An update on my next book | Pinnacle Newsletter #85
#85 An update on The Farthest Shore
It has been months since my last newsletter – far too long. I used to send them out weekly, and although that became unsustainable, I must admit that I have slipped out of the habit of doing them altogether over the last year. I guess it became another casualty of 2020.
Things are fine here; I have enough work but not too much, my wife’s business is ticking along despite the double hammer-blows of Covid and Brexit, and although I’m keenly missing the mountains, I’ve reached the point now where I think I can get through this. There is at least light at the end of the tunnel now. I’ve been spending most of my spare time photographing and studying local wildlife.
It’s been a while since my most recent update about The Farthest Shore, my upcoming book all about hiking the Cape Wrath Trail in winter, but things are now moving and I have a few bits and pieces to share.
I submitted my draft last August and minor revisions in September. Publication date was an open question at that time; I’d been told 2021, but given the upheaval the publishing industry has been going through I realised that this could mean any date in the year – or even that publication could be postponed to the year after. My publisher, Vertebrate Publishing, has a long and proud history of bringing fantastic mountain and outdoor-themed narrative non-fiction to life, but can only effectively market so many of these at once (especially in such strange times).
In February, my editor, Emma Lockley, told me that things were starting to move forward, and I’m happy to announce that we now have a publication date: September the 2nd 2021. Although this is later than I originally imagined, I’m actually pretty happy about this as a September release is very convenient for the Christmas market. There is also a fair chance that things may be settling down post-pandemic by this point, although given the twists and turns of Coronavirus so far there’s no telling how that might play out at this stage.
I want people to be able to walk into a bookshop, see The Farthest Shore on a shelf, take it to the counter and buy it, then start reading it over a cup of coffee in a coffee shop. You know, like in the distant mythical past of 2019.
I’ve supplied potential cover images and have been told that I can expect to see a few mock-up cover designs at some point soon, which is exciting!
For now, here’s our working draft of the blurb:
In February 2019, award-winning writer Alex Roddie left his online life behind when he set out to walk 300 miles through the Scottish Highlands, seeking solitude and answers. In leaving the chaos of the internet behind for a month, he hoped to learn how it was truly affecting him – or if he should look elsewhere for the causes of his anxiety.
The Farthest Shore is the story of Alex’s solo trek along the remote Cape Wrath Trail. As he journeyed through a vanishing winter, Alex found answers to his questions, learned the nature of true silence, and discovered frightening evidence of the threats faced by Scotland’s wild mountain landscape.
I can’t wait to share a cover design when we have one finalised! When the book is available to pre-order, I’ll be letting my newsletter subscribers know first of all.
I am also working on two other books, both of which should be published this year, all being well. There will be more to share about them soon. (Yes, I am doing a great deal of writing at the moment.)
I hope that the gap between this and my next newsletter won’t be quite as long! Thank you as ever for reading.
Recently published
There have been a few bits and pieces from me published lately, mostly in TGO magazine. Good news there: subscriptions are up by a third! You can buy the latest issue here, which contains a book review and Wild Walk written by yours truly. Also check out the March issue, including my big feature on backpacking in the Cairngorms in winter.
This week I published an online comment column for TGO called Has outdoor culture become too detached from nature? It has proven enormously popular and I am still wading through the emails I’ve received about it.
I also blogged about my first issue of Sidetracked magazine as editor.
Don’t forget that I publish a weekly ‘what I’ve been reading this week’ blog post containing links of note. You can catch up on these at alexroddie.com/blog.
Until next time,
Alex
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