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As of this morning, I’ve officially tapped out of the Debris, Pauls, and Pillow Tour, where I read in a bunch of towns around Ontario with Jess Taylor (Pauls – BookThug), and Andrew Battershill (Pillow – Coach House Books). I started it off with Jess on the 15th of September, in Guelph, and then read with Jess and Andrew in Hamilton, London, Kingston, and Ottawa.

Big thanks to the following bookstores/venues that had us over, and the people who helped out at each stop…

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September 15th – The Bookshelf – Guelph (especially Andrew Hood)

September 20th – Epic Books – Hamilton (owner, Jaime Krakowski, and staff)

September 22nd – London Public Library, Landon Branch – London (librarian, Carolyn Doyle)

September 28th – Novel Idea – Kingston (manager, Oscar Malan, and their staff)

September 29th – Octopus Books – Ottawa

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Without those folks we’d have been reading on the corner for nickels. Or just at home, alone, in our respective hobbit holes.

We also would not have been able to do any of this without great enthusiasm and support, and a lot of work, from all of our publishers. Huge thanks to my publisher, Biblioasis, for helping a guy with the credit of a small child stay in hotels and get on trains, that includes Meghan Desjardins, Andrew Kovacevic, Grant Munroe, and head honcho Dan Wells. I also want to thank the folks at Coach House, including Alana Wilcox and Veronica Simmonds, and, especially Hazel Millar at BookThug, who really put in a lot of work to coordinate everything. I sort of just jumped into this tour and did my part, but all of those people did the planning and booking, and I appreciate that very much.

I’ve got one last event this fall. I’ll be at the Wild Writers Literary Festival in Waterloo next weekend (November 6th to 8th) as part of a panel called Fiction: Pushing Boundaries. With Rhonda Douglas, Kevin Hardcastle, Russell Smith, and Kathleen Winter, and moderated by K.D. Miller. That one takes place on the Saturday at 1:30pm. Come by and watch me be weird amongst a bunch of way more established and experienced authors. Probably it’ll change your life. I don’t know…

Thanks, finally, to Jess Taylor and Andrew Battershill, who put up with me during these past few weeks, and who are off to Montreal to read today. While I go back to Toronto to watch Halloween movies and transcribe things. Good luck to you my friends. You do not suck at writing, nor are you terrible human beings. Godspeed.

Hardcastle

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Starting today, in Guelph, I’ll be going on a little mini-tour with Jess Taylor (author of Pauls, BookThug) and Andrew Battershill (author of Pillow, with Coach House Books). Me and Jess are going to be reading tonight, and then the three of us will be at all of the other towns together. Here is what they all are, and you can click on whichever line for event information:

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• The Bookshelf presents an evening with Kevin Hardcastle, author of Debris (Biblioasis) & Jess Taylor, author of Pauls (BookThug) – Guelph, Ontario – October 15th
• Reading at Epic Books – Hamilton, Ontario – October 20th
• Reading at the London Public Library – Landon Branch – London, Ontario – October 22nd
• Reading at Novel Idea – Kingston, Ontario – October 28th
• Reading at Octopus Books  – Ottawa, Ontario – October 29th

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If any of that interests anybody, or if you know anybody in those towns who like readings and books about hillbilly violence and mayhem, Pauls, Pillows, and some feelings, please spread the word if you could. It would be much appreciated by all us writers and our publishers.

I’ll also be doing a reading in Toronto, at the Pivot Reading Series, on October 21st, with George Murray & Meira Cook. That should be a good one, and I hope to see the regular weirdos and hopefully some irregular weirdos there as well.

Any other reading/events that I’m at will get posted soon as I can. Otherwise, as always, thanks for listening to my ravings and reading my work.

Cheers.

Hardcastle

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As of September 29th, 2015, my short story collection Debris, published by Biblioasis, is officially on wide release in Canada.

We launched the hell out of the book a few weeks ago, thanks to all the fine people who came out to the Biblioasis fall list launches in Montreal, Windsor, and especially Toronto. It has also been in stores a little while, and I know some folks have been buying it up in various places. That does me a lot of good to hear.

