Spring updates: HYSTERIA on the Raddall Shortlist, Elisabeth at the Humber School for Writers, & more!

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*So pleased to share that HYSTERIA is on the shortlist for the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award, along with books by Sharon Bala and Lisa Moore, making us a kind of Newfoundland Trifecta for this year’s prize– or the meanest gang you ever saw. You can catch me reading from the book at the Welcoming Reception on June 5, at the GEO Centre in St. John’s–  along with authors Terry Doyle, Susie Taylor, and Kevin Major, and Atlantic Book Award nominees Sharon Bala and Mark Critch.

Shortlisted authors Christine LeGrow and Shirley Anne Scott, of Saltwater Mittens fame, will also be on hand with a display of Newfoundland knitwear and knowledge. The event is free and open to the public.

*Starting this week, I’m also on faculty at the Humber School for Writers. If you’d like the support of a mentorship to help you finish your book-length manuscript, there’s still a few days left to sign up! I’ve worked with poets, fiction writers, and non-fiction writers alike, both at Humber and in Creative Writing programs at UBC and MUN. The Humber certificate program can be done from anywhere, and lasts from now until mid-December, giving us lots of time to sculpt that manuscript into shape. Want to sign up? All the information is right here. 

*While I mostly have my head down this spring, trying hard to get a full draft of the new novel finished, I will be in Halifax in mid-July as a keynote speaker at the Kings College Humanities for Young People Symposium. I’ll be talking about Fear (yikes!), and my fellow keynote is the estimable activist and journalist, Desmond Cole. The symposium is open to the public, and I’ll post more information on the event as summer draws near.

*Last but not least (not by a long shot!), did you know that HYSTERIA is now out in paperback? Yes she is. And, I have to say, I can’t think of a better summer read for your cottage or lakeside cabin. Order it up right here.

February… finally!

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January, the longest month, is finally done! My February plans mostly involve putting my head down and working on a new novel (Part 1 is already done!) and connecting with my scriptwriting students here at Memorial University in St. John’s. I’m looking forward to the release of HYSTERIA in paperback later this month — at the end of last year, I was thrilled to see it land on the Globe and Mail Best Books list, and just this week I was equally thrilled  to see the Ontario Library Association Evergreen nomination list includes HYSTERIA, too!  Hope you’re staying warm (and curling up with a good book), wherever you are this month.

On the road: September

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Taken last month (on the road: August edition), on the way back from Writers at Woody Point — here I am outside the famous Dustabella’s Dining Lounge at the St. Jude Hotel in Clarenville. We’ve never been inside! I imagine it as full of fairy lights and crystal chandeliers.

September tour dates! It’s book season, my friends. Come see me (and Hysteria) in Ontario starting next weekend:

September 23, Word on the Street (Toronto). I’ll be chatting thrillers with Amy Stuart. Amazon Bestsellers stage, 3:30pm.

September 25, Port Hope.  Solo show at the Port Hope Public Library, 31 Queen St., 7pm.

September 29, Kingston Writers Fest. I’m teaching a morning workshop in Story Architecture, then it’s on to a Griplit panel with Iain Reid and Nathan Ripley, 2pm.

Wonderful Woody Point.

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Heritage Theatre, Woody Point. Photo by Tom Cochrane.

It’s hard to imagine a better beginning to the fall literary festival season than the perfect gem that is Writers at Woody Point.

Nestled within the bounds of Gros Morne National Park, the town of Woody Point sits on beautiful Bonne Bay, just across the water (and a water taxi ride away) from another picturesque town, Norris Point — and only a short car ride from some fantastic hikes (check out the Tablelands and Trout River, among others.)

 

 

Woody Point audiences are so incredibly warm and engaged, it’s hard not to feel spoiled.

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View from the community trail, waterside.

I was doubly-spoiled this time around: while I was there myself to read from the new novel, Hysteria, one of the short stories from my first book, How To Get Along with Women, was adapted by David Ferry for his ongoing Short Waves/Short Stories theatre project.

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A stealth shot of rehearsal. Left to Right: Beatrice Freedman (stage manager), director David Ferry working double-duty as narrator, actors Colin Furlong and Jenny Munday as Jim and Nadine, and Sarah Newell singing. Guitar and music composition by Erin Best and Sandy Morris, (who is sadly hidden away in this photo, behind Newell).

Part live theatre, part radio drama, Short Waves/Short Stories took my own story, “Jim and Nadine, Nadine and Jim” to a new audience in a new way. Ferry also dug up a long poem I wrote in 2009: an excerpt from Letter on St. Valentine’s Day was set to music by Erin Best and Sandy Morris and performed live by Morris and Sarah Newell.

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Jody Richardson and Candice Pike break down the fourth (third?) wall of radio.                        Photo credit: Tom Cochrane.

 

This was my third invite to the festival, which happens in mid-August every year. I’ve decided this makes me part of the Three-Timers Club.

It certainly makes me lucky.

New! From Ms Fixit: The Personal Master Class

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Great news! Responding to an increase in queries, I have expanded my mentorship services to include a new, custom-designed program:

Starting September, 2018: The Personal Master Class. 

For writers who are looking for longer-term guidance as they work through issues and complete a manuscript-in-progress, this one-on-one, five-month bespoke mentorship will help you get past the hurdles and finish that draft.

