Bad Ideas

Include in all library marketing effortsFeatured on ECW Insiders and Shelf AwarenessFeatured on Mother's Day promoPush book for review in book trade publications, i.e., Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, Quill & QuirePitch for programming at literary festivals, reading series, and in-store events at independent bookstores.Pitch reviews and interviews to major dailies, i.e., New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Postmedia networkPitch for features and reviews in general interest women's magazines, i.e., Canadian Living, Elle Canada, Flare MagazinePitch for review in literary journals, i.e., The Malahat Review, Literary Review of Canada, Canadian Notes & Queries, The New Quarterly, Geist Short DescriptionBad Ideas is set in the daredevil heyday of the 1970's, exploring a range of human folly, from the personal (fist fights, sleeping with married men) to the public (stunt-car driving, rodeo) to the colossal (moving entire towns to re-route a river). It examines hubris, desperation, blind optimism - and their consequencesSales and Market BulletsFeatures females of three generations living together in one house. The book explores a range of human folly, from the personal (fist fights, sleeping with married men) to the public (stunt-car driving, rodeo) to the colossal (moving entire towns to re-route a river). Bad Ideas is a book that is generous and sympathetic to both sexes."To call Marston's humor wry is barely a start. The twist in her comedy is fueled by merciless observation, unvarnished glimpses into the human appetite for misery." -The Globe and Mail on The Love MonsterAudienceLiterary fiction readersMostly womenAge 25-50Independent bookstore customersBook clubs Wildly funny and wonderfully moving, Bad Ideas is about just that - a string of bad ideas - and the absurdity of loveTrudy works nights in a linen factory, avoiding romance and sharing the care of her four-year-old niece with Trudy's mother, Claire. Claire still pines for Trudy's father, a St. Lawrence Seaway construction worker who left her twenty years ago. Claire believes in true love. Trudy does not. She's keeping herself to herself. But when Jules Tremblay, aspiring daredevil, walks into the Jubilee restaurant, Trudy's a goner. Loosely inspired by Ken "the Crazy Canuck" Carter's attempt to jump the St. Lawrence River in a rocket car, and set in a 1970s hollowed-out town in eastern Ontario, Bad Ideas paints an indelible portrait of people on the forgotten fringes of life. Witty and wise, this is a novel that will stay with you a long time.