On the first night in Calgary - pre the Calgary Literature Festival - I am dining with Ann Green, producer of the festival, Sam, the artistic director and an Australian author who has a smile and a twinkle in the eye that says “yeah I’ve seen it. I’ve done it. And I like it.”. He shall remain nameless for reasons which will become apparent. There's only one person who is not here who was supposed to be here - the ex president of Canada. She like many an ex president has written a book and will be reading at the festival tomorrow, is tired and staying at our hotel.   more »

I secretly wish the Limousine driver was more attentive to the job in hand than to turning his head to speak to me but I started this thing and all he was doing was finishing it. The limo uncoils outside the airport "It's the best hotel in Tempe" he says "The best". My flight was nine hours long and I'd just smoked my the first cigarette . It was 2am in my body but 5pm in Phoenix Arizona and I was enjoying an oxeygen deficiancy high from the smoke. The drivers words shot through my head like a distant steam train. "and it's one hundred and one degrees". He had the habit of repeating the end of his sentences "one hundred and one degrees". Maybe he wasn't repeating his lines - Maybe my mind was playing tricks on me. Playing tricks. On me!    more »