Jamie Ford's Blog: Bittersweet Blog, page 2

Best books of 2017

I'm finally back at my writing desk, with the dust of 38 cities on my suitcase, and a bit of glitter in my hair.

I'm staring at the outline and early pages of a new book. So weird to be sitting down, going back to Storyland.

But, before I disappear, I'm delighted to share that Library Journal named LOVE AND OTHER CONSOLATION PRIZES as one of their best historical fictions novels of the year. Also on the list was LILI DE JONG by Janet Benton, which I loved and have raved about. But, my favorite book of the year by far was LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE by Celeste Ng.

If you can buy two books, I hope one of them is mine, but if you had to choose only one, I'd say buy Celeste's. I'm still basking in the strenuous, maddening, heart-rending, infuriating afterglow of that story. 

In fact, next March I'll be back at the Tucson Festival of Books, sharing the stage with Celeste and Tom Perrotta. I can't wait. 

I'm going to need a bigger suitcase

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The Consolation Tour: Fall 2017

I'll be hitting the literary highway in support of my new book, LOVE AND OTHER CONSOLATION PRIZES, but I'll also be doing community reads and a few high school visits. If you don't see your town on the list, don't despair, I have more dates in 2018. 

9/8/17

Bookmarks
Eat & Greet Luncheon
Winston-Salem, NC
www.bookmarksnc.org

11:30 am
Talk & Signing

 

9/9/17

Bookmarks
Free Festival
Winson-Salem, NC
www.bookmarksnc.org

10:00 am
Talk & Signing

 

9/12/17

Barnes & Noble
1601 Marketplace Dr.
Great Falls, MT 
(406) 452-3299

7:00 pm
Talk & Signing

 

9/13/17

Sacramento Bee Book Club
2100 Q Street
Sacramento, CA
(916) 321-1075

5:00 pm
Talk & Signing

 

9/14/17

Auntie's Bookstore
402 W Main Ave
Spokane, WA 
www.auntiesbooks.com

7:00 pm
Talk & Signing

 

9/15/17

Tacoma Public Library
Wheelock Branch
Tacoma, WA 
(253) 617-7811

6:30 pm
Talk & Signing

 

9/16/17

Third Place Books
17171 Bothell Way NE
Lake Forest Park, WA 
(206) 366-3316

4:00 pm
Talk & Signing

 

9/18/17

Warwick's Bookstore
7812 Girard Ave
La Jolla, CA 
(858) 454-0347

7:30 pm
Talk & Signing

 

9/20/17

Margaret Mitchell House
979 Crescent Ave NE
Atlanta, GA 
(404) 814-4114

7:00 pm
Talk & Signing

 

9/21/17

Parnassus Books
3900 Hillsboro Pike #14
Nashville, TN
(615) 953-2243

6:30 pm
Talk & Signing

 

9/22/17

Cassiopeia Books
@ Paris Gibson Square
Great Falls, MT 
(406) 727-6350

7:00 pm
Book Party

 

9/23/17

West Sound Reads
South Kitsap High School
Port Orchard, WA
(360) 475-9170

2:30 pm
Talk & Signing

 

9/24/17

Cassiopeia Books
MONTANA NOIR 
Great Falls, MT 
(406) 727-6350

7:00 pm
Group Reading

 

9/26/17

Tattered Cover
2526 E. Colfax Ave
Denver, CO
(303) 322-7727

7:00 pm
Talk & Signing

 

9/27/17

Kappa Book & Author Evening
Palazzo Verde
Greenwood Village, CO
(303) 377-0094

6:00 pm
Talk & Signing

 

9/28/17

One Book Evansville
Old National Event Plaza
Evansville, IN
(812) 475-1054

7:00 pm
Talk & Signing

 

9/29/17

Lexington Public Library
140 E. Main St
Lexington, KY
(859) 231-5536

TBD
Talk & Signing

 

9/30/17

Cincinnati Library
800 Vine Street
Cincinnati, OH 
(513) 369-6944

2:00 pm
Talk & Signing

 

10/1/17

Upper Arlington Author Series
Upper Arlington High School
Columbus, OH
(614) 641-2214

2:00-7:00 pm
Talk & Reception

 

10/2/17

Bishop Hartley High School
1285 Zettler Road
Columbus, OH 
(614) 237-5421

9:00 am
Talk & Signing

 

10/2/17

Indianapolis Public Library
6101 N. Keynote Ave
Indianapolis, IN 
(317) 275-4085

6:00 pm
Talk & Signing

 

10/5/17

Wing Luke Museum
719 S. King Street
Seattle, WA 
(206) 623.5124

6:30 pm
Talk & Signing

 

10/8/17

Opus & Olives
Saint Paul River Centre
St. Paul, MN
(651) 366-6490

5:00 pm
Talk & Reception

 

10/10/17

Rappahannock Library
1201 Caroline St
Fredericksburg, VA 
(540) 372-1144

6:45 pm
Talk & Signing

 

