My Storytelling Workshop…

I want to write this for all of the kids out there who HAVEN’T seen one of my storytelling workshops.

You didn’t miss much at all, really.

I start out by telling the kids how I grew up to be a storyteller, and how my grandfather taught me, and how I was nearly massacred to death in my first day of school by a half a hundred bullies…complete with a special guest star appeanance by bogth GODZILLA and KING KONG.

And then I tell a touching little story – the very first story in the world – a story that I call “Caveman Steve and the Wooly Mammoth”.

Then I throw in a flame thrower, some bandits, maybe some Martians, and some kick-butt horse-style kung-fu action.

Some of you today at the FOREST OF TREES FESTIVAL will get a chance to hear all this at 10am at 10am to 11am at the BRIGANTINE TENT.

I look forward to seeing you all.

yours in storytelling,

Steve Vernon

My sixth day in Toronto

Well – today was the first day of the Toronto Silver Birch Festival. I was strictly a spectator but I did my best to learn as much and listen as much as I could. Afterwards we had a great meet and greet shmoozathon at THE PEARL restaurant. I chatted with quite a few people – although I am still a very poor shmoozer. I have a hard time hearing what other people are saying in crowded rooms – the by-product of too many years spent working in too many factories and loading docks.

Several people mentioned that they had read and enjoyed my blog entry – MY FIRST FAN LETTER.

I’d post a link here but I am still struggling to master this rinky-tink netbook.

I must be up early tomorrow to get some breakfast into me and to be ready to present my full one hour workshop. It is one of the first events of the morning – which is a BIT of a handicap because it takes a certain amount of time to get ALL of the 5000 or so students succesfully delivered to the Festival Sight. Still – I will do the best I can with what opportunity I havel There is NEVER any perfect time for anything. You just have to wing it and do your best.

Tonight I had supper at the Ferkin Pub on Yonge Street. Had a buttered chicken pie – very tasty.Then I moved up the street and had desert – a vanilla milkshake – at the Hard Rock Cafe. I’ve always wanted to eat there – but the menus had no prices listed – and that ALWAYS makes me nervous – so I settled for a milkshake – just so that I could say that I did actually dine at the Hard Rock Cafe.

Tonight I had a good work-out at the hotel fitness centre and am relaxing before going to bed.

I worry a little that I haven’t done my very best here at this Festival. I have made more than my share of goof-ups – and everyone else seems to be so at ease with an event this size.

In any case – I’ve had a lot of fun and I’ve reached quite a few kids. Talked to teachers and librarians and fellow writers. Met bookstore owners and even drank a milkshake at the Hard Rock Cafe.

This has been the closest I have come to taking a for-real vacation in an awful lot of years – possibly all my life. My early years were spent working labour with very little opportunity for vacations. I was usually too busy trying to pay the bills to bother with leisure. I believe that this time out has done wonders for recharging my batteries. I can’t wait to get back to work on the new YA novel manuscript.

That’s all I’ve got to tell you for now.

yours in storytelling,

Steve Vernon

Why I love movies…

Okay – so I am a SERIOUS movie addict. In fact there is almost nothing else that I prefer to do with my leisure time – when I’m not writing, reading, or eating.

Okay…so sometimes EVEN when I am eating.

So, what sort of movies do I love to watch?

Well, for starters, old ones. I LOVE the Turner Channel and I’m always happy to tune in an old Bogart or John Wayne movie. Charles Bronson, Lee Marvin, Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn – I love those old tough guy movies.

So – it’s no surprise that I have spent a fair bit of my leisure time here in Toronto just kicking up at the movie theatre.

I’ve seen two movies in Toronto so far.

The first was IRON MAN 3 – which was a pretty good superhero movie – but as far as Iron Man movies go it sort of sucked. Which isn’t surprising. IRON MAN 2 basically sucked as well.

For starters – Ben Kingsley made a pretty good Mandarin until they started goofing him up and playing it for laughs. Man – I hate it when they take what should be a straight movie and play it up goofy. Where the heck were his rings? And why wasn’t he using them? That’s how I remember the Mandarin – sort of a Fu Man Chu sort of dude with two handfuls of rings – each with their own unique power. Goofy, corny – but heck, it’s a comic book, right? But instead the main menace was some dude who kept turning into some sort of molten fire. I mean – who was he supposed to be – Fing Fang Foom?

I know, I know – my inner geek is shining through.

So sue me.

