WHAT'S WAITING FOR US DOWN THE ROAD?

Image (c) Thinkstock. Used under licence.

Every year at this time I like to take stock of where I'm at and set a few objectives for the coming 12 months. What did I manage to achieve this year, and what would I like to accomplish next year?

There's not much doubt that 2018 has been rough. On a macro-macro level, we've endured an unreasonable amount of social and political turmoil, and my American friends must remember that their chaos is the world's chaos. In Canada, we must hang on for dear life and hope you folks clean house soon (i.e., drain the new swamp) and get back on track.

On a micro, or personal level, 2018 was no improvement on 2017. Enough said about that for now.

Readers of this blog are more interested in what I'm doing professionally, since that's the point of the whole thing, so let's talk about that instead.

This year saw the publication of PERSISTENT GUILT, the third March and Walker Crime Novel. I'm very proud of this title. I'm pleased with the design of the book, cover and interior, and I feel that I was able to accomplish a few things in the story, particularly with Kevin and his family situation, that move the series forward in a direction I like.

The upcoming year should see the publication of two new titles. The fourth March and Walker crime novel, NO SADNESS OF FAREWELL, is in draft right now and hopefully will appear in the summer of 2019. This novel will focus on a case requiring the services of a forensic anthropologist, and I think you'll find the character of Dr. Ash Latimer to be, well, interesting. It also brings Ellie March's octogenarian neighbour, Ridge Ballantyne, into the foreground.

As well, the long-anticipated first novel in my new Tom Faust series, THE LONG ROAD INTO DARKNESS, will appear in print in 2019 come hell or high water. I've been shopping this manuscript around for nearly three years, and after a major rewrite, I'm down to the last submission for it. If/when I hear back in the usual manner, I'll prepare this one for publication through the Plaid Raccoon Press. Watch for a tentative release date of February 19 -- 2/19/19.

I hope everyone celebrating Christmas this year had a great time, and here's wishing you all Happy Holidays!

Happy New Year: Reviewing 2012 and Looking Forward

From everyone here at The Plaid Raccoon Press in Oxford Station, Ontario, Canada, to all of you who read The Overnight Bestseller and follow the Donaghue and Stainer Crime Novel series, we send our best wishes for a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2013.

A New Year's Day Postcard from Oxford Station (M.J. McCann photo)

The past year was our first full calendar year in business. In 2012 we published two books: Marcie's Murder, the follow-up to Blood Passage; and The Fregoli Delusion, the third Donaghue and Stainer Crime Novel. I also had the supreme good fortune to travel to Rothes, Scotland, to visit The Glenrothes distillery as a winner of their 2012 Vintage Moment competition. While promoting Marcie's Murder I made several radio appearances and a television appearance, was profiled in magazines and newspapers, and the novel was reviewed favorably by Jack Batten in the Toronto Star. I participated in the Word on the Street Book Festival in Toronto as part of the Crime Writers of Canada contingency and made a number of book signing appearances, which provided an opportunity to meet many enthusiastic readers of crime fiction.

It was an exciting and eventful year. Can we top it in 2013?

The fourth Donaghue and Stainer Crime Novel is underway. I'm completing my research and writing the preliminary background material. Very shortly I'll write the outline, and then another manuscript will begin to take shape. Plans are for the novel to be published this summer.

On another front, The Plaid Raccoon Press will add supernatural fiction to its lineup this year as well. I have re-acquired the rights to my very first novel, The Ghost Man, and we will soon issue a revised edition under our own imprint. A second title under the new banner will aim for a Halloween 2013 release date. Fans of The Ghost Man will be pleased to know that this novel will also be set in eastern Ontario.

It's a great time to be an independent. The just-in-time print-on-demand model has proven itself to be a viable and forward-looking option for small publishers to produce their books on paper (see this article by Danny O. Snow in Publishers Weekly),  and enterprises such as Smashwords have revolutionized how the world receives books in ebook format (see Smashwords founder Mark Coker's 2012 Year in Review).

While traditional publishing houses grow larger (as Penguin and Random House merge) and fewer (as Douglas & McIntyre and others file for bankruptcy), and traditionally-published authors such as Sue Grafton, Jodi Picoult, Richard Russo and David Hewson launch incendiary strikes against what Hewson calls "a phoney revolution," the fact remains that the publishing business and the book market for readers have turned a corner, and there's no going back. For me as an independent author beginning a new career, it has happened, if you will, "just in time."

The key to success, of course, will have to be quality. Best-selling A-list authors can get away with publishing a sub-par title to fulfill contract requirements with their Big Five publisher because their name alone sells the book, but independents have no such wiggle room. As a result, our objective is always to do our very best to make sure the next title is better than the previous one. Continuous improvement is not just a cliché around here, it's the way we do business.

With that in mind, we promise to continue to offer engaging stories that are well-written, are as free of typographical errors, spelling mistakes and grammatical errors as humanly possible, with eye-catching covers, and all with an upbeat, positive, and enthusiastic attitude.

Come join us as we continue the publishing revolution in 2013!

Happy New Year and best wishes from me, from my wife, business partner and editor Lynn, our son Tim, who shoots our author photos, our editorial reader Margaret, and our manuscript readers Gwenda, Anie, Danielle, and Larry.

And, of course, from Cody, who's going to end up being our biggest celebrity by far!

Happy 2013, everyone!