Antonia Banyard

Where I've Been

2010-11-03T10:46:00.000-07:00

This blog is not getting much attention lately, but at least there's a reason.

My mother and sister volunteer in Zambia, organizing a number of initiatives in rural areas -- income-generating businesses, support to schools, scholarships for students, and other community projects. I've been helping them with a new website for Malambo Grassroots (our new name).

The site includes a blog, so I post messages when I can. Unfortunately, I can't maintain two blogs at once, so this one is getting neglected!

The photo above is of my sister with Miriam, a grandmother who is raising four of her orphaned grandchildren. Malambo Grassroots helped to rebuild her house, which was too small and had a leaking roof.

Upcoming Readings

2010-11-03T10:44:00.000-07:00

I'll be reading at the Nakusp Public Library on Thursday, Nov 4 at 7pm, and at the Kaslo Public Library on Friday, Nov 5 at 7pm. A beautiful but brief road trip!

On Thursday, Nov 25, I'll be reading at the Radium Public Library at 7pm.

Upcoming travels

2010-09-08T10:37:00.000-07:00

I'm looking forward to reading in the East Kootenays later this month. This will hopefully give me a chance to improve my weak sense of geography and explore new vistas! The details are:

Tuesday, September 21, 4pm

Cranbrook Public Library

1212 2nd Street North, Cranbrook

AND

Wednesday, September 22, 7pm

Fernie Heritage Public Library

492 3rd Avenue, Fernie

These readings are sponsored by the Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance, the Columbia Basin Trust, and the Kootenay Library Federation. I will also read in Nakusp and Kaslo in early November. More details later.

Road trip, yeah!

I think I've seen a Geist!

2010-08-09T13:29:00.000-07:00

I was very excited to find a review of my novel, Never Going Back, in the latest issue of Geist magazine:

Never Going Back by Antonia Banyard (Thistledown) suggests that baby boomers who went "back to the land," smoked pot and eschewed conventionality didn't do their kids any favours, except maybe to give them an appreciation of the spectacular natural beauty of the area around Nelson, British Columbia. Not all of Banyard's main characters are children of hippies, but they've all been deeply affected by the death, when they were teenagers, of their friend Kristy. Ten years later, when they return to Nelson for her memorial service, they discover that everyone has been keeping secrets about the events surrounding her death. Add to that some sexual tension, some existential angst and an impending birth, and you've got an interesting tale from a generation that grew up surrounded by what has become known as an "alternative lifestyle," but are just as hung up as their parents and grandparents were.

I really recommend checking out Geist's website, there a lot of great stuff there, from reviews to articles to writing tips.

Is it just me, or is the ground shifting under our feet?

2010-07-30T13:18:00.000-07:00

I've read a lot of articles about the book industry lately, where it's at and where we think it might go in the future. I've come across these articles through work (my day-gig as a publisher's dogsbody) but I read them from both a publisher's perspective, and from a writer's.

Unfortunately, I haven't come to any brilliant, insightful conclusions yet, but the consensus seems to be: things are changing. As always. Though maybe we're going to really feel the effect of these changes soon? Who knows.

What will our kids be reading in the future? And how will they read? Kid's books are already entering the e-book world, alongside their adult counterparts. When I read to my toddler, I wonder if she'll relate to books and stories like I do, or if her experience will be completely different.

But never mind kids, it could be that technology is already affecting how we read. It might be making us more stupid. Or at least less able to finish a complete thought. Hmmm. Here's another article along the same lines, a spoof on our love for bells and whistles.

Then there's the literary agent who has decided to cut publishers out of the picture altogether and publish e-books on his own. Will publishers go the way of the dodo bird? And is this a good thing for authors? Some people think not. In fact, they point out that e-books might just be parasites feeding off print books.

If that weren't bad enough, it turns out Amazon's business practices might just be undermining the whole foundation of books and writing. Yeesh!

Is your head spinning yet?

To lighten things up, there's an article on fashion in this season's book covers. Finally, if you're worried old-fashioned good writing just can't compete for our attention any more, never fear. Maybe we just have to strip down to the essentials.

OK, so now I'm going to run out and enjoy the summer sunshine and forget about the future!

Bad blogger!

2010-07-22T14:50:00.000-07:00

I've had things to report and I haven't. I admit, I'm a bad blogger. (I've also been single-parenting for two and a half weeks. My hat's off to full-time single parents. I'm in awe of you all.)

On July 8, I read at the Robson Reading Series with my friend, Billie Livingston. I read from my novel, and Billie read from her short story collection, Greedy Little Eyes, which was released in May.

The reading was great! It was one of the first warm evenings of the summer, but the room was packed. We had no idea who all those people were! We answered some really tough questions; the bookstore sold out of our books; there were cupcakes. What more could you ask for?

I forgot to ask someone to take a photo of the reading, but above is a photo from our trip to Vancouver. Never separate a girl from her shoes or her trampoline. We spent a lot of time going up and down. If I weren't so sleep deprived, I'd be able to finish with a lovely metaphor connecting the writing life and trampolines. Maybe someone can help me with this?

Instead, I will promise to be a better blogger in future. Hopefully.

2010-06-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

Small communities are pretty great. That's my conclusion after getting the news that my application to the Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance (CKCA) for touring funding was accepted. Yahoo! The funding is to cover a 5-day reading tour of the East Kootenays in September.

Where did this good fortune come from? Apart from the CKCA, the Columbia Basin Trust who provide the funding, and the Kootenay Library Federation, who helped me with the application.

