Ottawa Monster Launch. Montreal Yoga. And Joy From Malaysia.

event-bannerOTTAWA 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 wolf ice POD cover.inddcostume! 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 DesmaraisEvan MayCait GordonKevin JohnsCaroline FréchetteS. M. CarriereÉric Desmarais, and me.

After that much awesomeness, you’ll want to decompress with some yoga, amirite?

MONTREAL YOGA

Luna Yoga:

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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 YogaI 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

Montreal cheap & lovely DOLLWhy 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?”Dr. back POD front cover 5x8 72

“No, you have to sign for it, but I’ll tell them to hold it for you at the post office.”

the list cover 2014 interracial YI-200It’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:
2016-10-26-19-14-48 2016-10-26-19-14-31 2016-10-26-11-56-29I 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!!!!!!!!!

The List: 24 hour chick lit giveaway

“What’s your number?” If they’re not asking for your coordinates, as they say in Montreal, they’re usually asking how many people you’ve slept with.

Well, what’s your imaginary number? By that, I mean, who are the people you wish you’d slept with?

In The List, Oona makes a list of all the guys she wished she’d had. And then she has them.

I’m giving away 100 free copies on LibraryThing in exchange for honest (but ideally, not malicious) reviews, and the giveaway ends tomorrow at 2:57 p.m.

Warning: this book contains sex and swearing. If you don’t like those things, do not enter.

the list cover 2014 interracial box

This book is difficult to market because it’s not clearly erotica. The sex comes later on. It starts off with Oona’s husband asking for an open marriage, so she has to kick him to the curb before she makes her List and feels confident enough to act on it. But it’s not a classic romance because, hey, three guys. (It’s not a long list, but a yummy one: the smokin’ yoga instructor, the childhood sweetheart turned cowboy/jazz musician, the ironic Jewish doctor. And she does act on all of them.) So you could call it women’s fiction, but those tend to be more serious. Oona is not serious. Oona is drinking vodka and hitting the the dance clubs and possibly, a dungeon. Ergo, perhaps chick lit is the closest fit.

Some folks think that buyers shy away from covers with black people on ’em. Let’s prove them wrong. For the record, Oona is from Montreal, with biracial roots, black and Chinese. Yep. She rocks.

To check if Oona’s your cup of tea (or shot of vodka), you can download the first chapter here. That’s also where you could just buy it in the e-format of your choice. Just sayin’.

For people who don’t like to download, I’ve also published the opening chapters on Wattpad. The third chapter was automatically rated R, I think just because of the swearing. No clothes come off. Yet.

So, if you wanna have fun, and R ratings don’t offend you, join The List giveaway today! Just page down to find it, or search for Melissa Yin, and enter your name sometime in the next 24 hours. Good luck!