There is one such bookstore tucked away in Hamilton’s Westdale Village (by McMaster Unviersity).  Bryan Prince is the name of this little piece of heaven.  What makes this bookstore so extra special that I am writing about it now?  Well, usually when as an author you sell a book to a bookstore, they take 40 – 50% of the sale of the book and the author gets 50 – 60%, much of which goes to printing costs and other expenses, so as you can imagine, the author sees very little at the end of the day for the months or sometimes years they spent writing.  Well, Bryan Prince has a policy of only taking 20%, whilst the author sees 80% to cover their printing costs and time.  Why do they do this in an age where indie bookstores are struggling to survive? To encourage local authors, who have their own struggles, to find the time and money to write. You can’t imagine how pleasantly surprised this made me when they bought our Reading is Sexy Calendar just days before Christmas. So if you are in the Hamilton/Dundas area, make a point of stopping in this little slice of heaven, at Bryan Prince Bookseller (1060 King Street West, Hamilton, ON), buy a book or calendar and support a local author.

I would be remiss here if I didn’t highlight a few other indie bookstores, who have beautiful spaces and have been incredible to me this past month:

• Ben McNally Books (366 Bay St, Toronto, ON) – who hosted our Toronto Calendar Kissing over the Christmas rush.
• Duthie Books (2239 West 4th Ave, Vancouver, BC) – who were the first bookstore to pick up the Reading is Sexy Calendar and who, as it was for a good cause, offered us a great deal on calendar sales.
• The People’s Co-op Bookstore (1391 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, BC) – who similarly offered us a great deal on Reading is Sexy Calendar sales.
• Biz Books (302 West Cordova St, Vancouver, BC) – who is carrying the Reading is Sexy Calendar.
• Blackberry Books (Unit 3 – 1666 Johnston St., Net Loft Building, Granville Island, Vancouver, BC) – who is carrying the Reading is Sexy Calendar and who gave me some great marketing advice on calendars for future years.

I’d be remiss here if I didn’t mention our two non-bookstore retailers of the calendar:

• O’Hares Beer & Wine Store (5031 Steveston Hwy, Richmond, BC)
• Gundrun Wine & Cheese Bistro (150 – 3500 Moncton St, Steveston, BC)

An enormous thank you to all!

How you ask?  Well, Mark posted this pic as his facebook profile pic:

Mark's and my controversial pic

‘Supposedly’, Mark posted this pic to garner attention for the ‘Reading is Sexy’ campaign.  Well, it garnered attention all right, as complaints were raged and the pic was pulled from facebook, marked as ‘obscene’ (Only on Mark’s profile, however, as it seems to be perfectly acceptable on the Reading is Sexy Launch Event Wall).  Curious to know which of us was being obscene?  Personally I think it’s Rob playing with his ‘camera’ in the background.

Oh, and all this comes with rumours that the red head in the photo is Mark’s new lover.

We have already auctioned off pics of Patrick Tubajon and Lorraine Murphy, but you can bid on the following pics up until January 2:

#3 - Monique

#5 - Ian and I

#6 - Rayne

#7 - Mark and I

#9 - Me Writing

#8 - Hanging in the Kitchen

To bid, come out to the Toronto Calendar Kissing tomorrow or comment with your bid on the photo on facebook or drop a comment with your bid below.  All photo bids start at $25, except for Mark’s which already has a $25 bid on it.

Happy bidding!

Emme xoxo

Well fear not!  I am here to save the day (with my cape, tights and all)! Yes, thats right!  I have strategically placed calendars all through out town, so that you are not that person thats left having to explain that, “No, sorry. I couldn’t get IT. They were all sold out. I know I really should have looked sooner.”

Photographer: John Biehler

So the strategically placed Reading is Sexy Calendars and that all round good feeling of knowing that you’ve supported dyslexia and promoted reading this holiday season in Van City, can be found at:

• Duthie Books (2239 West Fourth Avenue, Vancouver – Kitsalano)
• Blackberry Books (#3 – 1666 Johnston St, Net Loft Building, Vancouver – Granville Island)
• The People’s Co-op Bookstore (1391 Commercial Dr, Vancouver – Commercial Drive)
• Biz Books (302 West Cordova St, Vancouver – Gastown)
• O’Hare’s Beer & Wine Store (5031 Steveston Hwy, Richmond – Steveston)
• Gudrun (#150 – 3500 Moncton St, Richmond – Steveston)

And if all else fails, try @robertshaer as he has a few.

Kisses,

Emme xoxo

Photographer: Robert Shaer

Really excited to be at Ben McNally Books in Toronto kissing Reading is Sexy calendars  from 1 – 3 pm on Saturday December 19, 2009 to promote literacy and raise money for The International Association of Dyslexia.

Photographer: John Biehler

Would love to meet some of you sexy TO cats there and if you are still kicking around at 3 pm, I plan on hitting up one of the local pubs and kicking off the festivities with a few pitchers of beer for the table and a couple of plates of nachos.

Calendars are $18 at the event or $20 (if you want to kick in an extra $2 to dyslexia). We will be accepting cash or cheque.

Kisses,

Emme xoxo

Photo by Robert Shaer

Lorraine Murphy, or as her fans know her, raincoaster.

You got it!  That means its time to pucker for charity in a pub……that’s calendars we are puckering up for, deary.  Although I do know Ian Martin has offered himself and another (who shall remain unnamed) to do a fair bit more in the name of charity.  A little excited and even more scared to discover exactly what he means.  There are after all, still the nightmares…

At any rate, the details:

What: Calendar Kissing , Beer Guzzling and Nacho Eating

Date: Thursday December 10, 2009

Time: 5 pm on

Location: Lion’s Pub

The Calendar’s Charity: The International Dyslexia Association

Kiss you there!

Emme xoxo

In other words, a most special thank you to all of you that helped promote, were a part of or sent well wishes for the Reading is Sexy Launch Party and Literary Celebration at Gudrun this past Thursday evening.  What a delightful group of the sexiest of cats!  And such a perfect atmosphere in Gudrun!  An enormous thank you to Patrick and the gang at Gudrun – Alison, Josh and Upton.

And again, thank you! Thank you for helping to promote literacy and supporting The International Association of Dyslexia!

Here are some of my pics from the night:

And some much better shot pics of John Biehler’s:

Thanks John!

A few highlights from the night included:

• seeing the men of the calendar (Patrick, Raul and Mark) pucker up for literacy
• teaching an incredibly bashful Mark Leiren-Young to put on lipstick (you’d think a man that had written a book entitled, Never Shoot A Stampede Queen, would have already learned how)
• readings from Mark, Rayne and Raul
• Mooty winning for the funniest responses in our little contest (go read them, they had me chuckling)
• the auctioning off Rob’s Pics of Patrick
• and of course, a whole lot of calendar kissing

Kisses,

Emme xoxo

PS Stay tuned for a Calendar Kissing near you!  Next one is this Thursday Dec 10th at 5 pm (likely at a Gastown pub) as Monica and Monique pucker up for charity.

Photo by Robert Shaer

A lover of the important things in this world ….cheese & wine ….

Oh and our host for tonight’s literary celebration.

And yes, I expect everybody to dance like this.