Books and Travelling

Only mildly jet lagged and back to everyday life in Dublin, I face an enjoyable task... sorting through photos taken in cities from Melbourne to Rome over the past five or six months. I have not forgotten, either, that a promise to write up last year's trip around Tasmania never took off. The Summer of 2009 brought a new adventure, new friends and a project that still amazes us all. The opportunity to have a photo used as cover art for Alan Glynn's "Winterland" was thrilling in every sense of the word. The Saint Martin's Press edition is now available and the novel has been well received by "Noir" fans. There is much huffing and puffing these days about the future of publishing and the fate of "The Book". As usual, I don't seem to be able to work up much enthusiasm for controversy or for wondering about how new technologies will change reading patterns forever. At present, reading printed material and online publications seems to be equally balanced in my life. I cannot imagine a world where books take second place to reading on a screen, but many publishers are having to think seriously about that possibility. We'll see...

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!