Darwin’s Paradox

Join Nina and fellow Vancouver authors, Ariadne Sawyer, Diego Bastianutti, and Alex Winstanley at Chapters, Metrotown in Burnaby (British Columbia) on September 18, 2008 from 7pm until closing for a reading and question/answer period. Refreshments will be served. Nina will be reading from one of her Aurora-nominated short stories and talking about her current novel, a historical fantasy set in medieval Prussia and modern-day Paris, France. She will also be sharing her newest project, The Alien’s Guide to Cool Writing, a cool writing guide for beginning writers ideal in this and any other galaxy. The Alien guidebook, published by Pixl Press, is scheduled for December 2008 release and is available for pre-order at Pixl Press.

Ariadne Sawyer - is a creativity specialist who teaches Performance Plus training. She is the co-founder of the World Poetry Reading Series, co-host of the World Poetry Cafe Radio Show on 102.7 FM, World Poetry Media, and the author of The Best of Creativity Rocks.

Diego Bastianutti -is a published author and a former professor at Queen’s University and former Vice Consul of Italy for Eastern Ontario . Award winning-poet, his translation of the works of Ungaretti received the John Glassco National Prize.

Alex Winstanley - is a twenty-two year old poet living in Vancouver . He has been writing and winning prizes in national poetry contests since the age of ten. Alex has self-published a book of poetry, entitled Vancouver’s Sunday Mornings.

This event is hosted by Lucia Gorea, founder of Poetry Around the World, as part of the series on featured artists called Poets and Writers of the New Millenium.  Lucia is also the author of Journey Through My Soul.

Nina’s American Book Tour: Bozeman, Montana

Yesterday, I was in Louisville, Kentucky, and spent some time in the Hurstbourne Barnes & Noble bookstore, signing copies of Darwin’s Paradox. Get ‘em while they’re hot and newly autographed, folks!
When I first got into Louisville, I wasn’t sure how to pronounce the name. The standard English pronunciation is “looeeville” (referring to King Louis XVI, for whom the city is named), which is often utilized by political leaders and the media. But most native residents pronounce the city’s name “looavul”— often this degrades further to “luvul”. The name is often pronounced far back in the mouth, in the top of the throat.

Located in north-central Kentucky close to the Indiana border, Louisville is Kentucky’s largest city. It is ranked as either the 17th or 27th largest city in the United States depending on how the population is calculated. Louisville is famous as the home of “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports”: the Kentucky Derby, the widely watched first race of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing.
Although Louisville is situated in a Southern state, it is influenced by both Midwestern and Southern culture, and is commonly referred to as either the northernmost Southern city or the southernmost Northern city in the United States.
Louisville was the site of many important innovations through history. Notable residents include inventor Thomas Edison, the first Jewish Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, boxing legend Muhammad Ali, newscaster Diane Sawyer, and writers Hunter S. Thompson and Sue Grafton. Notable events include the first public viewing place of Edison’s light bulb, the first library open to African Americans in the South, and medical advances including the first human hand transplant, the first self-contained artificial heart transplant, and the development site of the first cervical cancer vaccine.
Louisville had one of the largest slave trades in the United States before the Civil War and much of the city’s initial growth is attributed to that trade. During the Civil War Louisville became a major stronghold of Union forces, which kept Kentucky firmly in the Union. It was the center of planning, supplies, recruiting and transportation for numerous campaigns. Despite being surrounded by skirmishes and battles, Louisville itself was never attacked. After 1865, returning Confederate veterans took control of the city, leading to the jibe that Louisville joined the Confederacy after the war was over.

The first Kentucky Derby was held on May 17, 1875, at the Louisville Jockey Club track and 10,000 spectators came to watch Aristides win the race.
On March 27, 1890 the city was devastated and downtown nearly destroyed when an F4 tornado tore through the city at 8:30 pm as part of the Mid-Mississippi Valley Tornado Outbreak of March 1890. An estimated 74 to 120 people were killed. The city quickly recovered and signs of the tornado were nearly totally absent within a year.
In late January and February of 1937, a month of heavy rain in which 19″ fell prompted what became remembered as the “Great Flood of ‘37″. The flood submerged about 70% of the city, power was lost, and it forced the evacuation of 175,000 residents, and also led to fundamental changes in where residents bought houses. Today, the city is protected by numerous flood walls.
Louisville is one cool town! You folks rock! Oh, and: “Louisville, keep it weird!” I met some VERY interesting people on Bardstown Road and at my favorite place, Starbucks on Baxter Road. If you missed my previous post on my “great American journey”, part one of a series entitled “America, You’re Beautiful!” on “The Alien Next Door”, go here. Well, next is Columbus, Ohio…

Nina will be starting her American Book Tour shortly, beginning with the west coast. In the next few weeks, as she crosses America, you may see her smiling face in your local Barnes & Noble or Borders bookstore, where she will be doing signings (and possibly readings). Cities we have targeted include (but are not limited to):

• Spokane, Washington
• Bozeman, Montana
• Sioux Falls, South Dakota
• Omaha, Nebraska
• Kansas City, Kansas
• Columbia, Missouri
• Saint Louis, Missouri
• Louisville, Kentucky
• Chicago, Illinois.

Look for Nina’s ongoing commentary as she journeys across America on her personal blog, The Alien Next Door.