Cadillac Couches

by Sophie B. Watson

  Thank you to Duncan Turner and my former colleagues at the BPAA for all the support and wisdom, I miss you guys! Kathy Shute would win hands down the best boss/mentor worldwide award if there were one.

  Thank you, Mom and Dad and brother Martin, for the love and all that Watson-ness and for surrounding me with books books books. And big thanks to Dad for the best gift ever, the babysitting fund that buys me time to myself to write. Huge thanks to our own Mary Poppins Blanaid Hennessy!

  For all the super love and support, thank you, Irish family–Youghalees and Dubliners alike.

  Huge thanks and big love to bff J-girl. Thanks for speaking the same language and being there always.

  And thanks to MW for all that early inspiration.

  Thank you, beloved Parisians, English pals, E-town buddies for life, BC sisters, and friends all around the world for all the love.

  Thank you, Sheffieldians and Rob Watson, for putting me on a cosmic trail to find creative fulfillment and the best husband ever.

  Thank you, ES, for your confidence-engendering love and guidance.

  Thank you, stepsisters, for being so inspiring in so many ways.

  Thank you, Andrew Struthers, for being so damn smart and such a good teacher.

  Thank you, U of A English department, especially Kristjana Gunnars and Ted Bishop.

  RK, you and your Bath Spa team were better than I could have conjured. CD, you rocked my writing world with your generous and insightful feedback. Bath Spa Spring Chickens, thanks for those helpful and fun-filled jamming sessions.

  Thank you, JK, for showing me how to choose the creative path, and for the big bad love too.

  Lorne and Vanessa, you are not gone, you are always with me, especially when listening to music, which is most of the time.

  Thanks to everyone I have forgotten to mention.

  Thank you to all the musicians whose lyrics I quote and to Ben S. for all his encyclopedic help and affection. Also, infinite thanks to all the amazing musicians/directors/writers who feed my soul every day.

  Thank you, Aengus, for choosing me and for being who you are, an amazing man, awesome husband, my own personal editor extraordinaire, and love of my life. And thank you, Toto and Felix, you gorgeous little monkeys are my giant joy-makers.

  SOPHIE B. WATSON is an award-winning freelance writer who has been published in several magazines, including briarpatch, Canadian Dimension, Canadian Living, Legacy Magazine, and The Sustainable Times (among others). She holds a degree in English and French literature from the University of Alberta as well as a master’s in creative writing from Bath Spa University. She has been a library page, a waitress, a substitute DJ, a bookseller, and, most recently, the editor of Cork University Press. Cadillac Couches is Sophie’s first novel. Read more about Sophie (and her aquatic larks) on her blog at sophiebwatson.com.

  Copyright © 2012 Sophie B. Watson

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written consent of the publisher or a licence from The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (ACCESS Copyright). For a copyright licence, visit accesscopyright.ca.

  LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

  Watson, Sophie B., 1972–

  Cadillac couches [electronic resource] / Sophie B. Watson.

  Electronic monograph.

  Issued also in print format.

  ISBN 978-1-926972-91-6 (HTML).—ISBN 978-1-926972-92-3 (PDF)

  I. Title.

  PS8645.A873C34 2012 C813'.6 C2012-902558-5

  Editor: Lynne Van Luven

  Copy Editor/Proofreader: Heather Sangster, Strong Finish

  Design and cover illustration: Pete Kohut

  Author photo: Aengus Kelly

  Brindle & Glass is pleased to acknowledge the financial support for its publishing program from the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund, Canada Council for the Arts, and the Province of British Columbia through the British Columbia Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.

  This book is a work of fiction. Some of the characters in this story are based on real people (namely Ani DiFranco, Dan Bern, and Hawksley Workman), but their dialogue and actions are fictionalized. I have also taken liberties with the chronology of their careers and songs. Other artists’ songs time travel here and there throughout the story. Other characters are purely products of my imagination, although they get up to shenanigans in many of my favourite real places in Edmonton and across Canada. Otherwise, any resemblances to actual people are entirely coincidental.

  Brindle & Glass Publishing Ltd.

  brindleandglass.com