Linwood Barclay on “Far From True” at North York Central Library
On March 22, North York Central Library welcomed internationally bestselling author Linwood Barclay, as part of The eh List Author Series.
Linwood Barclay joined the Toronto Star in 1981, became its humour columnist in 1993, and retired from this position in 2008 to work exclusively on his books. Barclay's first standalone thriller, No Time for Goodbye, was a great international success and it has been translated into nearly 30 languages. Several of Barclay's novels have been optioned for film and television, and Trust Your Eyes was even the object of a film rights bidding war between Universal and Warner Brothers!
Fans of Barclay's Toronto Star humour column, as well as fans of his novels, were in the audience. So keen are Barclay's fans, that one audience member drove two hours south from Dundalk to attend, and another said that she would fly to Dubai to see Linwood Barclay!
Barclay read from and talked about Far From True. The book is an "excellent sequel," as Publishers Weekly has described it, to Broken Promise, the first of three linked novels about Promise Falls, a fictional, and rather creepy, upstate New York town. Barclay said that he does not set his novels in Canada because people would not believe that Canadians could be so bad!
In Broken Promise, David Harwood's wife has died, he has lost his job at The Boston Globe, and moved back with his son to his childhood home of Promise Falls, New York. There, he comes across a family secret of epic proportions, but that is only the tip of the iceberg to the strange things which start happening in Promise Falls. Far From True follows the parallel investigations of private investigator Cal Weaver and detective Barry Duckworth, but where the pursuit leads may be more horrific than either man can imagine. As Publishers Weekly wrote, Barclay's "…knack for realistic characterizations makes each person, even the nasty ones, stand out."
During his talk, Barclay said that for a while he was writing one thriller a year. Then he decided to do something different, so he wrote three books in 15 months! He said that he considers writing to be a job, and he writes 2,000 words per day. Barclay said that every writer has a different approach to writing and while he does not plan in advance a whole book, he considers plot to be the skeleton of a story. He also draws from his experience, and tries to end every chapter with a twist.
The third linked novel (after Broken Promise and Far From True), will be The Twenty-Three, to be published in November 2016.
The audience thoroughly enjoyed Barclay's talk, and found him to be a personable, engaging and very humorous speaker. Many stayed to meet Barclay and to have their books signed by him.
Clockwise from top left: Audience members Andrea, Ginger and Georgia, Ian and Marijana, all with Linwood Barclay.
You can watch the full talk by Linwood Barclay on Toronto Public Library's YouTube channel.
Follow the conversation about the entire The eh List series on Twitter using the hashtag #ehList.
Come and meet these upcoming The eh List authors at North York Central Library. Please call 416-395-5639 to register for all these free programs. And be sure to check the city-wide listings of The eh List.
Ann Walmsley – The Prison Book Club
Tuesday, April 5 at 7:00 pm
North York Central Library Auditorium
Sandra Martin - A Good Death: Making the Most of Our Final Choices
Tuesday, May 10 at 7:00 pm
North York Central Library Auditorium
Farzana Doctor – All Inclusive
Tuesday, May 24 at 7:00 p.m.
North York Central Library Auditorium
4 thoughts on “Linwood Barclay on “Far From True” at North York Central Library”
Three books in 15 months?! He’s pretty tough on himself. What an impressive work ethic. I’m so glad this talk was recorded, and I can watch it on the TPL YouTube channel. I’m definitely going to watch it. Enjoyed your post!
Thanks, Maureen. You are right, three books in fifteen months is quite a feat! Linwood Barclay’s talk is now up on Toronto Public Library’s YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJT6VlxUdds
I attended his presentation on his book “No Safe House” last year at the Bluma Appel Salon and enjoyed it immensely. I was fortunate enough to get my copy of that book signed by the Author; and I really enjoyed reading it afterwards. I found it to be extremely engaging, and I just couldn’t put it down. I was also able to record a digital video of last years presentation with a couple of my cameras. This year however; I didn’t receive the notification about his presentation at the North York Central branch until 2 days after the event. I was really disappointed, because I would have liked to have attended. At any rate; I could not have gone even if I had been notified on time, because I was scheduled to give a presentation of my own at a Board meeting on March 22nd. But the good news is that on March 9th I did receive the copy of his latest Novel – “Far From True” that I had pre-ordered back in February. And I’m really looking forward to reading it after I finish the e-book that I’m reading now. Oh well; I guess I’ll just have to wait until his next Book signing in Toronto to get this one Autographed. But I’m glad that I will be able to watch the video of this years “Eh List” Authors series presentation on You Tube. Isn’t Technology Wonderful!
Hello Ann,
I am so glad you enjoyed “No Safe House.” Linwood Barclay is a very engaging writer, and speaker as well, and I hope you enjoy his filmed talk, the entirety of which is on Toronto Public Library’s YouTube channel. “Far From True” is a great sequel to “Broken Promise.” I am looking forward to reading the third book in the trilogy, “The Twenty-Three,” due to be published this November!