My novel, Trip Through Your Wires, launched in March 2015, and since then I've learned that touring a book takes stamina. Touring with kids takes double that energy. Still, it was a wonderful experience for my husband and me to introduce the boys to new places and bookstores across various states. And when I traveled alone, I felt compelled to bring a little something back.
So, a brief photo essay: Some favorite souvenirs from book tour, or: Things I Bought on the Road While Selling My Own Thing. #breakingeven #badatmath #buymorebooks
Souvenirs modeled by my children, the recipients of quite a few of these purchases.
Handmade knitted Ninja Turtle hats/masks from one of the Missoula, Montana farmers markets; I counted three. This awesome vendor had the boys' favorites - Donatello, Raphael - in stock. Above the piano is a picture I took with my phone on the last day of the Montana Book Festival. I was shooting between the holes in a fence on a pedestrian bridge.
We brought the kids to my reading at Talking Leaves Books in Buffalo, N.Y., my husband's hometown. They picked out these superhero gems -- perhaps you are noticing a trend about the interests of three and five year olds?
Browsing Ben McNally Books in Toronto, The Bus Ride by Marianne Dubuc caught my eye. I also picked up All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews for myself, on the recommendation of Ben himself. (Heartbreaking while being hilarious, and worth the read.)
A puzzle of favorite book Steam Train Dream Train. Sold! At City Lit Books in Chicago.
Miraculously, I bought this in June and saved it until Christmas. Also possible: I forgot I bought it and rediscovered it at an opportune time.
A bit of a desperation gift at the AWP Conference in Minneapolis: a pair of pens purchased at the hotel gift shop, along with $11 traveler's eye drops. But a popular and useful item nonetheless.
Gotta love a freebie DOGS beer cozie from Buzzfeed Books' Isaac Fitzgerald (with me, left), at the AWP Bookfair. Modeled by husband, right, featuring Sun King Wee Mac, and some bagels atop the fridge. I think I've just found the title for my memoir of middle age: Still Life with Beer, Bagels. Just playin'. Am about to go for walk.
Speaking of free. The best part of this whole book tour for Trip Through Your Wires was connecting with readers, reconnecting with old friends, and getting to share it all with my awesome and supportive family.
Barnes & Noble Cleveland
Talking Leaves Books, Buffalo
Thank you, one and all. Peace, love, and appreciation to you in 2016.
Labor Day seems so long ago, and it was not quite a month back that I traveled to Bloomington, IN for a reading of TRIP THROUGH YOUR WIRES at Boxcar Books. Happily, I was joined by IU creative writing professor Elizabeth Eslami (author of HIBERNATE and BONE WORSHOP).
My cousin and his wife had me to dinner, along with two of my dear high school friends who live in town. Laughing, eating, and telling stories with my friends and family made me much less nervous to read. I pretty much always get nervous before I read.
Hard to say what is happening with my forearm muscle in this photo, but I cannot take my eyes off of it. That particular muscle is STRONG. I have no idea why. Maybe from picking up children?
Here is Liz, reading an incredible short story from her prize-winning collection HIBERNATE:
Later in the month, I had the good fortune to travel to Missoula for The Montana Book Festival. It was a jam-packed weekend of readings, panels, and social events.
I just made it to my Friday afternoon panel with suitcase in tow (possible title for something: Things to Do in Denver When You're Delayed), and had a great session with Montana mystery writers Leslie Budewitz and Christine Carbo. Our panel was titled, "The Writer, the Mirror, the Map: Mystery Writers Reflect on Identity, Murder and Place."
We had a great crowd & great questions during the Q&A, and the author reception after gave us a chance to chat with festival-goers. A very nice audience member with terrific orange glasses stopped me on the street later to invite me for a drink with her crew; she had some Indy ties and we chatted a bit about Jim Jones. Regretfully, I declined, as I was headed to the next event of the evening.
