The Inheritance Cycle began with Eragon, the story of a boy and his dragon. It continued with Eldest and Brisngr, and it comes to a thrilling conclusion in Inheritance. Fans of Christopher Paolini’s fantasy series have been waiting three long years for the exciting final chapter to hit the shelves. On Tuesday, November 8th, the wait was finally over.

To celebrate the exciting day, Random House of Canada and Indigo Books & Music brought a six foot tall ice sculpture carved in the shape of 3 dragons to Indigo Manulife on a rainy Tuesday morning. There were even two copies of the book embedded in blocks of ice! Luckily, no one tried to chisel them out. (Click the images to enlarge.)

Many came up to the sculpture, bewildered that it was actually made of ice, but alas the water dripping from the dragons nose was all the proof they needed. Adults, teenagers and children all came out to take pictures with the sculpture and send their tweets to @indigogreenroom, the Indigo Events twitter account, for a chance to win a copy of the coveted book.

Many fans also tweeted their pictures to the author himself at @InheritanceCP, who happily tweeted back exclaiming that he loved the ice sculpture idea. The fun continued the following Saturday at Chapters Queensway where a second sculpture was showcased in the afternoon.

Are you reading this series?

On November 7 I attended a truly spectacular Jann Arden event. Hosted by Random House and Canadian Living, myself (and 250 eager fans) sat down in the Toronto’s beautiful Berkeley Church where Jann performed three songs (including Good Mother, bringing people to tears). Her humour shone in the banter between songs (she ribbed her vegan guitarist, commenting that his gas must smell of Fabreeze!). And when she hopped into a bed on-stage for a “pillow talk” with Canadian Living’s executive editor, Donna Paris, the real hilarity ensued. Jann had the audience in hysterics with impersonations of her mother and the story of how she lost her virginity. We cherished every moment she was on-stage, and yet we wanted to rush home and read her memoir, Falling Backwards.

But she was also equal parts poignant and intelligent; she had a fascinating take on how the singer Adele’s popularity has busted the doors wide open for traditional songwriting to return to radio, and how she turned the traditional image of beauty onto its head.

After she left the stage, guests were treated to hand massages (from Jergen’s, the event sponsor), and lots of tasty treats. We left with a swag bag of goodies, but most importantly we left with the impression of being in the presence of a true superstar — Jann Arden is talented, down-to-earth, a real ham, and a gifted writer.

A full house of well-wishers celebrated authors Dr. Abdallah Daar and Dr. Peter Singer at Ben McNally Books in Toronto last night. The occasion was the launch of their provocative new book called The Grandest Challenge: Taking Life-Saving Science from the Lab to Village.

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When you start an internship, you never know what to expect.

I certainly never expected to be invited to Brian Francis’ Natural Order launch on my first day! As a publishing student you dream of the opportunity to do real work and attend functions just like the one I had been invited to. Having never been to a book launch before, and being from Manitoba and unfamiliar with streetcars, I armed myself with my Metro Pass, a Google map, and a sense of excitement. Finally I felt like I was starting my career, and was doing something that felt special.

When I got there, the launch didn’t disappoint my eager expectations. Housed at the beautiful Gladstone Hotel, the launch was everything I was expecting and more. I was met with welcoming smiles, I was introduced to the author, and I was surrounded by like-minded individuals. As more people trickled in, the sound of stimulating conversation floated through the air and made me realize that at that moment that I had made it; I finally felt a part of the industry I have for so long admired and loved. For the rest of my life I will remember the experience of my first book launch as being not only a wonderful event celebrating a worthy piece of fiction, but as the marker to the start of my career in the publishing industry.

In February, Vancouver Kidsbooks co-owner Phyllis Simon received the following email:

Hi, my name is Anabella and I’m ten years old. I really like the Penderwick books and as you might know the third book is coming out on May tenth. I was just wondering if you are doing or could do something for the coming out of the book? I would really love it if you did! Sincerely Anabella age ten.

For those of you who haven’t read the books, they are a series of books for young people about a family called the Penderwicks who believe in truth and honour, yet can’t seem to stay out of trouble. There’s oldest sister Rosalind, responsible for the rest; stubborn, feisty Skye; dreamy Jane; and shy little Batty, whose best friend is Hound, a large dog more loyal than obedient. The third book in the series, The Penderwicks at Point Mouette, has just been released. Jeanne plans to write two more books about the Penderwicks.

