My Publication Party: Write a Novel - Get an iPod

The book is officially out there in all the places one might expect to find a new book. Some stores have it in the Fiction/Literature section, so if you don’t see it in Fantasy/Science Fiction, check for it in an alternate spot. I have no idea what that means, exactly, but there ya go.

As you may guess, it’s been a very exciting week for me. My group at work threw me a party on Monday complete with red and black balloons and a huge cake with the cover of the book on it.

Tuesday morning, early, I was treated to a rendition of "Happy Vampire Day to You" performed loudly by a four year old and a six year old. It completely set the celebratory mood.

Tuesday night, I had my Publication Party at the Historic Rucker Place. Lou Anders was nice enough to do the intros and mention the party on his blog here. William H. Drinkard, author of Elom, was in attendance as well. I was completely blind-sided by presents: a cool hardcover edition of Dracula from Dan & Wendy, an iPod from my crazy family, and coolest of all, Chris McGrath sent me a print of the cover art for STAKED. Several people seem to think the guy in the background, behind the S in Staked, looks like me. How cool is that?

The Hunter Lawley Trio provided live music for the event. Hunter sang my favorite of his original songs, Big Daddy, and was even nice enough to pain-stakingly figure out the music to Rudolph, the Red-nosed reindeer at the request of my youngest son. (Tell a four year old that he can request a song and see what you get...)

I’ll be attending William H. Drinkard’s big Elom launch at the Brookwood Books-A-Million on Thursday.

Then, on Friday, OmegaCon will kick into high gear. Shaun Knopf and all the hard-working OmegaCon volunteers have really done a great job setting this thing up. Here’s hoping it goes off without a hitch! Birmingham really needs a cool science-fiction fantasy convention and has never had anything close to OmegaCon before.

There should be several opportunities for me to serve on panels, sign books, etc and we may also have a room party. More on that when I get the final and official schedules. :)

I hope to see you all there!

Recharging

Sometimes we all need to recharge our creative batteries.

I was thinking about the topic after working on lit track panels for OmegaCon. (It’s only a few days away, BTW – so if you can get there - be there) Everyone had worked VERY hard. Sacrifices of personal time and sanity points were made all around. I felt completely drained, but then I went with some out of town family and my normal Friday Night Crew to the They Might Be Giants concert over at Work/Play here in Birmingham. Even the opening band was great (Oppenheimer, if you were wondering). TMBG did three encores including a version of “Istanbul” that began with a fantastic acoustic guitar solo.

We came home listening to HERE COME THE 1, 2, 3’s with the strains of “Istanbul” and “The Mesopotamians” still ringing in our heads.

Tonight, as I rather sleeplessly wait for the official release of Staked to roll around at midnight (Tuesday March 11th, 2008), I’m listening to Oppenheimer’s debut CD in rotation with a little Robyn Hitchcock via streaming audio (at a friend’s suggestion).

I’ve also been enjoying a good book (Kay Kenyon’s BRIGHT OF THE SKY).

What recharges you? Hugging your little ones (an instant partial recharge most of the time, for me)? Watching a good movie? Hanging out with friends?

Let me know.

Jeremy

IT'S SHIPPING!!!

I got an email from a reader (and co-worker) who ordered the book direct from Simon & Schuster. Her copy of Staked was waiting for her on the front porch when she got home from work yesterday. It also looks like the book is shipping from various on-line booksellers as of yesterday. Yay! So order one, read it, and let me know what you think!

:)

I'm really looking forward to my Publication Party at the Historic Rucker Place in Birmingham, AL on March 11th from 5 pm to 7 pm. We're not selling any books there, but if you already have a copy, I'll be happy to sign it for you. The Hunter Lawley Trio have agreed to provide the live music, each room of the house will have a different theme, and the Rucker Place's chef will be cooking up some great appetizers. Hunter has a very bluesy country rock vibe that I really enjoy. Check out his website http://www.hunterlawley.com/ for a sample (Big Daddy's on his Way is my personal favorite although Homemade Porno is hysterical), to buy a copy of his CD, and for show dates.

For those willing to make the trip, OmegaCon will hit the Birmingham downtown Sheraton on March 14-16th and there is an incredible lineup of literary guests... ranging from authors like Ben Bova, David Weber, Eric Flint, David Drake, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Steven Brust, Kay Kenyon, Mike Resnick, Lou Anders, and Alan Dean Foster to newbies like me, Anne Aguirre, and William H. Drinkard. Check out the con site for a more complete list as I'm typing from memory here.

If you get Bright House cable, you can look for my brief appearance alongside William Drinkard on the Dean and Company cable show, which airs on Monday nights. The Deans were really nice to us and to the whole crowd from OmegaCon. Special thanks go to Renda from the OmegaCon staff for setting it all up.

Upcoming Events

March 1, 2008 - Along with several other OmegaCon guests, I'll be interviewed for Bright House Cable TV's "Dean and Company" which airs Monday nights at 7:30PM on Channel 4

March 11, 2008 - The official release date for STAKED. We're having a publication party at a great venue- the Historic Rucker Place- with live music from the fabulous Hunter Lawley Trio, lots of great appetizers, and a huge guest list. Each room of the spectacular historic house will have a different theme- it's going to be really cool. Also, I'm supposed to give a two minute speech around 6 PM. (Send me an email if you'll be in town and would like to be invited.)

March 14-16 - OmegaCon hits Birmingham's downtown Sheraton with a really amazing literary track. I'm scheduled to appear on panels with Sherrilyn Kenyon, Lou Anders, Bill Drinkard, and lots of other great folks. Books-A-Million has promised to stock the books of all the guest authors and will have ten tables in the dealers' room. I'm sure there will also be time for signing books... more about that as soon as I get the details.

March 22 – Big book signing at Little Professor in Homewood! The folks at Little Professor are very, very nice and are hosting a book signing for me on Saturday March 22.