Susan Juby's Blog, page 11

A Reading at Galiano Island Books!

I will be giving a reading from Republic of Dirt next Saturday afternoon at Galiano Island Books on, you guess it, Galiano Island! Join us.

Republic in PW

Thanks to Publishers Weekly for the kind review of Republic of Dirt. Not only is the review funny in its own right, it ends by calling the book “a joyful, moving return to Woefield.” Can’t ask for more than that!

P.S. If you are addicted to this unbelievably exciting blog and website, please note that it will soon be replaced with an equally unbelievably exciting site. That means we may be offline for a few days. I encourage you to read the New York Times, Harper’s Magazine, the Economist, the Guardian and the Globe and Mail etc. to keep yourself informed about things while we’re down.

Photographic Evidence of Launches

Thank you to everyone who came out to the launches in Victoria and Nanaimo. And a special thank you to Jessica, who was a wonderful and warm host at Munro’s Books, and the rest of the staff there.

It was great to see fellow writers and funny folks, Carole Ann Shaw, Kristine Paton, Kimberley Flaversham and James Funfer, who made the trip from Cobble Hill. They were extremely disruptive and wild, as was the rest of the audience. Just kidding. Everyone was very entertaining and charming and just disruptive enough. Which I think describes my readers and friends perfectly.

In Nanaimo, my friend Anicka Quin set the tone by arriving from Vancouver with a Launch Day gift of a finger donkey. Any writer who does not have a finger donkey is sadly lacking in signing accessories. (Here the finger donkey is driving the car. He’s very versatile.)

Below are a few shots of the goings on at Fibber Magees, who put on a fantastic spread that included… DEEP FRIED MACARONI AND CHEESE TRIANGLES! Prudence would not have approved, but Seth would have filled his pockets. I’m sorry I didn’t get any pictures of those. They disappeared rather abruptly.

Here is the cake. You will note it’s topped with a mule stuck in a trampoline. I bet J Frantz has never had that at one of his launches. No sir. I bet he hasn’t. Also, thank you to my mother for the beautiful flowers seen behind the mule cake.

And some wild book launch crowd shots…

Welcome to the world, Republic of Dirt.

Germany!

I’m thrilled that The Truth Commission will be published in Germany by cbj Verlag this April!

The German title is: The Day We Began To Tell The Truth, which is quite excellent and suitable, I think.

It was a lot of fun trying to translate the catalogue pages as I am tragically unilingual.

I came down on the side of self-aggrandizement any time there was doubt. For instance, my friend Mary and I decided that “Uber” referred to me being VERY Susan Jubyish. That might not be everyone’s idea of high praise but I was willing to take it. Then our server at La Quercia in Vancouver, who spoke about seven languages, informed me that in this context it means: “About”. Well, that’s good too!

Anyway, the cover is very pretty and I’m so pleased to see my work translated into German. If things go well, I may have to study some German so I can read my own catalogue copy. It may be too ambitious at this late stage to aim to read translations of my own work.

If any readers are fluent in German and would like to translate, I’d be happy to find out precisely what the copy says.

Sad side note: I have been yelled at in German by more a few dressage coaches. I understood what they were saying plain as day.

Extra Reading (Not for Credit)

I’ve been going on and on again. Here are some links if you’re interested.

On Writing Sequels at The Savvy Reader.

On How Social Media is Destroying My Life and Making Me Eat Too Much at HCC Frenzy.

A Q&A in the Globe Books section.

Magic 8 Questionnaire at CBC Writes.

Whew.

A giant and heartfelt thank you to the independent bookstores!

It seems that Republic of Dirt came in as the #2 bestselling new release in Canada at the indies and the #1 fiction new release. I cannot overstate how much I appreciate the support of our independent booksellers. Oh hell, I appreciate everyone who sells, buys and reads books.

In other news, I wrote a little piece for The Savvy Reader about the art (attempted art?) of writing sequels. I am now a frequent sequel offender.

And if you’re free, please join me, Julie Paul and Marguerite Pigeon at the Vancouver Writers Fest Incite event this Wednesday, Feb. 25 at the downtown branch of the Vancouver Public Library at 7:30 for reading, conversation and general entertainment. I’m told author Susin Nielsen will be in the audience and she may bust out some interpretive dance moves to take the heat off me if my reading doesn’t go as planned.

And for those Vancouver Islanders interested in helping me launch Republic into the world, please join us at Munro’s Books in Victoria on March 4 at 7:30:

… or join us in Nanaimo on March 7.

Happy birthday to our dog

The Road is one year old today! For those who are not familiar with cattley dogs, I offer you the following sample of life with a heeler puppy:

7:00 a.m. Good lord dog! Could you be any cuter and more affectionate? Smart too!

7:07 a.m. Rodie! For god’s sake, get off the counter/kitchen table, balcony railing/neighbor’s roof!

7:15 a.m. I think we have done a brilliant job of training this dog. Look at his wide range of tricks and general expressiveness and responsiveness!

7:22 I AM SO SORRY! I don’t know what got into him. He doesn’t normally put on strangers’ pants and run away in them. Very embarrassing.

7:30 a.m. Snuggles.

Repeat.

I can’t wait to see what the next year brings.

He enjoys being magnificent…

Helping me with editing…

And he’s not afraid to do a little marketing and promotion.

CON-TEST!!

I am proud to announce that I have come up with perhaps the most self-serving competition in the history of the internet. What, you ask, is this contest that has outstripped the breathtaking narcissism and solipsism of our current self-promotional culture?

Well, my contest allows you to become a certified Recognized Recommender! Yes, it’s true!

Readers who enjoyed Republic of Dirt and recommend it in a winning way will be certified as Recognized Republic Recommenders. As Seth would say, Holy Shit! What an opportunity!

And what does it mean to be a Recognized Republic Recommender? Well, I have SIX (6!) Genuine Republic of Dirt burlap bags to give away to the first wave (it’ll be a wave, right?) of my favourite recommendations.

Top three Recommenders get a copy of Republic of Dirt IN a Genuine Burlap Bag. That way they can hand out the book to people they love a lot. Next three just get a bag. They can do whatever they like with it. (I suggest displaying it prominently at public events.)

Let the Recommending begin!

Remember: I have to be see the recommendation. Written, youtubed, tattooed. Like that.

A Fourth Star!

Thank you to The Horn Book Magazine for awarding The Truth Commission its fourth starred review!

Thank you to The Horn Book Magazine

for awarding The Truth Commission its fourth starred review! The review will be out in the March/April edition.

I will consider that marvelous news and the Scotch Egg I’m going to eat at brunch with the Underpants Mechanic (a.k.a. my husband) this weekend my Valentine’s day treat.