Rebecca from Mount Pearl Newfoundland shows off her Amor fati tattoo in Toronto.

One of the main characters in my book Adventures in Solitude is a Toronto businessman turned Desolation Sound Hermit named Russell Letawsky. He was a student of philosophy. While he was in Toronto, he specifically became fixated with one of Nietzsche’s favourite phrases, Amor fati: Latin for “love of fate,” or more specifically, “love your fate.” In Nietzsche’s 1882 book The Gay Science, he writes:

I want to learn more and more to see as beautiful what is necessary in things; then I shall be one of those who make things beautiful. Amor fati: let that be my love henceforth! I do not want to wage war against what is ugly. I do not want to accuse; I do not even want to accuse those who accuse. Looking away shall be my only negation. And all in all and on the whole: some day I wish to be only a Yes-sayer.

The passage was one of the catalysts for Russell to leave Toronto’s rat race and wind up in Desolation Sound, and its a credo that he’s stuck with all of his life, and has subsequently played into mine as well. Imagine my surprise when I received a Tweet from sweet Rebecca Gladney of Mount Pearl, Newfoundland, who picked up the book at her local Chapters. She was moved enough by the philosophic poetry of Amor fati to get it tattooed on her inner forearm!

I was able to meet Rebecca at the North By Northeast Music Festival and was delighted to see the tattoo in person.

Amor fati,

Grant Lawrence

Hockey Night In Canada at the DUCK SHED!

1.  The ferry to and from Wolfe Island is called the Wolfe Islander III, fits plenty of cars, and has a NO COCKTAILS sign prominently displayed on the car deck.

2.  There’s not a whole lot of running water on Wolfe Island, and hence, not a lot of chances for a hypochondriac freak like me to wash my hands four or five times an hour as per usual.

3.  The deck of a sheet metal and plywood duck hunting shed overlooking a tranquil little bay under sunny skies is the perfect stage for a Canadian literary festival.

4.  When shitting in the woods because the line up to the outhouse is too long, be VERY careful what type of leaves you choose to wipe with. Yeeouch!!!

5.  The Wolfe Island Literary Festival attracts an amazing array of intimidating talent, such as the poignant and hilarious sports poet Priscilla Uppal, scientist and travel writer Wayne Grady (Breakfast at the Exit Café), novelist Alison Pick (The Sweet Edge), environmentalist Andrew Nikiforuk (The Tar Sands), poet laureate Tanis Rideout, star power Joseph Boyden, and founder Dave Bidini.

6.  Alison Pick looks really cute in my Canucks cowichan sweater.

7.  Never judge a hoser by his appearance. Off-island, that drunken, heckling, wildly offensive yahoo may just be one of the most respected criminal lawyers in all of Canada!

8.  Most common Wolfe Island excuse for long, loud, audible farting: “Wow, the bullfrogs sure are cranky tonight, eh?”

9.  Joseph Boyden plays a mean mouth harp!

10.  Stars are this year’s headliner of the Wolfe Island Music Festival, Aug 6 and 7.

11. If I can’t be in my Fortress of Hockey Solitude, the Duck Shed on Wolfe Island is the best place in Canada to watch the Stanley Cup Playoffs, on an old TV with rabbit ears, surrounded by a “League of Extraordinary Canadians” stuffed into the shed, perched on an array of mismatched chairs: Sarah Harmer, Stewart Jones, Selina Martin, Joseph Boyden, Chris Brown, Virginia Clark, Bryan Bean, Simon Racioppa, the Mattson family of Brophy’s Point, all the other authors, the folks of Swim Drink Fish Music, the Wolfe Islander III ferry staff, and several of the loudest, most obnoxious hosers I have ever had the pleasure of celebrating a Vancouver Canucks OT win with. Even the guy is the Boston Bruins t-shirt was nice.

12. The festival is held in memory of Joe Burke, who passed away a few years ago; an inspirational civil rights lawyer, a patron of the arts, and a lover of Canadian literature.

13. The Wolfe Island Bakery serves up a scrumptious blueberry scone.

14. The 8^th Annual Joe Burke Literary Festival will be held in New Orleans in April 2012, hosted by Joseph Boyden!

15. When the staggering hangover of the 7^th Annual Joe Burke Literary Festival eventually fades, as well as the unfortunate bum rash, I hope to eventually return to the magic of Wolfe Island.

Thanks to Dave Bidini, Mark Mattson, Tanis Rideout, Virginia Clark, Swim Drink Fish Music, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, and patrons of the arts and the Duck Shed.

More photos of the event can be seen here.

Pointing out the Osprey nest on the shore of Shuswap Lake in Salmon Arm BC.

I just finished up another string of fun book events around BC. Big thanks to Bolen Books in Victoria, Volume One Books in Duncan, and the Shuswap Writers Festival for having me! I had a fantastic time at all three. In Duncan, I had the unexpected pleasure to go for beers after the event with a fellow named David Boeckner, none other than the father of Daniel Boeckner, one of my favourite Canadian musicians, from Wolf Parade (RIP) and the Handsome Furs.

Just this past weekend, my wife and I did the cannonball up the Trans Canada Highway to the Shuswap Writers Festival in gorgeous Salmon Arm, BC, two place names that could only exist in BC. I loved this festival for its strong emphasis on story-telling. I met a lot of inspiring people, both authors and attendees alike, including an amazing 83 year old retired frontier doctor who loved my stories and taught me how to search my body for ticks.

I still feel a little new to the book festival circuit, but I’m slowly working out the differences between music festivals and the book festivals… mostly, book festivals keep much more reasonable hours and are WAY less obnoxious. And I don’t need earplugs! Or a roll of toilet paper hidden in my bag! So great!

The Shuswap Writers Fest was held at a hotel right on the shore of Shuswap Lake, the estuary between the hotel and the lake absolutely filled with birds of all descriptions. Directly outside our hotel room window (as you can sort of see in the photo above) was an osprey nest on a raised platform. All day mama osprey would sit on her eggs while papa would swing by for frequent visits.

Next up: the Wolfe Island Literary Festival in Ontario this coming weekend…

AND… GO CANUCKS GO!