I’ll be offering the program twice a year: beginning September 1st or February 1st. Enrolment is limited. For more details, or to get in touch, check out the Ms Fixit page here. 

Hysteria on the road!

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Just back from a whirlwind working trip to Ontario and Quebec, and starting to look forward to some really fun events in the coming months, including summer festivals like Lawnya Vawnya and Writers at Woody Point here in Newfoundland, and fall writers fests across the mainland, including Word on the Street, Kingston Writers Fest, and Calgary WordFest!

Looking to see me in 2018? Keep checking the Events Page here for dates and places. See you soon!

Happy UK Book Birthday!

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I’m delighted that I REMEMBER YOU — 29178971_1587550478025442_8742270399020007424_nthe UK version of Hysteria, published by Titan Books UK — hits store shelves today! Hysteria has had a fantastic reception here in Canada, and the good vibes are already rolling in from across the pond– witness this great review over at Liz Loves Books.

Heike Lerner has a charmed life. ​​​A stay-at-home mother married to a prominent psychiatrist, it’s a far cry from the​ damaged​ ​child she used to be. But her world is ​shaken when her four-year-old son​ ​befriends a little girl at a nearby lake, who​ vanishes under the water. ​And when Heike dives in after her, there’s no sign of a body.

Desperate to ​discover what happened to the child, Heike​ seeks out Leo Dolan, a television writer exploring the paranormal​, but finds herself caught between her controlling husband and the intense Dolan​. Then her son disappears, and Heike’s husband was the last to see him alive​…​

I Remember You goes on blog tour for the next couple of weeks, so you can expect to see more reviews, some sneak-peek extracts, and even a few guest posts written by yours truly. All the dates, places, and details are listed below.

You can order I Remember You from Amazon UK , or find it in bookstores everywhere… as of today! As for me, I’ll just be over here — celebrating with a cupcake or two. Happy book birthday!

I Remember You blog tour (COMPLETE) 2

Hysteria’s book birthday, plus a first week round-up

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Only a week after release, and it’s already been a whirlwind! We had a slam bang launch for Hysteria here in St. John’s — check out some fun photos below! —  and today I woke up to find Hysteria taking up some serious real estate in two of the country’s biggest newspapers:

  • in the Globe & Mail, Claire Cameron investigates some of the reasons behind the different cover — and title! —  in the Canadian and UK editions of the book. Out across the pond on March 27th, Hysteria goes by the name I Remember You in the United Kingdom.
  • in the Toronto Star, hold onto your hats, Hysteria gets a humdinger of a stellar review! How happy am I? Mascara-reapplication-level happy, that’s how happy.

Hope everyone out there is having as good a weekend as I am. Here are some of my favourites from our launch party, at Eastern Edge Gallery here in St. John’s.

Local indie Broken Books was on the scene, pop-up style, to help peddle these wares.

 

Lucky to be reading in a space as lovely as Eastern Edge.

Me with writer Megan Gail Coles, and sister duo Katie and Maria Callahan

 

 

 

City Counsellor Hope Jamieson and family were there to have a good time.

CBC On The Go host Ted Blades with Kathryn King and Holly Hogan

 

Poet (and my sweetheart) George Murray

A very happy author with poet (and friend extraordinaire) Andreae Callanan

MLA Gerry Rogers with the very charming Jean Kelly Smith

 

It’s almost here! HYSTERIA hits bookstores next week.

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After two weeks (!) in shipping limbo, this gorgeous creature just arrived at my doorstep. I am over the moon and cannot wait to introduce you all! HYSTERIA will be in stores on March 6th — but, of course, you could always pre-order it right now 🙂

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If you scored an early copy of HYSTERIA and loved it, the very best way you can support your author (that’s me!) is to write a review. Posting your review on Goodreads, Amazon, or Chapters Indigo really helps other readers find books they love — and helps spread the word about a book you really enjoyed.

Here’s what some kind people have had to say about HYSTERIA: 

“Hysteria is shout-out-from-the-rooftops good. It is unpredictable, laced with evil and mystery, and impossible to put down. A horrifying modern-day fairy tale, Hysteria is finely written, haunting in its construction, and compelling from the first page to the last.”   —Lawrence Hill, bestselling author of The Book of Negroes and The Illegal

“In Hysteria, Elisabeth de Mariaffi has crafted an epic and haunting story that manages to be both rich in character and setting and breakneck in pace. You will find yourself thinking about it long after you’ve turned the last pages.”   —Amy Stuart, author of Still MineIMG_0541

“Hysteria is a creepy, at times terrifying, thrill ride—taut and smart, and totally unpredictable.”   —Zoe Whittall, author of the Scotiabank Giller Prize finalist The Best Kind of People

“The story moves at a breakneck pace, the sense of place is both lush and foreboding . . .  Hysteria not only provides the thrills of a suspenseful, disturbing read. On a deeper level, the novel highlights the manipulation, coercion, and abuse of women, that sadly, remains an urgent issue today.”  —Quill & Quire, Jan/Feb 2018

Can’t wait? Me neither! Pre-order HYSTERIA from:

Amazon.ca

Chapters Indigo

Buy Local — visit the buy local link at HarperCollins.ca

Want to hear more? Check out all the details on Hysteria here.