Paul Davidson's Blog, page 2
January 5, 2022
Advance Copies of The Small Stuff!
Next to actually finishing a book, the next most thrilling aspect of the entire process is seeing what other people think of it!
That's why I'm excited to let folks know that starting next week, my publisher will be lighting up a Goodreads Giveaway for 100 digital copies of The Small Stuff!
The giveaway will run through February 7th, at which point the 100 winners will be selected. Then I'll come to each and every one of your homes, stand outside your window, and peer inside to make sure you're reading it while sitting upright. (We all know that if you lay down while reading, you're gonna be out like a light!)
So check back next week and drop your name into that spinning raffle spinner thing -- or whatever they call it, and I hope YOU (yes you right there) win one!
That's why I'm excited to let folks know that starting next week, my publisher will be lighting up a Goodreads Giveaway for 100 digital copies of The Small Stuff!
The giveaway will run through February 7th, at which point the 100 winners will be selected. Then I'll come to each and every one of your homes, stand outside your window, and peer inside to make sure you're reading it while sitting upright. (We all know that if you lay down while reading, you're gonna be out like a light!)
So check back next week and drop your name into that spinning raffle spinner thing -- or whatever they call it, and I hope YOU (yes you right there) win one!
December 31, 2021
Going Headfirst Into 2022
For some of you, it's already 2022. For other laggards, like me here in Los Angeles, we're still about five hours out.
Either way, another new year is barreling at us at breakneck speeds, and here's hoping that it's one for the record books (in a good way) for all of you reading this and for all of me (writing this).
I'm thrilled that 2022 is going to be the year that I get to bring The Small Stuff to readers and when we hit the ground running in January there will be lots more to talk about and lots more to share about the book.
In the meantime, the book is already available for pre-order, and if you're interested in getting an exclusive, early look at the full first Chapter of the book, head on over to my author website and sign up for the Newsletter. A few days after doing so, you'll get it dropped hot into your inbox for your reading pleasure.
Until then, I'm excited to continue to meet all of you here on Goodreads and always open to questions and comments if you have 'em.
Happy New Year!
Either way, another new year is barreling at us at breakneck speeds, and here's hoping that it's one for the record books (in a good way) for all of you reading this and for all of me (writing this).
I'm thrilled that 2022 is going to be the year that I get to bring The Small Stuff to readers and when we hit the ground running in January there will be lots more to talk about and lots more to share about the book.
In the meantime, the book is already available for pre-order, and if you're interested in getting an exclusive, early look at the full first Chapter of the book, head on over to my author website and sign up for the Newsletter. A few days after doing so, you'll get it dropped hot into your inbox for your reading pleasure.
Until then, I'm excited to continue to meet all of you here on Goodreads and always open to questions and comments if you have 'em.
Happy New Year!
December 27, 2021
The Tiny Little Decisions of Life
If you've got someone special in your life, you probably have that "story" about how the two of you met.
It might have been as strangers, crossing paths in a bar, or at that house party thrown by a friend of a friend. You may have bumped into them at a concert, swiped right in the dead of night, or met them at a work conference in a far away land.
But we all have those stories.
I'd been obsessed with the mechanics of how we meet the people, and loved to obsessively break down the tiny moments and insignificant decisions we all make that cause us to bump into these über important loves of our lives.
It's something you can't think about in the heat of the moment, though. For example, you can't stress over turning left or right at the stop light for fear that one direction may cause you to meet your soulmate. You can't worry about ordering Pizza versus Chinese tonight via Uber Eats because one choice might bring that significant other to your front door versus the other.
But when you look back, it's stunning how many tiny decisions had to happen for the two of you to meet up.
My wife, for example.
I was living in Los Angeles, working in the Entertainment Industry and living with friends from college. We frequented this bar near UCLA in Westwood every weekend, and on one particular evening two young women that I had never met, approached me. Mind you, these are two women I wasn't aware of, I hadn't focused in on, and probably would have never approached.
But they approached me. Their decision #1.
I became friends with these two young ladies, dating one (without anything sticking) and befriending the other (despite not knowing she perhaps had a crush on me), but over time I would simply become platonic friends with the two of them and we would hang out and integrate their social group with ours.
