Signed: Flaunting It - A decade of gay journalism from The Body Politic, edited by Ed Jackson and Stan Persky

I met Ian Young, Ed Jackson and Gerald Hannon at an amazing event in Glad Day Bookshop, a tribute to The Body Politic.

I met Ken Poppert the Wednesday before the event at the CLGA where I volunteer, he had come in to see the exhibit on the Body Politic.

Very moving readings and I'm so glad I went.

Signed: Red Rover by Liz Bugg

I met Liz Bugg at a reading at Glad Day Bookshop over pride.  She read very well from her newest book in the Calli Barnow series, Yellow Vengeance.

I was very impressed and purchased the first book in the series, Red Rover, which I devoured and loved. 

Signed: Vincent River by Philip Ridley

I saw this amazing, kick you in the gut play on February 21, 2011 and loved it. I later purchased the book version and sent it to the author on August 23, 2011 as part of my book sending spree to get the autographs of famous gay authors that I loved.  The book never came back.

I was unclear as to why it was never returned. I had already paid for the postage, and I thought to myself if he didn't want to or couldn't sign it, why not return the book to me at least?  But these things happen, and unlike Dennis Cooper, who I sent $50 to and he promised to sign it and never did and kept my money!!!! I wasn't out anything.

I repurchased the book and moved on with my life.

To my surprise, yesterday, a year and a half later, the book arrived!  Signed with an explanatory note and everything!  Very excited to receive it.

Signed: The Bullpen Gospels by Dirk Hayhurst

I met Dirk Hayhurst at the Jays shop in Sears in the Eaton Centre in Toronto a couple of years ago.  He was recently signed to the Blue Jays as a relief pitcher brought up from the minors.
I had read a few internet articles he had written and they all were hilarious and a great insight into modern baseball life so I bought this book and he signed it.  Haven't had a chance to read it yet.

Signed: Scarlet Feather by Maeve Binchy

I met Maeve Binchy at the International Festival of Authors in Toronto several years ago.  I believe this book of hers, Scarlett Feather, was the first I had read as I think it's the only book of hers I have signed.  I did later purchase all the rest of them, but this seems to be from the period where I first got in to her.

I remember the event well.  I went with my boyfriend of the time and we had to wait for a few others to read before we got to her. Afterwards at the signing my boyfriend and I were interviewed by Book Television, I still have no idea what that is though.

When we stepped up to have the book signed, Maeve was so friendly and outgoing.  I remember she had a huge glass of wine and was just pouring them back. I had my book signed and then my boyfriend had his signed and he had brought another for a friend and asked her to sign it to "Diane".

Maeve asked if he also went by the name Diane.  When my boyfriend said no, she went into a fabulous long speech about how it was fine with her if he walked the streets as a woman.  She said she would always get cards at Christmas from the Catholics telling her to be more religious and she never listened to any of them, she was fine with everyone the way they were and live and let live was her motto.

I remember the night so well and we had such a great time.  If I got to pick 10 moments of my life to live over, this one would probably be on the list.

Signed: Nocturnes for the King of Naples by Edmund White

I met gay literary icon Edmund White at the Toronto International Festival of Authors a few years ago. I forget what he was reading from, and I don't remember why but I didn't buy it.  Maybe I was broke. 

I remember he was very charming in person and I really felt honoured to meet him and I remember being shy and coquettish.

Signed: The Hard Return by Marcus McCann

It's difficult for me to meet and talk with authors when I haven't totally loved their work.  Take for example, me almost getting thrown out of the Jonathan Franzen book signing.
So it was with some trepedation I spoke to Marcus McCann at Glad Day Book's Pride signing event.
I went to hear him read first, he read several poems, mostly from his first book for some reason, and several he had written himself not in a book.  Very few, maybe two, from the book he was there to push, The Hard Return.
He started off the event playing to the crowd and saying he was going to read poems about sex, which got an appreciative howl from the audience. 
He then spent 20 minutes reading poems not about sex.
While technically he seems very gifted and at a level beyond me craftsmanship wise, he didn't seem to put as much effort into entertaining his audience as he did in to displaying his mastery of word-crafting.  For example, one poem was read that was a list of brands of men's jackets, while acknowledging that this style of poem went out 10 years ago. Another poem was read because it sounded cool, syllable/onomatopoeia wise, but little was presented understanding/enjoying wise.
At the end of the event, I was now struggling more with what to say.
A positive was that he was attractive and judging by his offhand asides during the reading, seemed sexually uninhibited.  I don't know that was actually presented in the work performed though....
So I ended up picking the two poems I like best and asked him for more information on them. 
One was about a dunk tank and when I asked why he wrote about that, he said there was a famous poem about a butterfly and he had wanted to write about the opposite of a butterfly, which was a dunk tank.
Quickly moving on, I asked about an empowering poem he wrote that started with being small and gaining self-confidence into finally macho swagger.  He said that was a break-up poem. I explained that I probably wouldn't have got that from the poem itself, at which point he said:
"Yes, they don't make sense, they're all crap."
And my work was unfortunately once again done.
Sigh.