If you’d like to buy a copy of Debris directly from Biblioasis, you can go ahead and click this whole line and you will get to where you need to go. I know that some US friends have been asking, and, while February 9th is the proper US release date, they can order it early if they go direct.

Otherwise, the book has been spotted in stores all over Canada, and I appreciate everyone who posted on the internet about it as they bought the book or just looked at it or did those things and also stuck it in with Twilight…

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I’m going on a little mini-tour, starting mid-October, with stops in Guelph, Hamilton, London, Kingston, and Ottawa. That can all be found in my events page on this site, along with upcoming Toronto readings and whatnot. Go to any or all of these if you like. There will almost always be other writers reading at them if you don’t like the cut of my jib.

Thanks again for all the support over the past while. I will report anything new as it shows up. More to come…

Cheers,

Hardcastle

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Hi. I did a list of books recently for 49th Shelf, thanks to excellent person Kerry Clare. I was asked to try and identify a theme, or elements that these great Canadian books might share to some extent with my debut short story collection, Debris, out now from Biblioasis. I chose to talk about books that are concerned with endurance, and survival, and the things we carry.

They aren’t necessarily all up the same alley, but I’ve listed collections and novels that I got something out of, that seemed true to me, and that have taught me something in the reading. As I’ve already heard from some people, many of these books have done the same to a number of readers.

So yes, click here and see what I’ve done. I think it turned out alright, and I hope that you read all of these books and continue going back to 49th Shelf for such things, and that you buy my book and read it until the pages disintegrate. Please?

Thank you.

Hardcastle

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On Monday, September 21st I will be a guest at the Common Reading Series, at The Bell Jar on 2072 Dundas West in Toronto. I’ll be reading something from my new collection, Debris, and will have a few there for stragglers who have yet to buy it. Given that they have not been told already that it is awful and never read it.

Also reading and guesting will be Heidi Reimer and Ann Shin. It should be a good time. Go to this. It all starts at 8pm ET.

See some of you tomorrow. I’ll try to have the eye of the tiger each and every minute of the night.

Cheers,

Hardcastle

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This week I joined forces with fellow Biblioasis writers Anakana Schofield (Malarky, Giller Prize Nom – Martin John), Samuel Archibald (Giller Prize Nom – Arvida), Larry Tremblay (The Orange Grove, etc), and, in Windsor, A.J. Somerset (Combat Camera, Arms), to promote our new books on the fall list. We began in Montreal on Monday night, had the expected crazy showing in Toronto the following night, and wrapped it up on Wednesday in Windsor, Biblioasis’ home base.

Though the main touring posse was to be me and the first three writers I mention, Archibald had to stay in Montreal and let us keep on without him, and Mr. Somerset graciously jumped in for the last stop. So, me, Anakana, and Larry, spent a lot of hours on trains and in hotels and in taxis, much of it together, and I was very grateful to discuss and argue and ramble on with them about all kinds of things I’m learning about having an actual book done. As Debris is my first published work, I was pretty green compared to all of these experienced and goddamn excellent writers, but I did my best to read well and learn something and drink a bunch of whiskey and swear a lot.

I think I at least had success in three of those things. It was one hell of an experience.

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The Toronto launch was the big one for me, and I’ve been harassing people for weeks and months to get them out for all the writers and for Biblioasis. We did what we could to make sure we didn’t double up with any of the other press launches, for incredible and very popular houses like Coach House Books and BookThug and Wolsak & Wynn. People like Alana Wilcox and Paul Vermeersch and Hazel & Jay Millar were very kind in speaking with us and working it out so that we could each get the chance to support all of these fall launches, and see our friends and favourite authors throwdown. The community in Toronto is pretty tight, and almost bafflingly supportive at times, and I felt that through this whole deal.

