Alex George's Blog, page 16

Profile in Vox Magazine

Click here for a nice profile today in Vox magazine, the weekly sister magazine to the Columbia Missourian.

I should say, in my defense, (jazz snob alert!) that the reference to "smooth jazz" was a little journalistic license on the part of the lady who came to interview me.  I would hate for anyone to think that I've gone all Kenny G in my old age.

My friend Deborah wrote to ask why there is a box of Kleenex between my legs in the photo.  Well, good question.  I'd taken the tissues off the desk in an (admittedly forlorn) attempt to make my desk look slightly less chaotic.  Because those piles of yellow folders stacked all over the place just reek of smooth professionalism, don't they?

Great Writers Coming to Columbia, MO!

My good friend Amy Stephenson, who runs Get Lost Bookshop in downtown Columbia – literally a stone's throw from my office – is putting together a series of readings by wonderful authors.  I'm very excited by the inaugural event, since it is a reading by fellow Amy Einhorn author and New York Times best-seller, Eleanor Brown, whose debut, THE WEIRD SISTERS, has been delighting readers and critics alike with its delightful mixture of whimsy and thoughtful exploration of family dynamics.   I have written about this book, which I loved, frequently on this blog – you can read my full review of it here.  Over the past several months Eleanor has become a good friend of mine, even though we have never met.  (The internet is a wonderful thing.)  I cannot wait to meet her in person and sit down and compare notes about this publishing lark.  It is, as they say in England, a funny old game.

A more recent friend – discovered on twitter, no less – is the lovely and talented Rebecca Rasmussen, whose novel, THE BIRD SISTERS, is published on April 12 by Crown.  Rebecca lives in St. Louis, and she will be coming to Columbia on May 1, just before her nationwide book tour.  I haven't read Rebecca's book yet but have heard some wonderful things, and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy.

Both of these events are taking place at the newly re-opened and wonderful Perlow-Stevens Gallery in its new location at 1025 East Walnut, in Columbia's North Art Village.  Come along and enjoy the chance to hear these talented writers read from their books.  We are tremendously lucky to have a chance to welcome these brilliant authors to our town, and both evenings will be events not to be missed.

See you there?

More Book News

Well, things are moving ahead.

It now appears that we have a tentative date scheduled for the publication of A GOOD AMERICAN – January or February of 2012.  It seems an awfully long way off right now but I know that there's a lot to do in the forthcoming months and I will be kept extremely busy.  I am told that early in the year is a great time to be published, for various reasons – however, I will be hoping that the weather next winter isn't as crazy as it was this year.  I know that fellow Amy Einhorn author Eleanor Brown (whose book has become a New York Times bestseller, I should add) suffered mightily at the hands of various capricious weather fronts as she tootled about the country on her book tour, with both flights and readings cancelled hither and yon.  This year mid Missouri has seen the second highest snowfall since records began.  Can't be as bad again… can it?

In the meantime, we have begun to send the finished manuscript out to various friendly author types in the hope that they will be kind enough to read the book and provide some sparkling quote that we can include in the publicity materials – blurbs, we call 'em in the business.  I have also been doing my best not to worry about a rather intimidating "Author Questionnaire" from my publisher's publicity department, with all sorts of questions about my children's blood type, my thoughts on the situation in East Timor, the password to all my email accounts, and all credit card PIN numbers, etc.  I tell you, writing the bloody book was easy in comparison.

"Now the Fun Bit"

So, yesterday was a big day for me.

I have lost count over the past couple of years how many times I have written on this blog that the book is "finished".  There have been so many drafts and rewrites that it makes my head spin.

The difference then, of course, was that I was the only one who had an opinion on the matter.

Yesterday, though, I was speaking with my editor and publisher, Amy Einhorn, and together we agreed the final three tiny text changes to the manuscript.  She is now happy with it.  So the rewriting process that began last summer when she purchased the book is finally complete.  It has been a long, hard haul, but the book is immeasurably better as a result.  Recently on twitter I posted a link to a Guardian piece about the lost art of editing books.  Amy is one of a diminishing breed of editors who really still actually edit their books.  She, poor woman, has read mine at least five times now, and has guided me through a vast (six month) rewrite.  All writers should be so lucky to work with someone as astute as her.

And as Amy said to me yesterday: "Now the fun bit."

My next job is to compile a list of authors I admire and like whom we might ask to read the manuscript in the hope that they like it and provide us with a killer quote that we can stick on the jacket.  It sounds like a simple enough job but it's harder than you would think.  And it feels very odd to have a list with names like Richard Russo and John Irving on it.  (I have been told to dream, so that's what I'm doing!)

We've also been talking about possible covers.  Amy's books always have gorgeous covers, and I can't wait to see what the Penguin art department comes up with.  My next homework assignment is to wander through my local bookshop and decide which covers I like the look of, so I can give them some kind of direction as to what I would like to see.  It's a tough job, but someone has to do it…

Big Book News

More book news today… and for once, it's actually about my book!

While we were in Miami airport waiting for our flight to England – only four days later than planned, due to snow – I got an email from my editor and publisher, Amy Einhorn, with her comments on the rewrite to the book that I had been working on for the past six months.  Nervous times, as you might imagine.  Over the summer we had spent several hours on the telephone discussing what changes needed to be made, but there's a world of difference between agreeing to changes in principle and liking the end result in practice, especially when some of the changes we talked about were pretty fundamental to the entire book.