If you're going to make artistic decisions, is it really too much for me to question why in an attempt to understand?

That could have gone better.

Signed: The Complete Works of Paul Russell

I met Paul Russell in November of last year.

Being my favourite author, he was top of my list for my September mailing.  I contacted him and he agreed to sign a book for me, I didn't exactly mention I was sending him ALL his books.  I figured he would never come to Toronto.

I sent all his books in a box with some packing tape and about $30 or $40 worth of stamps on it.  My copy of Boys of Life and Sea of Tranquility were both in terrible condition, I thought "I can't get him to sign a book that looks like it's been through the washing machine!" so I bought new copies of these two at the STRAND bookstore in New York City, I managed to find hardcovers. My favourite book of his, The Coming Storm, I only had in paperback. I now have all his books in hardcover except his first, Salt Point, and his last, Navakov, which I don't think was published hardcover.

Anyway, so at the end of September I get an email from Paul saying he's sent my books back and he'll be in Toronto in a couple of months!  Ha!  I wasn't expecting that.

It was a real honour to meet him, he was very charming and down to earth in person.  I also, by sheer coincidence, managed to find a discard hardcover copy of The Coming Storm from the archives and when I met him I bought his new book, The Unreal Life of Sergey Nabakov, which he also signed. I now have two signed copies of The Coming Storm, one in paper and one hardcover, and I bought the ebook.  An embarrassment of riches!

The first book I read of Paul's was The Coming Storm and I loved it.  It was literary but relatable with a great story.  The second book of his I read was Sea of Tranquility, which I also loved to death.  There were sentences in there that made my hair stand on end.

After that I went back and read his first two books, The Salt Point and Boys of Life, and unfortunately I didn't care for either.  I waited what seemed like an eternity for his next book, War Against the Animals.  I did enjoy it but not nearly as much as the first two I read.  It was well written but the story didn't hold me as much.  I was also young then, the book came out in 2003 so I would have been like 23 and maybe not yet at a place where I could relate.  I think I would relate more now and am looking forward to re-reading it.

His new book, The Unreal Life of Sergey Nabokov, after meeting him I couldn't wait to read the book and tell him all about it.  Now it started off very good, I was enjoying the character's life in Russia and his growing up stories, though I wasn't really glued to the page as his life is very far removed from mine and tales of the upperclass I find tend to be a bit dry.  This was a little dryer than I was expecting but still readable.  As I mentioned above, I met Paul in late November, and once I got to the point in the book where the character moves to Paris, a whole flurry of things happen.  The book went from a simple story about a boy to his whole life and the world in Paris of the time, and loads of new characters.  It was around Christmas, I was very busy and had my mind on other things, and I did not have the ability at that time to keep the characters straight.  I stopped reading on page 245 of a 378 page book as I just wasn't following it anymore.

I will go back and re-read it.  I have never been one previously for having to dig too deep into books but as I get older and more mature, I find I'm willing to put in more work.  I do want to finish it, but all these other books keep jumping up at me, book club books, recommendations from friends, etc.  Hopefully soon.

Signed: Ejaculations from the Charm Factory by Sky Gilbert

I really want to read this book and will download it for my ereader when I get home tonight.  I have carpal tunnel and I can no longer hold a print book for an extended period of time, it's uncomfortable.  Also I find on the ereader I can read faster, the type is clear, I love it.

I also have a signed copy of Gilbert's first book Guilty but it appears to be in storage.  I got this copy from the archives.

Signed: Lettin' It All Hang Out by Ru Paul

Well, my display of signed books has come to an end, for now.  I have many more but they are in storage and I will at some point in the future put them up here.

