the blazing world

Dal Gazette

Michael Murphy — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:52:59 +0000

Check out this recent article in the Dalhousie Gazette!

Jesus, I’m Rollin’ with You

Michael Murphy — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:46:33 +0000

eReaders and Compact Discs

Michael Murphy — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:54:04 +0000

For the longest time, I have been a “real books” advocate. I say “real books” to mean physical, tangible copies of books, as opposed to virtual books. I think my position had more to do with lack of trying than anything else. After all, for the entirety of my reading life, I have only ever read “real books.” I like the way they feel in my hands, the way they smell, the ease with which I can flip from the first page to the last. I like the way “real books” look in a pile on my nightstand. I still like all of these things, but I have to say … I now own an eReader, and I really like it too.

I’ve always been a technophile, so it’s a bit weird that it’s taken me this long to get an eReader. Maybe it was my love of real books that kept me from making the transition. Like I was worried real books would find out I was cheating on them and would get offended. They’d all jump from the bookshelf to their deaths.

Speaking of book death, one constant conversation that keeps cropping up over the past few years is the idea that books are dying. That print is dying. It’s a strange metaphor that only seems to apply to books. After all, when people went from buying music on vinyl to CD, did anyone go around decrying the death of music? And when CDs hit the wayside, and mp3s became the favoured medium, were we all singing music’s death knell (other than Metallica and Dr Dre)?

Either book lovers are a strange breed, or there’s something about the hard copy of a book that sets it apart from the hard copy of a song or an album. Maybe it’s because readers have to spend real time with their books, and end up holding them in various locations (bed, couch, train, coffee shop) in various positions (above your head, to the side, in your lap, on the table), whereas the music just is. It’s passive, whereas reading is active, and the book a trusty companion. The sound the pages make when turned. The visual of ink on paper.

Okay okay. So I know I won’t quit on “real books.” And I think other people who buy eReaders, if they’ve always been Readers (minus the lower case e), will also not quit on books. But to get back to where I started: I’ve recently bought an eReader. I’m like the vinyl collector who, in 1995, finally got into CDs. Finally gone digital. But that doesn’t mean my analog library is going anywhere.

Judging Books by their Covers

Michael Murphy — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:33:53 +0000

The lovely folks at Salty Ink want you to vote for your favourite book cover art of 2011. Show your support for the talented Grace Cheog! Though the website encourages you to only vote for the cover you actually like best

Book Fridge Interview

Michael Murphy — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 23:49:13 +0000

I am in the (Book) Fridge! Click to read the full interview (… may need to scan down the page a bit).

Yarmouth Reading

Michael Murphy — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 18:44:36 +0000

I will be doing a reading/book signing at At the Sign of the Whale on October 8, 2011, from 2-4 pm.

See you there?

Vanguard article

Michael Murphy — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:28:53 +0000

I just read this lovely piece from the fine folks at my hometown newspaper, The Vanguard.

For Yarmouth friends, I expect to do a reading in the homeland in the very near future … stay posted!

TDR Revived (via Michaelbryson’s Blog)

Michael Murphy — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 14:27:30 +0000

Happy to see that TDR is back!

Posted three new interviews today on The Danforth Review, all part of the revived and revised TDR, now focused on the short story and interviews with short story writers. I have been reading new fiction submissions for a couple of weeks now, but just this morning posted the first new content on TDR in over two years, interviews with Zsuzsi Gartner, Jessica Westhead and Rebecca Rosenblum. … Read More

via Michaelbryson’s Blog

Pictures from the Halifax Launch

Michael Murphy — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 14:13:15 +0000

Interview with the Coast

Michael Murphy — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 15:07:50 +0000

You can read it here friends!

(Also, check out the latest review of A Description of the Blazing World, courtesy of Mark Sampson at Free Range Reading.)