It was a huge success! I was very pleased with the turnout – standing room only in the back – and how warm and friendly the crowd was. I read without being nervous and tried to have fun. I think I sold about 25 books. Yay! One thing that particularly touched me was how many writers came … people whom you can’t BS with your writing. So the fact that they came, enjoyed the excerpt, and wanted to buy the book is saying something. Thank you, all!
In other news, I think I received the best rejection EVER in my entire life from the Fairy Tale Review. Alissa Nutting wrote this very long email about how much she loved my submission, but it just did not fix into the mix. She wants to know when it gets picked up, though, so she can celebrate in the publication, and wants me to submit again during their next reading period. Wow. Thanks, Alissa. I’ve read many a good thing about her and her work, notably that she was the winner of Starcherone’s fiction prize in 2009.
A generic rejection from Gulf Stream, generic from TriQuarterly, a positive rejection from Slice, and a positive rejection from Subtropics (the first I’ve ever received from them).
I am ashamed to admit that I have not been reading that much in the last couple weeks apart from my novel. I am in the middle of three books. Local Girls by Alice Hoffman, Madame Bovary, and a nonfiction book of essays by Pankaj Mishra. I have read some/little of all three, and I hate to make the excuse that I have a son, that I have a more-than-full-time job caring for him, but it’s true. And the last couple weeks have been insanely busy. But I am not going to engage in negative self-talk. I read as much as I can. And it’s okay if sometimes I’d rather watch TV than read. Or I’d rather just zone out.
Hi Annam,
First, congratulations on the publication of “After the Tsunami.” I can’t wait to check it out (I went on Amazon, by the way, and they said it was “temporarily out of stock”). Anyway, I’m glad your book release party was such a big success — you deserve it! Also, don’t sweat the bit about “not reading these days.” After my son was born, my reading dropped right off a ledge. I think “Anna Karenina” was the last book I read before he was born (phew! glad I got that one in).
Now I tend more to aspire to reading than actually reading anything, other than short bits in Esquire or the Sunset Magazine my wife gets or articles on the Internet. And I’ve been tinkering with a re-read of Chandler’s “Lady in the Lake” now for weeks and I’m a whopping 50 pages into it!
Best of luck with placing your essays and short stories. I’ve no doubt they’ll all find a somewhere — your publication record proves they will.
And way to go with being the full-time mom. Parenting is a beyond-full-time job, and I understand how personal goals and dreams can quickly get scuttled when you’re dealing with a child who demands your attention ALL THE TIME! I was a stay at home dad the first year, and only in the last six months have I gotten back to revisions of my book, querying agents and trying to get back into the swing of things, work-wise, as a copywriter.
Keep in touch and, again, all the best,
Jay
p.s. Seems we share an alma mater. I graduated from USC’s writing program in Dec ’07 (I don’t think met there. Did you attend after me?)
Thanks, Jay, for the well wishes. Amazon should be updating their stock soon, so hopefully their “out of stock” message will be gone in the next week. Let me know what you think of the book if you read it. Gosh, full-time parenting IS a challenge, but I don’t think most people get that unless they’ve gone through it themselves. So I appreciate the support from another parent “in the trenches.” I did graduate from USC in 2005. Were you there then? I don’t think we met, but that last year is a blur for me… yes, let’s keep in touch, and please keep me posted on your writing successes via FB, email, blog, etc.