Most of my signing activity lately has either been in the form of stacks of signature pages for limited editions or the occasional one-off at Village Books, where people can order my books and I’ll drop by to sign them upon request.
Next Thursday, July 31, at 6 pm, I will be joined by co-contributor Tricia Snell at Block Shop Books in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, to read from, discuss and sign the anthology Not the Same Road Out, which is a collection of stories—one from each province and territory—where the binding thread is that they take place near the Trans Canada Trail, the 17,000 mile trail which is the longest recreational, multi-use trail network in the world. My story is called “Adrift,” set in New Brunswick. Tricia’s tale is the Nova Scotia entry in the anthology. Here’s a little promo video put together by the publisher, Tidewater Books, that includes video shot by my wife.
If you happen to be in the vicinity, it would be great if you could drop by and say hello. I don’t often make it to that part of the world (the last time was eleven years ago, when I visited the set of the TV series Haven with my daughter for a day).
The second upcoming event is the local installment of the tour for The End of the World As We Know It, which features my story “Lockdown.” It’s an honor to be a part of this anthology based on master storyteller Stephen King’s classic The Stand, and the contributors and editors can’t wait to celebrate with you. Click for more info. Joe Lansdale and I will be appearing at Murder by the Book in Houston on Tuesday, August 19, at 6:30 pm. If you can’t make it to Houston, maybe you can check out one of the other events taking place across the country, as well as in Canada and the UK. And check out this interview at Library Journal with editors Brian Keene and Chris Golden, and this one at Grimdark that also includes contributors Chuck Wendig, Premee Mohamed, Meg Gardiner, Tim Lebbon, David J. Schow, Alex Segura, and me.
I have a couple of short story publications in the pipeline, including one with one of my “bucket list” magazines, and other bigger things on the horizon. However, announcing those will need to wait!
I’m expecting my copies of the Czech limited edition of The Road to the Dark Tower to arrive shortly. From all the photos I’ve seen so far, it looks like a beauty. I’ll be sure to post my own pictures when I receive the package, which I’m told is in a microwave box because that’s the only thing the publisher had of the proper shape and size!
I was supposed to have a review of Wreckage, Peter Straub’s final, incomplete novel, in the summer issue of Dead Reckonings, but that periodical ceased publication abruptly after many years. Some of the reviews have been migrated to another magazine, but mine was not included in that subset, so I will probably post it at Cemetery Dance Online. The book and its companion volume are now available for order from Subterranean Press.
My wife and I went to the theater to see The Life of Chuck when it came out. It was my wife’s first trip to the cinema since 2020. We both loved it and talked about it for days after. You can see my review here. Other films we’ve enjoyed recently include Bono: Stories of Surrender (Apple TV+), The Intern (Netflix), My Mom Jayne (HBO), and Billy Joel: And So It Goes (part 1).
For TV series, I really liked Murderbot (Apple TV+), which has a really snarky sense of humor and Ballard (Prime), the latest Michael Connelly adaptation. The Day of the Jackal (Peacock) was pretty good. I’m currently into Smoke (Apple TV+), created and written by Dennis Lehane, and Dexter: Resurrection (Prime), which sees Dexter back from the near-dead and driving a rideshare in New York City while he tries to clean up any evidence of the crime his son Harrison committed. My wife and I binged through all three seasons of Sullivan’s Crossing, which is set in Nova Scotia.
That’s all for now. I hope to see some of you at one of the signing events in the next month.
