Archive for the ‘CanLit’ Category

Operation Angus: Bestsellers List Roundup

Wednesday, September 8th, 2021

I’m very happy to see Operation Angus appearing on Bestsellers lists just a week after its release. To all of you who preordered and purchased copies since it was published on August 31, thank you, thank you, thank you!

G&M Sept 11

Toronto Star Sept 8

CBC List Sept 4 RCC Indie Bestsellers Sept 4

Quill and Quire Sept 4

Operation Angus hits its first Bestsellers List

Wednesday, September 8th, 2021

My novels aren’t usually (if ever) found in the “International Bestsellers” category, but you’ll hear no complaints from me! Note that this is just for “New Releases.” With Louise Penny and Miriam Toews releasing new novels in the last couple of weeks, I’m not expecting such a lofty position when the more traditional Canadian Fiction Bestsellers lists come out. But this was nice to see. Thanks for all the support!

International Bestsellers list for New Releases

Operation Angus on sale today!

Tuesday, August 31st, 2021

Yes, it’s finally here. Operation Angus is on sale today.

And so it begins…

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One week out… and looking good

Wednesday, August 25th, 2021

Well, we’re one week away from publication day for Operation Angus and we’re sitting at #4 among the most anticipated future fiction releases by Canadian authors, according to Bookmanager. Who really knows what this means, but I believe it accounts for reader pre-orders and bookstore shipments. At any rate, I’m taking it as a good sign. As usual, I’m looking forward to pub day, August 31st, with excitement and a little trepidation. Thanks for all the support. I’m grateful.

Future Releases 210824

Always a big moment…

Wednesday, August 11th, 2021

Even when it’s your eighth novel, laying eyes on it, and holding it in your hands, for the first time is always wonderful and a little surreal. That happened today for Operation Angus. I’m thrilled. Deep gratitude to my whole team at Penguin Random House/McClelland & Stewart for making this happen… again.

First books

Invitation to the Virtual Launch of Operation Angus

Monday, August 9th, 2021

You’re all invited to the virtual launch of Operation Angus, my eighth novel that heralds the return of the accidental MP, Angus McLintock, his trusty sidekick, Daniel Addison, and the rest of the cast of characters from my first two novels, The Best Laid Plans, and The High Road.

So mark Thursday, September 2, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. in your calendar for this virtual event. Click here or on the graphic below to register.

Launch event Invite

As is traditional, my identical twin brother Tim will be hosting the event (so don’t be confused when you see him on screen), and then my wonderful publisher, Jared Bland, and I will have a conversation about the new novel. I’ll say some thank yous, read a short bit from the novel just to give you a taste of it, and then we’ll open the virtual floor for audience questions. Hope you can make it to help celebrate the launch of Operation Angus. Many thanks for all the support.

I’m so inspired by Wally Funk today

Tuesday, July 20th, 2021

This morning, I was glued to my screen watching as Blue Origin launched their first sub-orbital mission to space carrying Amazon and Blue Origin founder, Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos, paying passenger 18 year-old Oliver Daemen from The Netherlands, and 82 year-old Wally Funk, one of the original Mercury 13 women who trained to be astronauts in the sixties but were never given the chance to fly. As a writer, I’m not a huge supporter of Amazon and Jeff Bezos, but his decision to invite Wally Funk to be part of this voyage to space was inspired and left me quite emotional about it all. For nearly her entire life, Wally Funk has dedicated herself to flying and reaching space. Barriers were thrown in her path every step of the way, yet today she was weightless in space, finally. Her journey is not unlike that of Landon Percival in my third novel, Up and Down. I’ve had a lot of emails in the last week or so about the symmetry of Wally Funk’s odyssey and Landon’s in the novel. Life imitating art, perhaps.

 

Up and Down (US)

 

One day more and we’ve cracked the top 5

Friday, July 16th, 2021

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Operation Angus has jumped up another spot into the Top 5 of Bookmanager’s Future Canadian Fiction Releases rankings. Still more than six weeks to go until it hits bookstores. Thanks for all your pre-orders that have propelled Operation Angus up to near the top of the “most anticipated” list. Happy days.

Bookmanager Future Releases 210716

One day later, Operation Angus is on the move

Thursday, July 15th, 2021

Yesterday I posted about Bookmanager’s Future Canadian Fiction Releases rankings where Operation Angus had broken in the Top 10. Perhaps I should have waited another day. I checked this morning and Operation Angus has jumped from 10th to 6th in the rankings. With six weeks to go until launch, this is good news.

Bookmanager Future Releases 210715

Operation Angus ranked in top 10 future releases

Wednesday, July 14th, 2021

Bookmanager is a great resource for writers, booksellers, and publishers alike. I use it to gauge how well my novels are selling, or in this case, how much anticipation there is for my new novel, Operation Angus, that’s due out at the end of August. For novels already released, Bookmanager tracks sales and ranks books accordingly, and provides bestsellers lists to major media outlets including the CBC. You can filter for various criteria to ensure you’re comparing apples to apples. In my case, for books already published, I filter the search to yield “Canadian-fiction” rankings. For novels soon to be published, as below, I filter for “Canadian-fiction-future releases” rankings, presumably based on pre-orders.

Enough context. When I checked this morning, Operation Angus had broken into the Top 10 rankings for future Canadian fiction releases. I’m thrilled, particularly looking at the company I’m keeping. No one is likely to displace Louise Penny, Chris Hadfield, Linden MacIntyre or some of the others, so I’ll happily ride on their coat tails. I’m just happy to be in the same postal code with them. This all bodes well for Operation Angus due in bookstores August 31.

Future Release rankings 210714