The title just about says it all.
The trade paperback edition of The Guardians is available in stores and on-line (and everywhere else) in Canada and the U.S. on September 13, and though this announcement comes a day early, you can go to your favourite bookseller and politely hound them to bust open the boxes if they haven’t already (or order the damn thing if they neglected to). Trust me: booksellers love being hounded.
I am especially psyched about this edition because it feels so good. You know that slightly rough, grippy paper they use on paperbacks sometimes? It’s got that. And the spooky house on the cover is just right. And my name – though large – isn’t James Patterson-sized. And the red foil on the title does a shiny thing when you turn it around in the light. And…I just like it.
Which is not always the case with a book’s design. Despite everyone’s best intentions, covers can sometimes turn out a bit turdy. Not this one, my friends! So hit the streets or hit the web and check it out. And if you decide to purchase this thrilling and edifying cultural product, you have my gratitude and undying loyalty.
I’ve been reading Milton’s Paradise Lost a lot these days (it plays an important role in the novel I’m working on) and so, whenever I hear someone say “the fall,” I automatically think of Adam and Eve, the Original Sin, ambitious angels-turned-demons, evil and the like. Of course, fall also refers to the autumn, which is (sorry!) just around the corner. It may bring you forbidden fruit, or maybe just soggy leaves in the yard. I can tell you that it looks like it’s bringing me a busier-than-expected bunch of readings and appearances. (They have a way of sneaking in, even when you’re battening down the hatches).
If you go over to the Readings & Appearances page here, there is now an updated list of things you may want to come out to. I would, as always, be very happy to meet you, see you again, or just read to your anonymous self in the back row.
With the paperback publication of The Guardians set for September 13 in Canada and the US, and with the UK paperback due early in the new year, I’m presently enjoying the my-work-here-is-done process of viewing, tweaking, and signing off on new cover art and text for the reprint editions. There are haunting new images for both the North American and British covers. And there are also some reviews that have come to my attention that I missed the first time around. One of them boosted my spirits enough (and I needed the boosting, as I’m getting deeper into the uncharted waters of my new novel) that I felt I would indulge myself in blurbing it here. It appeared in the UK’s Mail on Sunday.
“Pyper is the most striking Canadian crime writer to emerge in recent years and The Guardians is a characteristically intelligent move into Stephen King territory.” - Mail on Sunday
Once the glow of reading this wore off (and the glow wears off too damn fast for my liking – reality has a way of roughly pushing self-congratulation aside) it provoked a thought. Will there ever come a time when some other writer will be said to make a move into “Andrew Pyper territory”? And if they do, should I point a shotgun in their direction and tell them to get off my lawn, or invite them in for drinks? (I strongly suspect it will be the latter, just so you don’t get too worried…)
Home from a few days in a cruelly hot New York City, where I had a blast on a number of fronts. First, I met some new friends at Thriller Fest, including the novelist Sophie Littlefield. I was planning on writing a summary of the panel I was on, but Sophie has already done so, and with her own well-argued interpretation and questions and critique, so all I’m going to do is link to her blog. Thanks, Sophie!
Sophie Littlefield – Pens Fatale
On one of my free evenings, I saw a play. Not just any play, mind you, but the best contemporary play I’ve ever seen. It’s called Jerusalem, by Jez Butterworth. I could link to reviews, or provide my own synopsis, but I honestly don’t want to taint the experience if you decide to see it. And friends, if you have the time and dollars to get yourself to NYC within the next few weeks before it closes, you have to see this thing. Because it’s not only the best play out there, it features the best stage performance I’ve ever seen.
Mark Rylance: you are a genius, sir.
I am a Writers Convention virgin, at least when it comes to the US. No Bouchercon (yet), no Bram Stoker Weekend (definitely curious). But I’m about to lose it (as it were) in New York this year for Thriller Fest. There’s an amazing line-up of top-rate writers, and the panels sound actually interesting (hard to make a panel topic sound intriguing, but they’ve managed it). Though I will be meeting with some of my editors there, and a hardy clutch of Canadians will be in attendance, I’m feeling some first-day-of-school nerves about it all. Excited, in other words.
If you’re planning on being at Thriller Fest this year, or are in New York July 8th and 9th and are inclined to head over to the Grand Hyatt, love to meet you. Otherwise, I’ll let you know how it went once I’m home…
What’s so great about September 13th? No, it’s not a Friday, so it won’t remind you of those horror movies featuring Jason Voorhees, the unforgiving ghoul with the machete in the goalie mask. And no, it’s not my birthday (so please no gifts, unless you had a bottle of Redbreast Irish in mind). I’ll TELL you what so great about September 13th…
It’s the publication date for The Guardians in the US! And it doesn’t stop there: September 13th is also the publication date for The Guardians trade paperback edition in Canada.
Mark your calendars! Clear the day of all meetings! Wash your sleeping bag and spend the night of the 12th outside your favourite bookstore to be the first in line! (Okay, I’m excited. Hyperbole is a side effect).
Me, talking about The Guardians. (Watch out for the clown. No, not me – a real clown!)
The Guardians – Bookends
The Guardians is now available in audio book format, with really great readings, gotta say. It’s available through Audible, the Amazon audio publisher, at:
The Guardians audio book
Judging from the number of questions asked of authors at post-reading Q&As, people are interested in writers’ offices. What’s your desk like? How’s the view? Is there a bar? As for me, I’m of the Discomfort-Is-Good-For-Work school. You don’t want your space to be too fancy. And you definitely don’t want a sofa and/or TV.
But I do have my lucky charms. This piece at cbc.ca runs through some famous writers and their totems. And on the less famous side, there’s me.
Writers and Their Lucky Charms
The Guardians has recently appeared in its Dutch translation, and the reviews have quite possibly been the most enthusiastic of them all (and this is saying something, as I have to say that, overall, The Guardians has been the best-reviewed of all my novels). Here’s a couple samples:
“* * * * * [Five stars]. Beautifully written…The characters are drawn with extraordinary skill.” – de Volkskrant
“Brilliant…The Guardians is an excellent and unique thriller, the kind that makes your heart beat faster and faster. Pyper excels at the ghostly, and the supernatural elements have been worked out perfectly.” — NRC Handelsblad
I am especially happy about these notices because, of all the publishers that have brought my novels to print, my longest relationship has been with Ambo|Anthos. It’s funny, but my Dutch publisher is the only one to have published all of my novels. I love them for this, but also for their publisher, Chris Herschdorfer. On the occasions I have travelled to Amsterdam for booky reasons, Chris always takes me to this ancient bar that serves an equally ancient, yellowy gin. We mean only to have one, but drink three. Also, a few years ago, when Ambo|Anthos was celebrating the 10th anniversary of their Literary Thriller list, they – get this – flew me over to Amsterdam for the party. And it was one hell of a party.
Now that’s a publisher.
