Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Book Giveaways

If you're on Facebook, my publisher, Ecco, is giving away 20 copies of Tunneling to the Center of the Earth.  All you have to do is 1) Become a fan of Ecco Books & 2) Send an email to ecco[at]harpercollins.com by 4/7 and they will draw 20 names.

I've also got a copy on my person and so for the first person that posts a comment on this entry, I'll send you a signed copy of the book.  

Also, if anyone reads and enjoys the book, feel free to go to Amazon and tell people you like it so that we can combat the inevitable 1 and 2 star reviews from all the people with whom I have gotten into horrible fist fights and are out to ruin me because I knocked them out and now it's on youtube for everyone to see.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Miley and Me

So, my cousin, Quinn, just wrote me to let me know that I'll be reading on the same day as a celebrity when I'm at the Davis-Kidd in Nashville on April 9th.  Miley Cyrus is signing copies of her new book at 3:15 PM and then I read at 7:00 PM, if there hasn't been some kind of horrible stampede accident that closes down the store.  I'm really, really wishing that we could have done an event together.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

High School

I did not spend a lot of time in high school reading what people would call serious literature.  Instead, I read comic books and books about the Alamo.  I was thinking about the few times in high school, when I'd drive two hours to Nashville to wander around the books in Media-Play, that I got something good for reasons that were totally random and weird.  

Russell Banks's The Rule of the Bone: I got this book because Details, which I read a lot in order to figure out how to cut my hair, said it was a good book.  So I bought it.  And it was awesome.  The main character's name was Chappie.  Then he was called Bone.  I wanted, for a while afterwards, to change my name to Bone Chappie Wilson.

Kevin Canty's A Stranger in This World: I got this book because the author's name was Kevin.  That is the sole reason.  There is a story called "Pretty Judy" that kind of ruined me for a few months, it was so good.  I have since learned that buying a book just because the author's name is Kevin is not always a great idea, but I still fall for it sometimes.

Dennis Cooper's Try: I think I bought this book because I'd heard of Dennis Cooper from Spin Magazine where they talked about Artspace Books and a collaboration he'd done with some artist.  I couldn't find that book at Media-Play, so I got Try.  I remember reading it before class started one morning and a girl beside me asked what the book was about.  The book is about a teenager, Ziggy, who is sexually abused by his two dads and then he falls in love with his best friend, who is a heroin addict, and he hangs out with his uncle, who sells pornography on the black market.  I said something similar to what I just wrote and I remember thinking, as I told her about that book, that this was not going to endear me to her.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Hills Like White Elephants: Samuel Lee

"I use commas like ninja stars."
from "I Use Commas like Ninja Stars" by Samuel Lee

Catching Up

I have a book coming out on April 1st.  So if I were a smart salesman, I'd be posting every day to try and create interest in the book.  But I am lazy and overwhelmed with work.  But that stops now.

I received copies of Tunneling to the Center of the Earth last week and I'm very, very excited to finally hold the book in my hands.  It's been great working with Ecco/Harper Perennial and they have made me feel very good about myself.

I'm going to be reading in New York on April 1st, the only time I'll be out of the South for my reading tour.  I'll be part of the Happy Ending Music and Reading Series with writers Colson Whitehead and Amy Cohen and musician Sam Amidon.  Here are more dates for my reading tour.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Hills Like White Elephants: Claire Hero

"And then we are in a green room, the stag and I, his brown eye turns like a globe, leaves fall around us."
from "Stag" by Claire Hero