That Ian Rankin Post

Well, kids, here at ye olde blog we have a teensy wee bit of a harmless crush on Ian Rankin. It has a wee bit to do with the fact that he is the master of Tartan Noir, that we devoured (devoured!!!) the Rebus series, that he is our favourite writer to hear read at festivals, or readings, or pubs, or bookstores
[photographic evidence HERE], that he has written one of the most believable and compelling female characters ever penned by a male pen (Siobhan! Dear god, she is le FABULOUS) and, let's face it, it might have something to with the fact that he is, how do you say it?, ummm SCOOOOTTTTISSHHHHHH!!

notes: new book, The Impossible Dead out in October
other notes: I may subscribe to his e-newsletter only so that the name Ian Rankin shows up in my email inbox now and then (I will neither confirm nor deny that)
other notes to add to previous notes: Ian Rankin is a literary rockstar

Ian Rankin once wrote a guest editorial for the Globe and Mail: the IFOA year that everything was splendidly Scottish!

Anyways,  in honour of Ian at IFOA this year (again! C'est wonderful) and noting that we are completely rescinding any respectability on this *ahem* "literary" blog, I give you .....

IAN RANKIN AT IFOA 2009

BOOKS in the NEWS!

They're making Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town into a film starring Gordon Pinsent and Eric Peterson.  Sunshine Sketches is inspired by my hometown, Orillia, by Orillia's favourite son, Stephen Leacock. This book is very close to my heart due to its Orillia connections!

The World Fantasy Convention will be here in Toronto in 2012 and you can see Scott Lynch!  (and maybe friggin' Republic of Thieves will have been released by then; but I doubt it)

Adorable girl strives to make Horatio Lyle popular internationally on youtube 

Torontonians: 'tis fall -- and you know what that means! IFOA! 

At IFOA this Fall Rachel Recommends:

IAN RANKIN!!!!!

Ian Rankin’s first Rebus novel was published in 1987, and the Rebus series is now translated into 22 languages and are bestsellers on several continents. He is the recipient of four Crime Writers' Association Dagger Awards, winner of the Edgar Award for Resurrection Men and recently received the Order of the British Empire for services to literature. Rankin presents The Impossible Dead, the second novel in the Malcolm Fox series, in which a major inquiry into a neighboring police force leaves Fox and his colleagues unsure of territory, protocol or who they can trust.

...and I guess other people, like:

Will Ferguson

Published in 33 countries and 26 languages, Will Ferguson’s debut novel, Happiness, won the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour and the Canadian Authors Association Award for Fiction. He also co-wrote the humour book How to Be a Canadian, which won the CBA Libris Award for Non-Fiction Book of the Year. In Canadian Pie, Ferguson shares stories from his travels to Yukon in search of gold, gives lessons of a mini-bar ninja and discusses his misadventures working on the Vancouver Olympics Closing Ceremonies.

Charles Foran

Charles Foran is the author of eight books, including four novels and the essay collectionJoin the Revolution, Comrade. He also writes regularly for magazines and newspapers in Canada and abroad, and is a contributing reviewer for theGlobe and Mail. Foran presents his Charles Taylor Prize-winning work, Mordecai: The Life, a biography of one of Canada's most beloved and successful writers, Mordecai Richler.

Frances Itani

Frances Itani is the author of 14 books, includingDeafening, which won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book (Caribbean and Canada) and Remembering the Bones, which was shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. She has taught creative writing for many years and her reviews, stories and articles have been widely published. She is also a Member of the Order of Canada. Itani’s Requiem tells the story of a recently widowed man who embarks on an unforgettable journey that encompasses art and music, love and hope

Wayne Johnston

Wayne Johnston was born and raised in Newfoundland. Once a reporter for the St. John's Daily News, Johnston eventually earned an MA in Creative Writing. His bestselling novels include The Custodian of Paradise, The Navigator of New York and The Colony of Unrequited Dreams. He is also the author of the bestselling memoir, Baltimore's Mansion, winner of the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction. Taking place in St. John’s, Princeton and North Carolina at the end of the 19th century, Johnston’s A World Elsewhere, is a sweeping tale that questions the loyalties of friends, family and the heart.

Jane Urquhart

Jane Urquhart is the internationally acclaimed author of six previous novels, a collection of short fiction, three books of poetry and a short biography of Lucy Maud Montgomery. She has received the Marian Engel Award and the Harbourfront Festival Prize, and is a Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France and an Officer of the Order of Canada. Urquhart presents Sanctuary Line, which weaves elements from 19th century Ireland and Ontario to create a gradually unfolding story of events that come to irrevocably alter the future of one family.

