Geoff Herbach's Blog

Growing up from Gross-Out Books and Bathroom Humor (Reading and Talk)

That’s what I’ll be discussing tonight at the Ridgedale Library, which must be directly on the line between Minnetonka and Hopkins, because it seems like the address is both places. 7pm Ridgedale Library 12501 Ridgedale Dr Hopkins, MN I’m not against either gross-out humor or jokes about bathrooms. I’m an advocate, really. I’ll do some [...]

You should come to the Nothing Special launch in St. Paul!

On Sunday, May 6 at 2pm, I’ll be doing a reading from Nothing Special at the excellent Red Balloon Bookshop on Grand Avenue in St. Paul, MN. This is the second of three books about Felton Reinstein, great athlete and shivering dork. Andrew, Felton’s brother, drives the story, as he runs away instead of going [...]

Hey! Nothing Special is a real book today. @SourcebooksFire

There’s a lot going on. Finals week at Mankato. School visits. Books coming out. Muscle cramps during runs. Nice dinners. Car repairs. I want to make sure to stop for a moment and say, “Holy balls. My book just came out.” It’s available at stores everywhere today (in the U.S.). You can find it on [...]

Teens Know Best Stupid Fast Trailer!

I can’t believe what a wonderful job these guys did. Awesome. Filed under: Fiction

Nothing Special gets Junior Library Guild selection.@SourcebooksFire

Junior Library Guild reviews thousands of books and picks a few to support. When I got back from Texas, I found this thing in the mail. What a very great way for Nothing Special to come out of the gate. Filed under: Nothing Special, Young Adult

Texas is Big and Ready.

I’ve now been to Texas twice in the last 6 months or so. Before that, I’d never been in the state. Of course, I have a fairly limited view. But I like Texas, a lot. The book community, both library/school and blogger, is so energetic, ginormous, and organized. I met up with tons of librarians, [...]

Final Vid: Know Thyself! (Thanks so much @figmentfiction)

I've had such great time doing these craft videos for Figment.com.  If you don't know, there are (really) thousands of deep-thinking, dedicated, talented-as-your-best-business, young writers on Figment. Being able to discuss writing with a bunch of them has been the highlight of 2012 for me. So, it is with a crooked heart I say: Here [...]

Figment Craft Vid 4: I hide in bushes to listen @sourcebooksfire

In this video, I discuss one way to look at dialogue (mimicking natural, sort of cracked dialogue that people do in natural settings).  It includes a request that dialogue be character driven and important to story conflict. Here's the full post at Figment! Filed under: Good Work, Writing

Figment Video Craft 3: Herbach acts like an idiot for scene/summary @SourcebooksFire

Here's the third of five Figment videos on writing craft.  In this one, I'm discussing the scene/summary thing.  Here's the truth: I'd like me to shut my stupid pie munch while I'm "acting" out the characters.  That said, I think it's still useful.  Here's the link over to Figment.  Or, watch the video right here.  [...]

Thanks Platteville Library Foundation

I had Steve's Pizza. Delicious. I got a Driftless bumper sticker from Bev (Platteville is in the driftless area, filled with hills, where no glacier ever plowed).  I saw lots of old friends and teachers.  Even met the department admin who worked with my dad in the early 70s.  I found out there are Amish [...]