Steveston’s Little Secret

Yes, it’s true,  Steveston is harboring a little secret.  Nestled away in this sleepy town is none other them the Home of Filipino Pride for the 2010 Winter Games, the 2010 Filipino Bungalow!!!

Come visit and cheer on the Pride of the Philippines (and Poland and the USA) at the 2010 Winter Games, JR Celski!

Let’s go JR, let’s go! JR, JR, JR!

Kisses Emme xoxo

PS Sweet and soft kisses for Steven’s brilliance on the camera and for putting up with me in stress mode.

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

Kisses from the stacks ….

In honour of reading and literacy, I bid you gentle, but firm kisses from that hidden corner in the library stacks …. you know the one I am talking about…..

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.

Pic of the Day (not in the Reading is Sexy Calendar): Patrick Tubajon

Adorable, cuddly, enjoyer of long walks …..

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

Oh and our host for tonight’s literary celebration.

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