Another problem – a BIG problem – that I had with Iron Man 3 was the fact that Tony Stark spent about three quarters of the movie WITHOUT his costume on. I mean – comme on – the movie was called Iron Man 3 – NOT Tony Stark 3. I had the same beef with the Tobey Mcguire – Sam Raimi Spiderman movies that kept taking his mask offover and over and over.

I mean – what is it? Is this an actor issue? An agent issue? A contract issue? Did somebody say – if Robert Downey Jr. doesn’t his face seen a certain number of times he isn’t making this movie?

Finally – I was REALLY cheesed off at the lamebrain anticlimactic goofy added scene at the very end of the movie. I think somebody has been watching too many episodes of The Sopranos.

BUT on the plus side let me say that the theatre I watched Iron Man 3 was first rate. It was a little independent theatre called The Rainbow Market Square. They had a full piano in the lobby with a young man playing classical music which – I believe- was then piped into the theatre. It gave the theatre a really classy restrained atmosphere. Sitting in the darkness, waiting for the movie to begin and listening to the piano music was a little like stepping back into a time machine.

I enjoyed the sensation.

Last nght I watched EVIL DEAD at the Richmond Street Scotiabank Theatre.

The movie itself was pretty good. Keep in mind I love the original version, I really enjoy Ash, and I didn’t particular appreciate the goofiness that Raimi insisted on putting into EVIL DEAD 2 – although I did appreciate the over-the-top gore of it all.

Talking about the EVIL DEAD is a bit of mind game – in the way that Raimi has sort of remade this movie TWICE now. It is like the man has eaten a bad cucumber that continues to repeat on him over and over again. It’s like that friend that you have that constantly talks about his days on the high school team – even when he’s forty or fifty years old.

It’s a little unhealthy.

But – like I’ve said a couple of times, I enjoyed this new version.

I didn’t really empathise with any of the characters because they were all film school puppies with milk cream complexion and a distinct lack of anything even resembling personal character – but the jump scenes got to me and a couple of the creep-out booga-booga moments really had me worried.

Of course, it helped a lot that there were ONLY about three people in the theatre, counting me – and we were ALL there for the sole purpose of watching us a creepshow movie. Nobody was giggling, noboday was whispering and NOBODY was trying to text their mom.

(I’ll get back to that texting business in a minute)

An empty theatre like that is PERFECT for watching this sort of movie because it allows you to lean in and soak up the intent of the movie. You experience better without the distraction of giggles and blue screen afterglow.

So I dug the movie and – like IRON MAN 3 – there was a little tiny insert scene at the very end of credits that was worth sticking around to watch.

Unlike IRON MAN 3′s giggling cheapshot little tiny insert scene that REALLY wasn’t worth hanging in there for a billion years worth of rolling credits.

On top of that the movie preshow was a really tedious carnival barker spiel of teasing hints and tiresome trivia and about eight to ten separate FREAKING COMMERCIALS (rising to a raving rant-like fervor) – and worst of all – they actually encouraged the audience to use their cell phones.

That’s right – Cineplex – this whole interactive pre-movie warm-up that you are pushing us movie-goers towards actually encourages movie watchers to USE THEIR FREAKING CELL PHONE.

This loud brassy vapid-brained spokesperson grins out at us from the movie screen and says – “Hey, why don’t you download this uber-cool sky-net-app that will let you play this trivia game and win some skynet-movie-buck-virtual-money – which is then followed by a half a dozen trivia questions worse than anything you might ever see on The Repo Games – following which the winner’s cyber-name is projected up their along with the runners up.

Near as I could tell there was only one person in the audience who actually played – and then that loud brassy woman on the screen – (I think she was a Terminator or something like that) – cheerfully reminded us that we could download the skynet-movie-game-app and play along the next time.

And then she told us in a small-print-voice – oh yeah, you better turn your cell phone off now.

Now come on, Cineplex. Haven’t you ever given a child a single lick at a candy apple and then said – Now save that candy apple for after supper, would you?

Keep in mind this last bit of rant is coming at you from a fellow who is operating on the keyboard of a REALLY FRUSTRATING little netbook that is barely able to keep up with me – and that this is the SAME fellow who refuses to buy and use a cell phone of his own.

Take that, Skynet.

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Lastly, I’ll be meeting with editor Christopher Jones tonight for supper at a place called BARBARIANS. Christopher edited the small press anthology EULOGIES 2 – TALES FROM THE CELLAR. I’d post a photo of the cover – but this rinky-tink netbook is just a little too stubborn to adequately bounce that image onto my blog page.

