Paul The Book Guy

So, today's blogpost is about a cool site (actually, much more than a website) that I stumbled upon a while back.

PaulTheBookGuy is actually Paul and Greg and Chris the book guys.  Now, before I begin to write about them, and what they do on their site, I gotta give full disclosure:

1.  They wrote an awesome review of Blood and Groom on their website - a review in which they refer to Sasha Jackson as "Toronto’s sexiest new detective".  Yeah baby! (If only they knew that the author is the complete opposite of the character, and has a unibrow, plus four missing teeth, and wears size 18 flannel bloomers, but that's another story...).

2. I'm a Luddite.  Yes, I'm technically stupid (just like a former tourism ad campaign for Ottawa referred to the city as "technically beautiful"... delayed ouch).  It's really quite a coup when I successfully link onto, or use, or updownload stuff on the computer.  It's even more amazing when I succesfully use any device or piece of equipment that plugs in. (This explains my prowess with a chainsaw). 

So... anyhow Paul the Book Guy and his fellow book aficionados Greg and Chris have a cool website (more on it below) plus they do a podcast.  (I've only recently become familiar with this strange new entity known as a podcast...)

This week, I was a guest on the show, and it was great fun to talk about some of the weird/funny details behind the writing of the Sasha Jackson mysteries.   Elaboration on Luddite comment above: at one point they asked about using Skype to do the interview.  Hmmm.  Skype... I believe I created an account for this ages ago, but I've never used it.  Do I just yell at the computer? Should I hold the laptop up to my ear?  Hello... hello...hello, is anyone there???

Anyhow, their podcast is much more than just interviews, or plugs for books the guys have recently read. 

They discuss cool gadgets and book-related techno stuff (things that may actually have to be plugged in... Oh oh... getting out of my comfort zone...)  In this most recent episode (#6) they talk about audio books and listening at speed and a half (Cool! I had no idea one could do that!), and about compression on the Audible app vs. the iTunes app (and they explain this in such a way that even I can understand!), and they have the Think Geek item of the week.

In episode #6 they also announce an upcoming guest (all I'll say here is Atlas Shrugged - you gotta listen to the podcast to get the details), plus they discuss a book of funny (stupid) student answers on exams, and The Girl who Kicked a  Smörgåsbord and Played with a Tattooed Red Volvo, and there's a good chat about comics (Spiderman),  and kid lit (Robert Munsch), plus much more. 

They also occasionally use the endearment "Constant Reader" - which is a wonderful nod to a literary luminary: Dorothy Parker, she of the acid tongue.  (Every time I hear "Constant Reader," I am reminded of Dot's bitchy swipe at Winnie the Pooh: Tonstant Weader fwowed up.)

So, yeah, it's a cool website  that any bibliophile will be happy to check out.

Click to hear the Awesome Podcast! Check it out - it's well worth a listen. (My interview is in the last ~10 minutes of the show, and trust me, Dahlink, I'm damn fascinating!)