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In which I blog about book stuff and the month of October.
1. I know someone who has TWO books coming out in October
It's A.S. King, my friend Amy.
Okay. You know how sometimes when you hear an awful lot about someone and it seems that their name keeps coming up over and over and you think to yourself, I would like to devise some manner by which I can justify not liking this person, just because you hear about them so much and they are mysterious and simultaneously pervasive so you break down and actually purchase this book that everyone kept talking about and the book was called Please Ignore Vera Dietz and then you realize there is no defensible argument you can come up with for not liking this person because that book was so spectacularly good that you, in fact, begin idolizing this person at the same time you despise yourself for not succeeding in not liking her and then she pops out of nowhere and comments on your blog and you're, like, Holy Shit!!! A.S. King commented on my blog!!! and then you find yourself actually meeting her and becoming tremendous friends and she plunks down a book so unflinchingly powerful as Everybody Sees the Ants so you build a small shrine to her in your office and begin relentlessly stalking her every move?
Yeah.
Well, most of that.
Well, one of the books Amy has coming out in October is Reality Boy.
Listen: this is A.S. King at her best. Here's the deal: the thing I dig about Amy's books is how her characters are so vulnerable readers can't help but be sucked inside their existences. And then along comes Gerald the Crapper--Reality Boy--a guy who is so messed up that I actually got sweaty and felt my blood pressure elevating when I read what was going on in and around him.
I love this book, which certainly has no shortage of feels, and like we've come to expect from Amy, no shortage of magic, either.
I can't wait to see all the love for this one as people discover that HOLY SHIT!!! THERE IS A NEW A.S. KING BOOK OUT AND I DIDN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT!!!
2. This is Her Other Book, and The Writer's Time-Warp
It's called Losing It. I'm in it too.
Losing It is an anthology of short stories, from Carolrhoda Lab, that all involve the loss of virginity.
I know a lot of people don't count anthologies as being "one of your books." But, what the hell, it's on my bookshelf right alongside the other seven books I have written (one of which is an ARC, since Grasshopper Jungle doesn't come out until February 11).
This is weird: I am frequently asked how many books I have written. I am beginning to lose track.
I am beginning to lose track of everything.
The other day I tweeted about Reality Boy and another book I love so much it hurts, Noggin, by John Corey Whaley, and I said that Reality Boy was coming out in October of 2014 and Noggin in April of 2015.
I was off by a year in both cases.
You know how that can happen?
To an author, we are constantly living in the future. I just finished the final work on my book 100 Sideways Miles, which is coming out in September of 2014; and I am currently writing another book (secret title) which is slated to come out in spring of 2015.
It's hard for my brain to home in on what year it is.
I have come unstuck in time.
3. Next Week Someone Will Win This
Signed.
I have never signed an ARC of Grasshopper Jungle. So whoever gets it will have the only one.
Have you entered?
4. I Won't Be Here When You Win
Because I'll be in Chicago, speaking at Anderson's YA Literature Conference on Saturday and the YA Fandom Frenzy on Sunday. Both events are at the Hotel Arista in Naperville.
You can get info about these events here.
From there, it's off to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where I will be the LONE MALE (let me tell you why being an author is so cool) at Literati Books' YA Author Summit at the Downtown Ann Arbor Library on October 1.
You can get info about this event here.
5. An Amazing Library
I'll be speaking and signing books at the Los Angeles Public Library's Teen Book Festival on October 12.
This is an incredible library.
More information coming soon.
6. Less Than Three <3
After all this planning, it is finally here: Heather Brewer's Less Than Three Conference in St. Louis on October 19.
Can I say October is busy?
You can find out more details about Less Than Three here.
And guess who else will be there?
My friend Amy.
You know, the one who writes all those incredible books.