When I was growing up in Nelson, the term "Columbia Basin" didn't mean much to me. Now I'm aware that I live in a region defined by a river, not by the usually arbitrary lines we draw on the map. The Trust serves the people affected by the Columbia River Treaty, and by the dams along the Columbia River. I can't explain why, but this all seems significant to me. I hope to get a better sense of this region, and the people in it, while on tour.

The photo is of Slocan Lake. What a beautiful area this is!

But first, I'll have to book some readings! Will keep this blog posted.

Frozen Peanut Butter Pie Recipe

2010-06-07T11:32:00.001-07:00

"I miss Kristy, you know," Mandy says. "We used to hang out on my mum's couch and talk for hours. She would make the most amazing frozen peanut butter tofu pie and we'd eat half of it just sitting there." She catches Evan's eye and waits for him to say something.

He remembers eating pie with her, the cold shock of it in his mouth before it melted. Sweet, nutty. Damn.

The excerpt above is from my novel, Never Going Back. When I was a teenager, I loved frozen peanut butter tofu pie, partly because it's so easy to make. And it's great in summer. A couple of people have asked me for the recipe, so here it is. Thanks to the Lamb family, who first introduced me to this pie, and for sharing their recipe!

Frozen Peanut Butter Tofu Pie

Use a pre-cooked 9-inch pie crust, or make a graham crust:

1 ½ cups graham crumbs

½ cup melted butter

¼ cup honey

Mix together and press into a 9-inch pie plate.

Then blend until smooth and creamy:

1 lb tofu **

¾ cup peanut butter

½ cup honey

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

Pour filling into pie shell and freeze. Let thaw 10 minutes before serving. Serve with chocolate flakes on top. Yum!

** unsweetened silken tofu works the best. The secret to this recipe is to blend it really well so that you don’t end up with chunks of tofu.

You can also skip the crust and pour the filling into a muffin pan to make frozen peanut butter morsels.

The Second Photo

2010-05-30T10:56:00.000-07:00

OK, so here's a photo of Anne DeGrace, because I don't know how to put two photos in one blog post. Here she is introducing me. Thanks Anne!

Launched! A While Ago!!

2010-05-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

You know you have a wee bit too much on your plate when something exciting happens -- say, the official launch party for the book you spent ten years writing -- and then you don't even have time to let people know how it went. Life just rushes on, so you try to rush along with it and keep your head above water.

Well, two weeks ago, my novel, Never Going Back, was launched and it was a great evening. I didn't stand there dry-mouthed and speechless (the sign of a good evening, in my books), people showed up, and no one fell asleep, as far as I know. For me, the highlight was the cake my friend Rachel made, topped with an icing replica of Nelson's orange bridge and a rocket ship (rockets feature in the novel). I will post a decent photo of it once I lay my hands on one.

It's really wonderful to live in a small town. My mum's friends showed up. Parents of kids who went to the same high school showed up. Friends of friends came to wish me well. This is a great community!

The evening went smoothly thanks to the excellent organizational skills of Anne DeGrace, author of Sounding Line, Wind Tails, and Treading Water.

OK, life is rushing on again, must catch up!

Launch!

2010-05-07T08:33:00.000-07:00

For those of you who live in and around Nelson, BC, the official launch of Never Going Back is next week, Thursday, May 13, at 7:30pm. The Nelson Library is hosting the event, which will be held at Oxygen Arts Centre.

There will be a reading! Books! And best of all, homemade cake!

Hope to see you there.

"This story will hit home..."

2010-04-27T08:20:00.000-07:00

The great thing about living in a small community is that sometimes you appear in the local paper! The Nelson Star printed an article about my novel, Never Going Back, last week. My first interview!

Happily, the reporter Keith Powell edited out my dumber comments, because I'm sure there were a lot of them. He describes the novel as "a painting of Nelson in both bright and stark contrasts."

Yeah, small towns!

Friends on friends

2010-04-16T14:26:00.000-07:00

My novel, Never Going Back, is about friends, among other things. The many layers to friendship that form over the years.

Now friends can keep in touch through Facebooks and blogs and Twitter and text messages, if that's what your heart desires.

Well, it turns out that one of my oldest friends is also a blogger. Last fall she wrote a post about visiting my house when we were kids. (She makes my family sound more posh than we really were.) Check it out!

And while I'm at it, here's a photo of the two of us, with the gorgeous city of Nelson in the background.

An Exciting Spring

2010-04-12T20:25:00.000-07:00

My novel, Never Going Back, was listed in the spring issue of Quill & Quire magazine as one of the Season's 25 Most Exciting novels. Yeah!

I haven't managed to lay my hands on the spring issue, so don't quite believe it's true yet. But I'm crossing my fingers it is.

New for spring

2010-03-06T12:12:00.000-08:00

Welcome to this blog, which will be about my writing life. Who is this new blogger? you ask. That's a good question. I'm a writer, a publishing industry sort, and a new mother. I live in Nelson, BC, a small town in the interior of BC.

My first book is Dangerous Crossings! a collection of true stories about amazing journeys, written for 9-12 year olds.

My adult novel, Never Going Back, will be published this spring by Thistledown Press. It's about a group of five friends who were close throughout high school but have lost touch. They return to their home town of Nelson, BC, for a memorial service. Things get more complicated from there.

I can't promise that I'll have something to say every week on this blog (see "new mother" above), but I'm looking forward to this new blogging adventure.