My golly, I sure miss my own computer.
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I should mention that I had brunch at Paddington’s Pump Restaurant – Home of the Big Oink – at the St. Lawrence Market. I had a meal of eggs and really tasty pancakes and sausages and pea bacon fried to a tasty crisp. It was a lot closer to walk to than Rasher’s and had the same sort of bacon sandwich – so I was a happy camper. My feet appreciated it to – although the Dr. Scholl’s insoles that I picked up along with the ZIM’S HEEL CRACK CREME really helped with my comfort level.

By golly, I sure miss my youth. I walked clear across Canada with nothing but my thumb stuck out in the breeze – and now a few Toronto blocks have brought to my knees…

Sounds like there’s a rap tune in there somewhere.

Who says old dudes like me aren’t hip?

yours in storytelling,

Steve Vernon

The Workshop At TYPE Bookshop

On Monday at 1pm I delivered my one hour workshop on storytelling and writing to the kids of St. Mary’s School. The teachers brought two classes – one of grade five and one of grade six – about sixty kids in all. They had me set up in the bookstore basement – a snug little concrete structure that held our heat like a miniature sauna.

It was hot and uncomfortable but I had the kids rivetted. I could have probably kept on talking and telling stories for another hour. The bookstore had picked up ten copies of SINKING DEEPER and sold seven of them. I signed the copies and answered about a hundred separate questions as the kids made way over to ask me questions at the end of the workshop.

I want to send a BIG thank-you to the folks at TYPE Bookstore for giving me the opportunity to talk with the kids. They really were an eager group – (grade 4, 5 and 6 are ALWAYS a treat to talk to).

Afterwards I treated myself to a slice of potato pizza and a cold bottle of Steam Whistle Lager – which REALLY went down smoothly. I made my way to the Scotiabank Theatre where I snarfed down a plate of poutine and a tall glass of Cherry Coke and watched the new EVIL DEAD remake. There was about three people in the theater watching the movie. That’s how I like to attend a movie. Nobody was talking or texting or giggling. Everyone was silent and intent of just watching the flick. Times like that I can allow myself to totally immerse myself in the story. There were a couple of jump scenes that rattled me nicely and more than a few scary scenes that made me catch my breath. Nothing like a good booga-booga scene.\

And the last scene at the end of the credits was…well…groovy!

I checked out a half a dozen bookstores along the way – including the WORLD’S LARGEST BOOKSTORE, and BMV Books where I bought a couple of Hellboy mini-books.

Before going to bed I checked out the hotel’s fitness room and put their rowing machine, free weights, elliptical trainer and a press machine to good use before crashing for a VERY sound sleep.

I don’t have ANYTHING professional planned today – although an editor of an upcoming anthology that I have a story in wants to meet me for a steak. I do hope to check out RASHERS today – a restaurant that specializes in bacon – as well as the Leslieville Pumps – both on Queen Street West.

It is supposed to be getting warmer and sunnier over the next couple of days. I am here until Friday – so I might need myself some sunscreen and a good straw hat for the Silver Birch Festival.

Having a blast on this working vacation but BOY do I miss my wife.

And my cat.

And my FREAKING COMPUTER!

yours in storytelling,

Steve Vernon

A brief update from Toronto…

Hey folks. Just getting ready for a quick breakfast downstairs at the hotel restaurant with my brother and his family. They are heading out today and I’ve had a good visit with them.

I’ll have some REAL book tour info for you later today as I will be performing my storytelling workshop with some cool kids at TYPE BOOKS – 883 Queen Street West.

I’ll tell you all about it this evening.

In the meantime – here’s a shot of a nifty looking gent I met in the Kensington Market.\

And here is a photo from  Thunder By of THE SLEEPIHG GIANT.

I’m having a bit of a hard time working with this rinky-tink little netbook – but when I get back home to my desktop I’ll set these up properly.

yours in storytelling,

Steve Vernon

First day in Toronto – more book tour info

I’m an early riser.

I sometimes blame it on the three paper routes I had when I was a kid. I blame it on having to get up at five in the morning to deliver the Toronto Star – (in Capreol).

Other times I just figure I’m weird.

So – it wasn’t any surprise that I woke up Saturday morning – my first full day in Toronto – at about five in the morning. I didn’t intend to eat in the hotel. The restaurant here is WAY too expensive.

