Emma Donoghue, author of Astray, on a panel with Steven W Beattie, Andri Snaer Magnason and Alix Ohlin on October 27, and reading with Liam Card, Ayesha Chatterjee, A.L. Kennedy and Russel Wangersky on October 28.
Robert J. Sawyer, author of Triggers, reading with Larissa Andrusyshyn, Cory Doctorow and Corey Redekop on October 25, and taking part in a round table with Ned Beauman, Hiromi Goto and Lorna Toolis on October 28.
Benjamin Wood, author of The Bellwether Revivals,reading with Shauna Singh Baldwin, Erlend Loe, Emily St. John Mandel and Steven Price on October 27.
Liam Card, author of Exit Papers From Paradise, on a panel with A.L. Kennedy, Beatrice MacNeil, Kristel Thornell and Irvine Welsh on October 27, and reading alongside Ayesha Chatterjee, Emma Donoghue, A.L. Kennedy and Russell Wangersky on October 28.
Joey Slinger, author of Nina, The Bandit Queen, taking part in a round table with Mark Billingham, Gail Bowen and Mons Kallentoft on Wednesday (October 24), and reading with Chester Brown, John B. Lee and Jess Walter on October 28.
Jian Ghomeshi, author of 1982, reads and is interviewed by Shelagh Rogers, and reads with Jonathan Goldstein and Nora Young, all three interviewed by Sook-Yin Lee both events Saturday (October 20).
What’s your book about, in 15 words or less? Fifty Shades Of …?
Life-changing journeys to and in North America, 16 to 20th centuries. I’d call it Fifty Shades Of Travel. Emma Donoghue
On the eve of a major U.S. military strike, someone is reading the president’s memories. I’d call it Fifty Shades Of Suspense. Robert J. Sawyer
Can music really heal the sick? Eden Bellwether thinks so. I’d call it Fifty Shades Of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Benjamin Wood
Thirty-something plumber Isaac Sullivan believes he has what it takes to become a surgeon. My book could be retitled Fifty Shades Of Dreaming And Derailment. Liam Card
Welfare mother attempts community improvements to save her daughters from utter degradation. What a laugh. I’d call it 50 Shades Of Really, Really Cute Puppies, Really, Really Hungry And Really Lonesome Because Their Mother Got Run Over By A Car, But Really, Really Cute. Joey Slinger
It’s about a 14-year-old who wants to be David Bowie. And fails miserably. I’d call it Fifty Shades Of Brown. Jian Ghomeshi
So, have you read Fifty Shades Of Grey?
One paragraph. Emma Donoghue
For the sake of understanding the phenomenon, yes, I gave it a go. It felt as if I was prodding an unintelligible alien life form with a stick. After the 96th extraneous adverb, I stopped. So I must have got about half a page in. Benjamin Wood
Never even started it. Life’s too short. Robert J. Sawyer
No, I haven’t cracked the cover. Perhaps I’m afraid I might like it, and that has the potential to scare me far more than the sheer volume of sales that novel has generated versus my own. Liam Card
I’ve read it 15, maybe 20 times, and to tell you the truth I can’t see what all the fuss is about. Joey Slinger
I read the first book – the whole thing, and interviewed the author. Didn’t seem so racy to me. Jian Ghomeshi
They’re making a biopic of your life. What movie star should play you?
Patrick Stewart – the ultimate egghead! Robert J. Sawyer
Emile Hirsch, probably. My family tells me we look disturbingly alike. And he’s a fine actor, too. If he’s not interested, I’d see what Tim Allen could do. Benjamin Wood
I would want to be played by the XY chromosomal result of a one-night stand between Ryan Gosling and Winona Ryder. Every guy who saw Drive would want to be played by Gosling. Combine his genes with those of Winona Ryder, my high school movie star crush, and let’s see that love child in 21 years – the perfect genetic storm of everything I wish I were: cool/badass and quirky/mysterious. Liam Card
Julianne Moore. Pale, red-haired and quivering with intelligence. Emma Donoghue
Well for the first part of my life, Ralph Macchio (when he was in the first Karate Kid), because he was skinny and pathetic and concerned about his hair. Jian Ghomeshi
Do you use an e-reader?
I sure do. And a p-reader for books on paper. And a bs-reader for everything the prime minister says. Joey Slinger
I don’t trust myself to carry machines around without mislaying or smashing them. Emma Donoghue
I’ve been doing most of my reading as e-books for over a decade now. I own multiple Kobos and Kindles and also read on my iPhone. Robert J. Sawyer
No, but I wouldn’t judge myself too harshly if I did. Benjamin Wood
I don’t. I refuse to part with real books, due to the “trophy case effect” of shelving a novel once finished. Liam Card
Pitch your book to Hollywood.
Fish-out-of-water story. Best new wave soundtrack possible. And most important, Iranians are hot right now! [ahem] Jian Ghomeshi
Hey, if Cloud Atlas can be filmed (by the ever-ambitious Wachowski siblings) then my four centuries of subtly linked journeyings should be no bother. Emma Donoghue
The Triggers pitch is simple: You’re reading someone’s mind. Someone – you don’t know who – is reading yours. Robert J. Sawyer
Musical healing and class tension in contemporary Cambridge. Potential Tom Hanks vehicle. Benjamin Wood
Deceased author you’d have slept with if propositioned (we’re fantasizing here!)
On the proviso that you mean deceased now, rather than deceased at the time of the proposition, I’ll say Sylvia Plath. Benjamin Wood
Mary Shelley. She created science fiction – Frankenstein is a novel about a scientist’s experiment gone wrong – and she’s freaky. Robert J. Sawyer
I’ve just premiered a play at the Dublin Theatre Festival about the beautiful, witty and neurotic Irish short-story artist Maeve Brennan, so she’s my current fantasy. But her tastes ran more in the direction of bipolar men. Emma Donoghue
Did Audrey Hepburn ever write a book? Jian Ghomeshi
