Libraries, Aghast

I recently found the first draft of the title story from my new book, Astrid, Aghast, in a notebook dated May 27, 2023. On May 27, 2023, I was sitting in a library in Iceland where I’d gone to work on some of the stories that would end up in this book. (The photo above was taken in the library on that same day.) A few years earlier, I also wrote a chunk of my children’s novel, The Girl Who Could Fly, in that same library.

In that first draft of “Astrid, Aghast”, the story is called simply “Aghast” and is mostly narrated by Astrid—although that name didn’t come until a later draft written in July of that same year. I have no idea how I landed on that name—other than I wanted something alliterative and, I guess, Nordic.

Here’s how the story originally began:

She said, why don’t you write a very short story called aghast?

What should it be about? I asked.

It should be about us. About how we met and how you said you didn’t’ like me very much at first—don’t think I don’t remember that. But then you grew to like me and even love me. All because we shared that time together stuck in the elevator at work. Two hours. That’s all it took for you to fall in love with me. You and me in the elevator. At the library.

The story was sparked by someone asking me around that time if I was aghast. I don’t remember why they asked; I don’t remember the context. But I do remember repeating the word to myself a few times, and then writing it down in my notebook. At the time I also remember thinking: Have I ever been aghast? I’m sure I have. Throughout the stories in this book, characters are often conscious of the words they (or other characters) use, how those words sound, how they feel coming out of their mouths. It’s something I do all the time. I love words. But of course I do; I’m in the business of words. In the story, Astrid has a tic whereby she must count the syllables in all the multi-syllabic words she hears. Without my knowing, my publisher ran a program through the manuscript to catch all the words with three or more syllables and then he put them on the cover, under the jacket. An ode to Astrid, and to lovers of words.

I’m also in the business of libraries—in so much that I spend a lot of time in libraries. My first real job was in a library; many of my jobs were in libraries: from Ottawa to Halifax to the Yukon. Anytime I travel to a new city, I head for the library. When my last book came out during the pandemic, I donated copies of it to libraries across the country—from Vancouver to St. John’s. (I also donated copies to libraries in Iceland since there was an Icelandic connection with the book.) Whenever a new book comes out by a friend or acquaintance, I fill out a request-to-purchase form at my local library. It’s a small way to help out writers (and small presses) by getting their books in front of more readers. Most libraries have a link on their website to do this. My library has a limit of three suggestions per month, and I often meet that monthly limit. Maybe your library has this option? I do plan to donate copies of Astrid, Aghast to libraries at some point, but maybe before I do that, you’d consider asking your library to order a copy? I’d be eternally grateful!

I’ve added some dates to the events page on my mostly-neglected website, which can be found here. The very first launch for Astrid, Aghast will be in Sackville, NB, home of Gaspereau Press and, incidentally, the place where the very first story in my book was written during a SappyFest residency several years ago. I’ll be doing launches with friends all over the Maritimes this spring (most of those events will be with Jon Claytor for the launch of his fantastic new graphic novel, Nowhere). I’ll also be at Frye Festival in Moncton for an event which I’m really looking forward to. After that, I head back to Ontario for a couple events in Ottawa, followed by more dates in other parts of Ontario to be announced soon.

The best part of releasing a new book is heading out to talk about it in front of an audience. The worst part is probably having to do promotion. So… thank you, I’m sorry!