Andrew David MacDonald's Blog
December 7, 2022
Eight Strings! Great new novel
Hey everyone.
Debut author Margaret DeRosia wrote a fantastic novel, Eight Strings.
This one:
Eight Strings
I love it so much I blurbed it.
Rumour has it Kate Quinn loves it too. And she knows what she's talking about.
Pre-order, add to your to-reads, and count down the days!
Debut author Margaret DeRosia wrote a fantastic novel, Eight Strings.
This one:
Eight Strings
I love it so much I blurbed it.
Rumour has it Kate Quinn loves it too. And she knows what she's talking about.
Pre-order, add to your to-reads, and count down the days!
June 26, 2021
Why I like Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic Series
I was doing a book club last night (hi Sherry and everyone in Vermont!) and somehow Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella came up. I kind of went on this mini-rant slash tirade about how snooty people with monocles and top hats and who smoke pipes and talk about Literature(tm) shit on Kinsella's books, and books like them.
Which in turn comes on the heels of a couple of my literary friends going on Goodreads and seeing that I’ve read three of Kinsella’s novels so far. These goodnatured souls kind of poked a bit of fun at me, which got me thinking about how ridiculous our conceptions of high brow and low brow can be. Because here’s a secret: I’ve enjoyed The Shopaholic series more than a lot of the capital-L Literary Novels I’ve read in the past few years.
That opens up a Pandora’s Box about what makes capital-G Good Capital-L Literature, and bumps up against an idea that kind of runs through institutionalized readership. Good Literature, we’re told, should be painful or bland. Like medicine or peas. Blah blah. I’m not going to go into why that rubs me the wrong way, because there are plenty of reasons and I still have to feed my cat this morning. Instead, what I’d like to do is say a few things about Kinsella’s novels, and why I think they're great.
Here goes.
I’m probably as far away from the target audience for Kinsella’s novels as you can get. I’m a guy, I’m in my late-30s, I’m largely anti-consumerist, with tragic fashion sense. I don’t live in Britain or the US, and a lot of the values the Shopaholic series ostensibly presents don’t line up with my values.
All fact.
And that got me thinking: so why do I care about Becky Bloomwood, about her addiction to conspicuous consumption, her travails with boyfriend (then fiancé [then husband]) Luke Brandon, and about her Denny and George scarf?
This is where the magic of the series, and Kinsella’s abilities, lie. Because somehow she’s managed to make a guy who hasn’t shopped for clothes in years recognize that when Becky sells her Denny and George scarf at an auction, something really important is happening - something meaningful. I don’t even know what a Denny and George scarf is, really, except that it costs a lot of money and seems pretty stylish. But Kinsella has taught me that, for Becky, this object is a kind of totem, no different (pardon the analogy) than the world-destroying glove of Thanos, or Rosebud in Citizen Kane.
Over the course of 300-odd pages, Kinsella has slyly taught me to see the world as Becky does. Her concerns became my concerns, and I found myself outraged that the manager of Endwich Bank would have the temerity to suggest that Becky has a spending problem.
(Spoiler: she does, and in real life, I’d probably side with said bank manager, though of course I’m not a fan of the debt-spinning monetary system, but that’s a rant for another Saturday morning).
There’s something magical here, I think - something magical about Kinsella’s ability to make someone like me care about a Denny and George scarf. To my eye, that’s the lifeblood of fiction and storytelling. No other medium can give you VIP access to the inner world of someone completely unlike you. Even movies have a fourth wall between you and the people on screen. The best novels and short stories merge you and the characters together on the sly; you don’t even notice that you’ve become one of Atwood’s handmaidens, or Ishmael hunting his whale. Or, in this case, that you’ve inexplicably transformed from a grumpy 37 year old dude to a 20-something female financial journalist with a tortured credit card and a heart of gold.
Some people judge fiction based on its messaging, or how it takes on the grim angst of the human experience. Fine. I can get with that. But there’s another metric we can use to judge good fiction: how much it makes us care. I’ve always been partial to fiction that breaks my heart. And while the monocle-wearers might find it hard to believe, when Becky’s lost her job, her boyfriend, and her Denny and George scarf, I’m just as devastated as she is.
And that is, yes, to repeat myself, magical.
