Update on Zed

Thanks everyone for your interest in Beth's novel, Zed.

We have sold all the copies I have here at home, but fear not, the publisher has more that we can purchase at a discount. So, if you would like to buy a copy and haven't yet done so, please let me know as soon as possible. I'm going to place the order in the next couple of days and would like a better idea of how many to get. Even if you can't pay for it right away, please let me know so that I can reserve a copy for you.

I'll be sending emails to everyone who has already bought one to find out whether you need the book before Christmas. In our experience selling online over the years, we've found that more packages go missing in December than any other month. And we really don't want Zed to go missing so if you are not in a rush we will post in early January.

Cheers!

Linda

Autographed Copies of Zed

Here we go - our first fund-raising activity...

Beth has 12 copies of her novel, Zed, which she is willing to part with. And, she's also happy to put in an inscription as long as it's not pages long! She has to save her writing hand for her postcards after all!

And, contrary to what Beth mentioned in one of her previous blogs, we will not be offering deluxe inscriptions written in blood. No blood of any kind - you hear that Beth! Just step away from the knives...

Reviews of the novel are at the bottom of this blog entry.


If you were wanting a copy of your very own or to give a Christmas present for someone who doesn't mind having nightmares, here's how you can get it...

Make a donation using the Paypal button on this page. In the notes section, let us know it's for Zed and what inscription you'd like.


We're selling the books for $15US plus shipping.


Shipping rates are as follows:

US - $2.50 1st Class
Canada - $3.75 Air or $9.95 Priority Mail
Europe & Australia - $8.65 Air or $11.95 Priority Mail



For those of you who haven't heard about Zed, here's the blurb of the novel for you...

Zed is having a bad day. She's 12 and there's someone around who's killing kids, which she doesn't have time for. Already today, she's knifed a rapist, traded with half the drunks and addicts in town, talked to the dead, bargained with a sociopath, and extracted crucial information from a mental patient, and she hasn't even left the building. Welcome to The Tower, an urban development project no city wants to lay claim to; a place to steer clear of if at all possible, but if you can't, you'll fit right in. This vivid, claustrophobic novel is about madness, survival, and crumbling institutions, in the spirit of J.G. Ballard's High Rise or Iain Banks' The Wasp Factory.

Also some reviews...

Zed is a tale to be pondered by all those who wield power over the vulnerable. McClung's plot twists and images wrestle the emotions before the intellect can pin them down, but when her message at last emerges from the blood and bedlam the effect is devasting: Terror begins at home. Then it grows.—The Globe and Mail (Globe & Mail )

One of the best books of 2006: a piercent lament for all kids who are ill-used by their keepers. One of the top 100 books of 2006.—The Globe and Mail (Globe and Mail )

The combination of near future dystopia and murder mystery means that one is drawn relentlessly along toward a conclusion which, even if it doesn't seem completely justified, is fitting for such a vivid and explosive book.—Monday Magazine (Monday Magazine )

A humorous, but disturbing read.—The Vancouver Sun (The Vancouver Sun )

A masterfully written first novel.... Zed, both the book and protagonist, is truly original ... the definition of provocative, if you can handle it.—Zoe Whittall, NOW Magazine (Zoe Whittall Now Magazine )

A hellishly engaging novel ... Zed not only merits cinematic interpretation, it demands it.—Rain Taxi (Rod Smith Rain Taxi review of )

Her debut novel Zed doesn’t seem to be classified as a "horror" but holy crow, this book sufficiently filled my horrific quota. A NOW review tweaked my interest on this one and I wasn’t disappointed. Despite being written from the point of view of a 12 year old girl, Zed, this book is most definitely not for kids. Heck, this book is not for most adults. Murder, rape, addiction, sociopaths ... all that and more, navigated by young Zed within the confines of an inner city project. Zed is appalling yet believable. I can't wait for Ms. McClung's next book! —CBC Radio (CBC Radio )

McClung's dark, wicked sense of humor shows through as she chronicles Zed's profoundly disturbing exploits. Shocking and complete with alarming psychological insights, Zedis like nothing you've read before. —Pages magazine (Pages magazine )

Zed is the kind of work about which the adjective 'disturbing' usually applies. That's really an understatement.... It is a riveting, sometimes scary work.... Zed is laced with the kind of wit that could take the rust off your handlebars. —University of Toronto Quarterly (University of Toronto Quarterly )