10/11/17

Tuckahoe Woman's Club
4215 Dover Rd
Richmond, VA 
(804) 257-7215

11:00 am
Talk & Signing

 

10/13/17

Allen County Public Library
900 Library Plaza
Ft. Wayne, IN 
(260) 421-1265

6:00 pm
Talk & Signing

 

10/14/17

Authors to the Pointe
The War Memorial
Gross Pointe, MI 
(313) 434-2074

11:30 am
Talk & Signing

 

10/17/17

Fact & Fiction
220 N. Higgins
Missoula, MT  
(406) 721-2881

7:00 pm
Talk & Signing

 

10/18/17

Elk River Books
120 N. Main St
Livingston, MT 
(406) 333-2330

7:00 pm
Talk & Signing

 

10/19/17

This House of Books
224 N. Broadway
Billings, MT 
(406) 534-1133

5:30 pm
Talk & Signing

 

10/20/17

Country Bookshelf
28 West Main St
Bozeman, MT  
(406) 587-0166

7:00 pm
Talk & Signing

 

10/24/17

One Book Fargo
Concordia College
Fargo/Moorhead 
(701) 476-4076

6:00 pm
Talk & Signing

 

11/2/17

Verse & Vino
Charlotte Convention Center
Charlotte, NC  
(704) 416-0802

5:30 pm
Talk & Reception

 

11/9/17

Warren County Public Library
175 Iron Skillet Court
Bowling Green, KY  
(270) 782-0252

6:00 pm
Talk & Signing

 

11/15/17

One Book Cherry Hill
Cherry Hill Public Library
Cherry Hill, NJ
(856) 667-0300

6:00 pm
Talk & Signing

 

11/16/17

Champaign Public Library
200 W. Greet St.
Champaign, IL 
(217) 403-2062

7:00 pm
Talk & Signing

 

11/17/17

The Power of Words
Buskirk-Chumley Theater
Bloomington, IN  
(812) 320-2629

6:00 pm
Talk & Signing

 

11/18/17

Kentucky Book Fair
Literary Luncheon
Frankfort, KY 
www.kyhumanities.org

Noon
Talk & Signing

 

My ears have been burning

It's always nice to have amazing authors say kind words about an upcoming book. In this regard, I have been given an embarrassment of riches. THANK YOU.

***

Advance praise for Love and Other Consolation Prizes

“An evocative, heartfelt, beautifully crafted story that shines a light on a fascinating, tragic bit of forgotten history, this is Jamie Ford at his storytelling best.”—Kristin Hannah, author of The Nightingale

“In this sweeping, big-hearted novel—inspired by the true story of a twelve-year-old boy raffled off as a prize at the 1909 Seattle World Fair—we encounter a cast of colorful characters, fascinating historical details, and (in typical Jamie Ford fashion) insights about morality, race, and culture that deepen and expand the story. Utterly charming.”—Christina Baker Kline, author of A Piece of the World and Orphan Train

“Ford is a master at shining light into dark, forgotten corners of history and revealing the most unexpected and relatable human threads. . . . A beautiful and enthralling story of resilience and the many permutations of love.”—Jessica Shattuck, author of The Women in the Castle

“All the charm and heartbreak of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Based on a true story, Love and Other Consolation Prizes will warm your soul.”—Martha Hall Kelly, author of Lilac Girls

“A gripping story about the unpredictability of life and, above all, the incredible power of love to heal even the most shameful wounds . . . Ford has created a fascinating world, bookended by Seattle’s two world fairs, and peopled it with colorful, brave characters we care deeply about in this masterful job of storytelling.”—Melanie Benjamin, author of The Swans of Fifth Avenue

“Irresistibly magnificent . . . How does a novel genius top himself? Jamie Ford’s newest takes an extraordinary moment in history, where vice lives alongside innocence, and transforms it into a dazzling, hold-your-breath story about the families we make and the ones we are thrust into, about who we are, and who we dreamed we could be.”—Caroline Leavitt, author of Pictures of You and Cruel Beautiful World

“Soaring, heart-wrenching, troubling, funny . . . Ford has masterfully used a strange, tragic footnote from history to transport the reader back in time.”—Karen Abbott, author of Liar, Temptress, Solider, Spy

“Only Jamie Ford could take a snippet of a true story about a child offered as a raffle prize at the 1909 Seattle World’s Fair and spin it into a dazzling tale of love and family and ultimately hope. Love and Other Consolation Prizes has the big generous heart Ford always brings to his novels and fans will rejoice in it.”—Ann Hood, author of The Book That Matters Most
 
“Heartbreaking, wondrous, triumphant.”—Ken Liu, author of The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories
 
“An epic and touching love story of a raffled-off orphan boy named Ernest and the two girls he loves—one for now, one forever. Set against the backdrop of old Seattle, Love and Other Consolation Prizes is a tenderly defiant testimony to the soaring value of a human being, even the most forgotten among us.”—Kathy Hepinstall, author of The Book of Polly

New book cover, so shiny and chrome

I loved the blue cover, but somehow I love this version even more. Bravo to the fine folks at Penguin Random House for always making me look better than I am. Oh, and before I forget, if you're in the US there are a few more days to enter this Goodreads giveaway where they're giving away 75 advance copies of my new book. Good luck!

