Kevin Craig – KEVIN CRAIG

I WILL TELL THE NIGHT Has Been Reviewed in THE MIRAMICHI READER!

“I Will Tell the Night is a touching novel about going home again. There are so many vivid details in Craig’s work, and it will fill one with a bit of necessary hope.” – Alison Manley, from the review of I WILL TELL THE NIGHT on THE MIRAMICHI READER

As a writer, I’m almost certain I’m not alone in having a literary bucketlist. One of the top items on my own literary bucketlist (LB) came true this week. Not once, but twice! For years I looked toward The Miramichi Reader as one of those publications I wished to be a part of…at any level. It’s right up there on my LB alongside the item Get Poem Published in the Paris Review.

I was absolutely thrilled a couple of months back when they responded to my wish to be a part of their WHY I WROTE THIS BOOK feature with an ‘absolutely!’ I prepared and submitted my piece for that feature at the speed of light, just in case they had a change of heart.

My Why I Wrote This Book piece came out earlier this week. You can click the image from their Facebook page below to go directly to the piece…there are several different books/authors featured:

Today The Miramichi Reader posted a review of I WILL TELL THE NIGHT. It’s such a lovely review too. I don’t know about other writers, but when I know a publication has one of my books with the intention of writing a review I am on pins and needles until that review comes out! It never gets easier. This is my ninth novel. I was as scared waiting for this review as I was ALL the rest!

“It’s a sweet and tender read, surprisingly wholesome…”

“I felt cared for by the river in Craig’s very realistic dialogue.”

I’m not going to lie, the quotes above brought a few tears to my eyes. I invested so much into this story. I still feel as though it might be the best thing I ever wrote. It, at the very least, has a very special place in my heart.

You can read the full review HERE.

I would like to thank Alison Manley (the reviewer) and The Miramichi Reader for taking the time to review my novel. I could not be more thrilled to have it featured at such a prestigious site at The Miramichi Reader!

Here’s the synopsis of the novel:

I WILL TELL THE NIGHT – Finn Barker escaped his family in Miramichi, New Brunswick, decades ago for the anonymity of Toronto. When he learns of his mother’s impending demise, he decides to make the trip back home to say goodbye. But going back will awaken all the sleeping ghosts Finn’s not quite sure he’s willing to stir. With no time to decide, his split-second decision to jump back in has him driving across the country, with his boyfriend Steven behind the wheel. Along the way, Finn begins to unpack the mess he left behind. There’s the grandmother, MyImogene, he adored, and the twin brother who died of cancer when his own parents would have preferred to lose the other twin. There’s also the huge scandal Finn orchestrated with a teacher that gave him the Dutch courage he needed to flee. It was almost all bad.

Finn makes it in time for goodbyes, but then there’s the still very active strife between him and his father, the funeral, the family, and the secrets that shed new light on the cause of the rift between his parents and his beloved MyImogene. Every family carries secrets. Finn discovers they’re the one thing you can’t escape, no matter how far away you run. Secrets always catch up. Often, it’s death that has a way of bringing them back into the light of day. He was able to make peace with his dying mother, but can Finn make peace with all the rest…or is it time to run away for another thirty years?

You can purchase your copy of I WILL TELL THE NIGHT here:

It’s available in all Amazon and Kobo countries in either paperback or ebook.

If you read I WILL TELL THE NIGHT, please consider leaving a review on GOODREADS.

7 YEARS! Pride Must Be A Place Celebrates an Anniversary!

I can’t believe that PRIDE MUST BE A PLACE released SEVEN years ago today!

I remember writing that book like it was yesterday, I swear. I wrote most of it at the Muskoka Novel Marathon. Shortly after the marathon, Michael and I stayed a week at his sister’s cottage and I completed the first draft. We took long walks throughout the day and discussed the plot. It was amazing talking a story through prior to writing it down. We narrowed down the possibilities and I wrote in a fevered pace in order to get to the end. It was probably the most fun I ever had writing a book. The collaborative effort–of talking it out–was a new experience for me and a welcome one.

It was originally published by MuseItUp Publishing out of Montreal, Canada. They were the publisher who published my debut novel, SUMMER ON FIRE($3.99 on Amazon or free with Kindle Unlimited).