Dude, Ian Rankin's TOTALLY gonna be at IFOA: On authors and celebrity

I like IFOA ( Toronto's International Festival of Authors). It's like my film festival. Y'know how people go all agog when they spot a celebrity, crying "ooo! did I just see the back of Brad Pitt's cap?!"

Yah, well my celebrities are AUTHORS! Especially Mr. Rock Star Himself, Ian Rankin.

Ian Rankin is my absolute FAVOURITE author to see read live. Hands down.

Tell you why:


Remember in the days of yore when poets were seen as rockstars? I'm thinking early Romantics like the James Dean-esque Byron; Coleridge; Wordsworth--- and all the girls would flit their fans and dab at their cheeks and swoon ---- the 19th Century equivalent of the Beatles, per se?


This is not a trend that has easily died.

Take Neil Gaiman: tickets to one of his events sell out in a snap. You know he will show up all cool and calculated with overlong hair and the collar of his leather coat snapped up over a black t-shirt and rock the party with some quick jokes and dramatic reading.

Take Terry Pratchett: I have never seen him in person but I know that my friends have waited hours for autographs ( he signs every one ). In fact, in both cases, for the aforementioned, a typical venue would not suffice. Appearances are moved to churches; large auditoriums; venues where people can spill out into vestries and down outward stairs.


Ian Rankin is like my rockstar. The first signing of his I ever went to was at a pub on the Danforth. Every one was laughing and drinking and talking and some of Rebus/ Rankin's favourite rock ( perhaps this is why I connote rockstar here; his unabashed love for rock music) was droning a pulse in the background as he nonchalantly played xs and os in my copy of "Rebus: The Early Years."


Authors are, for the most part, bookish people. And sometimes, as stereotype dictates, they are a little...how d'you say it.....erm.... socially eccentric. Their profession, for the most part, does not dictate they be strong minglers or public speakers and their oddities come across blazingly in person.

Other authors, like the ones I have mentioned, make personal appearance a part of the reading experience ( take that Russell Smith).


You wait in line for hours for an autograph with other die hard fans and, if you're me, you feel oddly fulfilled. My upbringing didn't leave a lot of leeway for rock concerts and celebrity squealing. I reserve it for signings ( well....signing[singular].... mostly Rankin) and personal appearances and readings.

That's not to say that every author is the atypical example of a great celebrity rock star.

I have attended plenty of lectures at IFOA where my eyes glared over at the empty amnesty/PEN chair; or to the gleam of the Globe interviewer's flourescently lit specs.

But, Ian Rankin is a sure fire hit! He's a hoot to hear read live and he completely engages himself in his text. He doesn't saturate his time at the front with anecdotes on the craft; so much as how he gets into the grittier side of Rebus' psyche and ...when he reads.... he seems so integrated with his character you forget which is which.


Do you have a favourite author to see in person?

It makes me cringe to think of Atwood's long pen and its attempt to sever the vital connection between reader and writer. How then could IFOA roll around siphoning fall from the colourful harbour to an exhilerating literary experience making the geekiest of book geeks *raises hand unabashedly* grab a book or two and run to a round-table?


NOTE: If you live in Canada and have never attended IFOA you are missing out. There are writers of all genres and calibres and there is definitely a subject to peak every interest. A world class event..... with rock stars!

Sir Ian: my celebrity author

So, we all know I have a thing for Ian Rankin. Not surprising. Have forever. It's a little bit of the sense of humour, a little bit of the accent, a little bit of the fact that he is one male author who has created an absolutely believable female character in the figure of Siobhan, a little bit of the fact that I got to touch his sleeve.

Authors are my celebrities, so seeing Ian for me is like some squealy girl seeing Johnny Depp.

Ian Rankin IS my author celebrity. I know you all have one. Whether it be Oppel or Patterson ( god help you if it's Patterson) or Neil Gaiman ( in which case I completely understand).

Now, Sir Ian and I have quite a history: he shows up in Toronto every year or so to sign something somewhere and I go to see him.... often with a couple of other people...sometimes by myself. Sometimes, if you are extra lucky, you get two for the price of one.... such as the IFOA reading when Sir Ian AND Peter Robinson were at the same table....

or, don't even GET ME STARTED on the now legendary round of Bouchercon that I didn't make but that I heard lots about.

I knighted him. I go and see him. He plays xs and os in my book and writes Slainte and signs his name and I smile. Broadly.


So, this year I was delighted to hear that our friend has a day named for him. Yes, Torontonians, October 17th is now IAN RANKIN day!

This is a good thing.