give you some idea.
Book Launch Clip One:
Book Launch Clip Two:
Bottle and Glass – Official Launch Oct. 4th
The official Hidden Brook Press launch of Bottle and Glass will take place at the Jailhouse Tavern and Inn in Cobourg, Ontario, October 4th, 2PM. Details on a Kingston pre-launch near the end of September will be announced soon.
Stoicism Today: Selected Writings available now
Morgan Wade
Morgan Wade is a fiction writer living in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. His short stories and poems have been published in Canadian literary journals and anthologies, including, The New Quarterly and The Nashwaak Review. His debut novel, The Last Stoic was long listed for the ReLit Award for Fiction.
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