good evening, Zagreb!

My delightful Canadian publisher, Nightwood Editions, sent along some great news this week.

Edicije Božičević, a publisher in Zagreb, Croatia has bought the rights to my novel, The Uninvited Guest. They are translating it into Croatian and will release it (I think) next year. I visited Zagreb, briefly, in 1987. Looks like it's time to go back.

For those who don't know, The Uninvited Guest is my first novel (others on the way), and it was shortlisted for the Amazon.ca First Novel Award in Canada. From the promo:

Some people win games, some achieve success; most people don’t. Failure is a guest no one invites, yet it shows up almost everywhere. The gifts it brings are easy to overlook.

The Uninvited Guest is a whirlwind ride featuring Romanian hockey superstars growing up in Montreal, Danish prostitutes working in Sweden, Russian mobsters, the perils of parking in Penetanguishene, and how not to die if you want to make it home on time.

And a couple of reviews:

"Satisfying and resonant... John Degen has written a very fine book--rarely is an uninvited guest so enjoyable."

- Steven Galloway, The Globe and Mail

"The Uninvited Guest offers a fictional and philosophical lens on a wide range of subjects from the lives of professional hockey players to the keepers of the Cup to Eastern European history to storytelling, and blurs the whole spectrum together in a finale full of love, community and companionship."

- Igor Larionov, three-time winner of the Stanley Cup