Blogging thoughts of Bill Stenson - Bill Stenson . . . means well

New Novel

9/16/2018

It's hard not to get excited about the launch of my new novel, Ordinary Strangers, the winner of this year's Hunt For the Great B.C. Novel Contest with Mother Tongue Publishing.

There will be a reading in Victoria at Munro's:

Plus some other readings around the province:

OOrdinary Strangers Events

-Vancouver, Oct. 4 Thursday, Massy Books with Linda Rogers, 7 pm
-Victoria, Oct 10, Wed, Munro’s Books with Kathy Page 7:30 pm
-Kelowna, Mosaic Books, Oct 24, 1-3 pm
-Vernon, Gallery Vertigo, Oct 25, 7:30
-Fernie, October 26, Fernie Library 7 pm
-Salt Spring Island, Nov. 3 Sat, Salt Spring Island Library 3 pm
-Victoria, Thursday, Nov. 8, Victoria Public Library with Linda Rogers, Patrick Friesen, 7 pm-8:30
-Gabriola Island Library, Saturday Nov. 26 with Linda Rogers, 1 pm
As always, thanks for your support.
Gabriola Island Library, Saturday Nov. 26 with Linda Rogers, 1 pm

Comment on Access Copyright

9/12/2018

Andrew Pyper doesn't write the kind of books I tend to write. He is a best selling author and his short video comments on the recent Access Copyright controversy. To view, CLICK HERE

Reviews for The Wildfire Season“Stampeding narrative urgency…A fierce morality tale.”
– The New York Times

“Excellent pacing and credible characters…Pyper writes beautifully about the splendor and dangers of the wilderness. He doesn’t anthropomorphize, but his understanding of bears and fire imbues both with a life force.”
– Publisher’s Weekly

Home Again

8/23/2018

Feels great to be back home again, my fiction collection where it belongs: with a view of the two-humped mountain.

Maggie Smith's Good Bones

1/19/2018

Tonight we experienced a wonderful literary experience. At the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at the Arizona State, we heard Maggie Smith read her poetry. It was in the evening, outdoors in Arizona. I was comfortable, Maggie Smith was hot (she lives in Ohio). I'm sure most who read this entry have heard or read her poem "Good Bones". It has been consumed by more than a million people. Ah-h-h-h . . . the power of poetry. Sitting outside and listening to such a fine craftsperson, what struck me was the atmosphere in which the poems were delivered. In the backdrop was the sound of a city of more than four and a half million and the sounds of a nearby airport, the kinds of sounds people walk through day and night without a thought. People, worldwide, do want to live in cities. The air was thick with urbanity and in the middle of an apocalypse rehearsal rose the voice of a poet that shocked the senses. As familiar as everything was, I was on a journey to somewhere I'd never been. Her poem fit the atmosphere beautifully. Thank you, Maggie.

Good Bones
Maggie Smith
Life is short, though I keep this from my children.
Life is short, and I’ve shortened mine
in a thousand delicious, ill-advised ways,
a thousand deliciously ill-advised ways
I’ll keep from my children. The world is at least
fifty percent terrible, and that’s a conservative
estimate, though I keep this from my children.
For every bird there is a stone thrown at a bird.
For every loved child, a child broken, bagged,
sunk in a lake. Life is short and the world
is at least half terrible, and for every kind
stranger, there is one who would break you,
though I keep this from my children. I am trying
to sell them the world. Any decent realtor,
walking you through a real shithole, chirps on
about good bones: This place could be beautiful,
right? You could make this place beautiful.

Amazing Library

12/4/2017

Recently spent a splendid week in Nashville. We visited their public library and it was very impressive. I must say, this library portrayed below in China may have it beat. I doubt my books are in there, but still.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5_mFd-9y1M

Amazing! Newly-opened library in China's Tianjin becomes internet sensation

You won't expect a library like this. Tianjin Binhai Library, which has just opened in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin, offers visitors a one-of-an-kind experience with books. Find out.

Pernassus Book Store

12/1/2017

Some may have heard of Pernassus Book Store, situated in Nashville, TN. It is an iconic, independent bookstore owned and operated by Ann Patchett. It was a brave act to open such a store six years ago, going against the strong current of a mighty river. There was a reading the night we attended. Joan Silber reading from her novel Improvement. It was a delightful evening. Hard to not like a bookstore with such friendly staff and a dog running around like he owned the place.

Lord Stanley

11/29/2017

The Nashville Predators almost won the Stanley Cup last year. Almost. I guess the next best thing is rigging a Stanley Cup replica up with strings to play in a honky tonk bar in downtown Nashville. Priceless.

Quite an Honour

11/25/2017

As a writer, when you win anything you feel blessed. Today, I feel truly honoured.

Bill Stenson's hard-won ascendancy

Mother Tongue Publishing of Salt Spring Island B.C. has announced Bill Stenson has won its 4th Great BC Novel Contest , as judged by Audrey Thomas, for For the Love of Strangers , his novel about a lost 'n' found child who wonders why there are no baby pictures of her in the family album.

Black Fridays

11/13/2017

In the United States of America there are a lot of

Fridays.

Freeway traffic

11/9/2017

Interesting fact. One transport truck travelling at 65 miles per hour passing another transport truck travelling 64 miles per hour takes 61 seconds to completion. Time is everything.

Photo used under Creative Commons from r.nial.bradshaw