#12 the ides of book releases and anxiety dreams
Helloooo, friends, and happy long weekend of Independence Day (not the outer space one) for those in the US (and sigh if you don't get a long weekend; hardly seems fair)...
On twitter, I promised this week's tinyletter would include an anxiety dream from last night I found so hilarious I woke up long enough to scribble down notes about it so I wouldn't forget. (I would have forgotten. I had to consult them.)
There was this whole long lead-up you don't need to hear about involving doppelgängers and having to hide from people who had (or hadn't, dream logic) committed some sort of big murder case in a community that involved a drowning. After that had resolved a bit, with a revelation that the murderer's doppelgänger had hallucinated the big clue they'd given the police and so they were back to square one and we didn't have to be in hiding anymore, the dream moved on into odd anxiety remix of random things of the week territory.
Buckle in, dream adventurers.
So.
This kid shows up. He's scrawny but well-dressed, with black hair, glasses, olive skin. He tells me that my publisher hired him to analyze all the writing I've ever done, so he can tell me how to be better at it. He gives me some nonsense spiel about book sales and then tells me to keep my expectations low. To which, frankly, dream me is affronted and already wondering which of my publishers did this.
Anyway! It continues. This kid has dug up all sorts of old writing, like two-page short stories I wrote (but not really, because dream) when I was 14 and books that I trunked. I keep trying to explain, "But shouldn't you look at what I write now?" And he tells me this is a scientific process. He insists that my sentences are too long. Then, he informs me that although there is a lot more he needs to go over with me, first I have to go to a consultation with an author they've set up.
It's John Green. (Which we can chalk up to the million times I've seen John's tweet about realizing I was the second subscriber to the Vlog Bros. channel after him in my notifications this week. ;-)
Dream John is just as bemused about this as I am. He and I have a good laugh about all this, and I'm like, "Why on earth did you agree to this?" And he says, "Oh right, that ten-year-old from Apple." I say, "This kid works for Apple?!" And I tell him about the long sentences thing, and the fact my publisher--whichever one it is--has apparently paid Apple all this money to discover what's wrong with my writing.
John looks at me and says, "He told me..." and he pauses so I can prepare myself... " 'Writing is math.' "
"Writing is math? I'm screwed! I became a writer because I suck at math!"
We are both cracking up at this point. Then it all goes back to the murder case, which is suddenly solved, and I tell Dream John as I'm leaving that I'm going to send him some Joe Lansdale books from Subterranean.
I still can't quite get over WRITING IS MATH. Also, I feel really self-conscious about my sentence-length now (not really). Where this dream came from: I have a new book and a comic out next week and as always am certain everyone will hate the book (I'm confident they won't hate the comic because Ming and Kate are geniuses!), I was waiting for a check that hasn't quite shown up (bad at math? probably), that tweet I already mentioned from John, my murder podcast listening, and a Joe Lansdale book I wrote flap copy for for Subterranean this week. Voila, subconscious! You are very amusing.
Next week, I'll be writing you after a whirlwind New York trip from Boston. If you're in the Boston area, come out to Porter Square Books Thursday, July 7 at 7 p.m. and see me and the FABULOUS Molly Gloss! I was going to write birthday taking-stock things this week, but I think the dream was better. I might write them next week...or I might not. You can never tell.
I am unpredictable.
Sometimes. Anyway!
News of the week:
This week's blog post.
I was in our local newspaper (alas, I got my hair re-blued the next day after the photo!).
Comic Book Resources ran an exclusive preview of Issue #1 of Girl Over Paris, which is out Wednesday!
Girl in the Shadows is out Tuesday!
Here's what it's about:
Eighteen-year-old Moira Mitchell grew up in the shadows of Vegas’s stage lights while her father’s career as a magician soared. More than anything, Moira wants to be a magician too, but her father is dead set against her pursuing magic.
When an invitation to join the Cirque American mistakenly falls into Moira’s possession, she takes action. Instead of giving the highly coveted invitation to its intended recipient, Raleigh, her father’s former apprentice, Moira takes off to join the Cirque. If she can perform alongside its world-famous acts, she knows she’ll be able to convince her dad that magic is her future.
But when Moira arrives, things take on an intensity she can’t control as her stage magic suddenly feels like…real magic. To further distract her, Raleigh shows up none too pleased at Moira’s presence, all while the Cirque’s cocky and intriguing knife thrower, Dez, seems to have it out for her. As tensions mount and Moira’s abilities come into question, she must decide what’s real and what’s an illusion. If she doesn’t sort it out in time, she may forever remain a girl in the shadows.
You can read this if you've read Girl on a Wire or if you haven't; they're designed to each be readable as standalones.
Buy it (won't you?): at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or ask your indie to order it. Local folks, I'll be doing a launch on July 16 at 4 p.m. as part of Morris Book Shop's big eighth anniversary celebration. Calendarize!
Have a great weekend, everyone!