Meet Alexi Zentner, literary backwoodsman...

You know that I like to sit around and talk shop with other writers, especially if there's a pint (or five) of beer involved - and that's why I love writing for Spike magazine. In the past few months I've been lucky enough to interview Peter Mountford and Urban Waite, and the Spike site has just published my chat with another great debut novelist, Alexi Zentner.

I don't want to spoil the interview before you've even got to it, so suffice it to say that Alexi's debut novel, Touch, is one of the accomplished and memorable debuts I've read in a long time. Mapping out the wilds of Canada via its landscape, climate and rustic mythologies, Touch also manages to be gripping from the outset - and, well, touching. Read it and you'll see why Alexi has already been nominated for a number of major literary awards.

Once you've read Touch (or if you can't wait, and want to dive straight in) you can find my interview with Alexi Zentner here. Now, where's that pint...?