I’m Leaving On A Jet Plane ...

“All my bags are packed, I’m ready to go
I’m standing here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breaking, it’s early morn
The taxi’s waiting, he’s blowing his horn
Already I’m so lonesome I could die …

Cause I’m leaving on a jet plane
Don’t know when I’ll be back again
Oh baby, I hate to go …”

 There’s only one downside to this John and Dec’s Most Excellent Adventure road-trip malarkey, and it’s the ‘already I’m so lonesome I could die’ bit – I’ll badly miss the Princess Lilyput while I’m away jollying it up pretending to be a writer, there’s no two ways about it. But I guess it just has to be done, and hopefully she’ll still be saying “Da-da-da” and looking for lots of hugs when I stagger back into Dublin in the wake of the Bouchercon festivities …
  Anyhoos, I’ll be up-up-and-away to Toronto tomorrow lunchtime, and even though John and I intend to blog the road-trip, I’ve no idea how practical that idea is, or how regular the posts will be. We’ll see how it goes … Bear with me; regular service will be resumed all too soon.
  All that’s left to say is thanks a million to everyone who’s contributed to putting me in the position whereby I can fly off on a road-trip through New England promoting our humble tome THE BIG O. It’s a cliché, I know, but it’s true that the people you meet on the journey are far more important than the destination itself. And if the quality of folk I’ve met over the last 18 months are anything to go by, I’m honestly hoping I never actually make it to that destination. Peace, people.

“We’re Goin’ Up The Country / Baby Don’t You Wanna Go …?”

All three regular Crime Always Pays readers will be aware that John McFetridge and I are planning a road-trip in the week leading up to Bouchercon, kicking off on John’s home patch of Toronto on October 4 and meandering down through New England via Vermont, New York and Philadelphia to Baltimore, to arrive on Thursday, October 9. The full itinerary isn’t in place yet, and it will very probably involve some guerrilla-style tactics of hitting bookstores as we go, but we have some interesting gigs set up already, to wit:

John and Dec’s Most Excellent Road-Trip Adventure

Sunday, October 5
Toronto
Sleuth of Baker Street
1-2.30pm

Monday, October 6
Brattleboro, Vermont
Mystery on Main Street
5-6.30pm

Tuesday, October 7
New York
The Mysterious Bookshop (signing only)
Time tbc

Wednesday, October 8
Philadelphia
The Noir at the Bar: Fergie’s
8pm

Thursday, October 9
Baltimore
The 'Charmed to Death' Bouchercon

  Incidentally, John and I are appearing on a few panels at Bouchercon. To wit:

Thursday, October 9, 11.30am-12.30pm
‘KILLING FLOOR: Getting cops right in fiction.’
Dave Case(M), Mike Black, Martin Edwards, John McFetridge, Caroline Todd, Raffi Yessayan.

Thursday, October 9, 3-4pm
‘LET’S SPEND THE NIGHT TOGETHER: Authors you should take home.’
Jennifer Jordan (M), Declan Burke, Michael Allen Dymmoch, Tim Maleeny.

Sunday, October 12, 8.30-9.30am
‘CALL ME WHEN YOU'RE SOBER: Sunday hangover.’
Declan Hughes (M), Declan Burke, Stuart MacBride, Martyn Waites.

  A Sunday morning panel entitled ‘Sunday hangover’? Art imitates life imitates art imitates you-get-the-head-pounding-drift ...
  Anyhoos, that’s the basic set-up for now. I’ll be updating the itinerary as and when changes come in, and if any booksellers / stories / reading groups / bar mitzvahs in the New England area fancy having John and I along for some book-signing / Stadler and Waldorf action, just drop me a line …