Which in turn comes on the heels of a couple of my literary friends going on Goodreads and seeing that I’ve read three of Kinsella’s novels so far. These goodnatured souls kind of poked a bit of fun at me, which got me thinking about how ridiculous our conceptions of high brow and low brow can be. Because here’s a secret: I’ve enjoyed The Shopaholic series more than a lot of the capital-L Literary Novels I’ve read in the past few years.
That opens up a Pandora’s Box about what makes capital-G Good Capital-L Literature, and bumps up against an idea that kind of runs through institutionalized readership. Good Literature, we’re told, should be painful or bland. Like medicine or peas. Blah blah. I’m not going to go into why that rubs me the wrong way, because there are plenty of reasons and I still have to feed my cat this morning. Instead, what I’d like to do is say a few things about Kinsella’s novels, and why I think they're great.
Here goes.
I’m probably as far away from the target audience for Kinsella’s novels as you can get. I’m a guy, I’m in my late-30s, I’m largely anti-consumerist, with tragic fashion sense. I don’t live in Britain or the US, and a lot of the values the Shopaholic series ostensibly presents don’t line up with my values.
All fact.
And that got me thinking: so why do I care about Becky Bloomwood, about her addiction to conspicuous consumption, her travails with boyfriend (then fiancé [then husband]) Luke Brandon, and about her Denny and George scarf?
This is where the magic of the series, and Kinsella’s abilities, lie. Because somehow she’s managed to make a guy who hasn’t shopped for clothes in years recognize that when Becky sells her Denny and George scarf at an auction, something really important is happening - something meaningful. I don’t even know what a Denny and George scarf is, really, except that it costs a lot of money and seems pretty stylish. But Kinsella has taught me that, for Becky, this object is a kind of totem, no different (pardon the analogy) than the world-destroying glove of Thanos, or Rosebud in Citizen Kane.
Over the course of 300-odd pages, Kinsella has slyly taught me to see the world as Becky does. Her concerns became my concerns, and I found myself outraged that the manager of Endwich Bank would have the temerity to suggest that Becky has a spending problem.
(Spoiler: she does, and in real life, I’d probably side with said bank manager, though of course I’m not a fan of the debt-spinning monetary system, but that’s a rant for another Saturday morning).
There’s something magical here, I think - something magical about Kinsella’s ability to make someone like me care about a Denny and George scarf. To my eye, that’s the lifeblood of fiction and storytelling. No other medium can give you VIP access to the inner world of someone completely unlike you. Even movies have a fourth wall between you and the people on screen. The best novels and short stories merge you and the characters together on the sly; you don’t even notice that you’ve become one of Atwood’s handmaidens, or Ishmael hunting his whale. Or, in this case, that you’ve inexplicably transformed from a grumpy 37 year old dude to a 20-something female financial journalist with a tortured credit card and a heart of gold.
Some people judge fiction based on its messaging, or how it takes on the grim angst of the human experience. Fine. I can get with that. But there’s another metric we can use to judge good fiction: how much it makes us care. I’ve always been partial to fiction that breaks my heart. And while the monocle-wearers might find it hard to believe, when Becky’s lost her job, her boyfriend, and her Denny and George scarf, I’m just as devastated as she is.
And that is, yes, to repeat myself, magical.
January 1, 2021
Happy New Year!
Hi friends and fellow readers!
I wanted to wish everyone a happy and book-filled 2021. May you be inspired to read, and by what you read, and may we all turn the corner on this turbulent year!
Thank you to everyone who has read my little book, and rated and commented. You've made this debut author's heart ache with gratitude.
I'm hoping I'll have some exciting news to announce in the coming months, but for now, I'm just happy to be back reading again, with a sense of renewed focus and (I hope) hope.
I'll no doubt fall short of my 100 books read goal this year, but the fun is in the trying. As a sub-goal I'd like to read more books of poetry, a genre I love, and to read more books outside of the genres I'm familiar with.
I'd also like to start interacting with readers here more, though I'm not sure how. This post will have to serve that purpose for now.
Onwards, all! Let's make 2021 fabulous and full of lovely words.
Yours,
ADM
I wanted to wish everyone a happy and book-filled 2021. May you be inspired to read, and by what you read, and may we all turn the corner on this turbulent year!
Thank you to everyone who has read my little book, and rated and commented. You've made this debut author's heart ache with gratitude.
I'm hoping I'll have some exciting news to announce in the coming months, but for now, I'm just happy to be back reading again, with a sense of renewed focus and (I hope) hope.