Three or four times, they had invited a young woman to our get togethers, parties, and the like. I know I met her, but I don't remember the moments. They passed me by, again and again, without sticking.
Until one day, a moment finally stuck.
A friend of a friend decided to have his birthday party at a famous sushi place up on Sunset Boulevard. A part of this ridiculous party was that you had to dress up in 70's attire, which meant I was going to look like Jack Tripper from Three's Company with blue and white checkered pants, a belt made out of a seat buckle, and some kind of alligator shoes I found on Melrose Boulevard.
One of my friends (remember, one of the girls from the bar) decided to come after a party she was going to go to got cancelled (another decision out of my control) so she decided to come. But she didn't know many people there except for me, so decided to ask a friend to come. That young lady I mentioned previously, who I had met a few times, but never remembered.
Well, my friend called her up and asked her if she wanted to come out to this party. She wasn't interested, was settled for the night, and so declined. If you hear her tell the story she recounts how she hung up, thought about it, then realized she might as well go out and do SOMETHING instead of sitting around.
So she decided to go. (Their decision #32b).
She (her) came to the party. Met me in all my glorious 70's goodness, and it became the actual first moment that we both saw each other...in a real way...for the first time. It would be the moment that would spark the relationship that would turn into weeks, months, years and ultimately a wedding.
But think about all the tiny decisions that other people made in order for that official meeting on Sunset Boulevard to become a reality.
It can make your head spin if you think too hard.
But it can also be quite astounding.
We go through life thinking about fate, destiny, energy, visualization, hope, faith and the infinite Universe as things that can have a bearing on our lives and the paths we choose...but ultimately, if it wasn't for all the people around us making their own choices, much of our successes, loves and happiness may not have happened at all.
And that's the concept and hook behind The Small Stuff.
It might have been as strangers, crossing paths in a bar, or at that house party thrown by a friend of a friend. You may have bumped into them at a concert, swiped right in the dead of night, or met them at a work conference in a far away land.
But we all have those stories.
I'd been obsessed with the mechanics of how we meet the people, and loved to obsessively break down the tiny moments and insignificant decisions we all make that cause us to bump into these über important loves of our lives.
It's something you can't think about in the heat of the moment, though. For example, you can't stress over turning left or right at the stop light for fear that one direction may cause you to meet your soulmate. You can't worry about ordering Pizza versus Chinese tonight via Uber Eats because one choice might bring that significant other to your front door versus the other.
But when you look back, it's stunning how many tiny decisions had to happen for the two of you to meet up.
My wife, for example.
I was living in Los Angeles, working in the Entertainment Industry and living with friends from college. We frequented this bar near UCLA in Westwood every weekend, and on one particular evening two young women that I had never met, approached me. Mind you, these are two women I wasn't aware of, I hadn't focused in on, and probably would have never approached.
But they approached me. Their decision #1.
I became friends with these two young ladies, dating one (without anything sticking) and befriending the other (despite not knowing she perhaps had a crush on me), but over time I would simply become platonic friends with the two of them and we would hang out and integrate their social group with ours.
Three or four times, they had invited a young woman to our get togethers, parties, and the like. I know I met her, but I don't remember the moments. They passed me by, again and again, without sticking.
Until one day, a moment finally stuck.
A friend of a friend decided to have his birthday party at a famous sushi place up on Sunset Boulevard. A part of this ridiculous party was that you had to dress up in 70's attire, which meant I was going to look like Jack Tripper from Three's Company with blue and white checkered pants, a belt made out of a seat buckle, and some kind of alligator shoes I found on Melrose Boulevard.
One of my friends (remember, one of the girls from the bar) decided to come after a party she was going to go to got cancelled (another decision out of my control) so she decided to come. But she didn't know many people there except for me, so decided to ask a friend to come. That young lady I mentioned previously, who I had met a few times, but never remembered.
Well, my friend called her up and asked her if she wanted to come out to this party. She wasn't interested, was settled for the night, and so declined. If you hear her tell the story she recounts how she hung up, thought about it, then realized she might as well go out and do SOMETHING instead of sitting around.
So she decided to go. (Their decision #32b).
