Book Launch for The Most Dangerous Thing

Awhile ago I launched my book, The Most Dangerous Thing, at Novel Idea bookstore, here in Kingston, ON. Lots of my friends came out to celebrate me, and for the first time my sons were old enough to come to the launch. I was supposed to post this ages ago, but life caught up with me, and I'm only sharing this now. Sigh. I'd still like to share the introduction I gave to the novel.

My boys are sitting in the front on the left. My reading must have been scintillating to them because one is very interested in his cookie, and the other is reading a Star Wars book instead of listening to me!

Good evening everyone. Thanks for coming out to join me in launching

The Most Dangerous Thing. This is a YA novel about a teenage girl growing up in Vancouver named Syd who suffers from a debilitating anxiety. Syd is also fighting a secret battle against depression. Syd believes she can cope with her mental health problems herself, but as the book progresses, Syd realized that she really needs some help.

I decided to write about mental health because I realized so many people, both friends and family, and also my students, were coping with some serious mental health issues. And mostly, no one was talking about their problems. It's my hope that teens suffering from depression might pick up a copy of The Most Dangerous Thing, and be able to relate to, and seek help if they need it.
The book is dedicated to my sister Marcy, partly because she's my sister and she's great, but also because she is a mental health nurse. During the writing of this book we had several long talks about mental health and she answered some of my questions from a clinical perspective.

The book is also dedicated to my Gibridge sisters, who are my neighbours. When my husband and I bought our house ten years ago, I knew we were moving to a great neighbourhood, but I didn't realize how many of my neighbours would also become my close friends. In particular I'd like to say thank you to Jen Davidson-Harden who also answered many of my questions about teen mental health.

This is me blessing the book: Please sell well!

I didn't want to invite everyone here tonight to read from a depressing section of my book, so I'm going to read from another part of the book that highlights some of the other challenges Syd faces. There's a cute boy that likes Syd, but Syd's not sure how people with anxiety talk to boys. Syd's anxiety about relationships and her sexuality is compounded when her sister Abby decides to put on The Vagina Monologues at her their high school. As you might imagine, Syd thinks this is a terrible idea!

I chose this section to read because I thought it would be fun to highlight the differences between extroverted and introverted siblings. In the book, Syd wonders if there's a support group available for introverted people with extroverted siblings. Siblings with extremely different personalities tends to be a theme in my family. My parents are very different from each other, as are my sister and I and my husband and his brother. This has continued in my own children. (At this point my boys were pointing and giggling at each other.) I'm pleased that my kids are old enough to be here tonight.

Oh! How fun is it to say 'vagina' in public?!

My introduction ended with a set-up of the scene I read, which was about Syd's sister announcing her intention to put on The Vagina Monologues. According to my friend Steve, I said the word vagina eleven times, which is probably eleven times more than it has ever been said in Novel Idea. I'm good with that, in fact I think we should all be saying vagina, or whatever you like to call female genitalia, a little more often.

If you're intrigued to read more about the book, please head to your local Indie book store, or you can find it online at most major retailers. You can also listen to a recording from the launch at Finding A Voice on CFRC. Many thanks to Bruce Kauffman for recording the launch, for his great weekly show and for all he does for literature in Kingston.