I'll no doubt fall short of my 100 books read goal this year, but the fun is in the trying. As a sub-goal I'd like to read more books of poetry, a genre I love, and to read more books outside of the genres I'm familiar with.
I'd also like to start interacting with readers here more, though I'm not sure how. This post will have to serve that purpose for now.
Onwards, all! Let's make 2021 fabulous and full of lovely words.
Yours,
ADM
April 8, 2020
Friends and Fellow Readers!
Friends and Fellow Readers!
I hope you are safe and well amidst all the chaos, wherever you hang your hat and monocle and hazmat suit. I’ve been cooped up with my cat (who is not pleased that her big dumb human has interrupted her robust daily napping schedule), writing and also reading up a storm and trying to make kimchi and failing miserably.
On the subject of books and the soothing effects thereof, I’d like to enthusiastically plug two novels from talented friends that would assuredly make for good quarantine reading.
Fellow Canadian Samantha Bailey’s Woman on the EdgeWOMAN ON THE EDGE has been a bestseller here in the land of maple syrup and hockey pucks pretty much since it came out. Its American publication date was early March, so consider this a PSA for those who missed it!
I read the book in a weekend (time is a flat circle these days, so maybe I actually read it on a Tuesday and Wednesday, or a Thursday and Sunday WHO KNOWS) and couldn’t put it down. The premise alone has been enough to interest everyone I’ve pitched the novel to: she hands you her baby, and then she jumps.
Ack!
For those who like their suspense novels fast, punchy, and compulsively readable, WOMAN ON THE EDGE is a perfect pandemic read.
For folks whose present reading needs hew more towards comfort and big heartedness, Mary Pauline Lowry’s fantastic The Roxy LettersTHE ROXY LETTERS is a big warm blanket of awesome. It’s romantic, life affirming, and charming (like its charming and life affirming author).
I toured with Mary Pauline pre-publication and watched reader after reader approach her, clutching their new favorite book to their chests, to talk about how much Roxy had changed their lives and gave them hope in a world that seems to get darker by the day.
The story’s about Roxy, who works at a pre-corporate-sale Whole Foods in Austin and lives with her ex-boyfriend, Everett, who neither pays the bills nor helps meet, ahem, the more unspoken of her needs. When a new LuLu Lemon (ye gods!) pops up where a favorite indie video store used to be, Roxy thinks it high time to shake the funk she’s in, save Austin from gentrification, and maybe even find love.
If I may be so bold as to take a bit of the spotlight here, I’ve been told folks who liked VIKINGS have likewise enjoyed THE ROXY LETTERS, conjecture I happen to believe and happily circulate.
As for me, I’m hard at work on a new book and will probably just buy the damn kimchi the next time I brave the grocery store.
I did my first podcast type thing a ways back with Kobo, where I answer questions about WHEN WE WERE VIKINGS, writing, and go on a rant about ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST, so have a listen. The fantastic interviewers asked a lot of questions about the craft of writing, so if you’re an aspiring wordsmith you might want to check it out for that reason.
Here’s the link to that interview: https://podcasts.apple.com/za/podcast...
I hope you are all staying safe out there, and that you are, as a silverlining, reading books that excite and move you!
With innumerable fistbumps and much skal,
ADM + Zelda + Beaker the Elderly Tuxedo Cat
I hope you are safe and well amidst all the chaos, wherever you hang your hat and monocle and hazmat suit. I’ve been cooped up with my cat (who is not pleased that her big dumb human has interrupted her robust daily napping schedule), writing and also reading up a storm and trying to make kimchi and failing miserably.
On the subject of books and the soothing effects thereof, I’d like to enthusiastically plug two novels from talented friends that would assuredly make for good quarantine reading.
Fellow Canadian Samantha Bailey’s Woman on the EdgeWOMAN ON THE EDGE has been a bestseller here in the land of maple syrup and hockey pucks pretty much since it came out. Its American publication date was early March, so consider this a PSA for those who missed it!
I read the book in a weekend (time is a flat circle these days, so maybe I actually read it on a Tuesday and Wednesday, or a Thursday and Sunday WHO KNOWS) and couldn’t put it down. The premise alone has been enough to interest everyone I’ve pitched the novel to: she hands you her baby, and then she jumps.
Ack!
For those who like their suspense novels fast, punchy, and compulsively readable, WOMAN ON THE EDGE is a perfect pandemic read.
