I had fun this weekend at McNally Robinson in Saskatoon. A good crowd showed up for my slideshow, and they bought a bunch of books, too. The television appearances I did in Toon Town also had a positive effect on Motorcycle Therapy Kindle sales. I can’t retire yet, but I should be able to afford gas for the drive home… barely.
If you’re interested, you can see my Global Saskatoon interview HERE. In it, I wear a fancy hat and sweater vest. (Both are gifts from people who believe I shouldn’t dress like a hobo.)
McNally Robinson, Saskatoon
April 11th, 2012
Kindle
March 20th, 2012
Good news for people who love reading electronic things. Motorcycle Therapy is finally available on Kindle for just $2.99. (Link HERE.) That’s especially good news for those of you who live far, far away. There are no shipping costs. And that’s good news for me because the royalties are higher than the paper books, even with the crazy low price. Everyone wins! Please, if you have time and if you liked the book, please consider adding a customer review on Amazon.
In other news, here’s me on the news: (Link HERE.) P.S. I don’t expect this link to work for more than a few days, so if it’s broken… sorry.
Finally, I heard from my editor about the revisions she wants for my second book. There’s substantial work to be done, but I’m up for it. Well, I don’t FEEL up for it, but I’m making myself push through the pain. I’ll be writing and rewriting for the next several weeks, or until I run out of money.
Which reminds me, come visit me at the Calgary Outdoor Adventure and Travel show this weekend. Buy a book if you like, or just come out for my slideshow at 5:00 PM on Saturday, March 24. (Link HERE.)
Wow. This post was all over the map. Don’t worry. My editor won’t allow that on the final copy of my book.
Waiting
March 13th, 2012
While waiting for my editor to get back to me with suggested revisions on my manuscript, I’m wringing my hands a lot. Also, I’m booking myself for slideshows and signings.
I’ll be signing books at Cafe Books in Canmore this Saturday, March 17 from 2:00pm to 4:00pm.
And I’ll be at The Outdoor Adventure Show in Calgary all day on Saturday, March 24.
I’ll be manning a booth during the day, so stop by and say hello if you can. Also, I’m doing a slideshow from 5:00pm – 6:00pm, so I’ll definitely need support for that!
News Salad
March 2nd, 2012
Here are three quick items of potential interest.
One: my article about friend, Dlshad Othman finally sold to the Toronto Star (link HERE). I spent several days with Othman doing research, then three days writing it, then another six weeks trying to convince the Toronto Star that they should run it. Whew! That’s done.
Two: Following a slideshow disaster at the Calgary City Teacher’s Convention in which my slides appeared at random thanks to a technical problem (“Uh, ok, here’s Panama. And this is in Manitoba. And back to Syria, and… Manitoba again.”), I’m once again prepping another slideshow. It’s for a high school leadership class, so there’s less pressure. My barometer for success is simply that the slides appear in the correct order.
Three: After two and half years of writing, and another two years of doing nothing with it, I finally opened up the document that will (hopefully) one day become my second motorcycle travel book. I spent two days reading it and going, “Wow, that’s horrible. What was I thinking?” Then I spent another four days slashing over 16,000 words out of the manuscript. When I finished with that, I decided to hire an editor.
My friend Karsten Heuer recommended the editor that he used for his book Being Caribou. Her name is Dinah Forbes, and she’s the former executive editor at McClellund and Stewart. She’s looking at the book now and will hopefully get back to me within the next two weeks. After that, I’ll have my work cut out for me. It’s the editors job, you see, to force the writer to fix broken things and write more than he really wants to.
Two Saints Church, Alexandria
January 6th, 2012
This is an account of my visit to the Two Saints Church, the Coptic Church that suffered an attack last New Years Eve in Alexandria, Egypt.
Alexandria – Hundreds of people, Muslims and Christians, gathered outside The Two Saints Church in Alexandria to ring in the New Year. The military and police were in charge of security, but the mass of people were the first line of defense. They were out to show solidarity with Coptic Christians. They were out to make sure that no violence occurred on this night. The crowd cheered and sang songs, while inside the congregation stood in quiet prayer as they remembered the 24 people who died in last years explosion.
Mario Raefat, age 24, was there. Just after midnight, as the church was winding down its New Year’s Eve service, “there was a bang and something like an earthquake,” he said. “People were screaming. One of our priests said ‘don’t worry, don’t worry.’”