Hold My Beer
Or Thank you, Amazon, for cancelling my book
Amazon pulled my book? No way! It isn’t even due to be released until March 19.
I was ready to go in fighting.
When one friend alerted me that months after ordering it, Amazon had cancelled her pre-order of What the Living Do, with a note saying they didn’t know when it would be available, I went through a sort of DABDA—Kubler-Ross’s stages of death and dying: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.
I emailed my publisher who virtually shrugged and said Amazon could be like that, who knows why, and readers should order through their local indie bookstore. I have to admit, I kind of overlooked that last sentiment and went down an Amazon rabbit hole trying to find answers.
Hoo boy, did no one understand what I was asking? One woman insisted I contact KDP. I told her it wasn’t self-published, but she said, well they handle all the books. Jeesh. Finally, I said, okay, imagine that I’m talking about a toy or a purse for sale on Amazon and not a book, per se. She transferred me to someone else who transferred me to someone else who told me that it was the publisher who had to contact IPG, the distributor. IPG, my publishers tell me, has buckets of stock in their Canadian warehouse, and they deliver orders every week. So I wrote my publisher again to let her know it was up to them. So she wrote back to say she’d look into it through IPG.
By this time, I was through the bargaining stage and had kinda dropped into the depression stage when reality registered.
This is a good thing. On many levels.
First, having all those lovely people pre-ordering my novel gave it a bump—signalling to the publishers that people are buying the thing. Second, all of those lovely people who pre-ordered, many of whom will be attending one or the other of my launch parties, will now be able to purchase the novel from one of the booksellers at the event. Bonus! So much better than feeding the Amazon beast. And the third good thing, which makes me laugh, is that this mess gives my book some attention. I mean, who doesn’t love a cancelled book?
In other related news…
Here is the full list of upcoming book events as well as the link to be part of the first wing ding via YouTube live streaming…
And a couple of advance reviews that made me very happy.
Sunday, March 24 ~ 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Creative Nomad Studios
23 Mississauga Street West, Orillia, ON
Bookseller: Manticore Books
Live Music – songs from the book—by Paul Court
Cash Bar
Sandwiches, snacks, & cake
Reading and author talk with Richard Scrimger
Live streamed via YouTube
Thursday, April 4 ~ 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Centre For Social Innovation,
720 Bathurst Street, Toronto
Bookseller: Ben McNally Books
Cash Bar
Tasty catered canapes
Reading and author talk with Richard Scrimger
Saturday, April 13 ~ 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Blue Heron Books,
62 Brock St W
Uxbridge, ON
Bookseller: Blue Heron Books
Tea & coffee
Sandwiches & crudities catered by Tin Cup
Reading and author talk with Ruth Walker
Saturday, April 20 ~ 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Take Cover Books
59 Hunter Street East
Peterborough ON
Bookseller: Take Cover Books
Tea & coffee
Snacks
Reading and author talk with Joanne Culley
Wednesday, June 5 ~ 6 to 8 p.m.
Caffé Fantastico,
965 Kings Road
Victoria, BC
Bookseller: Munros Books
The Roastery hosts this private event – full menu available
Reading and author talk with Kari Jones & Julian Gunn
Wednesday, June 26 ~ 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Notably, a Book Lover’s Emporium
454 Ward St,
Nelson, BC
Book Seller: Notably Books
And here are What the Living Do’s first two reviews from advance readers:
This is a high-level summary of the book, anyway. I read the book last year (I’m seldom timely in my reviews here, ok?) and what I remember feeling most was almost invariably frustrated by the main character, Brett—a woman who is diagnosed with a serious illness and proceeds to spend a large swath of the book doing nothing about it.
A woman who is cruel to her boyfriend, who is much younger than her and she keeps at arm’s length to try to spare herself from being hurt. She treats him as if he’s a toy. I believe there’s even a line in there where he accuses her of using his dick as a pacifier. (Awesome.)
A woman who assumes her co-worker has mystical wisdom because he’s Indigenous and doesn’t see him for who he is.
A woman who wallows in the past and her perceived failures as a person.
So yeah, I found the person a little infuriating, but infuriating to great effect. Infuriating in a way that forced me to confront why I was so infuriated with her. Sometimes the reasoning was easy, like with the Indigenous romanticism, which Wadds is clearly criticizing because Brett is so badly misreading situations—a fact well-established in the absorbing narrative—and sometimes, I had to do some digging, like when it came to why I was so irritated by what this woman was choosing to do with her own body. Why did I feel like she should act differently? Because I would? What does that say about my strongly-held beliefs about bodily autonomy? Am I full of shit?
Books are funny little mirrors, aren’t they?
They don’t always show us things about ourselves we like. But if we are open to them, they can show us where we need to grow.
What the Living Do is compelling novel, making some compelling, nuanced observations. Highly recommend.
~ Hollay Ghadery
What the Living Do by Susan Wadds is a compelling look at how we can think being ill is a moral failing. The main character, Brett, thinks her illness is a result of her failures as a person, and she agonizes over the deaths of her father and sister, thinking they were her fault—and her illness is her fault by extension.
She also dates a younger man so she can maintain the illusion of control. All this to protect herself.
There are other undercurrents in this novel, including women’s reproductive rights. Wadds also takes a critical look at Indigenous romanticism. (There’s a part where Brett ascribes her Indigenous coworker a mystical knowledge when the coworker is merely giving general, common knowledge advice. It’s uncomfortable to read. It’s also clear Wadds is interrogating this tendency, though, and not playing into it, because Brett is so obviously misreading the situation.)
I enjoyed the book. It gave me lots to think about, from perspectives I’d never considered and was well written.
~ Matthew (Goodreads)
I’ve ordered from Munro’s! 🙌🏻🙌🏻