Alpinist, that fantastic magazine of the mountains, has honored me again with a great spot on their Christmas advertising campaign - suggesting Hooker & Brown.
I would suggest it for everyone, as well.
Cool Things Afoot at Alpinist
December 18th, 2009Small, but very real, Thrills
December 16th, 2009Went into the local big-box Chapters store today and wandered over to the fiction racks, and there was Hooker & Brown right between Margaret Atwood and Jane Austin.
Pride.
Future of Publishing #2
December 13th, 2009I anticipated it would happen…as soon as the last big events were done, I would fall ill.
I watched friends get the seasonal flu, or even H1N1 while I was prepping for the festivals and hoped hard that I would dodge the bullets, knowing full well in the lull before Christmas that I had no where left to duck. So it hit me this weekend, and although being sick sucks, at least it is not a terrible flu. It’s also -30C outside, and so I’ve taken the weekend to sleep and read - how often do I want to do that and never get the time, eh?
I do miss skiing right now, and physical exercise, but I figure I’ll hit the climbing gym and the Nordic loops just that much harder when it warms up in a few days.
In the meantime, I have an opportunity to dig up a few thoughts on the topic that is interesting me more and more: the future of storytelling. Now that I’m done the big book project, and have been enjoying working on very short stories (this is what the Alipinst said of my latest):
Subscribers may remember the short fiction piece in Alpinist 28 entitled “Last Ascent.” The story, one of the most poignant and imaginative philosophical tales we’ve published, was written by Jerry Auld, whose debut novel was shortlisted for the Boardman Tasker Prize this year. Hooker and Brown is a romp through the Canadian Rockies that follows a geology student who becomes fascinated by the myth of two imaginary 16,000’ peaks. Though fictionalized, the basis for this historical mystery is a true story.
and I’ve had the ability to read a lot more diverse works and to look at different perspectives. What a cool time to be an emerging writer! So much could be changing and there is the opportunity to be in the forefront of that. As well, I truly believe that the reports of publishing’s death are overstated, and in fact the industry will come out stronger - albeit with much trimming and painful change. Check out this stat on where people get their words from:
There were some interesting articles that I have come arcoss lately. The first is this one about book trailers, kinda funny. Money quote:
The conventional wisdom is that we’re living in the era of the death of the book. This is, of course, ridiculous. We live at a time of unprecedented literacy. People love to read. They read all the time. You are, right now, in the middle of reading this.
But I have to say, after seeing the following “book trailer,” I’m starting to feel like the death of the publishing industry is long overdue:
Then there is this one, which I want to stress, is sort of revealing but not at all how I think things should work. When the editors hire the publisher.
For me, I see the future increasingly in partnerships, and I think that is, at heart, what the intranet is opening up and pushing creators and publishers towards.
Selling Out
December 11th, 2009Book Events - where “selling out” is a good thing.
The Wine and Book event on Wednesday night was fantastic. We had 13 writers with their books, and another 17 books paired with wine. I’d guess about a hundred people came and circulated - it certainly seemed packed. I think it was very well organized and Samantha Warwick, the organizer, author of “Sage Island” - a great book, by the way, and I want to put something like this together in Canmore, perhaps in March.
Some old friends turned up - here is me with some of my University roommates that I haven’t seen in far too long!
As well, in other news, I have finally finished and published my book trailer. You can watch it here:
or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-RAFMmLO20
Very Cool Event
December 5th, 2009If you like wine and if you like books, then this is for you: 100 Wines and the Alberta Writer’s Guild is pairing books with wines and offering them (together with readings and tastings) as great Christmas gifts. This is on Wednesday night in Calgary, at 100 Wines and is free and open to the public.
Come check it out:
Never Let ‘em See You Sweat
December 1st, 2009Here’s some great photos by Henry Iddon taken at the Kendal Mountain Festival - specifically during the run-up to the Boardman Tasker award announcement.
I thought they did a fantastic job of organizing and presenting this: first they gave some background, then brought us all up on stage (lining up mountaineers seems to be like herding cats), and then sat us down one at a time to an open-mike interview and a reading.
This is me explaining what my book is all about - sense the passion?
photo courtesy of Henry Iddon
And me, composed, while the great British mountaineer Stephen Venables sets up his next question.
photo courtesy of Henry Iddon
The beauty of the format, is the ending: the judges read out their statement, and it wasn’t careless or glib or offhand. Instead it was well reasoned and very well presented. I had the sense that I was being reviewed by some literary heavyweights whom took their duties very seriously. And the great part was the tension - right up to the final second, I think we were all on the edge of our seats.
Now that is the way a book award should be!
P.S. I’ve promised more thoughts on this whole thing but I’ve literally walked in the door of my home only a few hours ago and will need some time to settle the whirling brain and tackle the disgusting amounts of email!
Just Back, and Happy
November 24th, 2009Arrived back in Canada late yesterday, and have a week in Québec City with my family before returning home to the mountains. I am very tired. The trip to England was intense and fun but exhausting. I’ll blog more about all of that later - I just wanted to pass along that I did not win in Kendal, that honor goes to Steve House, but I did come close.
From the judges adjudication speech at the festival award cerimony:
So to an example of perhaps the rarest type of mountain writing: the successful literary mountaineering novel. Rare, because it just seems to be so very difficult to write convincing mountaineering fiction.
