Grey morning. Groggy. Kids climbing over me (“Daddy’s the human chair!”) Open the paper to see…The Guardians made The Globe and Mail Best 100 Books of the Year List. Make coffee. Feel better. Sun rises. More coffee.
First Draft
I submitted a first draft of my new novel to my agents this week. They haven’t read it yet – nobody has, aside from me – so I have spent the last few days floating around, buoyed by a sense of accomplishment (another one!) but still tethered by the usual authorial anxieties (am I nuts?). It’s a strange netherworld, this state of having a finished story but without response, without the animation that comes with the engagement of another’s consciousness. It’s like the hour before the guests arrive for a party. Or telling a joke to yourself.
I have never been one of those writers who is indifferent to the concept of audience, a storyteller who is “only writing for myself.” I’ve always felt this view was either a) disingenuous, or b) sad, or c) weird. Even if one never seeks publication, even if the work is meant to be private, the most intimate journal or confession, the notion of engagement is alive during its composition. There is (it seems to me) always an “other” sitting over your shoulder in the writerly exercise, even if this reader is only some fractured aspect of yourself, or someone who will never actually read it, or an ever-observing God.
That’s not really the point I started out wanting to make here. So what is that point? Something along the lines of This never gets old.
This new novel will be my sixth. Sixth! It is a number even more surprising than the reminder of one’s age (particularly when a 4 or higher is the first digit). You might think there’d be an Auto Pilot kicking in by now, a professional coolness that diminishes the virginal excitements that came with finishing a big project back in the Early Days. But here I am, giddy as a teenager with a beer buzz. I’m a little terrified, a little exhausted, a little sentimental at soon having to say farewell to the characters who came to me this time around.
Though of course I’ll be seeing them all again soon enough in the Second Draft. And the Third. And the Fourth…
Outlines: The Smackdown
Over at the CBC Books website (an excellent – and sometimes even edifying – time-waster) there’s a debate between my friend and fellow writer Sheila Heti and myself about the matter of outlines. I’m in favour, Sheila against.
As both Sheila and I agree, however, there’s no right or wrong way to write a book. Whatever works for you…works. There’s nothing to debate really. But in the spirit of offering advice that’s worked for me (advice intended for fellow toilers looking for advice) I wanted to make the case for spending more time on the pre-writing phase. Spitballing. What if-ing. Testing. Pitching.
Not only because it helps (which I believe it does), but because it’s such a creatively exciting step in the long walk.
THE GUARDIANS paperback…out now!
The title just about says it all.
The trade paperback edition of The Guardians is available in stores and on-line (and everywhere else) in Canada and the U.S. on September 13, and though this announcement comes a day early, you can go to your favourite bookseller and politely hound them to bust open the boxes if they haven’t already (or order the damn thing if they neglected to). Trust me: booksellers love being hounded.
I am especially psyched about this edition because it feels so good. You know that slightly rough, grippy paper they use on paperbacks sometimes? It’s got that. And the spooky house on the cover is just right. And my name – though large – isn’t James Patterson-sized. And the red foil on the title does a shiny thing when you turn it around in the light. And…I just like it.
Which is not always the case with a book’s design. Despite everyone’s best intentions, covers can sometimes turn out a bit turdy. Not this one, my friends! So hit the streets or hit the web and check it out. And if you decide to purchase this thrilling and edifying cultural product, you have my gratitude and undying loyalty.
The Fall
I’ve been reading Milton’s Paradise Lost a lot these days (it plays an important role in the novel I’m working on) and so, whenever I hear someone say “the fall,” I automatically think of Adam and Eve, the Original Sin, ambitious angels-turned-demons, evil and the like. Of course, fall also refers to the autumn, which is (sorry!) just around the corner. It may bring you forbidden fruit, or maybe just soggy leaves in the yard. I can tell you that it looks like it’s bringing me a busier-than-expected bunch of readings and appearances. (They have a way of sneaking in, even when you’re battening down the hatches).
If you go over to the Readings & Appearances page here, there is now an updated list of things you may want to come out to. I would, as always, be very happy to meet you, see you again, or just read to your anonymous self in the back row.
Thriller Fest in New York
I am a Writers Convention virgin, at least when it comes to the US. No Bouchercon (yet), no Bram Stoker Weekend (definitely curious). But I’m about to lose it (as it were) in New York this year for Thriller Fest. There’s an amazing line-up of top-rate writers, and the panels sound actually interesting (hard to make a panel topic sound intriguing, but they’ve managed it). Though I will be meeting with some of my editors there, and a hardy clutch of Canadians will be in attendance, I’m feeling some first-day-of-school nerves about it all. Excited, in other words.
If you’re planning on being at Thriller Fest this year, or are in New York July 8th and 9th and are inclined to head over to the Grand Hyatt, love to meet you. Otherwise, I’ll let you know how it went once I’m home…
The Guardians’ US release date!
What’s so great about September 13th? No, it’s not a Friday, so it won’t remind you of those horror movies featuring Jason Voorhees, the unforgiving ghoul with the machete in the goalie mask. And no, it’s not my birthday (so please no gifts, unless you had a bottle of Redbreast Irish in mind). I’ll TELL you what so great about September 13th…
It’s the publication date for The Guardians in the US! And it doesn’t stop there: September 13th is also the publication date for The Guardians trade paperback edition in Canada.
Mark your calendars! Clear the day of all meetings! Wash your sleeping bag and spend the night of the 12th outside your favourite bookstore to be the first in line! (Okay, I’m excited. Hyperbole is a side effect).
Talkin’ Guardians
Me, talking about The Guardians. (Watch out for the clown. No, not me – a real clown!)
The Guardians audio book out now!
The Guardians is now available in audio book format, with really great readings, gotta say. It’s available through Audible, the Amazon audio publisher, at:
Writers and Their Totems (or, Writers are Weird)
Judging from the number of questions asked of authors at post-reading Q&As, people are interested in writers’ offices. What’s your desk like? How’s the view? Is there a bar? As for me, I’m of the Discomfort-Is-Good-For-Work school. You don’t want your space to be too fancy. And you definitely don’t want a sofa and/or TV.
But I do have my lucky charms. This piece at cbc.ca runs through some famous writers and their totems. And on the less famous side, there’s me.