This was the last book I received back from the books I sent to Americans in September.  I had given up hope of getting this back, especially as the postal rates changed in January and the number of stamps I had put on the envelope was no longer enough. But, lo and behold, it arrived!

Signed: Gay Bar by Will Fellows and Helen P. Branson

I found the book Gay Bar by Helen Branson while working at the CLGA. I wanted to buy a copy of the book so I could read it but when I found a single copy on ebay a week or so later, it quickly went over $100 and out of the range of what I was willing to pay.

Being a volunteer has it's privledges, I was able to make a copy of the short book and I read the photocopies at home.  I loved the book, it was published in 1957 and tells the story of a real straight-talkin' lady who ran a gay bar in Los Angeles.  So many cool things in the book, the best of all is Helen's attitude, she doesn't take any bull. 

I later found on amazon.ca that Will Fellows was re-issuing the book with new material and ordered it happily. When I was sending out my few books this past September, getting this seminal book signed was definately near the top of my list.  I contacted Will and he agreed to sign it and sent it back with two postcards as well, he seems a delightful guy.

Signed: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

I loved this book.  My copy is well worn from reading it twice and lending it to many others.  And also from shipping it to England.

I sent this to Mark Haddon's agent with a SASE and didn't really expect to get it back.  I reasoned I could always pick up another copy somewhere else.

To my surprise, not only did he sign it, he drew a little dead dog inside.  This was AWESOME!  I love that he did this.  I've read all his books and seen the movies. 

Signed: The Snow Garden by Christopher Rice

I met Christopher Rice in Provincetown on August 20, 2010.  It helps to save the receipt inside the books, it lets you know when you bought it.

I was there on vacation and I knew Rice was signing his new hardcover book.  I had read his first book, A Density of Souls, and didn't care for it, so I wasn't really lining up to pay $30 for the new book.

I got to the book shop about 30 or 40 minutes after the event started and the store was sold out of the new hardcover and had only about 3 or 4 paperback books left, all of which were soon snapped up.  I managed to get The Snow Garden, which sounded like it had an interesting plot, but I still haven't been interested enough to actually pick it up after the disappointment with Density.

Signed: A Brief History of GAY by Donald W. McLeod

I volunteer at the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives with Don McLeod.  He lives the next street over from me and I saw him on the streetcar the other day.

I enjoyed this book, the complete history of one of Canada's oldest homofile magazines, GAY.  I talked recently with Don about the research he did for the book and the places he travelled, all over North America, for more information.

Undoubtably the author I know best of all my signed books, why is the dedication in the front of my copy made out to Rick?

Signed: She's Come Undone and I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb

I met Wally Lamb in 1999, it seems a lifetime ago.

I'm not sure if it was the first reading I ever went to but at that time it was definately the most moving.  I LOVED both these books and Mr. Lamb is so well-spoken and eloquent, hearing him read from I Know This Much is True took me to another planet.  I loved it.

My copy of She's Come Undone was kind of beat up so before I went to see him I bought a special edition hard cover and had him sign that.  Unfortunately I have moved around a lot and there is now obvious wear and yellowing to both books.  But it's still nice to see the inscription and be transported back to that moment.

Recently Mr. Lamb published The Hour I First Believed and I wasn't able to finish it.  I found the book far to similiar to the other two and wasn't enjoying it at that time.  I'm not fully finished with it yet, I'll give it another go, but I was disappointed.

Signed: The Meaning of Matthew by Judy Shepard

I met Judy Shepard on January 27, 2010.

I was very humbled to meet her.  I had read the book and heard her brilliant speech at York University and afterward I got to speak to her while she signed my book. 

I was nervous as she mentions in the book the sudden public spotlight over her son's murder and feeling unsettled that all these people felt they knew her, that they knew her son, and that they had any right to comment on events that had transpired. He was her son, he was murdered, and who the hell were all these people?

I understand that but at the same time, I have cried for Matthew Shepard.  Perhaps for the idea of him, but there have been tears.  So I felt I wanted to say something but at the same time be respectful. 

I said that I was glad she had written the book, that now, after reading the book, I was able to think about Matthew without feeling like I was being punched in the stomach.  This was I realize probably along the lines of the strangers she identified in the book, but she just said thank you and I moved on.

I had the book signed to both my mom and I.