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Are you a professional reader?

[image error]While my new book doesn't come out until September, if you're a blogger, reviewer, or professional reader--you can download a copy from NetGalley. In related news, I want to be a professional reader! 

The authorly equivalent of a soon-to-be parent showing that first ultrasound.

It's a book! Due date, September 12. And you can win an advance copy at Goodreads.

A glimpse of Love and Other Consolation Prizes

I posted a preview of the new book cover to my Instagram "story," for those inclined. 






It'll be up at @jamiefordofficial for the next 23 hours, 47 minutes...  

The highs and lows of Highland Park High School

The calm before a storm of weirdness, courtesy of the freshman and sophomore classes at HPHS.Well, it finally happened.

After visiting more than 100 schools, from inner-city schools in New York, the kind with clear backpacks and metal detectors, to elite international baccalaureate high schools, including one where the previous year’s guest speaker was Justin Bieber—I’ve finally had a school visit…go sideways.

I’m looking at you, Highland Park High School, and I’m confused.

Yes, you’re in a lovely community, a monoculture of wealth and charm in north Dallas. And congrats on winning the most recent 5A state football championship. That’s almost as impressive—to me anyway—as your 100% graduation rate.

So I was surprised by my strange “welcome” to your school.

Yes, you listened as I took the stage. You laughed at my jokes, and you were kind as I shared personal stories about my own high school career.

You clapped and cheered.

Then as I opened my mouth to speak again—you began clapping.  As I tried to answer questions you began clapping. For twenty minutes, as I tried to wrap up my presentation, you clapped and cheered randomly, a thousand students, trolling me.

I was perplexed as your teachers and your principal—who was just offstage, stood impotent, while you mocked me, a guest to your magnificent school.

Despite the 1000 to 1 odds, I wasn’t about to be run off the stage by a bunch children who had decided I was just another mark to be bullied. So I stubbornly kept going, while imagining the ending scene of the movie, Carrie—you know the one—where they’ve dumped a bucket of pig blood on her head just after crowning her Prom Queen, so they could collectively laugh at her expense. But then the doors slam shut and she telekinetically uncoils fire-hoses and begins spraying those in the auditorium, and the curtains burst into flames.

But, I have no such powers.

Instead, words are my weapons, and my solace, so here they are for all to see.

Are you ready?

Here goes.

You are part of an educational system that gave the world Levi Pettit.

Remember him? I’m sure you do, though I’m also sure you’d like to forget that video of Levi in a tuxedo, an Oklahoma frat boy on a bus leading a cheer that went like this:

“You can hang ‘em from a tree, but they’ll never sign with me, there will never be a n***** at SAE.”

Ring a bell?

In coming to Highland Park High School, I thought that was an anomaly by an immature alum, a racially insensitive apple in a barrel of healthy fruit.

But now I’m not so sure.

Yes, a handful of your students sought me out to apologize on behalf of their peers. And they were truly wonderful and I enjoyed our time together. But they also said troubling things like “This place is awesome, but half the kids are basically corrupt politicians in the making and future date rapists.” They even used an acronym, the FDRC, the Future Date Rape Club. (Please tell me that’s just a joke.)

Your staff was amazing. And the volunteer organizers did a fantastic job.

But what convinced me most of the connective tissue between Levi Pettit and your current student body—the elephant in the room, if you will, that attempted to stomp me on your stage for its amusement, was this:

I managed to end my talk on a bittersweet note about the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans and nationals, about how if we forget that bit of history, we are diminished as a people.

I got my point across and in that brief moment your impoliteness was forgiven and all was well. I thanked you, for not clapping and cheering the Japanese Internment.

Then you clapped and cheered the Japanese Internment.

You couldn’t resist.

That showed me more about you than I wanted to know.

But there it is, your applause still ringing in my ears.

So, Highland Park High School, you have a strange road ahead of you. And as saddened as I am, I know you can do better. And that you can be better.

I know you can.

And believe it of not, I’d love to come back someday.

But more importantly, I hope it’s a place I’d want to visit again.

Good luck.

 

(And to those who didn't clap and cheer, thank you).

Houston, we have a book title

I'm just gonna post this right here. Release date coming soon. 

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My life in books

Hello, friends.

I was recently asked to talk about my "life in books," which seemed like a simple assignment, but once you begin to look at influential books in the aggregate, a pattern forms. By this I mean, my list became a bit of a Dr. Phil moment. Curious? Here's My Life in Books, as compiled by the wonderful British book blogger, Anne Cater.

Speaking of books, I just finished edits on the new novel and the manuscript is back in the hands of my illustrious editor. 

I'd say more but I'm too busy dancing around my office.