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A couple of weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to attend a reading by three fantastic novelists, among them Miriam Toews, reading from her brand-spanking-new novel, Irma Voth. Miriam is no stranger to readings and book launches, and she spoke and read with so much charisma, humour, and ease that you really couldn’t help but fall in love with the book. But outside of how impressive Miriam was (and is), what really struck me was the part of the book she chose to read: she read from the beginning, right from page one.

In my experience, this is a rarity, especially from fiction writers. A lot of authors choose to read the funniest, or the most climactic, or most disturbing portions of their books in order to get the biggest reaction from their audience, to get across the tone, style, or content of the novel, or simply because those are their favorite parts of their books. But really, what better place to catch your audience’s interest than at the beginning?

A novel’s opening pages are arguably its most important part, because they have to draw the reader in as quickly as possible and pique the reader’s interest enough to propel him or her through the hundreds of pages that follow. An effective opening also sets the book’s tone and style, and lets the reader know what to expect from the rest of the novel. So assuming your novel has such an opening, why not read from there?

Miriam’s reading certainly caught my attention, and I’ll be picking up and reading Irma Voth at my next opportunity. And I implore all you novelists out there to give it a try: at your next reading or book launch, try starting from page one.

Last year, Toronto fans of Alexander McCall Smith were sorely disappointed when a giant cloud of volcanic ash stopped the prolific Scottish novelist from visiting. I’m happy to report that the situation was rectified last night, their frowns finally turned upside down. In fact, he had them downright giggling.

McCall Smith appeared at the Toronto Public Library as part of The Globe and Mail Open House Festival. He was introduced and interviewed by CTV’s Seamus O’Regan. The two are quite close by now, I would imagine: they’ve been together for nearly 2 days filming segments for the myriad of shows Seamus hosts. Plus, they are Twitter friends.

In his most delightful accent, McCall Smith treated readers to an excerpt from his forthcoming 44 Scotland Street novel, The Importance of Being Seven. He warmed up the crowd by introducing Bertie Pollock and his friends. Young Bertie has misplaced his mother, accidentally sending her to Romania in a trunk of unwanted clothes. In the excerpt, Bertie and his friends imagine what might happen to her along the way. By the end of the scene we were all laughing, and McCall Smith was struggling to finish before he began to chuckle himself.

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Hot on the heels of her US tour, the lovely and dedicated audience at the Globe and Mail/Ben McNally Books and Brunch was treated to a visit by Alex Von Tunzelmann, the author of Red Heat: Conspiracy, Murder and The Cold War in the Carribbean. Early copies of Red Heat were available at the brunch for eager attendees, even though it’s not officially on-sale until tomorrow.

Did you know that April marks the 50th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs Invasion? (It took place on April 17, 1961) Alex related that event to the situation in Haiti and what’s happening throughout the Middle East and Africa: people are pressing for democracy, making this book is more timely than ever. But the brunch wasn’t all doom and gloom. Alex captivated the audience with conspiracy theories (Apparently JFK and his top staff had dinner with the creator of the James Bond series and he offered some suggestions how to creatively get rid of enemies. The next day, the CIA asked the author to lunch) and thoughts on who killed JFK. Alex told the crowd that she didn’t know who killed Kennedy – if she did, then she would have been speaking to us from her yacht in the Caribbean! This drew a hearty laugh from the crowd. She ended her talk by saying “sometimes, truth really is stranger than fiction.”

Thrilled that she could add Toronto to her already hectic schedule, Alex mentioned that when she comes to Toronto again (she really likes it here) that I have to include a visit Niagara Falls. Alex was so happy with the books and brunch event that she is going to discuss the idea with some of her book store mates in London and see if they can do something similar.

Rock n’ Roll guitar guru, Milton Bradley toy designer, successful businessman, and self-proclaimed free-range Aspergian – John Elder Robison — returns to Toronto for a talk about his amazing life and uncommon road to success at the ROM on Mon April 11, 2011 (Tonight! Click here for details). Along with his friend Temple Grandin, John is one of the most visible advocates for people living on the autistic spectrum.

I had the pleasure of meeting John last fall when he was in Toronto to address an Autism Speaks Canada conference — an amazing funding and advocacy organization for individuals and families who struggle with autism spectrum disorders. John brought a wealth of knowledge and insight to a room full of experts based on his own experience growing up with Aspergers – generally defined as the high-functioning end of the spectrum – before the diagnoses even existed.

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