She (her) came to the party. Met me in all my glorious 70's goodness, and it became the actual first moment that we both saw each other...in a real way...for the first time. It would be the moment that would spark the relationship that would turn into weeks, months, years and ultimately a wedding.
But think about all the tiny decisions that other people made in order for that official meeting on Sunset Boulevard to become a reality.
It can make your head spin if you think too hard.
But it can also be quite astounding.
We go through life thinking about fate, destiny, energy, visualization, hope, faith and the infinite Universe as things that can have a bearing on our lives and the paths we choose...but ultimately, if it wasn't for all the people around us making their own choices, much of our successes, loves and happiness may not have happened at all.
And that's the concept and hook behind The Small Stuff.
December 25, 2021
The Significance of Toto's Africa
It was three hours since I had finished the first draft of The Small Stuff manuscript when I walked into one of those [Insert Dude's Name]'s chain sandwich places to pick up some grub.
As I walked in...and I mean the MINUTE I walked in, the song Africa by 80's band Toto began playing.
This was ironic, in a non Alanis Morissette kind of way.
That's because, in The Small Stuff our two soulmates Josh and Maggie end up meeting for the first time in an auto body shop after they both have car accidents on the same day. Someone in Maggie's office and someone in Josh's office both highly recommend this particular auto body shop, and aside from the coincidence of that (and other cool reveals only the book can provide), it is the meet-cute that sets everything in motion. Oh, and did I mention that the auto body shop hasn't figured out how to program a Spotify music playlist, so the song Africa plays over and over and over again in the background of the entire scene.
But for a book so focused on the coincidences of life, and the decisions we all make and why those tiny little decisions ultimately mean something in the larger scheme...it was like the Universe was telling me something as I walked in to order the #7 on parmesan bread with, yes, jalapeños.
When I got back in my car and turned on Sirius XM to their 80's music channel (this was 18 minutes later), do you know what song was playing? Like it was right in the middle of the song, with the chorus going full force?
And when I got home 30 minutes later, and got on Twitter, one of the posts in my timeline also included someone talking about Toto's glorious hit song.
What the heck was going on here?
Was the Universe just confirming I had done the right thing (i.e. having written the book)? Was it telling me that the choice of song was significant for some reason? Was it telling me that clearing the song for use in the book would be easy, because well, you've got to get approval from the label before including a song's lyrics in your book?
Yes, Yes and... No no no from To-to-to.
Here's the Did You Know? portion of this post. Did you know that you can use a band's name in your book, and the title of their song in your book, and you can say that "so-and-so sings x song while driving" in your book -- but unless Toto says you can reprint the lyrics of their song in your book...you can't.
Moral of the story? Just because the energy of the Universe nudges you in one direction, doesn't necessarily mean it's a lock. Which is why I love Daniel Powter.
He let me put his lyrics to "Bad Day" in The Small Stuff and I love him for it.
Of course I still love Toto, because in the narrative of the story, they're still right there smack dab in the middle of some Universal love.
As I walked in...and I mean the MINUTE I walked in, the song Africa by 80's band Toto began playing.
This was ironic, in a non Alanis Morissette kind of way.
That's because, in The Small Stuff our two soulmates Josh and Maggie end up meeting for the first time in an auto body shop after they both have car accidents on the same day. Someone in Maggie's office and someone in Josh's office both highly recommend this particular auto body shop, and aside from the coincidence of that (and other cool reveals only the book can provide), it is the meet-cute that sets everything in motion. Oh, and did I mention that the auto body shop hasn't figured out how to program a Spotify music playlist, so the song Africa plays over and over and over again in the background of the entire scene.
But for a book so focused on the coincidences of life, and the decisions we all make and why those tiny little decisions ultimately mean something in the larger scheme...it was like the Universe was telling me something as I walked in to order the #7 on parmesan bread with, yes, jalapeños.
When I got back in my car and turned on Sirius XM to their 80's music channel (this was 18 minutes later), do you know what song was playing? Like it was right in the middle of the song, with the chorus going full force?
And when I got home 30 minutes later, and got on Twitter, one of the posts in my timeline also included someone talking about Toto's glorious hit song.
What the heck was going on here?