We think Jerry Auld has succeeded in doing so in his book Hooker and Brown, in which he takes three contrasting characters working in the Parks Service in the Pacific North West and sets them an intriguing tale: the existence or otherwise of the eponymous peaks, Mounts Hooker and Brown, located somewhere in the vast backcountry but still unclimbed. Of course, they have to go and find out for themselves. The technical quality of the writing in this book is of the first order.
Auld has been published in magazines, but this is his first novel. We think the book displays a literary talent that could take him well beyond the confines of a mountaineering audience. But literary pyrotechnics, even when as impressive as here, are not enough, and this book also achieves what we think mountaineering fiction must do at all costs: it sets up questions which cannot be answered by other forms.
You can get the whole thing here.
I had the chance to chat with the judges (and other authors and publishers) and the feedback and encouragement and new contacts were well worth the trip. Instead of being disheartened, I actually feel more fired up and focused than ever. I managed to draft a short story on the plane yesterday, and an exicted to get the rest of those done and start work on the next novel which feels like it is starting to grow and might burst soon - then I’ll be able to work on nothing else.
One other note: I met Robert Davidson, who is the publisher of Sandstone Press in the Scottish Highlands (can I hear the pipes calling me home?) and he said some nice things on his blog. Money quote:
The afternoon event was, to coin the well worn cliché, a game of two halves. Both were superbly organised and delivered.
In the first, climber, author and former Boardman Tasker winner Stephen Venebles interviewed each of the authors in turn with the exception of Chic Scott who had not managed the long journey from Canada. In fact two Canadian authors had reached the short list and the only novelist, Jerry Auld, gave a very impressive interview and reading. So did the eventual winner from America Steve House, author of Beyond the Mountain.
Stephen had obviously done his home work but, in addition, seemed to find a natural empathy with all the authors. John Allen and Jerry Auld perhaps made some additional impact by dint of their books being rather different from the more normal run of big expedition, big climb books. Stephen Venebles described Cairngorm John as ‘unclassifiable’. Really though, all of the authors were impressive with Steve also rather standing out because of the high risk taking element of his particular branch of human nature. He was also extremely articulate and obviously intelligent.
Read it all here.
Heading Over
November 15th, 2009Flying out to Toronto tomorrow very early o catch up with Michael Helm and some of the other writers and poets of the 2007 Banff Writing Studio , then overnight to London, and then Thursday afternoon up to Kendal.
Friday is the big day, with readings, panels, signings, and in the afternoon - the announcement and presentation of the Boardman Tasker award. You’ll be able to see the results on the Kendal Mountain Festival and the Boardman Tasker award websites by Friday night. Wish me luck.
I may not be blogging much over the next two weeks so stay tuned.
Switching On
November 14th, 2009My little girl, Sophie, is two years old today. She has discovered light switches. I boost her up and she cackles maniacally when she turns of the room light. Such power!
But then she wails when we move away - wanting to play with it, on, off, on, off… I keep telling her, don’t worry, there’s another one at the foot of the stairs, and another at the top, and on the far side of her room, and in our room, and finally the bathroom. In this way we make it to her bath.
Curious the things the little ones can teach us, or make us remember. I keep telling her there will always be another light switch. And there is. We forget that. But that’s what her life is at this moment - a series of light switches and the patience in-between.
Suspension of Hope
November 13th, 2009Packing now for the Boardman Tasker ceremony in Kendal, U.K.
Things are so much better now that I have been doing readings and signings and gone through the expectations and intensity of the Banff Book Festival. No nervousness, no expectations. I think now that as you get closer to an award, that you need to stop hoping and building it up. It’s like the cards are played, the bets made, and all that’s left is to lay them down. Nothing really that you can do, that time is past. Any hoping at that point is just going to drive you crazy. I don’t have any kind of special powers to affect an outcome up until the moment it is revealed, and think the old physics mind-game of Schroedinger’s cat is stupid.
Instead, I can now look at both sides of the results: and realize that both directions have pluses and minuses. If you win, there is fanfare, and glory, and book sales, and recognition, respect. But also intense expectations and intrusion. If you don’t win, you’re still on the short-list, and the next story doesn’t face impossible pressure to live up the first, since it can hardly top it. Either way, the results can help and hinder, so really, isn’t it irrelevant?
As long as I can write the next story, and do it well, that’s all the matters.
Here’s a few other thoughts after getting through the first month and a half after launching the book:
- If there is a signing table, sit at it as long as you can. That is were books are sold, where you as the author can add value to the book (with a signature) and to the process (by pitching the story). Sit until someone physically pulls you away.
- Have another project to work upon. The downtime between sending the book to the printer and actually getting feedback from readers is measured in months, if not a half-year. The separation from your baby can cause post-partum-like symptoms. Best get yourself busy on those short stories you put off for so long, or that painting you wanted to do.
- But before a reading, reread your work.Get reacquainted with it. It is funny how fast we can move on when we decide to do so. Learn to fall in love with the book as a reader now, no longer as the writer.
- Finally, brush it off when someone says they liked it and are passing it to a friend (as opposed to telling the friend to buy a copy). Sure, book sales are way down. But this is the way we all came across good stories, our favorite stories. And then, if it was good, we went and got our own copy. People want the stuff they like on their shelves. And in this way the story is being read and recommended and read again. That’s the goal.