Terry Fallis - Best Laid Plans

McMaster will always be a special place for me.  I spent six years there earning a mechanical engineering degree and immersing myself in student politics.  My McMaster experience led directly to my pursuit of politics after graduation and stints on Parliament Hill and Queen’s Park.  Jumping ahead, the first official book event I did was a launch and signing at the Mac bookstore Titles last October, thanks to the support and efforts of Mark Leslie Lefebvre a writer and blogger who works there.  So it’s fitting in a way that on October 29th, just over a year later, and what a year it’s been, I’ll be back at Mac presenting TBLP to the Mac Reads Book Club.  Who says you can’t go home?

My friend and editor/publisher Doug Gibson dropped by unexpectedly tonight bearing the first copy of the M&S edition of TBLP.  What a thrill it is to hold it.  It’s much thicker than the original iUniverse version.  A much better “package” in every respect.  I’m over the moon.  If the forces that be at M&S are happy with it, they’ll start shipping to bookstores in the coming days.

I posted when my author copies of the original version of TBLP arrived almost exactly one year ago.  Here’s the post from September 6th, 2007.  My how my writerly life has changed in twelve short months.  What a ride.

Here’s a shot of Douglas Gibson and me, neither of us really looking our best, minutes after he arrived to deliver the first copy.

I’ve just returned from the family cottage on Georgian Bay where I’ve just spend two weeks offline with my family. It was wonderful despite an unusually high mosquito count. I read several books, swam, slept, ate, and watched movies at night with my two sons. It was strange being completely discounted for two weeks (although my BlackBerry worked sporadically if I stood at the highest point on our property and stuck my BB in the air like the Statue of Liberty’s torch) but I managed. My in-laws arrived from Nova Scotia and we had a great visit. We saw some wildlife when we dropped off our recycling one day and my mother-in-law took this great shot.

We also took them on a day trip to Orillia to visit the Stephen Leacock Museum. Here are a couple of shots showing me sitting in Leacock’s library and the display in the Leacock Medal Room showcasing books and artifacts from the 61 year history of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour.

I’ll be back to Orillia on July 25th to do a public reading at the Summer Leacock Festival. I have to read for 30 minutes so I’ll need to decide which sections to present. My heart rate is slightly elevated already.

By the way, here’s the great Hamilton Spectator article by Mark Leslie Lefebvre that I mentioned in an earlier post. Thanks Mark!

Stay tuned for more information about all the events I’ll be doing in the fall to coincide with the release of the McClelland & Stewart edition of TBLP.

It’s nice to be back…

After a very eventful yet wonderful spring, I’m off to the cottage for two weeks with my wife and two sons for our summer vacation. I’m looking forward to reading and continuing my fledgling efforts to map out the sequel to TBLP. In the meantime, the M&S edition of TBLP is well into the production process now. The cover design is complete, cover copy is approved, and the book layout, all 314 pages or so of it, is done. I met earlier this week with the publicity team that will be doing all they can to make sure copies of TBLP fly off bookstore shelves in October. I’ll be doing a number of speaking/reading gigs to support the novel including the Ottawa International Writers Festival and the Headwaters Arts Festival in Orangeville. There’s apparently an article about, and/or review of TBLP podcast coming out this weekend in the Hamilton Spectator written by Mark Leslie Lefebvre. I hope to be able to read it just before packing up the minivan and heading up the 400 to Twelve Mile Bay.

(Update: In fact, two Mark Leslie Lefebvre articles ran.  You’ll find the TBLP podcast review article here and a second interesting piece here on how independent authors are using podcasts to build an audience adn break through into traditional publishing.  Nice job Mark and thanks!)

By the way, a segment on Global Television’s CEO TV about yours truly and TBLP will air Saturday, July 5th at 11:30 a.m. You should also be able to catch it on the CEO TV website by Monday, July 7th.

I’ll check in as soon as we’re back. (I’m not sure how I’ll survive offline for two weeks but I’m looking forward to trying…)

My friend and fellow writer Mark Leslie Lefebvre just wrote an article for Canadian Bookseller magazine about the rise of free podcasting as a way of building a pre-publication audience for a book. This is the approach I tried out with TBLP. The TBLP podcast was up and available in its entirety many months before the novel was ever published in print. I’m convinced the interest and community engendered through the podcast really helped when TBLP finally became an actual book. The article is interesting and foreshadows possible changes in the world of traditional publishing as more and more authors employ social media tools like blogging and podcasting to drive interest and build audiences. Thanks for the profile Mark!