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New Life for Muse

It’s been a good week for Muse. It was a pleasure to receive a thoughtful review on April 10 on the blog Ramblings of a Reader, by Maria Vigornia, with the intriguing title of “Fabula Argentea: Mary Novik’s Muse.” Thank you, Maria!

As well, I’ve just made the delightful discovery that Le Journal de Quebec has dedicated a whole page (D20) in their Sunday issue, April 12, 2015, to an article about the new French translation, also called Muse, that has just been published by Éditions Hurtubise. The article is called “Destin extraordinaire d’une femme de la Renaissance,” another great title. Some weeks back, Marie-France Bornais of the Journal and I had an enjoyable hour’s conversation. The photo she used of me was taken by my husband on one of my research trips to Avignon and Provence. I’ve posted an even better one here–check out the tartine I’m about to devour!

Mary in Avignon

One of the great joys of writing a novel is witnessing translations giving it a whole new life and audience. So far as I can see, the French Muse is being presented as a serious, literary novel and it has been translated by two respected Canadian translators, Lori Saint-Martin and Paul Gagné.

When Muse was translated into Italian, there were two translators as well. Elisabetta Colombo translated the first half of the novel and Monica Ricci translated the second half. The publisher, Newton Compton, slanted it as a sexy papal exposé called L’amante del papa–the pope’s lover!–and launched it via a darkly sensual trailer that is still receiving lots of views on YouTube. You don’t need to understand Italian to appreciate the haunting, pounding theme music. It’s here on the Muse page if you’d like to indulge in a little vicarious throbbing.

 

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The Camino

Every journey is a pilgrimage and we were on a journey to Iberia. As a writer, I was on a quest for ideas for a new novel. We were travelling by car and bus and were adventuring in comfort: engaging with history, eating different foods, and tasting local wines. Much was unusual and mysterious. Not being Catholic, I expected to be repulsed by Fatima in Portugal. We watched a woman walk painfully on her knees into the sacred arena that housed Santa Maria, adorned by the bullet that had missed Pope Paul II. She was led by a small boy, a pilgrimage being seared into his memory. Strangely moved, I lit two candles for my own family and tossed them–from a safe distance!–into the sizzling inferno.

In Galicia in Spain, we saw pilgrims walking in twos or threes along the Atlantic route of the camino de Santiago. People have walked the camino for a thousand years, covering up to 800 km at an average of 25 km a day. Some of the pilgrims looked like medieval Franciscans with scallop shells, make-shift wooden staffs, khaki rucksacks, and bedrolls. Others were equipped with trekking packs, running shoes, telescoping poles, and iPhones with Google maps. One woman had a swollen foot and a black eye from a fall, but her spirits were high.

In Santiago de Compostela, pilgrims lined up for the final stamp in their passports. In the cathedral, they lined up again to embrace the statue of Saint James and to attend the pilgrims’ mass. In the excellent museum, the clerk told us that the legendary botafumeiro would be making a rare appearance at mass that evening. He would be one of the eight tiraboleiros swinging the world’s biggest censer, which weighed 120 kg when loaded with charcoal and incense.

As we sipped albarino and munched olives in the adjacent Parador, time slipped away and we were lucky to find standing room at the back of the cathedral. Late arrivals blocked the view of others, and one old man hit a pilgrim with his cane, demanding a clear view of the altar. The priest invited everyone to embrace a fellow pilgrim. People responded with tears in their eyes, leaving their cameras in their pockets. Even with my feeble grasp of Spanish, I understood that we were all welcome, whether we’d walked one km or the whole 800.

At the end of the mass, the eight muscular tiraboleiros grasped the eight tails of the rope. The botafumeiro was hauled towards the roof and released at a choreographed moment. It plummeted and swung dangerously into the heart of the crowd. Amazingly, miraculously, stirred by a common impulse, hundreds of iPhones popped up in unison to photograph the botafumeiro belching out clouds of choking incense.

It might have been comic, but it wasn’t. It was mysterious and eerily fitting. Medieval pilgrims would have recorded the phenomenon in their memories or on parchment. Modern pilgrims used the instruments that–like the maps and sundials of early pilgrims–had carried them safely down the camino to the end of their own pilgrimage, with its very personal meaning.

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Authors for Indies Day, May 2, 2015

On May 2, 2015, authors across Canada will be volunteering in independent bookshops to meet customers and hand-sell books. This initiative, called Authors for Indies, has been organized by author Janie Chang of Vancouver to help bookstores build sales and attract new customers. The list of participating bookstores and authors can be found at www.authorsforindies.com  Over 120 bookstores and 480 authors have signed up and the day promises to be exciting and busy. I’ll be volunteering at one of my favourite bookshops, Kidsbooks in the Village, 3040 Edgemont Boulevard, North Vancouver, from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm, and look forward to meeting parents and children in need of new reading material. Edgemont has two bookstores and three fine coffee shops, so please drop by to enjoy the village!

Why an Authors for Indies day? Ann-Marie Macdonald reminds us that things are tough for independent bookstores. “Year after year they support [authors]. They stock our books, invite us for readings, and put our titles on their ‘staff picks’ shelf. Let’s do something to support them back.” Janie Chang, who will be in Edgemont Village on May 2 at 32 Books, believes that Authors for Indies day will bring “traffic into the bookstores, and hopefully that means the stores will sell more books. I really hope it raises awareness of how important independent bookstores are in the community . . . .  [Customers will] be able to walk into their local independent bookstore and get book recommendations from an author, and talk about books.”

