In our conversation, Lindsay Zier-Vogel lays out the creative threads she wove together to create her second novel, The Fun Times Brigade, which included some people’s lacklustre response to her work writing children’s books, the silly (and often inappropriate) songs her husband has been making up as long as she’s known him, grieving the loss of creative partners, and the overwhelming pressure and isolation of new motherhood, for which she borrowed inspiration from Lydia Kiesling’s novel The Golden State.
We talked about paying literary homage to those messy newborn days, why her breastpump scene was essential to the text, and her fascinating research for the book, which included interviews with Canadian children’s entertainment legends Sharon & Bram, and THE Fred Penner (who wrote new songs for every single one of his shows!). We talk about whether or not children are discerning, the majesty of Sharon and Lois’s costumes, and also reflect back on how we met twenty years ago in the UofT Creative Writing MA Program, when we thought we knew everything but in fact knew very little at all (especially about formatting dialogue!!).
From acclaimed author Lindsay Zier-Vogel comes an insightful and heart-rending exploration of motherhood, grief, and the search for identity.
Amy is a new mother, navigating the fog of those bewildering early days and struggling with a role she feels ill-prepared for. It’s the first time in a decade that she hasn’t been living the busy life of an acclaimed children’s musician, and her sense of self is unravelling. To make matters worse, her bandmates have seemingly abandoned her.
In flashbacks, we see Amy’s journey to success—her stumblings as a solo singer-songwriter and her eventual rise to fame as a member of the Fun Times Brigade. But as the novel progresses—and Amy grapples with a devastating loss—we come to understand how precarious definitions of artistic success can be.
The Fun Times Brigade examines the enduring challenges of reconciling being an artist with being a mother. It is also a timely reflection on forgiveness and what it really means to have a good life in a world that demands we have—and be—it all, and asserts that amidst the chaos, we can find our way back to our genuine selves.
LINDSAY ZIER-VOGEL is a Toronto-based author and the creator of the internationally beloved Love Lettering Project. After studying contemporary dance, Zier-Vogel received her MA in Creative Writing from the University of Toronto. She is the author of the acclaimed novel Letters to Amelia, and her first picture book, Dear Street, was a Junior Library Guild pick, a Canadian Children’s Book Centre book of the year, and was nominated for a Forest of Reading Blue Spruce Award in 2024. The Fun Times Brigade is her second novel.
Share this post