Terry Fallis, Novelist » Canadian political novel

The High Road Toronto Launch: September 8

Terry Fallis — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 23:00:25 +0000

If you’re going to be in the Toronto area on September 8th, or even if you’re not, you’re all invited to the launch of The High Road. As we did for the launch of The Best Laid Plans in the fall of 2007, we’ll be gathering at the wonderful Dora Keogh pub on the south side of Danforth Avenue, just east of Broadview. There’ll a couple of brief (I promise) speeches and a short reading, but really the night is more about socializing and having fun. Books will be available for sale and there’ll be plenty to eat and drink too. You can RSVP over on the Facebook event page. H ope you can make it.

The High Road Podcast: Chapter 9

Terry Fallis — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 05:02:40 +0000

This week, Chapter 9, courtesy of McClelland & Stewart. In this episode, Daniel is briefed on some fascinating public opinion polling data, and Angus makes it through his second all-candidates meeting with a little help from the GOUT squad. The chapter ends with an unexpected discovery at the McLintock campaign headquarters. Hope you’re still with me!

The music that opens and closes each episode is Game Day by Jon Schmidt and is available at Music Alley.

The voice at the beginning of each chapter belongs to my friend, Roger Dey.

Doing Word on the Street in Kitchener & Toronto

Terry Fallis — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 23:48:06 +0000

Sunday, September 26 is going to be one busy day for me, but happily so. I’ll awake that morning in Florida, where I’ll be attending a family event. Then I’ll board a 7:30 a.m. Delta flight out of Tampa, change planes in Atlanta, and land in Toronto at about noon (please let me not be delayed!). I’ll then leap into our minivan, which will be parked at Pearson Airport, and drive, of course observing all speed limits, to Kitchener for their Word on the Street celebration. I’ll be reading from The High Road, which will be in bookstores by then, at about 2:30. After signing any books that audience members might purchase (Christmas will be but a few short months away!), I’ll dash again for the minivan and blast back to Toronto. You see, I’ll be reading at the Toronto Word on the Street festival at Queen’s Park at 5:30, pending any traffic travails. Two countries, two readings, and two Word on the Street festivals. A busy but fun day.

The High Road podcast – steadily growing

Terry Fallis — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 02:38:44 +0000

For the last two months, I’ve been recording and uploading one new chapter of The High Road podcast per week. I’ve had fun doing it and by the look of the numbers, a growing group of listeners has been enjoying the podcast too. Recording a new chapter each week is quite straightforward and it gives me plenty of practice for the readings I’ll be doing in the fall to support The High Road when the printed version hits bookstores in early September.

Here are a couple of shots of me recording Chapter 7 in our third floor library. I read the final manuscript directly off of my laptop and use the scroll wheel on my mouse to advance the pages. I always read standing up to help bring a bit more energy to the reading. You’ll also see that I record under the watchful gaze of one my literary heroes, Robertson Davies.

After I record, I then have to mix and produce each episode by adding music to open and close the chapter, and cut out coughs, flubbed phrases, and mispronounciations. I use Audacity as my sound editing software. It’s avaiable as a free download. Here’s what a bit of Chapter 7 looks like in Audacity:

Finally, when I’ve got the sound balanced just right, I export it as an MP3 file and upload it to my podcasting hosting service, Libsyn. Here’s a quick peek at the stats that Libsyn provides on the podcast.

Just thought you might like a bit of a behind-the-scenes look at The High Road podcast.

The High Road Podcast: Chapter 8

Terry Fallis — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 01:59:40 +0000

This week, Chapter 8, courtesy of McClelland & Stewart. In this episode, Angus tries his hand at door-to-door canvassing with mixed results and then attends an editorial board meeting of the Cumberland Crier. Daniel gets a heads up from the Liberal party pollster. Enjoy!

The music that opens and closes each chapter is Game Day by Jon Schmidt, and is available on Music Alley.

The voiceover at the beginning of each episode is provided by Roger Dey.

Heading back to the Headwaters Arts Festival

Terry Fallis — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 00:00:53 +0000

Shortly after McClelland & Stewart published The Best Laid Plans in September 2008, I was invited to appear at the Headwaters Arts Festival in Caledon, Ontario alongside Giller winner Joseph Boyden, and prolific writer Drew Hayden Taylor (on whose new book Motorcycles and Sweetgrass, a blurb from me appears). I was over the moon to be sitting at the front of a packed house next to these wonderful writers. We all spoke for a bit and then read a piece from our respective books. Finally, the audience could buy books from the good folks at Booklore and we signed them. (To be clear, we each signed our own books.) It was a memorable night for me as you can read.

Well, I get to do it all over again this coming October. Yes, undoubtedly against the organizers’ better judgement, they’ve asked me back, this time to read from The High Road. Even better, I’ll be joining three other accomplished writers, one of whom I already know. Cathy Marie Buchanan, NY Times bestselling author of The Day the Falls Stood Still is married to a fellow ball hockey player in the Withrow Park Ball Hockey League. I attended her book launch last fall and I’m delighted to get the chance to read with her. Terry O’Reilly, the author of The Age of Persuasion, based on his excellent radio show, and Kate Taylor a Globe and Mail columnist and novelist round out the line-up. It’s still a couple of months off, but I know this will be a great night.

My thanks to Nancy Frater at Booklore for inviting me back.

The High Road Podcast: Chapter 7

Terry Fallis — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 05:02:44 +0000

This week, Chapter 7, courtesy of McClelland & Stewart. In this episode, Muriel creates an undercover geriatric political SWAT team, and Angus survives his first All-Candidates meeting, barely. Hope you’re all still with me.

The music that opens this podcast is Game Day by Jon Schmidt and is available through Music Alley. The voiceover at the beginning of each episode is provided by Roger Dey.

Wow! More signs of the power of OBOC…

Terry Fallis — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 00:08:42 +0000

Sitting at the office this morning I saw the following OBOC Tweet fly by on Twitter. Very cool. Here’s hoping that library users actually like TBLP when they get it in their hands…

A humour night at the Leacock Summer Festival

Terry Fallis — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:54:37 +0000

On Friday, July 23, I’ll be hosting and participating in a night of humour at the Leacock Summer Festival in Orillia, Ontario. Joining me will be 2010 Leacock shortlisted author Kathryn Borel Jr. reading from her hilarious travelogue Corked, and 2003 Leacock winner Dan Needles who will undoubtedly have us all in hysterics whatever he decides to read. Having already read from The Best Laid Plans at the 2008 Leacock Summer Festival, I may read from The High Road instead. There is a great list of Canadian authors lined up to read at the festival so do check it out if you have the weekend free. I always look forward to returning to Orillia, the home of Stephen Leacock.

The High Road Podcast: Chapter 6

Terry Fallis — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 05:05:31 +0000

(Update – July 4, 2010: I just noticed that shortly after the 23 minute mark in the original Chapter 6 audio file that I uploaded, I sound like I injested a dragon fly, coughed it back up, and then restarted the sentence. If you had to endure that version, my humble apologies. If this corrected version is the one you listened to, please forget that you ever read this note.)

This week, Chapter 6, courtesy of McClelland and Stewart. In this chapter, Angus endures his first in-studio TV interview of the campaign. The make-up woman has her hands, and his hair, full.

I certainly hope you’re enjoying the podcast now that we’re a quarter of the way through.

The music that opens and closes the podcast is Game Day by Jon Schmidt and is available through Music Alley. The voiceover at the beginning of each episode is Roger Dey.