Entries from October 2008 ↓

Happy Halloween! I’m off to walk some of the distance that Thom, Tree and Erik did in Couch this morning with a wweek.com journalist. We’ll wave when we hit S. America.

In the meantime, here’s a quick quiz:

Which one of the following characters is planning evil, evil things to do to her fellow household members?

(oops, fixed some mistakes)

Here are a bunch of Couch tidbits – of which there will probably be no small quantity of in the next few weeks. I’m trying to get a hang of how to be an author-y type person out in the world with a first book – and there are no lack of great, well-seasoned authors whom I’m leaning on for guidance. Here’s a post by Justine Larbalestier on Self Promotion, and here’s a somewhat depressing article by Stacy Sullivan on more or less the same. Oh, and I see Tobias Buckell talks about marketing and new writers today in a podcast.

OK – Couch is making its way out there!:

There’s an interview with me at Porter Square Books

I created a sort of soundtrack type thing for the very cool Large Hearted Boy’s great Book Notes series.

And there’s a very flattering review at the “Me and My Big Mouth” blog:

“It is an upholstered Odyssey unlike any other you are likely to read.  It is funny, confusing in places, wild and anarchic.  It is part Quixote, part Murakami, part Tom Robbins, part DFS showroom. …. It has cult hit written all over it.”

Read the whole review here

awesome. I’m perfectly ok with cult hit.

And finally – a fan drew this as a prospective cover for Couch before it had one. I love this piece. I think the 3 roommates in the water is visually one of my favorite parts of the book.

And yes – the ‘fan’ is my mother. Thanks, mom!

leaps buildings in a single bound.

Not that, you know, it’s a competition or anything.

Click for full view.

Hypothetical question: What happens when you put 23 couches on a shelf?

Answer: Nothing much! The shelves still held, though there was some creaking and groaning. Though that might have been my family.

At any rate, the good folks at Small Beer sent me my very own box. Which is a relief, since the windows have been lacking something to prop them up properly. 

We’re not terribly apt at organizing our shelves. Or are we…