Gearing up for Bookapalooza!

WITH LESS THAN three months until Minden Bookapalooza, author readings are now being taped at Canoe FM. An excerpt I submitted from Riversong was approved by the literary festival's organizers, and studio engineer Ron Murphy taped my reading today.

I read Riversong's Prologue, a short scene that introduces my new characters Matt Ryder and Monika Lentz. Here's what will air on Canoe FM's Story Circle in the lead-up to the June 20 event:

“It’s Wilkinson at the front door on this fine Sunday evening,” the deep voice boomed from the other end of the telephone line. “Got a Monika Lentz down here. Says she starts work in the newsroom tomorrow. Can I send her up, Matt?”

Matt had heard that the Toronto World had hired the Vancouver Sun columnist. “Sure. Send her up.”

He watched Monika step off the elevator, her dark head held high. A multicolored skirt swirled around her legs; a long orange scarf was looped over her shoulders. She was a beautiful woman. Not just a lovely face and figure. It was also the way she carried herself, her easy confidence. The word regal fit her perfectly.

She spotted him and came over to the police desk. “Hello. I’m Monika Lentz. I start here tomorrow.”

“Matt Ryder. Welcome to the Toronto World.” He held out his hand, and she took it. He felt an instant spark.

“Would you show me my office?” she asked.

He had no idea where the new columnist would be stationed, whether she’d have her own office or a desk in the newsroom. “Sorry, I don’t know what the bosses have in mind for you. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow. But I can give you a tour of the news floor.”

She gave him a dazzling smile. “That would be great . . . Mike, you said your name was?”

“Matt.”

He took her around the fifth floor, pointing out the offices of the different editors; the news desk, the horseshoe-shaped table where the copy editors massaged articles into shape; the police desk where he worked; the cabinets where notepads, pens, and flash drives were kept. All the while inhaling her musky fragrance.

“You’re the only one in today?” she asked.

“A few reporters were here earlier,” he replied. “Copy editors will arrive in another hour or so. I work the police desk, and we have someone on it 24/7.”

When he’d shown her everything he could think of, he racked his brain for something that would catch her interest. “Cafeteria’s on the third floor, but it’s closed on weekends,” was all he could come up with. He groaned inwardly at his ineptness.

She flashed him another dazzling smile.

“How about lunch tomorrow?” he asked. “Anywhere you like.”

“One of these days.” She touched his arm, sending tingles through his body. “Thanks for the tour, Mike.”

His eyes never left her as she crossed the room.

“It’s Matt, not Mike,” he said as she stepped into the elevator. “Matt!”

He returned to the police desk, walking on air.

(Bookapalooza 2026 will be held at the Minden Community Centre in Minden, Ontario, on June 20, 2026.)