HOBTOWN EN FRANÇAIS, ENCORE!

We’ve been miraculously lucky to have found a large audience in France (and Quebec) with our former publisher Pow-Pow (and the magnificent translation work of Alexandre Fontaine Rousseau), and to have had Hobtown gain the attention of Angoulême not once, but twice, getting nominated for the Sélection Fauve Polar SNCF (Favourite Mystery Series) for Hobtown #1 and then the Sélection Officielle for the Grand Prix for Hobtown #2. Alex recently flew to France to attend the festival and came back a changed man, trying to impress upon me how huge comics (BDs) are over there, and how seriously they took our funny little book. I, myself, can hardly believe it.

Now there’s more news from France: Hobtown’s French translations of books 3, 4, and 5 have found a home with Editions Delcourt, a giant in the world of BD (Bande-Dessinées). Delcourt publishes manga, comics and graphic novels, and sells translations of works like Hellboy and Watchmen. To have our work with them is truly an honour, and will mean a dream come true for Alex and I: many more visitors to the coastal paradise of Hobtown!

Pour nos fans Françaises, je dis premièrement je m’excuse pour mon Français terrible, et deuxièmement qu’on travaille fort sur les nouveaux BDs Hobtown. On vous remercier d'avoir lu les autres, et on promît que les romans à venir seront plus étranges, excentriques et palpitants (j’espère).

À bientôt!

KRIS

HOBTOWN MOVES TO ONI & THREE NEW HOBTOWN TITLES

Very excited to announce that Hobtown Mystery Stories is moving from Conundrum Press to ONI. The decision to change publishers is a tough one, but the opportunity to get Hobtown to a wider audience was one we couldn’t pass up. We’re thrilled to be working with Zack Soto as editor and can’t wait to show you what we’re cooking up.

Alex is currently hard at work on Book Three, and I have a little teaser for the Dana-centric Hobtown Mass-Hysteria UFO Event called THE SECRET OF THE SAUCER.

We’ve signed a three-book deal and are very happy to announce the forthcoming titles along with THE SECRET OF THE SAUCER: Book 4: A JOURNEY INTO THE ABYSS, and 5: THE RETURN OF THE MINI-MAN. Like our other titles, each book is tonally different, focusing on a different character in the main cast, borrowing from vastly different comics and pulp fiction traditions, and delving deeper into the mystery of what, precisely, is wrong with Hobtown.

I hope you’ll join us in endeavouring to find out.

NOVA GRAPHICA

Alex and I have a little story in a new anthology called NOVA GRAPHICA, a wonderful little collection of stories, biography, fibs and tall tales all about Nova Scotia. There’s excellent work from Veronica Post, Rebecca Roher, Paul Hammond, Donnie Calabrese, JJ Steeves, and many more. Our story is called IN THE PRIMEVAL FORESTS OF NOVA SCOTIA, a title borrowed from a line in Mary Fraser’s 1931 Folklore of Nova Scotia, which has long represented a guidebook for the mythology and strangeness of Hobtown Mystery Stories (alongside a few other crucial scotian tomes). If you want to know more about Hobtown’s weirdness—about second sighters and forerunners and wee men— you might consider reading Mrs. Fraser’s book. It’s in the public domain so there’s a great many versions to choose from. Our story features three specific little vignettes from the book, as a tribute to it.

Our contribution to the anthology features some grade-A surrealism from Mr. Forbes, pictured below.

Go to Conundrum Press to order it!

THE CURSED HERMIT is HERE!

I’m so happy to announce that the new book by myself and my dear friend and illustrator, Alexander Forbes—The Cursed Hermit—is here! The follow-up to our first book in the Hobtown Mystery Stories, The Cursed Hermit attempts to answer one of the unresolved questions from The Case of The Missing Men: why exactly is everyone in Hobtown so out of it?

Our story follows just two of our intrepid young sleuths, Pauline and Brennan, as they’re recruited to attend a winter-break extra credit program at the prestigious Knotty Pines school, a terrifying edifice high above Hobtown, where only the best and brightest are called on to attend. Little do they know, the school itself holds secrets of its own—evil, terrifying secrets! With the help of a ghost and a cantankerous hermit, our heroes go head-to-head against a handful of crazed classmates, their sinister Headmasters, and the centuries-old secret ruler of Hobtown!

WARNING: (MILD) SPOILERS BELOW

If Case of The Missing Men was the weirdo 2-hour pilot, The Cursed Hermit is the first proper episode of Hobtown Mystery Stories, our Christmas episode, and a psychic phantasmagoria, all rolled into one. Focusing on Pauline and her gift of ‘second sight’ lets us get pretty surreal, and including Brennan as her only friendly classmate means we get to have one of his ‘semi-hardboiled’ chapters where he gets to the bottom of things. For those of you wondering if your favourite detective characters—Sam, Dana, or Denny—are involved, the answer is yes, but mostly in a supporting role.

To those disappointed by this news, I’ll say this: there are going to be more Hobtown Mystery Stories, and all of our detectives are going to get their chance at bat! For now, Alex and I thought it was important to try and make a book that was different from the first one, especially in showcasing another part of Hobtown, with a smaller cast, and a few new characters. We were even considering calling this book THE CASE OF THE SOPHOMORE CURSE, but thought better once we got to know our new favourite character, The Hermit.

Talking about themes and subtext can really take away from the magic of a story, so I’ll keep it brief, but we are extremely proud of this book, and especially of its message. Being true to yourself, as an individual—and especially as an artist—is something we both believe in, and having the opportunity to create and share a story where our heroes fight back against dull-eyed conformity, the plague of mediocrity, and the spectre of colonialism means an awful lot to us.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us from our early days to today, Alex and I sincerely appreciate all of you. And thank you, most of all, to Alexander Forbes, my old friend, partner, and illustrator, who makes this story better than it could ever be without him, and who works tirelessly at making Hobtown come to life.

If you’re interested in getting a copy, visit your local bookstore or comic shop. It should be there, and if not, ask them to order it in for you!

We love these characters and this world so much, and it makes us so happy to be able to share a new chapter with you all. Thank you for coming back to Hobtown for a second visit.

BOOK LAUNCH!

My new book of stories USE YOUR IMAGINATION! is being launched APRIL 29th at 1269 Barrington in Halifax! You can BUY the BOOK and HEAR the BOOK! All are welcome!

2017 ReLit Award for short fiction

Very proud to announce that BAD THINGS HAPPEN has won the 2017 ReLit award for Short Fiction! It comes with a ring that will let me spell out various 4-letter words. If you can think of any for me to try out, write them in the comments below.

HOBTOWN MYSTERY STORIES #2

Alexander and I are very pleased to unveil the cover of the sequel to THE CASE OF THE MISSING MEN, a story called THE CURSED HERMIT, coming in fall 2019! 

Please tell all your friends about it!

THE CASE OF THE MISSING MEN!

My illustrator Alexander Forbes and I are very excited to have received our first copies of The Case of The Missing Men, a 300 page graphic novel published by Conundrum Press. The book is available in select stores and will be available nationwide and across North America in November 2017!

We are so pleased with how well it turned out, and with early press, such as this one from Corey Redekop from Atlantic Books Today. We also made it onto CBC's list of "Graphic Novels We Can't Wait For".

This book represents years and years of hard work and dedication from my partner Alexander Forbes, and it's truly breathtaking to see the result. Making and publishing this series has been a dream of ours for nearly a decade, and we are especially excited to announce that our publisher let us put this neat little symbol on the spine. The number one.

This means that yes, there is more to come. 

Look back for tour dates in Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Brooklyn, and elsewhere!