They say April showers bring May flowers. But out here on the prairies, we don’t really know what they say, except to expect the unexpected. That’s what this Nerd Nite is about. You’ll learn about literature, taxes and fitness. And you’ll do it in the company of a terrific community, and where beer is served. Be there AND be square!

When: Wednesday, April 12, 2017 (show @ 8pm)
Where: The Needle Vinyl Tavern (10524 Jasper Avenue)
Tickets: on sale March 8 at 10pm at YegLive.ca
$20 in advance
$10 peanut gallery tickets
[Must be 18 years or older]

Our line-up of talks includes:

Self-publishing: from brain to best seller
Laurel Deedrick-Mayne

How does a novel get from the brain to the bookshelf and into reader’s hands? It’s not a path for the faint of heart; nor is it a walk in the park. It’s more akin to stumbling blindly over the hot coals of hell fantasizing about how much more fun it would be to shove bamboo shoots under the fingernails while having a root canal. All cliché’s aside, Laurel will present her personal perils, panic and pitfalls of publishing. Plus – reaping the rewards and a few surprises along the way.

Laurel Deedrick-Mayne loves to write… just about anything from postcards to grocery lists to her big honking self-published novel, A Wake For The Dreamland. It has been on the Edmonton’s Best Seller List more than 45 times and may well be Canada’s only Edmonton-based historical fiction book with a gay protagonist. Laurel has been a guest at over 40 book clubs and 30 other literary events and now this… NERD NIGHT! Oh… she also was the winner of Edmonton Public Library’s 2016 Alberta Readers Choice Award, which came with one of those really big fat prop cheques.

How the Grinch stole tax season
Heather Watson

It’s tax season again. Like Christmas, a time of year that incites equal parts anticipation and dread. This year, add a little rage-gravy over your turkey and side of T4s as we explore the dark side of Tax Free Savings Accounts — the “Year-in-review” equivalent for financial journalists when desperate for content every January. Whats wrong with TFSAs, you say? Nothing, I guess – if you like lining the pockets of Canada’s most well off under the guise of helping low-income Canadians save for retirement. Join in a hypocritical [I mean hypothetical] exploration of how the TFSA will slowly kill Canada’s finances.

Nerd Nite welcomes Pythagorean Scholar, Heather Watson. From her early days as an award winning, apple juice sipping, nose picking, grade three math nerd, Heather has moved on to an adulthood of shot-gunning beers and debating the merits of various tax policies. She can be found formatting excel tables and clearing rooms at parties by talking about diversified portfolios.

Flex, pecs and all that tech
Chris Tse

Sedentary? Active? Whatever lifestyle you choose we are constantly inundated with information on getting your butt off the couch and bettering yourself in some type of way. Fitness has become a dominant force in our economy and more especially our lives. But it’s different, we track everything: From macros to microbes, and steps to stumbling blocks if you’re not counting something you’re not healthy… or so it seems. But what is health? In this talk we navigate one of the most geek-sheek topics in our society: fitness. We’ll prove to you that deep down inside every person that’s in the fitness industry is a giant nerd getting stuffed into a locker by a suave cool muscle bound exterior.

Chris Tse is the owner of Blitz Conditioning Inc. and Tse Social Strategy. He has been in the fitness industry for over 12 years and has taken on many roles including: athlete, personal trainer, group class instructor, and Global TV and CBC columnist. Tse Social Strategy was created over a year ago and focuses on social media management and content creation for businesses that are looking to create online awareness of their brands.