Last night, seven poets and authors got together for the last of the Blenz readings for 2006. Unfortunately, the power was out in most of Vancouver, and our sound man wasn't able to make it. However, we bravely soldiered on, threw a stool in the middle of the coffee shop, raised our voices, and went on with the reading. Everyone on the bill showed and gave a terrific performance.

The one down side for me was that because the power was out, I didn't get the selection I was going to read off my computer, and so I was forced to read a story I had lying around, already committed to paper (so no, I didn't end up debuting my novel at all). I'd written the piece I read before my year at The Writer's Studio, and while I was reading it, I realized just how much I've learned this year. A year ago I thought the piece was pretty close to being finished. Last night, I saw just how much more work I still needed to do. As I've discovered at the many readings I've given this year, there's nothing like reading your work in public to show you where the holes in a story are.