LAST OF THE INDEPENDENTS made the West Vancouver Library's Staff Pics for Best of Fall 2014, "The books that impressed us most this Fall." How flattering to be mentioned alongside Owen Laukkanen, Louise Penny, Suzanne Collins and Diane Keaton. Esteemed company indeed!

Also badass: the book got a very nice shout-out from J.D. Singh at the Sleuth of Baker Street bookstore in Toronto, in an article in the Toronto Star. Imagine seeing your book stacked with  Ian Rankin's. Pardon my French, but how fucking cool is that? 

 


In the last few weeks I've done events in Bellingham, Surrey, and my own beloved Vancouver. It's been great, but greatly exhausting. And in a few days I fly out to Long Beach for Bouchercon. I have a presentation there, but to be honest, I haven't had much time to plan out what else I'm going to take in--as much as I can, probably.

I love writing. I love being a writer. I am uncomfortable being a writer in public. But I'm working at it. People who read this blog, who come out to events, who review or rate the book online--you make this process so much more fun and worthwhile than it otherwise would be. The other writers I've met have been damn cool: very unpretentious, very friendly, and very dedicated. Getting to talk to booksellers who are stocking or talking up the book, or people who love crime fiction and have recommended it, that means everything to me--because that's why and how I buy books, off the recommendations of people I respect. So thanks.

And [putting on his shilling hat] if you feel like buying a copy of the book, or rating/reviewing it, please do so. Stores like Amazon, Chapters, and Amazon Canada*  demand a steady diet of ratings and reviews to glut their gaping maws, and now there are Amazon Author Page likes, which also determine...something. Please review the book and hit the like button. Or go buy it at a badass independent bookstore like Pulp Fiction or Brown's or Dead Write in Vancouver, the Seattle Mystery Bookshop in Seattle, or Sleuth of Baker Street in Toronto.

See you at (or after) Long Beach.