Quick! Without thinking, name the best job you ever had- the one that gave (or maybe still does) you goosebumps – the one that pins a silly grin on your face and makes your heart pump happily.
Cece Chats with Authors October 27th
Books are my kind of texts
Quick! Without thinking, name the best job you ever had- the one that gave (or maybe still does) you goosebumps – the one that pins a silly grin on your face and makes your heart pump happily.
Want me to wait while you savour the memory?
As for me? My favourite job?
Well it will take me less than a quick minute to share that with you.
Drum rollllll
My favourite job has always been that of being a Book Reviewer, which basically encompasses being a reader of words who then ruminates on them.
Hot damn!
Just saying that makes my toes curl and my fingers dance.
I mean, where books are involved, I’m so adjective, I verb noun.1
@almoond Can Stock Photo
The very first book that I critiqued was Any Known Blood, written by Canada’s esteemed author and native son, Lawrence Hill, who is famously known for the television miniseries, Book Of Negroes, based on his 2007 book of the same name. To say I was excited to be writing my first book review would be a work of fiction. Any Known Blood was a 500 page-plus tightly packed book and on pretty much every second page I stuck Post-It notes to remind myself and keep track of the novel’s many poignant phrases and events of importance. I had three days to read this heavy tome, write a review, and file it to the entertainment editor at the Toronto Star newspaper.
Needless to say, no housework got done that weekend, (See all the ways that books are your friends!), and my kids arranged multiple in-house play dates, causing chaos as they moved from room to room, spilling pop and crunching potato chips underfoot and on top of carpets.
Finally, my daughter, bored with the zero non-reaction from me, said:
“Mom stop reading and come play with us.”
“I’m not reading, dear, I’m working,” I replied, with an audible sigh of happiness.
After that initial review, my narrow hallway was lined from the front door to the second bedroom with boxes of books sent from publishers who were looking for reviews.
And you know what?
It is 23 years later and I still have the card that Lawrence Hill sent to me thanking me for the ‘thoughtful and detailed review.’
Does it get any better than that for a reader who loves to write- and a writer who loves to read?
As Pharrell Williams says:
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like that’s what you wanna do
It is now a few decades later and I’m still enthralled, still engaged, and still celebrating both the written word and the scribes who write and imagine the stories.
Which is a perfect segue into Cece’s Chat on Chapters Author Spotlight segment.
Over this past week, I have spoken to several publishers about some of their select authors, ones that I know you will not just love, but want to know more about, including what makes these authors tick and how they hone their craft, and where they get some of their wild and insatiable ideas. Of course, we will also discover and have them share what books they love to read.
I have weeks and weeks of surprises in store for you – ones that will have you clapping your hands in anticipation and excitement.
Believe me I know.
I’ve had to sit on my hands several times before picking up the phone to call these authors -their auras and their demeanors, the very life of their craft is really that exciting!
Cece’s Chat on Chapters inaugural author spotlight kicks off next Tuesday, November 3rd, when Peter Rowe, the award-winning Canadian author and filmmaker will talk about his new book, Music Vs The Man- a book that examines the oft-times tumultuous relationships between musicians and ‘the’ authorities — police, border guards, mayors, city councils, the FBI, the Kremlin.
Published by Armin Lear Press, October 2020
“Music wields the type of revolutionary power that politicians and authorities only dream of,” Rowe notes. “Music has the power to open hearts, change minds, and get people to stand up for what they believe in. That’s why, for years authorities have been trying to censor it, throwing musicians in prison, raiding their homes, and sometimes even killing them.”
Rowe’s book is a ‘who’s who’ of the 60s and 70s bad boys, including Mick Jagger, Keith (Keef) Richards, who famously said, “I don’t have a drug problem; I have a police problem”; Jimmy Morrison of the Doors, Chuck Berry and Michael Jackson, to name just a few. Not to be left out or go unmentioned are some exquisitely interesting women performers, including Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, and Josephine Baker. And don’t you worry groupies, you’ve got your very own chapter in the book!
Music vs The Man highlights much more than current musical history, however, as Rowe informs us on the transgressions of what many might erroneously think are staid classical musicians- to wit- Mozart, Beethoven and Bach.
Ah, the peccadilloes of those we place on a pedestal are so interesting, n’est pas?
Along with his involvement with the music scene, Rowe has made over 190 films as a director, writer, or producer. Among the musicians he has filmed are John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Leonard Cohen, and Joni Mitchell, at events like the Isle of Wight Festival and the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival, and concerts by the Jefferson Airplane and the Mothers of Invention.
Having filmed on all seven continents, photographing the extremes of nature from Antarctica to the Arabian Desert, Rowe has crossed Baffin Island by dogsled and climbed many of the world’s most active volcanoes.
It is an interview full of stories that embrace the wild and the ribald, (two of my favourite adjectives!)
Speaking of wild and ribald, will you do me a quick favour?
Send me a note and let me know who your favourite author is, as well as your fav book. Who knows – you might meet your author bestie on this very blog.
Email Cece
If you are not a subscriber to Cece’s Chat on Chapters you can do so right here, right now .
Peter’s interview and the next ones after that, are profiles that you just won’t want to miss.
As I bid you adieu for the week, I leave you with some bon mots of wisdom:
“Life is too short to read bad books….or drink bad wine.” Joy Daniels
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1 Book Riot