Category: Fiction

THE LAST GRAND TOUR One of Kirkus Reviews’ “Best Indie Books of January”

Kirkus Reviews sent out its list of the “Best Indie Books of January” this morning and The Last Grand Tour was one of just three novels (and six books in total) on it.

You can view the whole list here and read Kirkus‘s starred review of The Last Grand Tour here.

This honor comes just 13 days before the novel’s release on January 28. On that day, Powell’s Books in downtown Portland, OR, will be hosting the book’s launch. At the event, I’ll be in conversation with the brilliant documentary filmmaker Brian Lindstrom. Brian’s latest film is the fascinating “Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill.” Click on the title to watch a trailer for it.

A huge thank you to Powell’s for hosting this celebration!

A few hours before the Powell’s event–at 3 p.m. on the 28th–I’ll be participating in a panel discussion at my old university, Portland State, called “From Manuscript to Marketplace: The Last Grand Tour’s Collaborative Journey.”

Here are the details:

Panel Discussion, From Manuscript to Marketplace: The Last Grand Tour’s Collaborative Journey

Tuesday, Jan. 28 | 3pm | FMH 302

Discussion with PSU Creative Writing alumni from local small press Korza Books and Professor Emeritus Michael N. McGregor about their collaborative work to prepare McGregor’s Kirkus-starred and highly acclaimed debut novel, The Last Grand Tour, for its release that day. Michael and the Korza staff will give attendees an inside look at the journey from manuscript to published book, focusing on the practical steps of manuscript evaluation, revision and editing, cover and page design, promotion and marketing, and more.

My co-panelists will be Korza Books founder and editor Michael Schepps, editor Molly Simas, and book designer Olivia Croom Hammerman.

Thank you to the PSU Creative Writing program for hosting us!

Willamette Week Newspaper Features THE LAST GRAND TOUR as One of Four “Standout New Books by Pacific Northwest Writers”

The Last Grand Tour is one of just four new “standout” books featured in Oregon Winter, Willamette Week‘s annual winter activity magazine. The guide can be picked up for free at locations all around Portland, OR.

In an article titled “These Standout New Books by Pacific Northwest Writers Will Transport You This Winter,” WW writer Michelle Kicherer recommends Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoir Reading the Waves, John Larison’s novel The Ancients, Judy Nahum’s poetry collection I Have Wrestled with the Way Clouds Weep, and The Last Grand Tour for “cozying up indoors this winter.”

“The Last Grand Tour,” Kicherer writes, “offers a grand escape this winter that might make you grateful to be home under a blanket.”

You can read the full article online here.

Thank you, Willamette Week!

Book Launch for THE LAST GRAND TOUR at Powell’s Books on January 28!

The publication-day launch for The Last Grand Tour is set for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, January 28, 2025, at Powell’s Books in downtown Portland!

I hope you’ll be there!

If you can’t come, you can pre-order the book from Powell’s and they’ll send you a signed copy right after the event. Just click here.

I’m delighted to have documentary filmmaker Brian Lindstrom interviewing me that night. A few months ago, I attended a pre-release showing of Brian’s latest film, Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill, and was blown away. It’s a thoroughly fascinating look at the difficult times of a terrifically talented singer-songwriter whose name and songs might have become as common as those of Joni Mitchell or James Taylor if her life had gone differently.

Lost Angel is available on Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime. And Brian’s earlier documentary, Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse, is available on Kanopy. He is currently working on a documentary about the marathon program at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn, OR, and a follow-up to his 2016 film Mothering Inside about the Family Preservation Project at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville, OR.

I hope you’ll come out on January 28 to celebrate the release of The Last Grand Tour into the world!

KIRKUS REVIEWS Gives THE LAST GRAND TOUR a Starred Review!

screenshot of Kirkus Reviews starred review of The Last Grand Tour.

The first review of The Last Grand Tour is out–and it’s a very good one: a starred review from Kirkus Reviews!

Click here to read the whole review.

For those who don’t know about Kirkus starred reviews, here’s what one author wrote about them:

“Kirkus stars are like diamonds: extremely rare. A starred review is the top of the top, a prestigious, Holy Grail that highlights books of “exceptional merit.” A starred review represents outstanding writing.”

This kind of attention is huge for a first novel from a small publisher. I’m deeply thankful to the unnamed reviewer.

“A Journey of the Heart Filled with Longing and Brio”

You can pre-order The Last Grand Tour by clicking on the name of any of these great independent bookstores that will be hosting book-related events:

Powell’s Books, Portland, OR (Tuesday, January 28, 2025)

Edmonds Bookshop, Edmonds, WA (Thursday, January 30)

Village Books, Bellingham, WA (Thursday, February 6)

Third Place Books Ravenna, Seattle, WA (Tuesday, February 11)

You can also pre-order from:

Bookshop.org

Amazon

THE LAST GRAND TOUR IS AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDERING!