Was the Universe just confirming I had done the right thing (i.e. having written the book)? Was it telling me that the choice of song was significant for some reason? Was it telling me that clearing the song for use in the book would be easy, because well, you've got to get approval from the label before including a song's lyrics in your book?
Yes, Yes and... No no no from To-to-to.
Here's the Did You Know? portion of this post. Did you know that you can use a band's name in your book, and the title of their song in your book, and you can say that "so-and-so sings x song while driving" in your book -- but unless Toto says you can reprint the lyrics of their song in your book...you can't.
Moral of the story? Just because the energy of the Universe nudges you in one direction, doesn't necessarily mean it's a lock. Which is why I love Daniel Powter.
He let me put his lyrics to "Bad Day" in The Small Stuff and I love him for it.
Of course I still love Toto, because in the narrative of the story, they're still right there smack dab in the middle of some Universal love.
December 23, 2021
Thankful For My Fellow Goodreads Authors
While I'm already thankful for good health, sanity and rain in Los Angeles (where it rarely changes seasons), I'm especially thankful for all my fellow Goodreads Authors who were generous enough to take the time to read The Small Stuff over the last few months and give me the almighty, all-powerful literary blurbs.
I wanted to share some of them here, with links to their author pages here on Goodreads! If you don't follow them or haven't read their books, I encourage you to do so!
Advance Praise for The Small Stuff
"An utterly charming romcom hangout of a book, full of snarky pop culture wit and a languid L.A. vibe that will make fans of PT Anderson feel right at home."
-David Yoon, NYT best-selling author of Frankly In Love
"Romantic and charming, this book will make you believe in the bumps, twists and turns on the road trip to love."
-Nia Vardalos, NYT best-selling author and Academy Award nominated screenwriter of My Big Fat Greek Wedding
"The Small Stuff is such a sweet, funny, romantic read. With a brilliant and quirky cast, each charmingly written, this story by Paul Davidson will cling to readers' thoughts days after finishing the final pages."
-Ann Garvin, USA Today best-selling author of I Thought You Said This Would Work
"In our age of revamps, revivals, and resurrections, this is—finally!—an old story, boy meets girl, told in a truly new way. Inventive, hilarious and uncomfortably insightful, The Small Stuff is a big deal."
-Luke Geddes, author of Heart of Junk
"The Small Stuff is a witty novel with a big heart. Paul Davidson has a clear eye for small details and grand gestures, resulting in a story that would charm even the most hardened cynic. And the repartee between reluctant soulmates Josh and Maggie would make Nora Ephron proud."
-Elizabeth Gonzalez James, author of Mona at Sea
"Funny, insightful, and charming as hell, The Small Stuff is a meditation on love, fate, and free will that plays out like a classic romantic comedy. It's part Nora Ephron, part Philip K. Dick."
-Melissa Maerz, author of Alright, Alright Alright: The Oral History of Richard Linklater's Dazed & Confused
"A fun, romantic book that reads like putting together a puzzle, The Small Stuff is sweet and insightful, full of optimism, wit and surprises. I loved every minute of it."
-Suzy Krause, author of Sorry I Missed You
"Davidson does something kind of remarkable here as he turns the romantic comedy on its ear with a wealth of quirky, irresistible charm and clever serendipity. You may never look at the 'meet cute' quite the same again. I defy anyone not to root for Josh and Maggie—and to see a bit of themselves in this adorably self-sabotaging pair."
-Gary Goldstein, author of The Last Birthday Party
I wanted to share some of them here, with links to their author pages here on Goodreads! If you don't follow them or haven't read their books, I encourage you to do so!
Advance Praise for The Small Stuff
"An utterly charming romcom hangout of a book, full of snarky pop culture wit and a languid L.A. vibe that will make fans of PT Anderson feel right at home."
-David Yoon, NYT best-selling author of Frankly In Love
"Romantic and charming, this book will make you believe in the bumps, twists and turns on the road trip to love."
-Nia Vardalos, NYT best-selling author and Academy Award nominated screenwriter of My Big Fat Greek Wedding
"The Small Stuff is such a sweet, funny, romantic read. With a brilliant and quirky cast, each charmingly written, this story by Paul Davidson will cling to readers' thoughts days after finishing the final pages."
