I'm planning to post the first two chapters of Come See About Me up on my website in mid-April, with an e-book release date late in June. In the meantime there are several YA books I can't really talk about, in various stages of evolution—some ready to be submitted, one in an evaluation stage and yet another that's just a seedling at the moment (which means I've been working on it, but so far only in my head). At this point I'm wrestling with the seedling book nearly nonstop, except during the rare moments when my attention is being entirely directed elsewhere.
Twice during the last few days the seedling book has been forced out of my mind by exposure to other art. Specifically, terrific Canadian art. On Sunday I saw the French Canadian film that swept the Genies last month: Monsieur Lazhar.
The most emotionally intense moments of the film don't appear in the trailer but when they occur they're filled with a stunning amount of depth, warmth and truthfulness. In my opinion there's not one false note in the film and the two child actors with the largest parts offer breathtakingly subtle performances. Hands down this is the best movie I've seen since 2006's Children of Men. Please, please check it out if you haven't seen it. I know it's out on DVD now (not sure about Netflix because I don't have it) and if you're in Toronto, tonight is Monsieur Lazhar's final night at the Lightbox.
I was also lucky enough to get tickets to Our Lady Peace's sold-out gig at the Phoenix last night. Read a full review (and check out the setlist) at Canoe. It's such a treat to see an iconic Canadian rockband like OLP in an intimate club setting like the Phoenix. The crowd were pumped, the band was stellar and the show was a perfect blend of classics and material from the new album, Curve (which was released only yesterday), that left me dying to pick up the new CD. It's tough to pick a favourite song rendition from such a fantastic show but I have to go with 4AM.
I'm just sorry that the gig is over and that I'm not there now. Not that I don't want to hang out with seedling book some more but the breaks, and the inspiration are much appreciated!
