Friday the 13th, and Beyond

Yes, I know today isn't Friday the thirteenth, and neither is next Friday. Heck, there isn't another Friday the thirteenth till July.

But Mindy McGinnis, author of Not a Drop to Drink, a Young Adult novel I'm really looking forward to reading when it's published in 2013 (get it? -- 13!) appeared today on a newly launched writing community of bloggers called Friday the Thirteeners. So I thought I'd note that. Of course, readers of Spring Fevers will recognize Mindy's name. Her story "First Kiss" led of the anthology.

In her post, Mindy calls attention to a post on garment disagreements with her mother. (Not that she was aware, but I saw this post right after hearing about a garment disagreement between one of my 3-year-olds and my wife. Nice little coincidence.) What is not a coincidence, of course, is that in her post, Mindy's talking about boobs and prom dresses. I have a few years yet before I have to worry about such concerns for either of my little girls, but I'm sure those discussions will cause a fuse in my daddy brain to be lit and possibly lead to a messy explosion of brain matter upon the walls.

By the way, if you're in the Cincinnati area at the end of May/beginning of June, you might be able to catch Mindy at the annual Lori Foster Reader and Author Get Together . It looks like it's almost sold out, so check that you can attend.

Dude, Where's My Second Novel?

Thanks to a co-worker, I'm reading what may be my favorite book in several years: Michael Chabon's Wonder Boys. Almost certainly, it's my favorite "new" book this year. I realize the book has been around since 1995, but it was on my list of books I wanted to read and hadn't (a long list).

Why do I love it? Because it's flat-out funny. Laugh out loud funny. This man leaves me chuckling on the PATH train, wishing I could share with someone. Chabon writes simple sentences that make me look back in awe.

For those who aren't aware of it, the story is told from the perspective of Professor Grady Tripp, an English professor at a college in Pittsburgh. He's been working on his second novel for the past seven years — more than a thousand pages in and the end isn't really in sight. On the weekend when this story begins, he's in the midst of a not-unexpected separation from his third wife, the totally unexpected pregnancy of his lover (who happens to be the married chancellor of the college where he teaches -- married to the chairman of the English department), and the imminent arrival of his editor, who's about to lose his job.

His editor is coming to the campus for a conference (WordFest!), and during Tripp's final class before the event, the work of one of his students is skewered by the class — a verbal disemblowling that Tripp doesn't disrupt much less discourage — leaving the young movie-buff writer contemplating suicide.

Throw in a drag queen, a dead, blind dog, the stolen jacket of Marilyn Monroe, and a roadtrip with the aforementioned student to attend Passover seder at the family home of Tripp's Korean-Jewish wife. Sprinkle in a lot of pot smoking and you have the makings of a comedy classic. But there is so much more to it than the surface story, as is usually the case with Chabon. I'm more than 200 pages in and I don't really want it to end.

Chabon writes like no one else. Do yourself a favor, read this book.

Don't You Wish You Were on This List?

Forbes magazine recently released its list of the top ten "best paid" authors. The names of at least the top four or five probably won’t surprise you, especially the woman who topped the list, J.K. Rowling. She earned around $300 million and she'll presumably take in even more as the follow-up Harry Potter movies are released.

I don't know about you, but to me it's kinda nice to not see Dan Brown's name in there. But he's young and no doubt there'll eventually be another in the Robert Langdon series of thrillers.

Of course, most authors don’t earn anywhere near these types of paydays — in a lifetime, much less for a year. Still, it’s nice to dream.

HarperCollins Looks for Friends Who Read

In case anyone was interested, you won't find me on MySpace or YouTube. I have no friends -- not in the 2007 sense of the word, at least.

But other authors are looking for friends among the teen audiences they're trying to build. HarperCollins has established a MySpace teen site. HarperTeen actually doesn't look like most MySpace pages, which seem to be festooned with loads of crap, generally. Looking at it tonight, I noticed a poetry contest that a bunch of teens sounded interested in. And at least the first ten were polite to each other. OMG!

My point, however, is not about the contests, it's about the overt push by a major publisher to reach out and develop a connection with young readers. Despite studies that say the number of young readers is declining, a major publisher is willing to cultivate their future audience. Get 'em while they're young. (Wasn't that the tobacco industry's motto?) This is an addiction I can feel good about.