Today is launch day. In less than 90 minutes, I've got to be at Babar en ville, Montreal's number one kids' bookstore, to launch my two new books: The Middle of Everywhere and Junkyard Dog. It's damp and rainy and I hope the bad weather won't keep too many people away. At least I know for sure that my husband, my parents, my brother, my sister, my next door neighbours and my best friend Viva are all coming. Let me see, that's eight people for sure!!
Anyway launch day is always exciting and I have to admit I finally got a haircut, so now it only looks like there is a small mop growing on my head!!
On the way to the hairdresser, I heard part of a wonderful old interview with the mother of poet Dylan Thomas. The interview was done in the 1960s, several years after Dylan Thomas's death. I couldn't help falling in love with his mom -- it was easy to tell what a spirited kind person she must have been. She also had a way with words, telling funny stories about how accident-prone her son was as a child and young man. But my favourite part of the interview was when she said that Dylan Thomas began writing poetry when he was only eight years old. She said she and her husband never had trouble keeping their son busy -- all he needed was paper and pencils. So if you know any eight-year-olds surely you can figure out what you have to do: get them some paper and pencils and tell them to write a poem! Apparently, Dylan Thomas once wrote a lovely poem about his mom's kichen sink!