For folks whose present reading needs hew more towards comfort and big heartedness, Mary Pauline Lowry’s fantastic The Roxy LettersTHE ROXY LETTERS is a big warm blanket of awesome. It’s romantic, life affirming, and charming (like its charming and life affirming author).
I toured with Mary Pauline pre-publication and watched reader after reader approach her, clutching their new favorite book to their chests, to talk about how much Roxy had changed their lives and gave them hope in a world that seems to get darker by the day.
The story’s about Roxy, who works at a pre-corporate-sale Whole Foods in Austin and lives with her ex-boyfriend, Everett, who neither pays the bills nor helps meet, ahem, the more unspoken of her needs. When a new LuLu Lemon (ye gods!) pops up where a favorite indie video store used to be, Roxy thinks it high time to shake the funk she’s in, save Austin from gentrification, and maybe even find love.
If I may be so bold as to take a bit of the spotlight here, I’ve been told folks who liked VIKINGS have likewise enjoyed THE ROXY LETTERS, conjecture I happen to believe and happily circulate.
As for me, I’m hard at work on a new book and will probably just buy the damn kimchi the next time I brave the grocery store.
I did my first podcast type thing a ways back with Kobo, where I answer questions about WHEN WE WERE VIKINGS, writing, and go on a rant about ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST, so have a listen. The fantastic interviewers asked a lot of questions about the craft of writing, so if you’re an aspiring wordsmith you might want to check it out for that reason.
Here’s the link to that interview: https://podcasts.apple.com/za/podcast...
I hope you are all staying safe out there, and that you are, as a silverlining, reading books that excite and move you!
With innumerable fistbumps and much skal,
ADM + Zelda + Beaker the Elderly Tuxedo Cat
February 4, 2020
French Edition
Hi friends,
A copy of the French edition has arrived!
Interestingly, the title has become something like "I am a Viking." The Spanish edition also has a title change, though I already forgot what it is. But perhaps more importantly, the little author-photo drawing lets me knock 'become a Peanuts character' off my bucket list.
I don't know if you feel this way, but I'm always interested in how different countries around the world stylize their book covers.
So I'm happy to share this one, and if there's interest in seeing the different editions as they come in, maybe I'll share :)
Hope everyone's having a great year so far.
A copy of the French edition has arrived!
Interestingly, the title has become something like "I am a Viking." The Spanish edition also has a title change, though I already forgot what it is. But perhaps more importantly, the little author-photo drawing lets me knock 'become a Peanuts character' off my bucket list.
I don't know if you feel this way, but I'm always interested in how different countries around the world stylize their book covers.
So I'm happy to share this one, and if there's interest in seeing the different editions as they come in, maybe I'll share :)
Hope everyone's having a great year so far.
January 16, 2020
Book Trailer
Just wanted to share this completely awesome book trailer my completely awesome publishers made for Vikings!
AHHHHHHHHHHH I LOVE IT. And hope do you too.
-adm
https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue...
AHHHHHHHHHHH I LOVE IT. And hope do you too.
-adm
https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue...
October 24, 2019
Max Shelf Awareness Interview!
Hi everyone!
I hope you're enjoying the changing seasons (unless you're reading this at some indeterminate point in the future [and I assume you are], in which case I hope life is good whichever season it is!).
I recently answered some questions for Melissa Firman over at Shelf Awareness, who also wrote a very lovely review of WWWV to boot (thanks, Melissa!).
I'll definitely be taking questions from readers in the future, but for now folks interested in where the book came from, what I'm working on, and other jazzy subjects can check out the interview and accompanying review here:
https://www.shelf-awareness.com/max-i...
Best,
ADM
ps. For those who have asked, my cat's name is Beaker, though the humans in her life call her The Overlord.
I hope you're enjoying the changing seasons (unless you're reading this at some indeterminate point in the future [and I assume you are], in which case I hope life is good whichever season it is!).
I recently answered some questions for Melissa Firman over at Shelf Awareness, who also wrote a very lovely review of WWWV to boot (thanks, Melissa!).
I'll definitely be taking questions from readers in the future, but for now folks interested in where the book came from, what I'm working on, and other jazzy subjects can check out the interview and accompanying review here:
https://www.shelf-awareness.com/max-i...
Best,
ADM
ps. For those who have asked, my cat's name is Beaker, though the humans in her life call her The Overlord.