The good news is that she liked what I'd done.  She had made various comments and suggestions throughout the book and I have spent the past few weeks working through those.  This morning I pressed send on the revised manuscript, and it is now winging its way back to New York.  There will be of course be further polishing to do, but I believe that the lion's share of work on the book is probably done.  That is an extraordinary sentence to write after six years.  As I type it I am filled with deep satisfaction, but also a certain melancholy.  I have lived with my characters for so long, and have gone through so much with them (including killing a fair few of the poor sods off) that I am very sad to finally bid them goodbye.

Twitter followers and Facebook friends will also already know that we appear (thanks to Amy) to have resolved .  She has suggested this: A GOOD AMERICAN.

This is, as my friend Louise remarked, a "big" title, but I think that's OK.  I'd love to know what you think.  Without having read a word of the novel, is it a title that would grab your attention?  Does it intrigue you?  Put you off?  Please drop me a line and let me know your thoughts.

THE WEIRD SISTERS is published today!

Regular visitors to this blog will be aware of my admiration for my friend and fellow Amy Einhorn Books author, Eleanor Brown.  My twitter feed has lately been busy telling the world about the various amazing reviews (New York Times, anyone?) that this excellent debut novel has already garnered.  ( I also posted about her classy book trailer here.)  It has been very exciting to watch the praise roll in.  Here's my own little tribute, which I posted on Goodreads after I'd devoured the ARC that Amy sent me:

"Well, what a breath of fresh air. I just loved this. Eleanor Brown has a unique and compelling voice, which she marshals to brilliant effect in this deeply affecting story about three sisters who have lost their way and retreat to the questionable comforts of their childhood home. She draws all her characters with deft precision and you can't help but care for them, no matter what faults they may have (and they all have faults.) Warning: this is one of those books which is best read alone. There are nuggets on every page that you'll want to share with whoever is sitting close to you, but they'd probably prefer just to read it for themselves. And it's funny as hell, too. Highly recommended."

Well, after months of anticipation, today is the official publication day of the book.  If there wasn't nine inches of freshly fallen snow lying outside my front door, I would be off to Barnes & Noble to see the book in all its glory where it should be – in a bloody bookshop.  Eleanor has been chosen as one of B&N's fresh crop of authors in their Discover Great New Writers program, which is very exciting and thoroughly deserved.  Anyway, it's a wonderful book, and you could all do worse than clicking here if you're interested…

Leavin' On a Jet Plane. Maybe.

Let me see… it's Tuesday, so I should be in London today, having lunch with my agent, Bruce.  Except that I'm still here in Missouri, reading weather reports about unprecedented levels of snowfall that has put England into chaos.  Flights have been grounded across Europe, roads have been blocked, trains halted.  It's all a terrible mess.  Our flight has been cancelled twice so far.

Please, don't let it be me

I usually derive a certain satisfaction from telling my English friends how much more weather we get over here.  And yes, I will admit that on occasion this does descend into out-and-out bragging – you know, the summers are hotter, the winters colder, the rain heavier, the tornados – well, we have tornados.  (Which, lest we forget, was something my wife had somehow forgotten to mention before we moved over here.)  One of the things I enjoyed about Missouri when I first got here was that there are actually four seasons, as opposed to the traditional English two (wet and cold; wet and slightly less cold.)  Now, though, Britain seems to be savaged with weather as extreme as ours.  I can remember snow falling just a handful of times  during my childhood; in the past three years they've had more snow there than here.  And people still like to pretend that climate change is a myth.

Of course, the problem is that England isn't equipped for serious winter weather (which has prompted an outcry and much political hand-wringing.)  Snowfall like this wouldn't have merited a mention in certain parts of the United States, and business would have carried on without a hitch.  But the Brits, bless their summer-light cotton socks, still aren't used to it, and consequently the entire country's infrastructure has ground to a halt.  Which leaves us stranded here, rather than spending some time with my family.  My children haven't seen their grandparents for ten months; every day is precious.  Sometimes it's difficult not to be a little bitter.

Still, every snow cloud has a silver lining – on this occasion, two.  Firstly, it looks as if we'll get out tomorrow.  And secondly, we have spent the last three days here, warm and safe (if bored) at home.  We could have been stranded in some monstrous airport somewhere.  Take your blessings where you find them, I say.  Merry Christmas, everyone.

The Most Feared Man in Missouri

OK, perhaps I am exaggerating slightly.

But here's what every well-dressed writer should be wearing this holiday season.  Watch your friends quake in their boots!  Or, um, not.

Thanks to my friend Missy for one of the best gifts I've had for a while.

"The Weird Sisters" by Eleanor Brown

January 20, 2011 marks the publication of a great debut novel called THE WEIRD SISTERS, by author Eleanor Brown.

Full disclosure here: Eleanor is an Amy Einhorn author, and although we haven't met (yet) we have been carrying on a rather wonderful email correspondence over these past several months.  She is a wonderful and very funny person (if you don't believe me, you should read her blog,) and I'm not going to pretend to be unbiased.  I am, and proud of it.  Amy Einhorn, our wonderful publisher and editor, sent me an advanced reading copy of the book, and – previous disclaimer notwithstanding – it's fabulous.

I posted a review of the book on Goodreads, and will re-post that here on publication next month as a gentle reminder to you all that you should go out and buy it.  But don't take my word for it.  Check out her book trailer below, and look at the frankly mouth-watering praise she has garnered from some very illustrious fellow authors.  The book has been selected as one of Barnes & Noble's Discover Great New Writers program, which means that it will be everywhere. Really, it couldn't happen to a nicer book.

So You Want to Write a Novel

This is so perfect, there's not much more to be said.  Had me giggling, anyway.