Sarah Hepola (BLACKOUT: REMEMBERING THE THINGS I DRANK TO FORGET) and Kate Bolick (SPINSTER: MAKING A LIFE OF ONE'S OWN) in conversation was a definite highlight for me. These two forty-something women discussed what they called the "bonus decade" of leisure time - remaining unmarried, without children - while figuring their lives out. Their candor inspired me, and they clearly connected over their subject matter, varied though it was.
Here is the back of my head, bottom right, with the featured authors, mid-conversation:
(This photo appeared on the Montana Book Festival's Facebook page. Festival photos were taken by Claire Kelly Fox and Anna Maria Lopez.)
Other highlights: Talking with booklovers and booksellers. Charles D'Ambrosio's reading. A panel on genre/literary fiction with J. Robert Lennon, Ben Parzybok, Shya Scanlon, and Sharma Shields.
I told Lennon how I'd given his book, MAILMAN, to my mailman, and how he'd enjoyed it. Later that evening, Lennon and I chatted about the story he read during his session, and high-fived in the Missoula VFW.
And here is my book, enjoying the beautiful weather, the "M" tiny on the hill in the background...
...which I later hiked to on Sunday morning. Pictures or it didn't happen:
Will you think I'm a total freakazoid if I mention that I noticed someone at the festival bookfair picking up and buying my book, and I surreptitiously took a picture?
(I also have a close-up version. But I'm not THAT much of a freakazoid to post it here. Jeez.)
At the closing beer & music event, someone asked me my connection to the festival. I briefly mentioned TRIP THROUGH YOUR WIRES, which he immediately recognized. "My wife bought it," he said. "I think you met her. Orange glasses? She'll be here in a minute."
So I did get that drink with the kind woman and her husband after all. And after? On a whim, I took a pedestrian bridge across the railroad, and happened upon this lucky shot:
My last event of the month was this past Monday at Purdue University, where I received my MFA in fiction writing. The MFA program brought me and my fellow alum, James Tadd Adcox, to campus for a reading. It was an incredible experience.
Super grateful that program director Brian Leung brought us to campus; coordinator Samantha Atkins anticipated our every planning need. Great
conversation at dinner beforehand, and a lovely party afterward at thrown by Roxane Gay.
My former professor, Sharon Solwitz, introduced us and showered us with love, and I was reminded of the power of
her mentorship. "Are you writing?" she asks, as if inquiring about my
health. In a way, she is. This is a woman lauded in Best American Short
Stories with a new novel coming from Random House. "What are you working
on?" she asks. "How are revisions? How's the family?"
All my Purdue professors gave me great teaching models to aspire to.
They shared such excitement for me and Tadd about our first novels
(Tadd's is DOES NOT LOVE), and thanked us over and over again for coming
to speak to MFA students and do a reading. I wasn't surprised by their
kindness or gratitude, but I do have to say, emphatically, seriously,
often: No, thank YOU.
That goes for everyone I had the chance to meet and reconnect with this September. When I was scheduling, three events in four weeks didn't seem like a lot. I had no idea how full -- how fulfilling -- September would be. Thank you.
...should you be the kind of reader who likes posting reviews. The book is called TRIP THROUGH YOUR WIRES. I think you might like it.
So
if you have the time and the inclination, here are a sampling of sites
that offer readers the chance to provide their two cents, each handily
linked to my book page:
Note: If we are personally acquainted/related, and you haven't read my book yet: IT IS SO TOTALLY FINE. I love you. I'm glad you bought it/want to read it/gave it a passing thought. Stop skulking around like I'm going to give a quiz, and pass the guacamole, for the love of Pete.
2nd Note: If we are NOT personally acquainted/related, and you have read my book: I seriously love you. In a totally platonic and appropriate way. It is still a little unbelievable to me that complete strangers or friends of friends and book clubs (!) are reading the dang thing. I sometimes wondered if the novel would only ever exist in my own head. And now it's in other readers' heads, too, via the page/screen. Maybe through osmosis? However you got it, I'm glad you did.