So I set out to check out a little eatery I saw that advertised a 24 hour breakfast.

At 7:30am I arrived at the Sunset Grill on the corner of Yonge Street and Richmond where I ate lightly. I had a fried egg sandwich accompanied by two sticks of carrot and two sticks of cucumber – each large enough to masquerade as a modest-sized nightstick.

The veggies were accompanied by a dish of ranch dip which I manfully spurned. Sometimes a fellow has to exercise a little willpower.

The egg was dry and I don’t believe I’ll eat there again – but a fellow has to start somewhere.

I made my way down Yonge Street until I came to Queen. Then I journeyed down Queen and eventually made my way to the Moonbeam Coffee Company (30 St. Andrew) – where I had a GREAT cup of dark coffee along with a cold portable chunk of bread pudding crammed with coconut and chocolate chips.

Coconut, coffee and chocolate chips.

This stuff doesn’t grow on trees, you know.

I made my way through Kensington and scoped out a few more places to eat and then made my way to TYPE BOOKS – (883 Queen St. W) – where, on Monday, I will be telling to a class of young students – and signing a few books.

In the evening I was surprised to find out that my brother Dan and his family had driven down from Capreol to visit for the weekend – and he was actually staying at the same hotel as I am. So he took me out to the Old Spaghetti Factory and then we made our way to the movie theatre to watch Iron Man 3 -which would have been better if Robert Downey could have stayed in his costume for longer than about ten percent of the movie.

Time for bed. Talk to you later.

yours in storytelling,

Steve Vernon

 

 

Thunder Bay Tardis…

Hey folks.

Sorry I’ve been tardy in keeping up my book tour blog.

Hmm…funny how that word tardy sounds so much like Dr. Who’s travelling telephone box time machine – the TARDIS. Maybe if I could get me one of those Tardis machines I could go back in time with this blog and none of you would be any wiser.

The fact is I just couldn’t get online at all from Thunder Bay. I heard a couple of the writers mentioning that. Might be the connection at the hotel just wasn’t strong enough. Might be the Thunder Bay hotel was in its very own Tardis.

In any case – Thunder Bay was a real drive-by performance.

Let me tell you all about it.

Okay – so Thursday morning I took off by bus from Amherst. Following a three hour bus drive I arrived at the Halifax Airport where I had a good greasy Chickenburger double cheeseburger, fries and a coffee milkshake.\

Once I had achieved a proper balance of fat, grease, salt and sugar I boarded a plane for Toronto. Two hours later – in Toronto – I caught a plane to Thunder Bay and arrived at the Prince Arthur Waterfront Hotel.

I had a shmooze with the participating authors and the event organizers over a couple of glasses of Sleeping Giant Amber Ale – which was particularly cool because one of the characters in the YA novel that I am working on just happens to be the Thunder Bay Sleeping Giant.

I took a few minutes to slip out to the waterfront to snap a couple of photos of the Sleeping Giant. Let me see if I’ve got one on file here.

Nope. I managed to download a few photos – but none of the Giant. I’ll post one here later.

The next morning I had an exceptionally fine breakfast of ham and eggs and was driven to the auditorium for the big event.

Let me give you an idea of the crowd I was performing before.\

 

 

 

 

They tell me that there was about three thousand kids there that day – and I had about fifteen minutes or so. I gave them a bit of background info about who I was and then nailed them with a thunderous over-the-top rendition of my “Tale of the Phantom Oarsman”.

Well maybe not thunderous, but I don’t recollect hearing anyone snoring.

I spent about an hour and half in the hot sun at a signing table and signed about one thousand autographs.

No – I am NOT exagerating on the number. The kids kept coming and coming and coming.

Along the way I met some very important people.

Like – Zeus the Moose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And – believe it or not – I got to meet Smoky the Bear.

Speaking as a fifty-four year old kid I thought it was incredibly cool to meet a fellow that I loved to watch on television. As old as that old bear was he still seemed pretty spry.

I really had a great time and met some wonderful students and I am looking forward to performing again – this time for a full hour – at the Toronto Festival this Thursday.

I’ve also got a bookstore gig – I’ll be telling stories for a class of kids at the TYPE BOOKSTORE on Queen Street West. I am REALLY looking forward to this.

I’ll throw together another blog entry tonight telling you all about my first day here in Toronto.

yours in storytelling,

Steve Vernon