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Lovely to see my interview with Open Book go live! Take a look when you get a moment and find out what questions I was asking myself while writing Apples on a Windowsill. Hint: So. Many.
A few quick notes to say that Apples on a Windowsill is now available! Events have been planned! And I’m excited to say that the first review is in by Kerry Clare on Pickle Me This. It’s always meaningful when a writer you admire shares their thoughts on your book and I admit it, when I hear that someone has underlined stuff in the pages of one of my books, I get very happy. That’s my booklovelanguage.
You can get all the deets on how to order here.
I’ll be launching at Audreys in Edmonton on February 1, 2024, and at Another Story Bookshop in Toronto on February 29, 2024.
On November 26th I was part of the annual great books round-up on CBC’s Edmonton AM with Mark Connolly. So excellent to be part of this!
And then this lovely review by Lindy of Lindy Reads and Reviews:
It’s an embarrassment of riches this week in the coverage of Everything Affects Everyone this week. And I’ll be perfectly honest, I know this is likely all there will be. Which is fine, because I’m feeling pretty blessed by these 3 notices below:
First up, is “The Dirty Dozen” on Open Book, where I tell you 12 things you may not know about me.
From the preamble by the editors:
“Everything Affects Everyone is a taut, thoughtful novel about listening and being seen, about how women share and protect secrets, and about the nature of belief in all forms. It's a spectacular addition to Lemay's prestigious writing career, which includes the beloved Rumi and the Red Handbag, The Flower Can Always Be Changing, and Calm Things.”
Secondly, Justin Bell featured Everything Affects Everyone at The Edmonton Journal. We spoke on Zoom beforehand, and had a great conversation.
From the review: “Everything Affects Everyone plays out like a series short stories, each vignette threaded together with a different perspective, one person’s story connected to the next. An interview influences the life of the woman transcribing it; a stolen piece of art leaves an impact on those who witness its absence, recorded and transcribed five years later in conversations with those who saw the exhibit.”
Last but not least:
I am really proud of this conversation conducted via email with Kerry Clare. It’s pretty in-depth, so I just want to let it speak for itself. I would love it if you could read it and share it etc. With love and thanks :)
From the preamble:
“Everything Affects Everyone is wonderful and strange, rich and engaging, provocative and comforting, and filled with mystery and beauty. And what impressed me most about this book is how Lemay’s entire oeuvre is an essential context for appreciating this book properly, the way it fits into and extends her ideas and philosophy, which is utterly original, and inviting, which you can’t say about most things one might term a “philosophy.”
I am obsessed with Shawna Lemay’s obsessions, and the generosity with which she shares them, and the way that she can make me become vicariously obsessed with anything.”
So lovely to see Everything Affects Everyone on this list at 49th Shelf! Editors’ Picks for November 2021.
Could I be more thrilled with these next two responses to Everything Affects Everyone? No, no, I could not be.
It’s so full of beautiful & poignant surprises, I hesitate to describe this book at all for fear of ruining the prospective reader's experience. Just...do yourself a favour & pick up @ShawnaLemay's astonishing new novel! And check out this @ckuaradio chat:https://t.co/9E4cqJoXmJ
— Grant Stovel (@GrantStovel) October 8, 2021
“It’s so full of beautiful & poignant surprises, I hesitate to describe this book at all for fear of ruining the prospective reader’s experience. Just...do yourself a favour & pick up Shawna Lemay’s astonishing new novel.”
And then, if that wasn’t enough, Kerry Clare very generously shared a photo of my book on Instagram with some incredible thoughts on it as well. Click through to read the post in full, which ends:
“Everything Affects Everyone is wonderful and strange, rich and engaging, provocative and comforting, and filled with mystery and beauty. And what impressed me most about this book is how Lemay's entire oeuvre is an essential context for appreciating this book properly, the way it fits into and extends her ideas and philosophy, which is utterly original, and inviting, which you can't say about most things one might term a "philosophy."
I am obsessed with Shawna Lemay's obsessions, and the generosity with which she shares them, and the way that she can make me become vicariously obsessed with anything.
Even angels.
I really love this really weird book, which makes me even more fond of its wonderful author—if such a thing is possible.”
“I really love this really weird book, which makes me even more fond of its wonderful author—if such a thing is possible.”
On Friday October 8 at 8:45am (MT) you can listen to my CKUA Radio interview with Grant Stovel who is an incredible Edmonton treasure. You can listen around the world online, on the CKUA radio app, or on the good old radio. I’m partial to listening to CKUA in my car for some reason :)
I’ll be talking about my new novel, Everything Affects Everyone, which is slowly making its way out into the world as we speak. Thanks for tuning in!
I just want to quickly share a few nice things that have appeared of late regarding one of the poem-essays in The Flower Can Always Be Changing.
“In Lieu of Flowers” made the Book Riot list for “7 Of the Best Poems About Losing a Loved One.” Obviously, being on such a list holds some bittersweetness.
And then, it’s very emotional to see that a person from Zimbabwe, Chioniso Tsikisayi, made this beautiful video from her visit to her granny’s grave.
Lastly, I know it’s a little thing, but I was glad that this Reddit user was able to track down the poem as well. The search for a “poem about grief and ice cream” was so poignant for me.
So it’s very lovely to see this attention given to this book as the preparations for the next one are underway.
Gratitude is real.
Yesterday, my wonderful publisher, Palimpsest Press, posted a photo of the freshly received ARCs (Advanced Reader Copy) of Everything Affects Everyone, and though I’ve been talking the fact that the book is coming out in October on social media, I’d be re-miss if I didn’t share the news here as well. I’ve added a page under books for Everything Affects Everyone with some links on how to pre-order it.
Pre-orders are great to create a buzz about a book and can really drive sales/ordering at bookstores. That said, an author/me! is happy no matter how the book ends up in a readers hands.
Obviously, pre-ordering is taking a chance :) What might you be in for? The novel contains: angels, women in conversation, an art heist, an elusive photographer, movie stars. There are thoughts on belief, seeing, and art. I noticed that my publisher described it on her Facebook post as “trippy” which I kinda love and maybe is the best description.
It’s obviously an interesting / strange time to be promoting a book, but I’m excited to see how it all goes and what people think of it.
The official pub date is October 15 which seems far off, but really is only 3 months away. OMG.
