Zoe Zolbrod's Blog, page 3

Haven't I Seen You Here Before?

(I posted this missive last week on The Nervous Breakdown last week, so if you read it there, skip this. If you haven't heard of The Nervous Breakdown and you like to read short nonfiction on screen, you should totally check out the site. )

Getting ready for my recent trip to L.A., I told anyone who would listen that I'd never, ever been there. But when I walked out of LAX to catch the FlyAway to Union Station—boom! I caught myself in a lie. The low overhang that made me want to duck as I s...

Review Round-Up

Well, Currency's been officially out for a little over six weeks now. I read from it maybe a dozen times in a half-dozen different towns. I've gotten some reviews and done some interviews. I've been absolutely drunk on the kindness and enthusiasm of friends and acquaintances, and, despite attempts to keep my focus on my many book-related blessings, I've also succumbed to moments of despondency over the rest of the world's utter indifference. (I know, I know, I shouldn't be comparing myself...

Freedom to Roam and Wrangle

First, the shameless self-promotion: If you haven't yet heard, my novel CURRENCY is still pretty hot off the press. It's an exciting yet thoughtful tale of love and adventure in Thailand. But don't take my word for it! My dad says the same thing. So does the reviewer at The Traveler's Library.  And—this just in—the reviewer at NewPages. Please read it. If you've read it and liked it, please do spread your views. One great way would be to write a review on Amazon. Or convince your (Chicago...

Cross-Cultural Couplings

First off, let me say that Currency officially hits the streets right about now. Dear visitor, I beg you not to judge this book on the absence of a dedicated web site. It is a hundred times better than its web presence, and although there's little excuse for that in this day and age, isn't it preferable to the reverse? Currency is exciting yet thoughtful, sexy yet serious. Yet fun! For real, you will want to take this book with you on vacation. But don't take my word for it, you can read...

My Great Editor, Interviewed

Now that CURRENCY has been published, a number of people are asking me tactful versions of the question How come this took so long? and Why with a small press? In this excerpt from an interview with Leah Tallen, Other Voices editor Gina Frangello explains better than I ever could. You can see the full interview at Knee-Jerk, and if you read it you'll see that patience reaps rewards, and that I just might win the prize for having the world's most passionate and talented editor. Gina has a...

CURRENCY's first review

It's a crazy-ass thing to want to publish a book. The work it takes. The struggling to figure it out, to process the criticism, to make it better, make it better, make it better yet after the umpteenth person has said "not quite right for us" or just "not quite." And then if you're lucky enough, and the manuscript gets set and bound, some reviewer—should your luck hold out and you garner one's attention— might dismiss all your efforts in a few sentences. I think I was most terrified of...

CURRENCY's first review

It's a crazy-ass thing to want to publish a book. The work it takes. The struggling to figure it out, to process the criticism, to make it better, make it better, make it better yet after the umpteenth person has said "not quite right for us" or just "not quite." And then if you're lucky enough, and the manuscript gets set and bound, some reviewer—should your luck hold out and you garner one's attention— might dismiss all your efforts in a few sentences. I think I was most terrified of...

Family Travel: Kids and the List

A year ago today the four of us were returning from Isla Mujeres, Mexico. Lilli had just turned one and Tillio was about to turn eight. It was a low-budget, low-key jaunt to a pretty commonplace destination, but it was a great, great trip. We got off the ferry to the cheerful, semi-grimy tourist hustle that you'd expect from a bargain beach destination, the air smelling archetypally of salt, diesel, and sweet marine rot. We hadn't changed money yet, we hadn't accustomed to the heat, we...

Smoking: A Dream Come True

It's settled: The release party for CURRENCY is going to be at The Hideout on May 16, from 5:00-7:00. A string of explanation marks cannot express how unduly happy I am. During the last few months, it's seemed that the securing of this particular venue has had about as many ups and downs as my decade-long struggle to get the novel published.

You know, I will admit that early on in the struggle to get published, I had dreams of worldly success. I dreamed that I might actually sell the book, as ...

Books: Revisiting the Golden Triangle

In terms of my ever-lengthening life, I didn't spend much time in Southeast Asia. Not much time in Thailand, not much time in Vietnam, barely any time in Laos. And the time I spent there was so long ago. But once I returned, I had such a craving for those places, such an urge to understand more, to experience more, to revisit and linger. One way to do that is by writing. So I wrote stories, and essays, and then, endlessly, a novel set in Thailand. Another way to learn and to visit, of...