For the Love of the Indie Bookstore

I have always loved small, independent bookstores. I love wandering through the stacks, seeing bright and shiny new covers, plunking myself down on the floor to read the back covers and feeling the textures of the pages. I love the feel of being enraptured in story – stories of love, romance, adventure and mystery.  And I absolutely adore the people that work in indie bookstores – people that really and truly know their books and have a love for them.

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!

Holiday Shopping Guide for Van City

I know! You are horrified. Horrified to discover that I am out of town and you have yet to buy your 2010 Reading is Sexy Calendar.  The stuff of nightmares!!!!

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.”

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

Toronto Calendar Kissing this Saturday

It’s rough, I know, but out of the kindness of my heart, I’ve decided to pucker up for dyslexia this coming Saturday. And just cause I am a worldly kinda gal, this time I am puckering up and moistening my lips, across the Rockies, the Prairies and a few freeways, in Toronto.

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.

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

Reading is Sexy

A few of you may have noticed that the past few months I have been tweeting with the hashtag #ReadingisSexy a fair bit. That’s because a few of us in town have been shooting a 2010 Reading is Sexy Calendar to promote literacy and raise money for the International Association of Dyslexia (totally ego-centric of course, as I have dyslexia). And secretly so that I could catch my literary buds in compromising positions on camera (with their permission, of course).

I’ve been a little nervous to talk too much about it until I knew everything was happily at the printers and we’d seen the proofs. Well, we did see them a couple of days ago and they look great and the finished calendars will be in Van City on November 30th. So we’ve just opened up pre-sale discounts for those of you that wish to buy a calendar or 2 or 3 or 5 before November 30th. Just check out our new store, Tantalizing Treats, for orders or submit them in person(with payment) with me or one of our salacious models.

So for more details on this sizzling little calendar. It is a wall calendar – 12” by 12”, 2 fold of course, and the gorgeous artwork between it’s pages have been brought to live by two terribly talented photographers, Robert Shaer (@robertshaer) and Tris Hussey (@trishussey). The cover is colour, but inside we’ve gone with classic, black and white shots. Stay tuned in the next few days for a few of their promo shots from the shoot. For now you’ll have to suffice with teases that I took during the shoots on my iphone.

Now what you’ve all been waiting for …. the models in this year’s calendar ….

• Monique Trottier – @somisguided
• Richard Yearwood
• Patrick Tubajon – @iheartgudrun
• Raul Pacheco-Vega – @hummingbird604
• Ian A Martin – @atomicfez
• Rayne
• Lorraine Murphy – @raincoaster
• Mark Leiren-Young – @greenpieces
• Monica Hamburg – @monicahamburg
• Ian Ferguson
• and me – @EmmeRogers

As for their actually poses?  Well, I could tell you, but then I wouldn’t be that much of a tease, then would I!?!

Kisses,

Emme xoxo

It’s Not a Disability. It’s a Superpower.

Something that I rarely mention is that I am actually dyslexic.   I don’t mention it, as I think of it as my secret gift, kinda like my superpower (cause clearly I’m a superhero, in case you had any doubt).

So why is dyslexia a gift to me?  It’s a gift, because my mind thinks in a different way to most peoples.  I see things differently and I am not limited to seeing within the lines. This often confuses people into thinking I am brilliant (but thats okay, your welcome to continue thinking that). It’s also a gift as, because it takes me longer to read things, I learned how to work hard at a young age and I learned how to problem solve. There is generally more than one solution to any given problem and more than one way to get things done. Not everybody realizes that.

But I’m one of the lucky ones. I’m lucky, because I have two of the most amazing parents that never treated me as if I had a disability (because its not a disability, it’s a superpower – remember) and they had the same expectations of me as of my siblings (and in fact emphasized that my sister and I had identical IQs). I’m lucky, because I have a Mom that fought to keep me out of resource rooms that would have treated my dyslexia like a disability.  And I’m lucky, as I was given the resources and attention that I needed to learn to read and write properly.  I’ve always had more than my share of angels in my life.  Hell, I didn’t even know that I was actually dyslexic until I was 28 (but thats a story for another day).

But, not everybody is as lucky as me. A lot of people are told they have ‘disabilities’ that make them incapable or less capable.  Thats hogwash and if you believe them, then you are giving yourself a disability.

So why am I telling this story now?  I’m telling it as the Shore 104 fm introduced me to a great project and organization a couple of weeks ago.  The VAMS ‘Music Saves’ Project that brought people with superpowers together with well known musicians to help tell their stories.

Thats what VAMS does. They empower people with superpowers to tell their stories through music.  Love it!  They are essentially like one of the angels that empowered me to be able to tell my stories through the written word, but with music.

An enormous thank you to the people at VAMS, and to the Shore 104 fm for introducing me to their work!