My new novel, THE LAST GRAND TOUR, is available for pre-ordering NOW!

Reserve your copy by clicking below (or asking for it at your favorite independent bookstore):

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/84534/9781957024103

Powell’s: https://www.powells.com/book/-9781957024103

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Last-Grand-Tour-Michael-McGregor/dp/1957024100/

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/…/the-last…/1146223076

Publication date: January 28, 2025

PLEASE SHARE THIS NEWS WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND ON SOCIAL MEDIA! THANK YOU!

Note: I’m an affiliate of Bookshop.org, where your purchases support local bookstores. If you buy a book through a click on this website, I’ll earn a small commission that helps defray the costs of maintaining this website.

Advance Reader Copies for THE LAST GRAND TOUR Have Arrived!

The Advance Reader Copies of THE LAST GRAND TOUR arrived over the weekend, giving me a chance to hold the fruits of my labor in my hands for the first time.

What an immense joy.

You can pre-order it on Amazon now. It should be available on other sites soon!

Publication date: January 28, 2025

[Cover design by Olivia Croom Hammerman Design]

First Cascadia Writers-in-Conversation Evening a Huge Success

Chatting onstage with Sharma Shields.

The inaugural Cascadia Writers-in-Conversation evening took place last night, with the delightful and eminently charming Sharma Shields as our first featured author. In a beautiful museum setting, with Z. Vanessa Helder’s magnificent watercolors of Eastern Washington on the walls, 60+ people had the great fortune to listen to a terrifically talented writer talk in depth about her life and her work.

Among the topics Sharma discussed were: how she became a writer, how fairy tales can help us find a different path to a deeper reality, the source of her ability to write funny, a writer’s relationship to the serious issues of our times, and the importance in her life of the stories of Hans Christian Anderson (the subject of her next novel).

Sharma listens and smiles with Z. Vanessa Helder’s watercolors behind her.

She also talked at length about the development and “weirdness” of her three books–Favorite Monster, The Sasquatch Hunter’s Almanac, and The Cassandra. One of the evening’s many treats was Sharma’s reading of three short stories about witches that showcased her humor and love for tales as well as the unique blend of edginess and tenderness that characterizes much of her work.

The audience waits for the conversation to begin, surrounded by Helder’s watercolors.

Next month–on Thursday, September 12–I’ll be interviewing the amazing Debra Magpie Earling, author of Perma Red and The Lost Journals of Sacajawea. Check back later for details.

Writers-in-Conversation events take place at 6 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month at the Cascadia Art Museum in Edmonds, WA, and are sponsored by the Edmonds Bookshop and the Holman Company.

Kicking things off with thank yous and the story of how the Writers-in-Conversation series came to be.

Photos by Gene Openshaw and Rod Ralston.

Note: I’m an affiliate of Bookshop.org, where your purchases support local bookstores. If you buy a book through a click on this website, I’ll earn a small commission that helps defray the costs of maintaining this website.

Introducing the Cover for THE LAST GRAND TOUR–Coming January 28, 2025

Here’s the cover for my novel, THE LAST GRAND TOUR, coming from Korza Books on January 28, 2025.

Cover design by the wondeful Olivia Croom Hammerman at OCHbookdesign.com.

COMING ON JANUARY 28–My First Novel: The Last Grand Tour

On a foggy morning with geese drifting by, a seagull flying overhead, and otters playing just offshore, I’m pleased to announce that my novel, THE LAST GRAND TOUR, will be published on JANUARY 28, 2025.

Here’s a description of the book:

American tour guide Joe Newhouse wants nothing more than to reach Venice. Since moving to Munich after the fall of the Berlin Wall, he’s watched his business fail, his wife leave him, and his love for Europe diminish. Now he faces one last ten-day tour with a surly group that doesn’t want to be there. As he leads them through the mythic lands of Europe’s Romantic past, he finds himself disturbed by their stories of earlier lives, puzzled by their desire to be with a man who doesn’t arrive, and entangled in an illicit affair that promises to either save him or plunge his tour—and his life—into madness.

Soaked in the Romantic atmosphere and dark deeds of old Europe—as well as the freedoms and hopes of a new era—The Last Grand Tour takes us on a perilous journey through Hitler’s Berchtesgaden, Mozart’s Salzburg, and Mad King Ludwig’s Bavarian fantasyland before reaching its stunning climax in the murky waters of Venice. Along the way, it explores the often-shifting lines between fidelity and freedom, illusion and reality, regret and desire.

I’ll be posting a picture of the cover soon!