MuseItUp has since shuttered its doors. But you can still read PRIDE MUST BE A PLACE. I’ve since made it available on Amazon as a paperback or ebook. It’s $2.99 or FREE with Kindle Unlimited. CLICK HERE TO SEE IT ON AMAZON.

Here’s the synopsis for PRIDE MUST BE A PLACE:

Ezra Caine is gay. He’s sort of out at school but not at home, where he fears the wrath of his father’s bigotry. When Ezra’s flamboyantly out friend Alex Mills takes one too many beatings from homophobic bully Will Carter, Ezra finally snaps. Fed up with the situation at school, he decides to do something about it. With the help of his BFF, Nettie, and some unlikely allies, Ezra rallies to create their small-town school’s first gay-straight alliance. The Rainbow Alliance Club is formed. But the changes don’t come without hiccups, one of which being a messy scandal involving Alex and a gay hook-up app. As Ezra and his friends attempt to sway their school into an alliance of tolerance and acceptance, Ezra experiences a few surprises of his own on the home-front. He also learns the hard way that friendships out of convenience aren’t always a good idea, just as some enemies might not be as bad as he originally imagined them to be.

Pick up a copy today! It would be a great way to celebrate its BIRTHDAY! (-; CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR COPY OF PRIDE MUST BE A PLACE

Would you look at the little baby holding the first copy fresh off the press!

Proud parent moment—holding your creation for the first time in book form is always a little piece of magic!

If you have KINDLE UNLIMITED, I have quite a few books in the program. Which means you can read them for free as part of your KU package. Here’s a list:

Burn Baby Burn Baby

Sebastian’s Poet

Half Dead & Fully Broken

The Reasons

Pride Must Be A Place

Summer on Fire

Hey January! It’s Time for You To Go…

You know that feeling you get when you just want to relax on the couch with your people, your dogs, and a cup of tea…but the guests just can’t take the hint? You know…when you try to telepathically bore your disdain into them, beg them to pick up on your vibes and get the hell out?

That’s how I’m feeling about January right now. I have toleration for about 3 days of January and roughly 7 hours of February. March? I’ll give that month about 6 days before I want it to just disappear. I’m a July person. I don’t have time for these useless months of polar vortices (or vortexes, if you prefer), snow, ice, and anything else that equals COLD.

GIVE ME SUMMER.

This January definitely had notable exceptions, but I’m still done with it. But for some reason, there’s still 8 days left of it. This is unfathomable. It needs to leave.

There were two significant events that helped the month go by quicker than is usual for such a miserable month. One, we took the grandboy Edward on a cruise to celebrate his upcoming 13th birthday. That was an absolute blast! He loved it and we loved that he loved it. Two, I also had a novel release in January.

On the flight home from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where the cruise port was located.

I would like to think that Edward had the most fun at Perfect Day at Cococay…where we went to the waterpark. The one slide is the tallest in North America. The amount of times he climbed all those stairs to go down that slide is unbelievable. Youth!

But I also know he had a blast with the kids he met at Teen Club. We gave him probably way too much freedom, but he didn’t let us down. He loved it.

On the top deck of the cruise ship Liberty of the Seas by Royal Caribbean.

We even took him out on the helipad before the ship left port!

It was a short 5 day cruise with two stops—Perfect Day at Cococay (Royal Caribbean’s own private island), and Nassau, Bahamas. This is us walking around the port in Nassau.

We even found a few ducks while we were on the ship! I believe we captured an even dozen, if memory serves. We hid quite a few too…

When it’s a cold miserable January, you know you’re blessed when this is your view at dinner time. Trust me, it was appreciated.

We are back now…and basically biding our time in the real world until our next getaway. We loved our week-long getaway with Edward!

I was thrilled to get a delivery upon our return…to see all my hard work in the flesh. Well, in the paper! My books arrived!

Pick up your copy of **I WILL TELL THE NIGHT** at Amazon today!

Now would be a great time to pick up your copy of I WILL TELL THE NIGHT! Reading definitely helps to alleviate the winter doldrums. It’s available in all AMAZON countries, in either paperback or Kindle. Here’s some links that will make it super easy for you…here’s a selection of countries that visit my site the most, in no particular order. Just click the link! If you don’t see your country, just search for it by title and author…

AMAZON NETHERLANDS

Now…if we can just make it through to April, all will be good and well! Spring…it’s just around the corner right?