Yes, it’s time for another Miscellany post. This just means that I have gathered several quick hits together as none of them is quite long enough to warrant a post of its own.
Full cover design for The Marionette
As promised earlier, here is the final version of the full cover layout for The Marionette. (If you right-click on the image below and choose “Open link in New Window” or “Open link in new tab,” you’ll see an enlarged version.) Yes, I know, it is very red. But the idea is to have it stand out and, ideally, leap off bookstore shelves when fiction readers walk into range. You’ll notice that we did not put any of the six very kind blurbs on the front cover. Rather, we left the front clean and uncluttered. Instead, all the blurbs are readily seen on the back cover. I’m very happy with the full cover and I hope you are, too.
I’ve started recording The Marionette audiobook
I’ve now started recording the official audiobook for The Marionette. We have one of the Penguin Random House/McClelland & Stewart in-house audio studios booked for about ten days. I’m supported by a talented Director, Zak, who is always in my headphones while I’m reading, and a wonderful Producer, Jaclyn, who makes sure the trains are running on time—that really means making sure I’m running on time—among many other responsibilities.
I finished my first three-hour recording session on Monday, July 14, before flying out to Moose Jaw for the four days of the Saskatchewan Festival of Words. (A full report on the festival is coming soon.) Having just returned, it’s back to the studio almost every day for the next couple of weeks.
Recording the audiobook is always fun but it’s also tiring, and not just for my voice. It’s often at this point in the publishing process when I lament how many characters in my new novel have accents! Anyway, our first day of recording went well and it felt good to be back in the chair and inside this story.
Here’s just a very short snippet my great Director recorded from Day 1.
The Marionette is Climbing the Bookmanager rankings
I have written about Bookmanager in this space before. The data and rankings Bookmanager provides is used by many organizations (including CBC Books) to compile the weekly bestsellers lists. But Bookmanager’s database also ranks “Future releases.” As well, you can select “Canadian Author” and “Fiction” to narrow the results and get a more accurate sense of where one’s book is. Think of it as a measure of reader anticipation for Canadian novels being released in the near future. There is a methodology behind it—I believe it is based on preorders—but to be honest, I’m not completely sure how it works.
I’m pleased to report that out of the 587 Canadian novels(!) being released in the coming several months, The Marionette is now sitting nicely in the top ten, even though we’re still two and a half months out from launch day.
Here’s the graphic I recently lifted from the Bookmanager website showing the top 15 future fiction releases by Canadian writers:
As we get closer to publication day, it’s possible The Marionette could move even higher—not that it really matters—but I’m quite certain it won’t ever pass Louise Penny or Chris Hadfield in the rankings. But still, it’s gratifying that it’s right up there with them.
(Note: The Bookmanger rankings change every day, so they may well have changed by the time you’re seeing this.)
Interviewing Triumph’s Rik Emmett
Back in June, I was thrilled to be asked by the Springtide Music Festival and the Book Drunkard Festival to interview Canadian rock legend, Rik Emmett, lead guitarist, singer, songwriter and founding member of, Triumph. In addition to a memoir, Lay it on the Line, and a book of poetry, Reinvention: Poems, Rik has recently released a fascinating book called Ten Telecaster Tales. You can read more about this here in an earlier post of mine.
The room was nearly overflowing with hardcore Triumph fans, some of whom had come from great distances. Rik and I talked about his new book, including the ten original songs he wrote to accompany it. He also played a few of the “Telecaster Tales” much to the audience’s giddy excitement.
As always, Rik was thoughtful, articulate, entertaining, and he could not have been nicer. He then patiently signed books and Triumph memorabilia fans had brought with them, including one of Rik’s old guitars.
Here are a couple shots my brother Tim, who was engaged as the event photographer, took at the event. I had a blast talking to one of my rock heroes and hope there are more opportunities.
Click here to read the story of how I met Rik Emmett.
Moderating a panel of True Crime writers
Even though I don’t write crime or mystery novels, I was recently invited to moderate a True Crime panel at Motive 2025, a large gathering of crime/mystery writers as part of the Toronto International Festival of Authors. It all unfolded at the University of Toronto’s Victoria College.
The three authors on the panel were: Barry Avrich who, after producing a fascinating documentary (Made You Look) chronicling the demise of the famous Knoedler Gallery in New York after a massive art fraud scandal, wrote a book about it called The Devil Wears Rothko; Anäis Renevier, a writer from France who wrote a book called The Alice Crimmins Case, about a New York murder from 1965; and Michelle Shephard who wrote Code Name: Pale Horse, a riveting tale of an undercover FBI agent infiltrating the most dangerous neo-Nazi group in the United States. As the title of this segment suggests, these are all true crime stories.
I quickly read (and enjoyed) the three books and then worked up some questions to guide our discussion of True Crime and the public’s fascination with it. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation and the audience seemed to as well.
A book talk in BC’s Slocan Valley
In early July, my wife Nancy Naylor and I flew out to the Slocan Valley in southeastern BC to visit Nancy’s brother and sister-in-law. They live in a beautiful post and beam home they built from trees felled and milled on their property. I just love spending time there.
My sister-in-law, Michelle, is part of a crack team of local volunteers who founded and run the Slocan Library. It’s a fantastic community service to the citizens of the Slocan Valley. I gave a book talk at the library while I was there. Over the years, I’ve now given three talks there and will happily do more.
We had such a great week out there. Thanks to Mike and Michelle for putting up with us.
I loved Graydon Carter’s memoir
While I was away, I devoured Graydon Carter’s wonderful memoir, When the Going was Good. Carter was the editor of Vanity Fair magazine for 25 years until he retired and started a new digital venture called Air Mail. (Worth checking out.)
I loved this insider’s look at the world of magazines back when, as the title suggests, the “going was good.” He tells wonderful stories about many famous figures, in a charming, insightful and self-deprecating way. I highly recommend it.
Incidentally, several years ago when Nancy and I were in Paris, we had a drink in the bar at The Ritz (where Hemingway used to hang out). While we were there, none other than Graydon Carter walked in and stood not far from us, waiting to meet someone. I don’t think anyone else in the bar knew who he was. Nancy and I kept our cool, tried not to stare, and left him alone. Even though we are fellow Canadians, Graydon Carter seemed not to recognize us (ha!). But it remains a cool Paris memory.
Wrapping up…
Thanks for dropping in. Here’s hoping you’ll subscribe (if you haven’t already). It’s free and easy and you won't miss future posts. Just hit the button below. Many thanks. See you in two weeks.
Wishing you great success with The Marionette--looking forward to reading it :-). Thanks for keeping us up to date on your busy writing life!
As an audiobook listener, it is always special, when the author performs the book. Malcolm Gladwell will even substitute the original audio, that was described in his books. I've wondered how authors stay out of 'edit mode'--- "hmmm, I should have said it THIS way" (as spoken word comes across different from written).
I also guessed that characters with significant accents, might be performed all-at-once, leaving the producer to splice it together. I see that's not the case. Maybe audiobooks should have outtakes, at the end, like the comedy movies of the 80s often did!
Thanks for sharing the studio recording video.