Do you like to listen to books?

Yeah? No? Well… since many of the stories contained in Adventures in Solitude were first told on the radio, it seemed like a fairly good idea at the time to record an audio version of the book.

I thought it would be a piece of cake, but it reality it ended up taking a lot longer that I ever imagined. But here it is, just in time for your summer road trip!

What this is is a two-CD, abridged audio version of the book. I do all your reading. The discs feature many of the stories that have emerged as favourites at my book events across Canada. And instead of using the somewhat admittedly esoteric chapter titles found in the book, the chapters on this audio book are titled after what you have nicknamed all of these stories.

Here’s the track listing:

Disc 1

1. The Octopus
2. The Cougar Lady
3. The Nude Potluck
4. Hermit of Desolation Sound
5. Lund
6. Savary
7. The House Party
8. Return To Desolation

Disc Two

1. Roger The Dodger
2. When Animals (Don’t) Attack
3. The Kayakers
4. The Grow-Op
5. The Scout Leader
6. Terry and the Tubing Turtle
7. Proof of Love

The Adventures in Solitude audio book is available from Harbour Publishing. No word on the iTunes version… yet.

Here’s wishing you an amazing summer of 2012… here’s hoping your kids don’t puke on you while you listen to this… here’s hoping you’ll catch an episode of my new CBC Radio One show The Wild Side, or see me at one of my upcoming events. Cheers! -GL

Fri – Sun Jul 13 -15 – Vancouver Folk Festival, Jericho Park Beach, Vancouver BC
Fri – Sun Jul 20 -22 – Denman Island Readers and Writers Festival, Denman Island BC
Thu Aug 23 – Books and Beer, Riggers, Savary Island BC (2pm)
Mon Sep 24, Polaris Music Prize Gala, Masonic Temple Concert Hall, Toronto ON
Sun Sep 30, Western Canadian Music Awards, Casino Regina, Regina SK
Oct 16 – 21, Vancouver International Writers Festival, Vancouver BC

Just the other night, a kind fan of my old band The Smugglers, posted this entire concert of ours on my Facebook page. I was shocked to see it. I don’t think I’ve seen a complete set on video by my old band in over a decade, and I can’t remember seeing any shows from this far back.

1996 was a big year for The Smugglers. We were signed to Mint Records in Canada and Lookout! Records in the States. We had just released our highest selling record Selling The Sizzle. We were touring constantly and playing only all ages shows in the States, because that’s where the Lookout! Records fans were.

On this specific tour, we had already been on the road for over a month, having played across Canada, and down into New York for the CMJ Music Marathon. Then we hooked up with the Queers to tour across the States which lead us to Kansas City, a place we had already played several times.

I can’t believe how incredibly fast we’re playing these songs, how snarly I am, and how completely nonchalant we are when the power goes out.

The Smugglers in this concert video are Dave Carswell (guitar far left), me, Nick Thomas (guitar right), Beez (bass), and Graham (drums). We had already been a band for eight years at this point.

Thanks very much to Kendra K for rocketing me back to a completely different chapter in my life, one that I happen to be writing about right now!

Hope you enjoy this warp-speed 30 minute blast from the 1990s… where were YOU in 1996?

Last year you may have caught a holiday special I did on CBC Radio 1 all about animal encounters in the wild. It was called The Wild Side and it aired on both the Victoria Day Long Weekend and the Labour Day Long Weekend.

I’m happy to announce that The Wild Side has been expanded to an entire summer series for 2012. Starting the last week of June and running to the last week of August, The Wild Side will air on Tuesday mornings at 11:30am immediately following Q, and then again on Friday evenings at 7:30pm immediately following As It Happens.

As always, I want to include YOU in the show.

Essentially, we’re looking for Canadian wilderness stories involving you: survival stories, animal encounters, mishaps, special experiences, or conquests, be there humourous, treacherous, deadly, happy, sad or otherwise. The wilderness can be forest, ocean, lake, desert, mountains, river, prairie, tundra, pretty much anywhere OUTSIDE of our cities and towns.

Did you see a moose running down Bay Street? That doesn’t count. Did you wake up to find a moose in your tent? That counts! Took a three hour hike which turned into three days? Got almost eaten alive by leeches when attempting to swim across a lake? Let me know your story by emailing me: grant.lawrence@cbc.ca, or you can post your story to the Wild Side facebook wall. All creatures great and small, all adventures great and small, all stories great and small, as long as it involves you and the wilderness, I want to hear about it.

You can also like the show on Facebook and follow the show on Twitter.

Thanks, and see you on the Wild Side this summer on CBC Radio 1!

Here’s my touring schedule for the summer, hope to see you somewhere!

Also, a special thanks to all those who packed all the venues for my Kootenay book tour this spring, I had an awesome time. Thanks to the Kootenay Library Federation for hosting me. I also just had a fun time at a sold out unique literary event on Cortes Island (oh so close to Desolation Sound) called Authors, Seafood and Ale. I hope to do a similar event in Lund BC soon!