About a week ago I went back to the homeland and read a bunch of stuff in front of a good amount of people, as part of the Read Local event put on by the Written Word Committee, and supported by the Midland Cultural Centre. My publisher, Biblioasis, was also a co-sponsor of the event so that I could get up there and read some hillbilly mayhem tales. I didn’t know how it would go, as many of my friends have up and left that area of the country and I don’t get there all that much. But, the good folk I know that live in the region came out and filled that room at the MCC. And it turned out to be an excellent day.

Thanks the most to Jennifer Kerr and Kristi Presse of the Written Word for setting this all up, and our old family friend, and acclaimed poet, Roger Bell, who got the whole thing started. I have always had a bit of a contentious relationship with that place that I came from, but over time I’ve realized that there’s a lot of it in me and in these stories, and I’m glad that I got a chance to give back to the community and people who’ve seen me try to scribble things down since I was wee. I was humbled by the response to the event, and by all the people who participated, organized, and attended it. We also sold out of all copies of Debris that were sent north. So, it was a damn good day, all in all.

I’ll have more news about things to come. The novel, In the Cage, is done for major edits and very nearly done for minor edits as well. That sonofabitch will be published in fall 2017. I’ll also be doing another thing or two readings or events-wise, and I’ll post about them in the next few days.

Until then, thanks to all the Simcoe people that supported me last weekend, and to everyone who keeps reading the work. Cheers. KH