Wednesday, February 15, 2012

My Book Launch

Normally, I'm not the sort of person who likes being the centre of attention, so I was wondering about how I would perform at my first book launch.  Although I'd been jittery and plagued by insomnia a few days before, on the day of the event, a calm came over me, and when I was suddenly there, immersed in all the people who'd come to celebrate and hear me read, it suddenly dawned on me, I'm really enjoying myself!  In a strange way, it felt as though my whole life had been leading to this moment (and I suppose it had, since I've been wanting to be a writer since age six).  Here are a few photos....  A big thank you to all of you who came out to celebrate and to The Japan Foundation for providing a beautiful venue, as well as to my publisher and agent for hosting the event.
A warm hug from my publisher, Sandra Huh
Having some pink bubbly with my agent, Sam Hiyate
Signing books for some old high school friends
Signing a book for my uncle, Bruce Kuwabara
Reading from my book
With my parents
My boyfriend and I ended the evening by wandering with a couple friends over to the bar on the eighteenth floor of the Park Hyatt and got splendidly drunk.  (They felt it was an appropriate venue because the bartender is known to have served drinks to Margaret Atwood and Mordecai Richler and many other Toronto writers, and I was just tipsy enough not to feel like a complete ingenue).  We enjoyed the view from the balcony of a skyline ethereal and fading, before joining my agent and his friends for a nightcap around the corner.  A memorable evening.
 

4 comments:

Naomi said...

Just finished your memoir and totally enjoyed it including your love relationships and affairs! The final chapter was brilliant and satisfying in developing a new relationship with your father and finding Chris as your soul mate. If you can write with such candor and wit about your own life, you will have a great career ahead writing about other characters real or imagined!

Leslie Shimotakahara said...

Thanks, Naomi! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

Jess@The Secret DMS Files of Fairday Morrow said...

Congratulations! How exciting! The pictures you included in this post are great- you look calm and happy. I am glad you were able to enjoy the moment and not feel stressed out. It sounds like a wonderful evening. I am so happy for you!

Leslie Shimotakahara said...

Thanks, Jess! The evening was a lot of fun. I look forward to the next time!

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About Me

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Toronto, ON, Canada
Leslie Shimotakahara is a writer and recovering academic, who wanted to be simply a writer from before the time she could read. Hard-pressed to answer her parents’ question of how she would support herself as a writer, Leslie got drawn into the labyrinthine study of literature, completing her B.A. in Honours English from McGill in 2000, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Modern American Literature from Brown in 2006. After graduation, she taught English at St. Francis Xavier University for two years. Leslie woke up one morning and realized that she’d had enough of the Ivory Tower. The fact that she wasn’t doing what she wanted to do with her life loomed over her, and the realization was startling. It was time to stop studying and passively observing life and do something real instead. She needed to discover herself and tell her own story. This blog and the book she has written under the same title (Variety Crossing Press, spring 2012) are her foray. Leslie's writing has been published in WRITE, TOK: Writing the New Toronto, Maple Tree Literary Supplement, and GENRE.