Ottawa Monster Launch. Montreal Yoga. And Joy From Malaysia.
OTTAWA MONSTERS
First of all, I’m so honoured to take part in this Monster Book Launch with Renaissance Press on Saturday, October 29th at 5 p.m. at the 3 Brewers in Ottawa (240 Sparks Street).
You could come in 
costume! You could win a prize, including an author date with moi! You could hear me read from my werewolf thriller, Wolf Ice!
Authors include Jen Desmarais, Evan May, Cait Gordon, Kevin Johns, Caroline Fréchette, S. M. Carriere, Éric Desmarais, and me.
After that much awesomeness, you’ll want to decompress with some yoga, amirite?
MONTREAL YOGA
I brought my friend Genevieve here for our birthdays. She liked it so much that she yelled, “I love you, Melissa!” during class. True story.
I first met Frances at Yocomo, the annual yoga festival in Montreal. I was early to an 8:30 class on teaching yoga and adjusting students, and Frances walked up to me and said, “Would you mind if I gave you a massage?” As long as the volunteer is not a psychopath, the correct answer is always YES. Frances gave me a quick, firm massage, and I was hooked, especially since she was an excellent instructor. Last month, I made it to a Frances’s class at Luna Yoga, I like the fact that she uses her whole body to adjust you. I like the fact that she lays her hands on every single person during classat least once, at least for a few seconds. Drop-in class: $19; introductory month: $49.
Shri Yoga: I did such a good yoga workshop with Todd Norian at Shri Yoga. Mona is a gifted teacher. She can tell at a glance if you’re off, and how to correct it. It seems like a cool community, too. After one class, we were wishing each other Shanah Tovah after a class on Rosh Hashanah; after another, a man was convinced that he’d met me before, even though I no longer live in Montreal. Drop-in class: $22; introductory week: $30
Why am I talking about prices? ‘Cause I like value and beauty at the same time. I even wrote a guide: The Cheap and Lovely Guide to Montreal: Food, Fun, Fashion, and Ze French.
When you migrate to downtown Montreal, don’t forget to pick up a copy of Stockholm Syndrome
at the one, the only Paragraphe Books! (It’s very exciting that they’re carrying my book, as I described here.)
And, if you can’t make it to Ottawa or Montreal, I’ve got two suggestions. One, my romance THE LIST is on sale for only $3.99 until Hallowe’en.
And–shh–The Emergency Doctor’s Guide to a Pain-Free Back e-book is on super-sale for $3.99 for the next 72 hours.
One last story…
JOY FROM MALAYSIA
Last month, my hospital called me to tell me that I had a registered letter. I was exhausted between hospitalist/shift work and didn’t want to drive in. “Could you sign for it?”
“No, you have to sign for it, but I’ll tell them to hold it for you at the post office.”
It’s never a good sign when a doctor gets registered mail at the post office. You could be getting sued. Quebec used to send me registered letters telling me that I would lose 30 percent of my clinic billing if I didn’t do enough hours in the emergency department, obstetrics, or geriatrics (they have draconian rules for new doctors where they will just pull money out of your wages).
However, I was so tired that I forgot about the registered letter.
Yesterday, R&L’s Book Nook in Alexandria e-mailed me to say, “We’re sold out of your back pain book. You also have a letter at the post office.”
Holy crap! That letter! I drove in today to see what horror awaited.
I was astonished to receive this instead:
I ran into Steve Warburton on the way out. He said, “Hey, you have a real letter.”
“Yes, from Malaysia!”
“I thought it was from a fan.”
“I guess she is a fan, because she read my book and that’s how we got to know each other. But I just think of her as my friend. She’s a doctor now, too.”
“Cool.”
I drove away thinking how incredible it is that I have a fan/friend/fellow doctor on the other side of the world.
I may not sell as many books as my friend Lynda sells nut cheeses. But I am now on Athira’s bucket list! Awesome!!!!!!!!!