It was also an important night for me in that so many of my friends that I’ve known for as far back as twenty years, from Midland and University of Toronto and from the writing community, came down from all over and hollered when they got a chance. And bought up all the copies of my book, as well as many copies of the other books on sale. I know that all of that enthusiasm left an impression on the folks at Biblioasis and on Anakana and Larry, and we were all very grateful for the crowd. Of course, many fancy people in the Toronto scene that I don’t know came for the more established authors on the list, and I’m sure some were real confused by why Debris got so much attention. But, I knew that it would be my one event where it would get a little rowdy for me, and I didn’t think anyone would give much of a damn about mine at the others. Turns out it was received, and the reading was received, welcomely in Montreal and especially Windsor. I was not really prepared for that, but I am thankful for it and for everyone who put up with me there.

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People also got to meet my brother and my mum and my uncle, who came from a few hours away to celebrate with me. I was most nervous about reading in Toronto, mostly just because I very much wanted to deliver for them and to give them a reason to be proud of this. Of course, they’ve always had a hand in my stories, as far as I’m concerned, and I’d not be a writer or a proper human being without the work they’ve done. Those closest to me also know that my father passed away about two months ago, after a long fight with depression, and it weighed on us all heavy that he didn’t make it through to see this book published. All of the stories in there were influenced by my father and mother, and often my brother. Some of the most difficult passages in the work are not truly fiction at all, and my folks and family have never tried to stop me writing them down or really digging deep into our lives to write stories that matter. If there is any heart in my writing, this is where it comes from. Doing a decent job of this, and seeing my family in that room, speaking to other friends and those I’ve talked with over and over about my family, that did us all good. Especially after this hard summer and these past few years and what we’ve endured together. My mum and brother got to hear that they’d done a good job keeping me in line, and my uncle bought John Irving a beer. That’s not too bad for a Tuesday night…

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With all that said and done, I had the one last event in Windsor where I got to see the Bibliomanse, where the sausage is made, and met the staff who I have been emailing all day everyday for months. They were good people and we had some whiskeys after and I left all of my shit all over the place. I may or may not have drank all the rye at a post-launch bar visit and may or may not have drank down a bottle back at Biblioasis HQ after while yelling nonsense to my publisher, Dan Wells, and generally making sweeping statements about my writing and writing in general and the operations of the universe as I saw them. Probably a lot of that was crazy talk and the whiskey helped, but that is also when I got the chance to get to know some Biblioasis fans and colleagues and especially my other cohorts on the Tour, Larry and Anakana, and Somerset. By the end all things were drank and I wandered the streets in Windsor awhile until about two hours before I had to get on a train. Seems like that was the only way it would ever end up. I regret nothing. Good times all around…

So, thanks again to everyone at Biblioasis who put this together, and especially Dan Wells and John Metcalf (my brave editor) and Grant Munroe. Thanks to my new friends and colleagues Anakana Schofield and Larry Tremblay and Samuel Archibald and A.J. Somerset, for learning me things about writing and books and life in general. The level of talent there is frankly terrifying, and I know that all of these writers have much success to come. If I can carve out anything alike to what they have, I will be a happy man.

I got a reading on the 21st at the Common Reading Series in Toronto, and some more Ontario tour dates and readings coming up in mid-late October, and the Wild Writers Festival in Waterloo in November. Until then, I thought I’d decompress and catch up on work and little things I’ve been doing to promote Debris. I’ll keep everyone posted. But, I wanted to write something here about the past few days, while it was fresh, and to thank you all for reading my work over the years and supporting this book. I appreciate you all, and I hope you enjoy Debris, as well as new stories and the novel that I have on the way later on.

For those who missed these, I’ll be around Toronto, and you can also buy the book from Biblioasis here. It is in all bookstores for the most part, all over the country from those who’ve reported their findings to me, even though the official wide release is the 29th of September. With a little luck, you’ll be hearing more about it after that and in the weeks to come…

All best to everyone. You are heroes.

Hardcastle

(PS – All photo credits to Katrina Afonso. Champion.)

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While the official launch date is September 15th, Biblioasis had not penguinhouse-embargoed my collection o’ stories, and I know from people who’ve achieved it that you can order the book online, directly from them, right now.

