Tourism Touring As usual, I’m behind the curve on posting what’s going on around here. I’ve spent the last week in Serbia, where network connections are not always as they might be, and the last couple days have been spent trying to leave Europe, despite a certain Icelandic volcano’s best efforts to thwart my plans. [...]

There’s been that noticeable Nomad silence lately, and for my part I can pin it on a variety of things: reading papers emailed in by my diligent Leipzig students, traveling to London to meet with the wonderful crew at Corvus (my new UK publisher), dealing with the dirty details of buying and starting renovation on [...]

I’ve been out of touch for a hella long time now, up in Leipzig too full of teaching (much more time-consuming than some may have you believe–particularly if you’re raising a 2-year-old at the same time) to write anything here, much less write a word of my next novel. Now, though, in Budapest for the [...]

In about a week and a half, the family and I will be relocating north and west, to Leipzig, where I’ll begin something I’ve never done before: teaching. Two classes, The Collaborative Novel and The Spy Novel. Given that the idea for The Collaborative Novel–a class in which everyone works together to write a single [...]

Picture of Leipzig ©2002 by James Martin Though I first learned this last year, I’ve kept mum until the official papers arrived verifying that I’d been granted a Guest Professorship at Leipzig University. That’s the Leipzig in Germany, with a university founded in 1409 no less, and it’s the Picador Guest Professorship for Literature in [...]

I’ve just returned from Piacenza, Italy, where the organizers of the “Dal Mississippi al Po” Blues Festival were kind enough to include me in their proceedings. Now, when I first learned I was being invited to a blues festival, my reaction was, “Huh?” But it turns out that the festival is about bringing things together–in [...]

In the morning we’re off to Paris, where my French publisher will put me in front of a few journalists for the ol’ question-and-answer. We’re looking forward to it, and having learned our lesson last summer, will trust our transportation to the skies. I’m not sure I’ll get much of a chance to post here [...]

A lot of time has passed by now–chalk it up to extended decompressing and a recent eye injury (scratched cornea!) that left me unable to write a thing for a week–but I wanted to make mention of my post-US-tour adventure in the (I’ve now decided) glorious French Republic. I came at the invitation of Poitou-Charentes’ Centre [...]

These dispatches were abruptly cut off, due largely to fatigue and the overall nonstop nature of an author tour. Though the tour ended three weeks ago, life didn’t, and after a hectic few days trying to get back the luggage Air France had lost and preparing for a cross-continent drive to France for the Poitou-Charentes [...]

These dispatches have been delayed because of a fritzed computer (though a Tourist’s broken equipment never excuses failure) and a very busy schedule. Let’s see if I can catch us up. BOSTON Saturday, my last day in Boston, was wonderfully relaxed. It started with a brief visit to the NEIBA floor and a last hello [...]

BOSTON MA An author tour is a curious thing, particularly for someone like me who sometimes slides a little too far into cynicism. Strangers are strangers for a reason–they’re strange and incomprehensible and best kept at a measurable distance. It’s a safe philosophy, but if nothing else this tour is proving that it’s based on [...]

See HERE for Minotaur Books’ explanation. WASHINGTON DC Yesterday I began the pre-publication tour for The Tourist. Now, a lot of authors go on tours after a book has come out, but I’m knocking around six months before The Tourist‘s release. As a result, I’m not reading to crowds, doing public events or signing stacks [...]

A while ago (back in July), Shots Magazine kindly asked if I could put together a short article on “writing in exile”–a term that sounds more heavy and romantic than it actually is. I happily put my pen to it, and the result can be found here, alongside other interviews, reviews and articles. Otherwise, life [...]

A quick non-me subject just arrived. You may remember that last year, a freak hurricane descended on Budapest during the St Stephen’s day festivities. Remarkably, it is now again St. Stephen’s day, and another freak storm has landed, cutting off our satellite TV, hailing, and brutalizing the trees in our garden. What th’?

Over at Betwixt, Robin has returned from a mid-journey rest from his trans-European journey in order to reflect on the Venice of His Breakdown, the Venice that becomes more authentic every day, the Venice of Las Vegas. With the gun’s emergence we all hit the floor and made screaming noises. Then Mr. “X” made a [...]