Almost December! :)

Hello :) I always feel the need to apologize for not blogging more often...
The last few months have been totally consumed with writing (and teaching). To be honest, in between writing (and doing the first major round of edits with my literary agent and first readers) for my third book, For All the Men (and Some of the Women) I've Known, and teahing full time, I've had very little free time to do anything,including this. But I have wanted to for ages, and now, finally, I'm doing it...
I am really excited with my third book. Though much of it is fiction, and other people's stories that I have reimagined and rearranged, some of it is loosely based on my own experiences. In many ways, it's the most personal project I have written so far, and while I am proud of, and excited about everything I've done- I am most excited to share this. I really hope you like it. A lot of my heart and thoughts and energy went into it.
I've also had a chance to do some readings, and will be doing a lot more in the next few months. I had the incredible pleasure of reading with authors Dawn Promislow and Lisa de Nikolits at the Toronto Women's Bookstore this month. What an amazing experience. Our audience was fantastic (the place was full- thank you so much for coming) and Victoria was an amazing host. :) The Q &A was wonderful too- people asked such great questions, and it was wonderful to get to share our thoughts.
For me personally, it was fantastic in part because I've been a frequent customer for years- since I was an undergraduate at York University in the early 2000's. It was one of my favorite readings to date- and Dawn and Lisa, who are exceptional writers and friends, were amazing to share the stage with.
A lovely girl who was in the audience that day was kind enough to mention us on her blog: http://egoburn.blogspot.com/2011/11/stuff-i-like-right-this-second.html
I am also really excited to be reading in Montreal this coming January with fabulous non fiction author and poet Liz Worth. I am a huge fan of her work, and am excited to announce here first that we'll be doing a series of readings together next year. :) Check her out: www.lizworth.com
I recently had the pleasure of seeing my friend Ashley Little launch her book, Prick on Tightrope Books in Toronto. Set in BC, it's bitingly honest and sharply funny story of a tattoo artist called Ant. I read it in one night and loved it. Check it out here: http://tightropebooks.com/prick-confessions-of-a-tattoo-artist-ashley-little/
Ashley and I are also planning to do some west coast readings together. All my future tour dates will be announced here first, so keep an eye on this page (I promise to update it and blog more often:) Also check out or "like" my Facebook author page for more frequent updates (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Danila-Botha/163914183632325?sk=wall)
I have as always, been reading a lot. There is SO much that I've read that I've loved lately. Haley Taner's Vaclav and Lena is so beautiful- magic realist and urban, lovely and descriptive and so precise in it's dialogue. I love its ability to transport me completely. Bill Clegg's Portrait of An Addict as a Young Man is so well written, well organized (I love the time sequences, the switch from third person childhood to present, painful adulthood) and incredibly, beautifully brave. His work is so moving and fearless. Check him out: http://arts.nationalpost.com/2010/07/09/portrait-of-an-addict-as-a-young-man-a-qa-with-bill-clegg/
I love Richard Milward's first book, Apples. His dialogue is snappy and witty, his male and female voices equally authentic and gritty. I loved how incredibly descriptive, poetic and original Alison Pick's Far to Go Was. It moved me deeply. I also love Zsuszi Gartner's Better Living Through Plastic Explosives, especially her story Float Like A Goat, which references a Chagall painting and is brilliant (and for anyone in Toronto, you can actually see this very painting and other amazing Chagall works at the AGO) I am also loving Rebecca Curtis' amazingly sharp and witty Twenty Grand (a collection of short stories) Melanie Little's Confidence (amazing collection of stories) and the Lynn Coady edited Anansi Reader, which celebrates more than forty years of amazing work that they've published. That, and Lynn Crosbie's Queen Rat, which I'm rereading for the 10th time, and Liz Worth's incredible Amphetamine Heart. What are you reading? I'd love to hear.
As far as music, I'm listening to the new Florence and the Machine (I'm addicted to it, she has such a powerful, operatic voice) the new St Vincent, the most recent Ohbijou album, Lindy Ortega's recent album (beautiful) and Lights. Yes, I love Lights. What a fun album.
Oh, also: look out for a book review and an interview with me on the really awesome American website Caught in the Carousel on Dec 5th (http://www.caughtinthecarousel.com/)
Let me know what you're reading, listening to, and up to these days :)
xoxoxo