My website has finally been updated, and there’s now a list of new reviews in the “Book” section. Mmmm – all those lovely words of praise – does the soul good. There’s also a brand new review of my “labor of love” in “Choice”, a magazine for libraries, which ends, “Recommended. All readers; all levels.” Bliss.

I was at a thrilling event last week, a celebration of the U of T’s Random House writing competition. One of the winners was Gillian Kerr, who came to my class at Ryerson ten years ago and continued for years in my home class. Gillian is an example of what a busy person can accomplish with grit and focus; she has a high level, extremely demanding executive job in a giant grocery chain, and yet has never stopped writing; one of her personal essays was chosen for the third “Dropped Threads” anthology and now she is studying fiction writing at U of T. I am always sorry to lose a superb non-fiction writer to fiction but with a $500 cheque to celebrate, obviously it’s working for her. Next time one of my students whines about having no time to write, I will point to Gillian.

And tonight I’m at a celebration of a Ryerson writing competition. Competitions are valuable in the writing world; they give us a deadline and a goal. Next week the Vancouver Jewish Book Fair, where I have been allotted 30 to 35 minutes to tell the story of this book, which usually takes an hour. I’ll think I’ll just speak really fast.

It’s finally a true November day, yellow maple leaves whirling by the window as I write. Nothing more Canadian than that. Happy November to you all.