An overhead view of the lovely (it’s not lovely) Cote St. Luc Shopping Centre which was once close to dead but managed to kind of save itself (though not completely)
The long road to publishing is indeed a long road. Duh.
But you’ve seen the cover. The first blurbs are in. And they’re good. Again, duh.
We have chosen an actor to read the text for the audiobook; he’s worked in Montreal and knows French so he won’t massacre some of the words and names.
The book is set in Montreal. It is set, for the most part, near where I grew up. The Reeds’ homebase is very close to the corner of Cavendish and Cote St. Luc Rd for those who know that part of town. The gallery is in Mile Ex, sure, but the beer garden is really what is now Bar Wills up on Esplanade (though the book was written long before the opening of Bar Wills, back when it was called Alexanderplatz). The Canal is the Canal. The Point is the Point. I imagine Bobby’s office somewhere near Guy, perhaps between the Centre Bell and Guy where the new condos have all gone up. Dee’s high school is where Marymount is now but I had St. Luc in mind (and remember, Marymount and St. Luc switched buildings probably 20 years ago). Mimi’s store and warehouse is set in the Cote St. Luc Shopping Centre but a very rundown and dystopian version of it. The Chinese restaurant where Bobby orders take out and enjoys a beer is Fay Wong. It is always Fay Wong. It’s been there since I was a child though it may have changed ownership at some point. And the golf course is Meadowbrook. Where I spent countless hours as a child, exploring not just the golf course but also the train yard beyond it, where we would climb mountains of iron ingots and leave caked in black dust.
My last novel, which started out in Montreal (in the first draft) morphed into something quite different; a road novel set almost entirely in the U.S. The Reeds does not leave the island of Montreal. It almost feels like a reaction to Waiting for the Man.
The book is now available for preorder. Everywhere. Please preorder if you are able.
Oh, and here are some of the blurbs, taken from the book’s page on my publisher’s website.
Sometimes people say nice things and they don’t have to be paid for it.
