You just never know what will happen in this life. I am thrilled to announce that Bad Ideas will be published in German under the Goya imprint of Jumbo Verlag. They have also made an AUDIO BOOK. It is difficult to imagine what German readers will make of this story about a French Canadian daredevil in small town Ontario in the 70s. I hope they really, really like it. A lot. Release date: August 17, 2022. Magic.
https://www.jumboverlag.de/presse/index.php?searchItem=marston
When I was 18 I moved to Ottawa from Iroquois, Ontario to go to school. My childhood home was on an acre of land across the road from the St. Lawrence River. Behind the house were cornfields then the highway then more fields then the railway tracks. The nearest town had a population of 1,200. It had some beautiful views and some fascinating people. It also had no traffic lights, no record store, no bookstore, no movie theatre. And these were pre-Internet days.
I sat in my room as a teenager and wrote poems and listened to music and read books and had no idea what my life could possibly be like as an adult. Sometimes I drove to Ottawa to see my favourite bands and buy what I thought were cool clothes and get my hair done. Sometimes I took the train to Toronto or Montreal to see friends and family and see bands. But mostly I sat in my bedroom.
Ottawa is not a big city by most standards but for me it was a major positive jolt of change. I remember walking up Bay Street to Wellington with a friend at night when I first moved here. All the office towers were empty and very few people were around. My friend, a Torontonian, said something about how dead it was. I looked at all those buildings lit up like lanterns and said: You don't understand. For me, this is like Blade Runner.
This interview with Chaudière Books is part of the Six Questions about Ottawa series. It brought back some powerful memories about what it was like to come here when I was 18 and so angry and stupid and hopeful and romantic. All the lovely people who were patient with me. Thirty-five motherf*cking years ago! This life.
Grateful to rob mclennan who seems to never stop working to promote and encourage Ottawa writers.
https://chaudierebooks.blogspot.com/2021/01/six-questions-interview-53-missy-marston.html?fbclid=IwAR0O2ogKxbBiAWmsq3ppU4HXWVA3rtGmlF30Xls5YgD2DhmPoJZhOD8ygSY
Bad Ideas is nominated for an Ottawa Book Award! Things are a little different this year. The ceremony on October 21st will be a video call instead of a party (though I will do my best to make it into one) and instead of reading at the ceremony, nominees were asked to make videos. A really nice person from the City of Ottawa came downtown and recorded me standing in the park near my house, reading. There were kids playing, people milling around, trucks driving by, and one persistent wasp. Buzzing around my head and then crawling all over my hand while I read. And the nice person stood six feet away with a video camera, smiling behind his mask. Bless him.
Here is the result! Pretty good, all things considered.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm0S--VPLCY&ab_channel=OttawaRecCulture
I am delighted that Bad Ideas has been selected for Together We Read Canada. What does that mean? Together We Read is a digital book club. Participating libraries across the country are offering the e-book and audiobook with no wait-lists from September 3rd to 17th. That way, communities can read a book at the same time and talk about it. Online, these days.
Bonus: the audiobook for Bad Ideas is read by Aurora Browne of the Baroness von Sketch Show!
You can find out more about Together We Read by following the link below. You will also find an author letter from me and a self-recorded video interview, featuring my living room and my snoring dogs.
togetherweread.com/CA/
I also wanted express some gratitude for some excellent CanLit sites that provided me with some space to talk about my book over the last year. Some examples are here:
www.brinybooks.ca/2019/08/a-conversation-with-missy-marston-author-of-bad-ideas/
open-book.ca/News/Like-a-Marilynne-Robinson-Book-in-a-Spangly-Jumpsuit-Missy-Marston-on-Her-Fabulous-New-Daredevil-Novel-Bad-Ideas
alllitup.ca/Blog/2019/ALU-Book-Club-Interview-with-Missy-Marston
pacifictranquility.wordpress.com/tag/missy-marston/
Happy reading, everybody. Take care of yourselves and others. To the best of your ability. Sending love to all.
M