-Ann Garvin, USA Today best-selling author of I Thought You Said This Would Work
"In our age of revamps, revivals, and resurrections, this is—finally!—an old story, boy meets girl, told in a truly new way. Inventive, hilarious and uncomfortably insightful, The Small Stuff is a big deal."
-Luke Geddes, author of Heart of Junk
"The Small Stuff is a witty novel with a big heart. Paul Davidson has a clear eye for small details and grand gestures, resulting in a story that would charm even the most hardened cynic. And the repartee between reluctant soulmates Josh and Maggie would make Nora Ephron proud."
-Elizabeth Gonzalez James, author of Mona at Sea
"Funny, insightful, and charming as hell, The Small Stuff is a meditation on love, fate, and free will that plays out like a classic romantic comedy. It's part Nora Ephron, part Philip K. Dick."
-Melissa Maerz, author of Alright, Alright Alright: The Oral History of Richard Linklater's Dazed & Confused
"A fun, romantic book that reads like putting together a puzzle, The Small Stuff is sweet and insightful, full of optimism, wit and surprises. I loved every minute of it."
-Suzy Krause, author of Sorry I Missed You
"Davidson does something kind of remarkable here as he turns the romantic comedy on its ear with a wealth of quirky, irresistible charm and clever serendipity. You may never look at the 'meet cute' quite the same again. I defy anyone not to root for Josh and Maggie—and to see a bit of themselves in this adorably self-sabotaging pair."
-Gary Goldstein, author of The Last Birthday Party
December 19, 2021
The Small Stuff Cover Reveal
This past week I was thrilled to be able to reveal the cover of my debut fiction novel The Small Stuff, which releases April 12, 2022 from Hadleigh House.
When I finished the book during the first year of the pandemic (which I think was 2020), I reached out to illustrator Max Dalton who I had been a fan of ever since he created the cover for Wes Anderson's Grand Budapest Hotel.
He surprised me by saying yes -- that he WOULD illustrate the cover of the book.
I'm thrilled with the result, which you can see here:
Despite having written Consumer Joe: Harassing Corporate America, One Letter at a Time and The Lost Blogs: From Jesus to Jim Morrison--The Historically Inaccurate and Totally Fictitious Cyber Diaries of Everyone Worth Knowing, those were non-fiction books, so I'm really jumping into uncharted waters here, but I hope fans of my previous books will add this one to their "Want To Read" lists and Pre-Order the book, which is available now on all your favorite book stores.
Happy Holidays and can't wait for you all to get a chance to read The Small Stuff in 2022!
When I finished the book during the first year of the pandemic (which I think was 2020), I reached out to illustrator Max Dalton who I had been a fan of ever since he created the cover for Wes Anderson's Grand Budapest Hotel.
He surprised me by saying yes -- that he WOULD illustrate the cover of the book.
I'm thrilled with the result, which you can see here:
Despite having written Consumer Joe: Harassing Corporate America, One Letter at a Time and The Lost Blogs: From Jesus to Jim Morrison--The Historically Inaccurate and Totally Fictitious Cyber Diaries of Everyone Worth Knowing, those were non-fiction books, so I'm really jumping into uncharted waters here, but I hope fans of my previous books will add this one to their "Want To Read" lists and Pre-Order the book, which is available now on all your favorite book stores.
Happy Holidays and can't wait for you all to get a chance to read The Small Stuff in 2022!
November 7, 2021
My Debut Fiction Novel
So I was busy over the first half of the pandemic.
Thankfully, I was finally able to write that debut fiction novel I'd had stuck in my head for so long. And now, I'm so excited to be able to share that The Small Stuff will be coming out from Hadleigh House Publishing in Spring 2022.
There will be a lot more to come, but if you're interested in learning more, please check out my website for more information!
I can't wait to tell you more!
Thankfully, I was finally able to write that debut fiction novel I'd had stuck in my head for so long. And now, I'm so excited to be able to share that The Small Stuff will be coming out from Hadleigh House Publishing in Spring 2022.
There will be a lot more to come, but if you're interested in learning more, please check out my website for more information!
I can't wait to tell you more!
