Freddy Play by Play

My overnight excursion to Fredericton was fabulous and now I'm really looking forward to going back this week. The bus got in on time but Mary was not waiting to pick me up. I found out later that she went to pick me up on Wednesday, but even if I had arrived on Wednesday she would have missed me because she went an hour too late, lol. So, I grabbed a cab and headed off to the hotel on my own. Since it was rush hour traffic was hell and it took about 25 minutes to get up over the hill. I was freaked out, thought for sure the cab would cost 20 bucks. But I soon discovered that cabs are super cheap in Fredericton. It only cost $5 for that ride.

The lobby of the hotel was really nice with a fireplace and sofas and an area with tables set up so you could sit and have coffee (24 hr complimentary coffee service -- two thumbs up for that!) or enjoy the continental breakfast in the morning.

I forgot to bring Mom's credit card I used to reserve the room so I had to leave a $100 security deposit at the front desk just in case I trashed the room or took off with the TV or something. That left me a little concerned about whether I had brought enough cash or not. They put me in a room on the ground floor with an exit to the outside (motel style) as well as an inside entrance/exit.

I wasn't really comfortable there . . . you know, girl traveling alone, ground floor . . . I don't know, I didn't like it much. So, when my door wouldn't catch to close I seized the opportunity to get a different room upstairs and requested an upstairs room for this week also.

By the time I got settled there wasn't any time left to eat or anything so I just changed my clothes, freshened up and grabbed a cab to the university. My driver had no idea where the building I wanted was located so that was a bit of a challenge and took a little longer than I expected but still I arrived in one piece (only $4!).

I found Mary freaking out in the auditorium. Apparently, anything that could go wrong, had gone wrong. But things were basically under control by the time I arrived. I got to sit in the front row reserved seating and all I had to do was run around like mad and find a table, carry it downstairs, and endure the snotty ladies from the CBC who were quite put-out that we hadn't arranged water for them. HELLO! You're journalists (debatable), not celebrities! If I did voice work all the time I think I'd have water with me. Anyway, they rubbed me the wrong way with all their juvenile eye rolling and snickering.

Ann-Marie's people sent the standard famous person list of demands which Mary was going a bit nuts trying to fulfill. But Ann-Marie herself was very personable and not at all diva-esque.

Beth Powning read first from her novel The Hatbox Letters. I was blown away by the beauty of the sound of the book. WOW! The story really hadn't interested me much when I read the synopsis, but after hearing Beth's reading I knew I had to buy this book.

Ann-Marie went second. Of course, I had already read The Way the Crow Flies and had all the books in a bag under my seat to get signed after. Ann-Marie started as an actress and this was obvious from her reading. DOUBLE WOW!! This was the best reading I've ever been to, not that I've been to many, but still. It was as if she were acting out all the characters. She had all the voices down, from the little girl to the father, the psychiatrist to Bugs Bunny. I was particularly impressed with her use of silence. At one point she stared off into the distance as if the character were pondering and she held that silence for a good 20-25 seconds. That's tough to do. It's tough to take your time when you're reading or doing any sort of public speaking and just let the silence speak for itself.

After the readings the floor opened for questions. This was an insightful part of the evening for me. The audience was mostly university students from the drama or English departments, so they had lots of great questions. The girl from the CBC did not! You could totally tell that she hadn't read any of their books or maybe ANY book in a really long time. She asked them where they got their inspiration for Christ's sake. That's like asking the parents of the murdered child how they feel or leading with "It's every parents worst nightmare." How does the woman keep her job? To top things off she sat in the chair designated for Beth Powning and spoke at length with her own response to one of the questions the students asked the authors. What's up with that?

But enough hating on the CBC chick and her publicist or agent or whoever that was with her.

One thing I found particularly interesting was the authors discussion of writers block. Ann-Marie said she saw it more as a void than a block, which I totally agreed with. The standard response about writers block is usually to get away from it, take a break, go back at it later. But she wanted to stress something else as well -- first, you must suffer. That really struck me. She stressed that you had to suffer through the agony of the void in order to get through it and not to be so quick to take a break. Only after you've suffered and still you have the void, then you should take a break and get some distance. I thought that was pretty interesting. I think I'm often too quick to give up.

Another thing that came out of the Q & A was a comment from one of the students. The reading Ann-Marie gave was identical to one she gave there earlier this year or last fall and this student had attended that reading as well. She said she hadn't read the book before the first reading and found herself laughing as many in the audience had laughed at this reading. But since the first reading she read the book and this time she found the reading more somber and sad now that she knew the context. I had the opposite happen to me. I read the book before the reading . . . but I missed a lot of the humour in my reading, I was overwhelmed by the sadness and seriousness of the story. But I laughed when she read and I knew the context. I thought that was an interesting contrast, that I found the humour in her oral reading and the university student found the sorrow.

After the reading I bought Beth's book and got all my books signed. I told Ann-Marie that I worked a Sunday matinee at the Annex theatre back in 1988 and had been a fan of her work ever since. She was thrilled and flattered and very gracious. She's much smaller in real life than what I expected. On Life & Times she looks taller, more substantial. She's really a wisp of a woman.

After the readings Mary drove me back to the hotel. She thanked me for coming and helping her out and for all the press releases I've written. She said she's been getting lots of compliments about the press releases since I started writing them, which was nice to hear. It was about 10:30 when I went into the lobby. I got a cup of coffee to take up to my room and signed out a dvd to watch in case I couldn't find anything on television -- Calendar Girls (not as good as I had hoped).

I got back in my room just in time to catch the tail end of Canadian Idol and ordered pizza from Pizza Delight which came around 11 . . . pretty late to be eating supper, but I was starved! I tossed and turned all night and then got up at 8 and went down for breakfast.

The breakfast actually really impressed me. There was a lot more variety than what I thought there would be -- various kinds of muffins, bagels and pastries, homemade bread for toast, English muffins, four different kinds of cold cereal, one hot cereal, coffee, various kinds of tea, orange juice, apple juice, milk -- there was lots to pick from and a good crowd chowing down. I had a bagel with cream cheese and coffee and then went back up to my room to shower and get ready to go home.

I checked out an hour before the bus was scheduled to leave. I thought that would be plenty of time because it was mid-morning so the cab ride shouldn't have taken that long. My driver decided to take the scenic route or something and the cab ride went on forever!! But I wasn't worried because I had given myself lots of time . . . or so I thought. I was horrified to finally reach the station and realise that every kid in the university was lined up for bus tickets home for the weekend. The line-up was all the way out on the sidewalk!! I don't know why I didn't buy a return ticket to begin with . . . I just got in line and hoped for the best, started strategizing what I would do if i missed the bus, did I have enough cash to get a room and try again on Saturday and so on. Luckily, the line up moved pretty quickly and I got out of there in lots of time to catch my bus.

The ride home was uneventful and I got picked up by Jen and the kids without a hitch. Sherry couldn't pick me up because Paulina was sick . . . wouldn't you know it, now I'm feeling sick too. Sore throat, pain around my eyes, achy body, BLECH! Just in time for my big trip to Freddy this week, when everyone will be there, when all the events are happening. Hopefully I'll recover in time.

So, I had a great time and the reading was everything I expected and more.

Mood: sluggish
Drinking: Cabernet Sauvignon (California)
Listening To: Virgin Radio Classic Rock live from the UK (Paul McCartney & Wings)
Hair: Dirty, with a capital D