Six years later…

Each year for the last six, I’ve been enumerating the blessings in my writing life in an annual blog post. This is it for 2012. I have much for which to be thankful.

• In 2012, I gave 121 talks and/or readings (up from 95 in 2011) that took me from Moncton to Victoria, and what seemed like most places in between. I truly believe this is how books are sold in this country. I am grateful for the chance to travel Canada, make connections with readers, and spread the good word about Canadian literature. It certainly helps that I am one writer who actually enjoys this part of the writing game.

• Great progress was made on the CBC Television miniseries based on the first half of The Best Laid Plans. Scripts for all six episodes, penned by the star writing team of Susan Coyne and Jason Sherman, have now been submitted to CBC. As for what happens next, it’s always a bit of a mystery, but I gather that when CBC is happy with the scripts, we then move on to things like casting, location scouting, and eventually shooting. Still not sure about timing, but it all seems to be on track. Fingers crossed.

• This past spring, we signed agreements with Touchstone Theatre in Vancouver setting the stage, so to speak, for them to develop The Best Laid Plans as a stage musical. They have engaged Governor General’s Award-winning playwright Vern Thiessen and accomplished composer Bryce Kulak. This will likely take a couple of years, but it’s a thrill to be a fly on the wall as this creative process unfolds.

• The Up and Down podcast was a great success. Episode 1 was uploaded on June 6th with the final episode going live on September 21st. To date, nearly 2,500 people all over the world have listened to the podcast. At one point last June, it ranked number 4 on the iTunes literature charts.

• In September, Up and Down hit bookstores. We had a wonderful launch at the Dora Keogh pub here in Toronto. It was a great relief to have the novel so well received by critics and readers alike.

• The Canadian Booksellers Association Canadian Fiction Bestseller List for the week ending September 15th showed Up and Down at #3, The Best Laid Plans at #7, and The High Road at #14.

• In October, I did a twelve-day western book tour to promote Up and Down, with stops in Victoria, Calgary, Turner Valley, Banff, Edmonton, and St. Albert. It was the first time I had ever spent twelve consecutive days as a writer, and it was great.

• Just a few weeks ago, it was confirmed that in the fall of 2013, Random House will publish/distribute Up and Down in the United States.

• Just last night, New Year’s Day, I finished the 45-page outline for my fourth novel, tentatively entitled No Relation. I’ll  be starting to write the manuscript later this week. If all goes well, it’ll be published in September 2014.

I hope your 2012 was as rewarding and interesting as mine. Thanks to all those readers, book club members, festival-goers, friends, family, and perfect strangers who have helped me along the way, and there were many. I am truly grateful.

Here’s to a happy and healthy 2013. Now, time to get writing…