Meet Rachel Martinez!

I've mentioned before that one of the bonuses of being a writer is the people you get to meet through your books. Now in the case of Rachel Martinez and me, the word should be "re-meet"!

Rachel is a Montreal-based literary translator who won the Governor General's Prize for Translation for her translation of Kevin Bazzana's bigraphy of Glenn Gould, Wondrous Strange . The two of us go way back to 1977, when we were students together at Marianopolis College (where I now teach -- except when I'm on sabbatical!!)

Rachel got in touch with me when she read my book What World Is Left -- and we've gotten together a few times since then to discuss work and life! She is also the mom of three very handsome boys. Not surprisingly, Rachel is hooked on books. "There's always a book for you. If you have a passion, read about it," says Rachel. Another reason we hit it off is that Rachel has a special interest in kids' books. I know you'll be SHOCKED to hear this, but there are some people who snub their noses at writing for children! (SHAME ON THEM!!) But Rachel "gets" what kids' books are all about: "I still remember," she says, "the things I read at a young age." Ah ha! That's it exactly: kids' books have the potential to be a major influence as we work to discover who we are!

Last week, Rachel and I took advantage of a beautiful afternoon and met for lunch downtown. I brought my notebook, but shame on me, I forgot my camera. So you'll have to wait for our next get-together to see a picture of her. Hope wherever you are, dear blog reader, you're meeting and "re-meeting" interesting people, too!