“Declan Burke is his own genre. The Lammisters dazzles, beguiles and transcends. Virtuoso from start to finish.” – Eoin McNamee “This bourbon-smooth riot of jazz-age excess, high satire and Wodehouse flamboyance is a pitch-perfect bullseye of comic brilliance.” – Irish Independent Books of the Year 2019 “This rapid-fire novel deserves a place on any bookshelf that grants asylum to PG Wodehouse, Flann O’Brien or Kyril Bonfiglioli.” – Eoin Colfer, Guardian Best Books of the Year 2019 “The funniest book of the year.” – Sunday Independent “Declan Burke is one funny bastard. The Lammisters ... conducts a forensic analysis on the anatomy of a story.” – Liz Nugent “Burke’s exuberant prose takes centre stage … He plays with language like a jazz soloist stretching the boundaries of musical theory.” – Totally Dublin “A mega-meta smorgasbord of inventive language ... linguistic verve not just on every page but every line.Irish Times “Above all, The Lammisters gives the impression of a writer enjoying himself. And so, dear reader, should you.” – Sunday Times “A triumph of absurdity, which burlesques the literary canon from Shakespeare, Pope and Austen to Flann O’Brien … The Lammisters is very clever indeed.” – The Guardian

Friday, October 3, 2008

I’m Leaving On A Jet Plane ...

All my bags are packed, I’m ready to go
I’m standing here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breaking, it’s early morn
The taxi’s waiting, he’s blowing his horn
Already I’m so lonesome I could die …

Cause I’m leaving on a jet plane
Don’t know when I’ll be back again
Oh baby, I hate to go
…”
 There’s only one downside to this John and Dec’s Most Excellent Adventure road-trip malarkey, and it’s the ‘already I’m so lonesome I could die’ bit – I’ll badly miss the Princess Lilyput while I’m away jollying it up pretending to be a writer, there’s no two ways about it. But I guess it just has to be done, and hopefully she’ll still be saying “Da-da-da” and looking for lots of hugs when I stagger back into Dublin in the wake of the Bouchercon festivities …
  Anyhoos, I’ll be up-up-and-away to Toronto tomorrow lunchtime, and even though John and I intend to blog the road-trip, I’ve no idea how practical that idea is, or how regular the posts will be. We’ll see how it goes … Bear with me; regular service will be resumed all too soon.
  All that’s left to say is thanks a million to everyone who’s contributed to putting me in the position whereby I can fly off on a road-trip through New England promoting our humble tome THE BIG O. It’s a cliché, I know, but it’s true that the people you meet on the journey are far more important than the destination itself. And if the quality of folk I’ve met over the last 18 months are anything to go by, I’m honestly hoping I never actually make it to that destination. Peace, people.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good luck with it all, hope it goes swell.

Colin said...

Good luck on trip. I must make it there one year. Doubtless this means you won't be able to plug my upcoming gig, and I do mean gig, at the Empire Music Hall in Belfast this coming Sunday night. This is in aid of Oxfam and is an evening of punk music at which I will be doing dj along with the legendary Terri Hooley and the BBC's Stuart Bailie. On the poster advertising the event I have top billing and am described as 'Superstar DJ and Author' Colin Bateman. This is news to me. I had no idea I was an author. But if you want to hear The Clash, and quite possibly The Clash, that's were you should be on Sunday night.

Brian McGilloway said...

The best of luck with the trip, Dec and enjoy Bouchercon. You'll have a ball, I'm sure.

Declan Burke said...

Much obliged, gents ...

Colin, squire - how come you always wait until the frickin' day beforehand, before you post up these plugs for gigs?

And if you see that Gerard Brennan, give him a dig in the bake for me.

Cheers, Dec

Gerard Brennan said...

Good luck, mate. We'll discuss the above when you get back...

gb

Peter Rozovsky said...

Has young Lily learned to use a telephone yet? You could call her every day. I promise to smile gently at the tender spectacle if I am within earshot.
===================
Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

seana graham said...

Oddly, my young boss had the same torn apart feeling at having to leave her one and a half year old daughter to attend an independent booksellers conference across the country this last weekend. But she and daughter both survived it, and her husband told her that he had never seen a bigger smile on her face as she walked up the path to the house. So enjoy the trip and know that your family is going to be pretty darn happy to see you when you get back. Hope the tour is wonderful!

Anonymous said...

Have a safe trip Declan. Knock 'em dead.
Arlene

David Cranmer said...

“The journey not the arrival matters.” - T. S. Eliot... Have a great trip Declan!

Corey Wilde said...

I'm having extreme-withdrawal symptoms. Hope you're having fun on The Big T(rip) but hurry back to the keyboard, Dec.