About a month ago, the good folks at CEO TV shot a segment about TBLP and my day job as a PR professional. They also sent a camera crew up to Orillia for the Leacock Award weekend to help round out the segment. Well, it aired nationally on Global a week or so ago and in case you need a laugh, you can watch it here…
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…
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!
Back in February 2007, Steve Paikin, the outstanding host of The Agenda, TV Ontario’s great nightly public affairs program, was kind enough to interview me about the then unpublished TBLP. Here’s the blog post Steve wrote in the wake of the Leacock Medal announcement:
The Funniest Book In Canada
Back in February of 2007, I interviewed a political wise guy named Terry Fallis. Terry has been around the block in the political world. He now plies his trade at an eponymously named consulting firm.
But once upon a time, he was one of those back room boys who worked for politicians and tried to get them elected.
He’s a smart guy and figured there must be a funny book somewhere inside him, given all of what he’d seen in politics.
So he wrote a book, set on Parliament Hill, and followed the travails of a once naïve, now a bit too cynical back room boy who’s seen too much of politics’ seamy underbelly.
His book is called The Best Laid Plans and Terry rolled it out in unusual fashion.
Once a week, he downloaded a chapter of his work into podcast form on his website. He narrates the action himself. He did it this way because no Canadian publisher would print his work. Not a one.
So rather than wait for that, Fallis got the book into the readers’ hands with the newfangled technology so many of us are using these days. And what do you know: he ends up winning the Stephen Leacock prize for humour.
While the credit is all Terry’s, I take a certain amount of pride in saying we were the first program to interview the author, when, quite frankly, no one was beating his doors down to give him any attention.
So, to see and hear my conversation with Terry Fallis from last February, about his own political history, and his successful political novel, watch this web-exclusive video and enjoy.
Thanks Steve. You were there at the beginning and I’m grateful.
The power of a little media coverage. On a lark, I checked iTunes this morning and was shocked (for the second time this week) to find the TBLP podcast sitting at the number one spot (Arts and Literature). Certainly a Leacock halo effect. I grabbed a screen shot as I don’t imagine it will stay at these lofty heights for long. Bizarre to be ahead of the New York Times Book Review podcast, which is one of my “must listen” podcasts. Just another surreal aspect to a surreal week.
As my wife Nancy and I were driving home yesterday from Orillia where the Leacock Medal luncheon was held, James Adams of the Globe and Mail called my cell phone. We did a quick interview as I tried to drive down highway 400 while still floating off the ground. Anyway, here’s the result:
Stay tuned. I’ve been informed that the official Globe and Mail review of TBLP will run this Saturday (gulp).
I’m sure my 15 minutes must soon be up. Because of the Leacock Medal shortlist, the Toronto Star ran a nice piece in the Sunday Star this past weekend. They even teased the story on the front page of the Entertainment section. I’d done the interview and photography last week. I’m amazed at how many people have e-mailed me in the wake of the article, including some who have said that they’ve ordered the book. Every little bit helps!
Pages is one of Canada’s premier independent bookstores offering an extraordinary range of literary fiction, nonfiction and art books. It’s located on trendy Queen Street East in Toronto and TBLP is now available there.
Friend and fellow podcaster Shel Holtz in Concord, California posted yesterday about the power and flexibility of the new Print-On-Demand technology that I used to publish The Best Laid Plans last year. Shel is the prolific podcaster who co-hosts For Immediate Release alongside Neville Hobson. Shel and Neville inspired my Inside PR co-host David Jones and me to start our show back in 2006. I’ve always admired Shel’s thoughtful approach to complicated and controversial issues. His insightful analysis is on full display in this post, along with some supporting thoughts from yours truly.
I’ve just been invited to speak at the prestigious Literary Table, a crowd of writers and book lovers that regularly meet for lunch at the famed Arts and Letters Club in downtown Toronto. A fixture in the Canadian arts and lit scene for over a century, The Arts and Letters Club occupies a wonderful heritage building in the heart of Toronto. Needless to say, I’m chuffed (a word Angus McLintock would use) at the invitation. I’m to speak for a half hour about TBLP and then answer questions. I’ve also been encouraged to peddle a few books while I’m there. I’ll keep you posted.
Welcome to the podcast of The Best Laid Plans, a satirical novel of Canadian politics written by Terry Fallis.
Learn a bit about the author and podcast narrator, Terry Fallis »
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