If you write books you can go for months, and even years, with very little feedback from the outside world. You may have put out books that had really positive reader, critic, and sales response but, naturally, soon the enthusiasm moves on. If you want to get it back, your only hope is to write a completely new book. And writing a book is a big job.
With this in mind, this summer I was very pleased to be in touch with three different publishers about upcoming books.
• The Medusa Deep. Response to The Midnight Games was so positive that Noelle Allen (publisher of Wolsak & Wynn / Poplar Press) and I immediately began to discuss the ways in which it might become the foundation of a trilogy. I’ve drafted a sequel, and Noelle and I have agreed on the revisions that will make this manuscript publishable. I’m just about (October 2019) to finish this new draft– although a publication date will depend on Wolsak & Wynn’s upcoming publishing schedule.
• Chainsaws: A History. I’ve always thought of Chainsaws as a homage to the small-town and rural culture that was so much a part of my upbringing, and that still informs so much of how I see the world. Since it came out the book has only been available in hardcover, but Harbour Publishing contacted me this summer about doing a new, paperback edition. I have managed to slip in a few small but (I hope) helpful revisions. The paperback edition of Chainsaws: A History will come out in February 2020.
• Outside the Empire: Improvised Music in Toronto 1960-1985. This is a projected book adaption of my 2017 PhD dissertation. It is also under negotiation with a very supportive academic publisher. But my own teaching (a new vocation for me) and other writing commitments have stopped me from seeing the revisions through to completion. If anyone’s interested, check in again in a few months and I should be able to say something more conclusive! The best way to contact me is via email: lee.davidneil@gmail.com
