Back on the blog...

...after a busy end of term and relaxing (if rather unadventurous—except for swimming with manta rays and jellyfish in Mexico) holiday.

When we got back, I was delighted to learn from a friend that Fatal Tide had been mentioned in the Xmas round-up of book picks selected by callers on Rex Murphy's Cross-Country Check-up. You can get the whole list here—mine was one of the few Canadian-authored books picked by Canadian listeners, which suggests some of the many challenges of the domestic publishing industry. It turned out that the caller was one of my students from a few years back, a talented writer named Wayne Potoroka based in the Yukon. But, honest, no money was exchanged or grades inflated for the plug!

The book also made at least one blogging reader's top ten list for the year.

Then, the new issue of Sea Kayaker magazine—the biggest kayaking publication in the world—ran a good review of the book (despite its lack of an American publisher), written by editor Chris Cunningham, no less (but not online). The kayaking community has really embraced the book and the lessons to be take from it about safety preparedness and the perils of cold water.

The adventure racing community? Less enthusiastic.

Finally, this weekend, the Vancouver Sun ran a fun little article by local author Barbara Julian about the ups and downs of self-marketing for Canadian authors. She mentions a couple of low points from my own oddball efforts to drum up interest for my book, which I'd described on this blog. Apparently, the Sun also ran a photo of me, but I've yet to see the article.

One of my vain efforts was the "Ride to the Readers" campaign last summer. So I thought, now that it has been mentioned again in the Sun, I'd resurrect my offer to bike to interested book buyers and sign their copies in person, with a few twists: 1) I'll limit the geographical range (at least until the weather improves) to Victoria, Oak Bay, and parts of Saanich not too far from the university; but 2) and I'll actually bring a copy of the book to your house (while supplies last) and sell it to you for $30- flat fee (a toonie off the list price, and w/o any tax).

Surely, with that kind of CRAZY GOOD offer, I can improve on my statistic of one reader ridden to....