DARK VOYAGE

On the weekend, I read Dennis Tafoya‘s incredible debut novel, DOPE THIEF. (I had no choice — THE WOLVES OF FAIRMOUNT PARK, his second novel, comes out on June 22nd and I wanted to check out his debut first.) It’s a stunning book that managed to mix adrenalin-pumping action with a meditative, poignant heart. Quite a rare feat. Afterwards, I looked at the book’s Amazon listing, to see what other people said. The reviews were universally outstanding, but what got me was that there were only 12 of them.

We all know that authors obsess about their Amazon listings. I’m already doing this, and THE DAMAGE DONE doesn’t come out until September 28th. (Also, it’s currently #4,718,129 in Books. Woot?) Getting lots of terrific reviews won’t guarantee that a book will sell well, but it’s certainly not going to hurt. When I see that a novel is getting raves, it makes me want to read it, too, to see what the fuss is about.

There are several books that I’ve read in the past year and loved. Yet I’ve never gotten around to reviewing them on Amazon. Including the review I just wrote for DOPE THIEF, I’ve only done eight. Until yesterday, the last one was on September 22, 2009, and it was for A BAD DAY FOR SORRY by Sophie Littlefield (which everyone has to read if they haven’t already. The sequel, A BAD DAY FOR PRETTY, just came out!). Somehow, even though I absolutely loved Megan Abbott‘s BURY ME DEEP and Ken Bruen’s LONDON BOULEVARD and Dave Zeltserman‘s PARIAH, I didn’t review them, and I regret that.

So, I’ve got an idea. I’m dubbing July my own personal Amazon Review Month. Each day, I will write one review of a book I truly enjoyed. My only criteria is this: would I recommend the book to a friend? If so, it’s worthy of a review on Amazon. I’m not planning to write epic reviews detailing the book’s content, just three or four lines about what I found so engaging about it.

What I’d like to suggest is that you make July your own personal Amazon Review Month, too. Most of the people I hang out with on Twitter and Facebook are incredibly well-read, and I suspect that if enough of us review books we loved, we can entice others to read them, too. Who’s in?

Last Wednesday night was the launch party for the new Thuglit anthology, BLOOD, GUTS, & WHISKEY. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the Thuglit crowd gathered at the Village Lantern. Brass knuckles and shivs? Vodka shots and moonshine? Hair-trigger tempers and fights in the alley? Nope. Instead, I got to meet Todd and Allison Robinson, Thuglit’s creators, and their son (who goes by his street handle Baby Thug; he may already have a tattoo) and a bunch of writers who are just as excited to be in the anthology as I am.

Todd kicked the evening off by reading from “A Message From Big Daddy Thug,” his introduction to the collection:

“To those of you wondering what the hell a ‘Thuglit’ is, we’re all about rainbows, puppy dogs, and whatever Celine Dion is up to. Would I lie? ‘Blood, Guts, and Whiskey’ is the title of a Celine Dion song. Look it up.”

I was the first author to read. I didn’t realize it until Craig McDonald pointed it out on his blog, but I’m the only female writer in the collection (Craig also called me a “noir rose in a thicket of thorns,” which is a title I’m going to be using for the foreseeable future). My contribution to BLOOD, GUTS, & WHISKEY, “Son of So Many Tears,” was the second short story I published, and — just like my first — only the Thugs deemed it worthy to be seen by the reading public. (Thanks again, Big Daddy Thug and Lady Detroit.)

Also reading at the launch: Justin Porter (“Black Hair and Red Leather”), Kieran Shea (“Faith-Based Initiative”) and Glenn Gray (“Mr. Universe”). Todd read from “Death of a Rat” by the late Edward Bunker (also known as Mr. Blue in Reservoir Dogs).

Then, Todd sang.

Yes, you read that right. A musician had been playing guitar and harmonica and singing between authors’ sets all night, and he and Todd rocked the house with “Tupelo Honey.” The sweetest moment of the night for me was when I noticed that Baby Thug was completely riveted by his dad’s performance.

What are you doing on Wednesday, June 9th? If you’re in New York City, I hope you’re planning to come to the launch party for the new Thuglit anthology, BLOOD, GUTS, & WHISKEY. It’s set for the Village Lantern — 167 Bleecker Street near Sullivan — starting at 6pm and running until the bar kicks us out or the police show up, whichever comes first.

“Launch party” might be too tame a term to describe the festivities. More apt: “Booze-Up Bonanza,” as Todd Robinson, AKA Big Daddy Thug, put it in the e-mail invitation. I’ll be reading from my short story “Son of So Many Tears,” which is in the anthology, and several other shady characters — I mean, writers — have been corralled into taking part. Bring brass knuckles and prepare for a great night.

If you’re reading this blog, you already know that I have a soft spot for cemeteries. I take the Victorian view of them, meaning that I find them as serenely bucolic as public parks (though usually far less noisy, and with much better art). So it will come as no surprise that, when it came time to get my author photo taken, I returned to one of my old favorites.

The St. James Cemetery is Toronto’s oldest, and arguably its grandest, burial ground. It doesn’t boast the wide-ranging expanse of Mount Pleasant or the elaborate entryway of the Necropolis, but it’s filled with statues and mausoleums dedicated to some of the 18th- and 19th-century’s famous families: Jarvis, Austin, Gooderham, Brock, Cowan. It’s also in use by the St. George’s Society of Toronto, a volunteer organization that  has assisted poor families with burials since 1859, making the cemetery’s permanent residents an intriguing mix of social strata.

My friend Trish Snyder volunteered to take my photo, and fortunately for me she’s a very good sport. When I suggested the cemetery as a location for the shoot, she wrote back, “Strangest — and most fun — date location ever!” It was. If you’re in Toronto, give yourself at least an hour there for a quick tour. And be sure to take pictures.