 

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The French Muse

French edition of Muse

Spring is blooming here in Vancouver (sorry, rest of Canada!) The crocuses are already finished, the azaleas are in flower, and the videos of our Japanese cherries and plums are already up on YouTube. The writing scene is blooming as well. Today is the publication day of the French translation of Muse, a glorious day! The translators are Lori Saint-Martin and Paul Gagné, who have twice won the Governor-General’s Award and been nominated many more times. Muse (it has the same title in French) is available from Éditions Hurtubise and in Europe through Librairie du Québec, which is very gratifying. Maybe I’ll be invited to travel to Paris to present Muse at their rue Gay-Lussac shop. Wouldn’t I love that!

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Novel Nights at The Book Warehouse on Main

If you live in Vancouver, you know about The Book Warehouse, which has been going strong at Broadway and Ash since 1980. In 2012, they were rescued from looming closure by Cathy and Mel Jesson of Black Bond Books, and I had the pleasure of appearing there, with Roberta Rich, in 2013 (see photo). A year ago, Book Warehouse on Main opened at 4118 Main Street (and King Edward) and has been buzzing with author events ever since. This is no surprise given the enthusiastic in-house talent, Mary-Ann Yazedijian and James Tyler Irvine, who are well known about town as amazingly supportive of Vancouver writers. Their new brain-child is Novel Nights, a series of readings that features books by local authors. So far they’ve had Steven Galloway, Janie Chang, Caroline Adderson, and Timothy Taylor. Given those luminaries, you can guess how pleased I am to be the featured author on March 18, from 7 to 8:15 pm. Everybody is welcome! Come and chat me up, ask questions about my novel Muse, and meet the energetic James and Mary-Ann.

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Valentine’s Day Greeting Cards

Today is Valentine’s Day. How many men will lose their heads over women (and vice versa)? When we write gushy sentiments on Valentine’s cards about our beloved’s power over us, we owe a debt to the 14th century poet Francesco Petrarch, who wrote 366 love poems to the woman he adored. They were more about his own feelings than Laura, a married woman above him in station. This psychological focus made them the first “modern” love poems and they made Laura immortal, though nobody knows who she was . . . . read more

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French edition of Muse on Horizon

How exciting to get my first glimpse of the cover for the French translation of Muse! Also titled Muse, it will be published by Éditions Hurtubise early in 2015 and distributed in France by Librairie du Québec. The award-winning translators, Lori Saint-Martin and Paul Gagné, have done a wonderful job and I feel very fortunate that Hurtubise has put so much care and effort into this edition. What a lovely Christmas gift. Merci beaucoup, Hurtubise!

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Children’s Literacy Fundraiser

Christianne’s Lyceum of Literature and Art, 3696 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver, is hosting a silent auction on Friday, November 21, 2014 to support children’s literacy, www.christiannehayward.com. The money raised will fund children’s scholarships to attend workshops at the Lyceum. I encourage you to bid on some of the fabulous items, including a book club set of my novel Muse (courtesy of  Random House of Canada), which includes a visit by me to the winning book club. This link takes you directly to a description of the auction: http://bit.ly/11zD2Eo  More information is available at 604 733-1356

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Fall 2014 Events

I’m very much looking forward to appearing at Christianne’s Lyceum on Thursday, October 2, 2014 in their Meet the Author Series. The event, from 7 to 9 pm, will be an informal, relaxed discussion of my second novel, Muse. I loved talking to Christianne’s book club when Conceit came out and look forward to answering everybody’s questions about Muse. The fee is $22 for one evening (or $110 for the series of six) and includes wine and snacks. You can register in person at the Lyceum at 3696 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver, or phone 604 733-1356, or e-mail lyceum@christiannehayward.com

Personally, I think registering for the whole series is the way to go because there is a wonderful line-up of authors for 2014-2015:

Mary Novik, Muse, October 2

Steven Galloway, The Confabulist, November 20

Nancy Lee, The Age, January 22

Ann Eriksson, High Clear Bells of Morning, February 26

John Vaillant, The Jaguar’s Children, April 23

Brian Payton, The Wind is Not a River, May 21

Prior to the event, participants read the author’s book and then gather to discuss it with the author over a glass of wine and some delicious snacks. Books can be purchased at the Lyceum before the event. Christianne says, “Join us for our new 2014-2015 Meet the Author series to read the incredible works of literature being created on the west coast, and engage in six evenings of lively discussion with their fascinating authors.  From Renaissance courts to Harry Houdini’s many stages, Alaska’s Aleutian Islands to the Mexico-United States border, staying home has never been more of an adventure.”

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Giveaway of Four Exciting Summer Novels

Random House is giving away four super summer novels. The contest runs until the end of July at Retreat by Random House and the giveaway includes Kate Pullinger’s prize-winning Mistress of Nothing, Jo Baker’s Longbourn, the Pride and Prejudice spinoff, the first volume in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, and my new beach-size Muse. Outlander has a new cover to promote the TV series beginning on August 9 at 9 pm ET. I’m thrilled to be in the same pack as these well-known authors. Thanks, Random House!

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