Well, the pages for my next novel, Stick, and lots of cool news, came yesterday.
Although I was braced for the worst, the pages look really good. But, that's a tentative assessment until I read every word on them over the next day or so.
Advice to all aspiring, soon-to-be authors: always read everything.
Always.
Everything.
So, I'm holding off judgment until I get stabbed in the eye by the first typo or misplaced line break, or until I flip the last page over in complete satisfaction.
So, here is the book.
Notice that it's wrapped in a big rubber band. A lot of writers have asked me about that -- how manuscripts go around when you have to send paper. And this is it. A big rubber band.
My first impression was -- it's a small book. Very short for me, coming in at just 300 pages. But, those pages hold a lot of stuff.
Also, it came in this bubble mailer from the UPS guy. He left it in my driveway, though. I think he was afraid of my dog, who keeps getting out of the backyard looking for something to spawn with. Most UPS guys aren't okay with that.
Okay. First thing... I pull out the dedication page. Check. Then I look at the inside title page.
I love this. Stick figure kids (the brothers, Bosten and Stark), standing in the sea, holding up a matchstick for the "i" in the title. Brilliant, clever, beautiful inside title.
And here you can see the first part of the book, too. The book is divided into three parts -- first, next, and last -- and "first" is called saint fillan's room.
Now, for a couple very short inside teasers:
Stark McClellan, the narrator, hears the world in a different way. As a result, some of the words he hears, and some words he thinks about get, as he explains it, stuck in his head... and stuck in strange places on the page.
That's why you see some weird-looking spaces and fonts in his story...
And, finally, this little bit is pure dialogue. With no quotation marks or nothing. Just the way Stark hears what's going on. That's all I'm going to say.
There are no spoilers here... no nothing.
You'll have to see how the gaps get filled in when the book comes out.
8 comments:
It looks like it may require more than one read through to discover all the subtleties, all the very best books do.
Fuck yeah.
Oh, wow. This is incredibly interesting. I love typesetting and the way you used it to show how he hears things.
Thanks Matthew and aspiring.
I want this. Seriously, Stick looks amazing.
(Rubber bands are sophisticated and foolproof, except when you get hair caught in them. Then they're just Lucifer's Prime Invention.)
Thank you so much, Tessa. So... I am reading this right now, and I know this sounds stupid because I certainly must have read this book a thousand times, but I defy anyone to read this and not laugh out loud at some parts and then also feel their eyes welling up at others.
I really love this book.
That typesetting is really interesting. Was that something you set out to do from the beginning, or did it develop as you wrote the manuscript?
Sara
http://smreine.com/
Hi Sara,
This was something I set out to do, and, because you asked (and the reporter from VOYA asked me about it this week, too), I'm going to post today's blog in response to your question.
I didn't even need to ask the question about the typeset. Is that because I'm becoming to know you through your novels? (as much as one can, anyway)
I can't wait to get my hands on those kick-ass pages.
I told my daughter today a lil something like this..
"when you absolutley love an author, you will read anything and everything that person writes"
I have such faith in your work Andrew, I would be honored to read the scribble nonsense that gets thrown away. (that totally sounds like a kiss-ass, pick me comment, but since we know I don't have to worry about being chosen, at least I don't think I do. I hope you know it's the truth) Exclamation point.
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