You can also go to various bookstores and buy it. In Toronto, it has already shown up at Book City, and I imagine it will be available at Type Books and various Indigos around town. People out in Vancouver and Edmonton and the like will surely start seeing it arrive soon. Let me know if you find it around.

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A bunch of people have told me that they prefer to buy books at the launch, where I can sign profanities to them, and that is entirely possible at the Montreal, Toronto, and Windsor launch events for Biblioasis‘ fall list. Those are on the 14th, 15th, and 16th of September, and you can check out event details and RSVP by clicking this line and going to the facebook posting. As always, jerks who lie about their attendance will be retrieved from home by a bunch of Midland hosers and will eventually ride to this wearing their pajamas in the back of a pickup truck…

I’ll have more information on October readings in Hamilton, Kingston, Waterloo, London, etc. And they will all be updated on my events/readings link, right here. I’ll add all of that in as soon as it’s confirmed.

Until then, buy all of the copies of this book and tell people to buy it. I need peanut butter and bread money and I would also like people all over the land to read stories where snowmobile crime is a life option.

Thanks to everyone who has supported the book already. I also have some interviews and media coming down the pipe, and will post them as they show up.

Cheers,

Hardcastle

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There are dates set for the launch of Debris, my collection of short stories. The book will be part of all three main Biblioasis fall events. The official publication date is September 29th, but you will start seeing the book in stores, and will be able to order it online, as of right now.

The Toronto launch will be on September 15th, 2015 at The Garrison, on Dundas West. It will not just be me and a bunch of beer either. I’m happy to announce that other Biblioasis authors will be launched as well, including Anakana Schofield (Martin John), Samuel Archibald (Arvida – English Translation), and Larry Tremblay (The Orange Grove – English Translation).

This event is pretty much right at the start of the season, and I think we managed to avoid stealing any thunder from other launching presses and writers. As a result, interested people can focus on just Biblioasis and Hardcastle thunder that night.

The same writers will be in Montreal as part of that leg of the Biblioasis fall launch (Sept 14th), and then Windsor two days later (Sept 16th) for our fine publisher’s hometown event. I will be at all of these.

I said I’d update this when all these events were up, and I’ve also confirmed that you can find Debris in some stores this week, and can buy it direct from Biblioasis right here by clicking this line. Also, the book will be at the launch, and you can buy all of the copies that you can carry in your bicycle basket.

More to come soon. Thanks everybody.

Hardcastle

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Over the last few weeks I’ve had a couple things show up online that might be of interest, or might not and you can just shake your head at them. Either way, I’ll post them below and you can take a gander if you choose.

I did a little seven question interview thing with Alix Hawley, author of All True Not a Lie In It, which recently won the Amazon First Novel Award. She sent me some questions about my story Most of the houses had lost their lights, published right at this second by The New Quarterly and soon to be on shelves or in the hands of subscribers. I answer Alix’s questions about the writing process, and see whether I should ever try to write a female protagonist ever again. The segment is called Storybrain and can all be read here on her blog by clicking this line.

Next, I was asked to participate in The Recommend at 49th Shelf, and, as I’ve done before, I recommend The Lost Salt Gift of Blood by Alistair MacLeod. It’s no secret that MacLeod is my favourite writer that we ever had in this country, and that I particularly admire his short stories. Click here and check that out, as well as recommendations by fellow writers Chelsea Rooney, Daniel Allen Cox, Chadwick Ginther, and Teri Vlassopoulos, 

The last little things are both series that The New Quarterly runs with the contributors of upcoming issues of the journal. I show where I write when I’m indoors and underground in my basement palace (pictured above this post in part), for the Writing Spaces feature. Finally, for the Who’s Reading What feature, I tell people that I’m reading books by Andrew Forbes and Sarah Gerard. So you can read that and then buy those books and read and cherish them…

Oh yeah, I also got some good news that the last straggler story of mine from Debris, called The Rope, will be published in the September issue of This Magazine. I owe their fiction and poetry editor (and general hero) Dani Couture for reading that and finding room for it, especially so close to the book’s pub date.

That is all of it. I’ll post again when the TNQ story is officially out in the world for everyone to attain. Cheers.

Hardcastle