Tuesday, April 28, 2009
7:30 PM
Reading and signing
Powells City of Books
Portland, Oregon
Come one, come all.
When I left Los Angeles on Sunday, my suitcase weighed six pounds more than the air carrier’s limit, so I had to take out all the heaviest items, which, for the most part, were the books and carry them with me on the plane. So, on Monday, I went to the Queen Anne post office here in Seattle to ship back all the books I had brought with me on tour. I’m upset, as I had hoped to catch up on some reading during my trip.
I spent much of Monday going from interview to interview, but the main event of the day was of course the reading at Elliott Bay Book Company. It was great to see bookseller Rick Simonson again; of course he had several books to recommend (notably Anne Michaels’ The Winter Vault) and so…I ended up buying a few books.
Some new reviews and/or mentions of Secret Son: Kevin Smokler in the Huffington Post; Jonathan Messinger in Time Out Chicago; Anderson Tepper in Time Out New York; Bernadette Murphy in the Los Angeles Times, and Kevin Holstberry in Collected Miscellany.
I am scheduled to read from my new novel Secret Son at one of my favorite bookstores in Seattle on Monday. Here are the details:
Monday, April 27, 2009
7:30 PM
Reading and signing
Elliot Bay Book Company
Seattle, Washington
Come one, come all.
I am in Seattle, Washington (which means I had to take an airplane, which means I’ve been washing my hands obsessively in order to avoid that swine flu that’s all over the news.) Speaking of airplanes, I swear to God I always get seated next to nutty passengers. This one traveled with his cat, which he kept trying to pet, so he put his multiple drinks (wine, beer, two waters–not that I was counting) on my tray table.
The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books went by in a blur; I was there for just one day and ran from event to event before I had to leave. The writers at Jacket Copy have a great round-up of the book panels, including the one I did with Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum, Julia Leigh, and Louise Ermelino. There’s also a festival photo gallery up at the site.
Early reviews of Secret Son have appeared here and there this week: Michael McGregor in The Oregonian, Ellen Heltzel in the Seattle Times, Elliot Walker in Bookreporter, and Daniel Olivas in the El Paso Times. Take a look.
I am kicking off the main portion of my book tour this weekend, with an event at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. The festival is a lot of fun; there are tons of readings, conversations, panel discussions, publisher booths, theatrical performances, good food, music, etc.
My event is on Saturday. Here are the details:
Saturday, April 25, 2009
12:30 PM
Fiction Panel: “The Writer’s Ear”
With Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, Julia Leigh, Laila Lalami and moderated by Louisa Ermelino
Los Angeles Times Festival of Books
Korn Convocation Hall
Los Angeles, California
Please note that the festival events require (free) tickets, which you can obtain at select Ticketmaster locations in Southern California. Don’t forget to wear sunscreen!
My friend Maud Newton asked me to write a short dispatch for her blog, about the process of writing about a male protagonist in Secret Son. You can also find out what music I was listening to while writing the novel; check out the playlist I did for the music and culture blog Largehearted Boy (run by David Gutowski). For those who are curious about how I came up with the title of the novel, here is a brief explanation at Bookbrowse. And lastly, here is an interview with Powells.com’s Dave Weich.