That said, I know that reviews and recommendations matter to people. They're more likely to check out a book that has been read and reviewed by others. (Says one Goodreads reviewer of TTYW: "I
didn't really know what to expect of this one, since it doesn't have
too many reviews yet, but I'm glad I took a chance on it, anyway. I
first heard of it through Largehearted Boy's Book Notes feature, which is how I have discovered many other under-the-radar books.")
You can also just click a button for a starred rating. The lovely person above opted for 4/5 stars, and for that I am grateful.
Now back to your hammock reading, with thanks to Andrea for this picture.
Party people, by which I mean book people, by which I mean those who like stories (that would be all of us. No, really): enter to win one of four free copies of my debut novel, TRIP THROUGH YOUR WIRES. I got free coffee and a donut today; maybe today is your lucky day for free stuff, too?
xo,
SL
Some very kind readers of Trip Through Your Wires have compared the book to this summer's bestseller, The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins.
The last one isn't about TGOTT, but does make a train reference I like. What can I say? It's all Thomas and Chuggington up in my house. Trains are the best. Except when Brother knocks them all off the table, which totally just happened. Other Brother was very cross, to use the parlance of Thomas.
Many thanks to those who have read and reviewed TTYW on Goodreads. I haven't read The Girl on the Train yet; I'm on the IMCPL hold list, which looks like this:
I am now up to number 288 of 477 on the list, because I am a vee eye pee. I am patient, is the real answer. Sometimes.
Library patrons and math whizzes alike will note that Trip Through Your Wires has a much shorter wait time. You could be No. 7 on the list if you place your hold today. Librarians are standing by:
It's thrilling to me to see my book listed -- with holds! -- in my library system. If your local library doesn't have it, you can request it, either in person or online, depending on the place. I would love to see my novel in more libraries, & to increase access to readers. Libraries are among my favorite places on earth. Today I got to be an Art Monster (see: Jenny Offill's Dept. of Speculation) and sat at a library table, researching and piling up books to read and movies to watch. Letting my curiosity guide me. Writing, and researching, and writing some more. Summer is restorative that way.
Can't wait to read TGOTT, once my hold comes in. May your summer reads arrive speedily.
It's getting late and the kids are going to be up early. My eyes are itchy from too much pollen and too much screen time today. A little while ago, searching for a dresser and a new double stroller on Craigslist, I fell down a rabbit hole of garage sales and missed connections. Let's call it a chipmunk hole.
A Chipmunk Died in Our Double Stroller and Now I Want to Set it on Fire.
I wanted to start a missed connections for a shirt I was going to buy in March, but it was really too cold for such a shirt in Indiana in March, and I was traveling to cold-weather climes for TRIP THROUGH YOUR WIRES book events -- Toronto, Syracuse, Buffalo -- and the AWP conference in April, in Minneapolis, where it snowed. There was a two-story Target where one could take refuge, and one did. Also went to NYC, a whole other post, where it was warmer but not quite sleeveless tunic warm. It was sell-a-book-to-a-stranger-named-Scott-in-Central-Park warm, if that gives you an idea. So the shirt. I went back for it today. It had been on my mind. The weather's warming up. Not just a shirt but a tunic, and it screamed CUTE TOP. It was also $80, and I am many things, but I am not a person who will spend $80 on a cute top. Even if it is a tunic, with the word "romantic" in its description. I am not really a wearer of "romantic" garments, typically. But this tunic was different. I figured that by now it was on sale, but it was not locatable in the store. I hunted high and low. The saleswoman was busy spreading out five dresses on the counter - they were all the same dress, black and white, and she was really scrutinizing them - and the salesman was ordering Jimmy John's on the phone and giving out his credit card number so kind of scurrying to the back room to not be heard, and became flustered that I was blocking his way in front of the racks. I'd had Jimmy John's for lunch today, coincidentally. The Turkey Tom, always and forever.
Maybe I could find the top online, I decided. And I did. In a size 0. Look. I am not a size 0; I have never been a size 0, senator. This is not a point of pride or shame, merely a fact. Now, on the March hunt for a cute top, I found a more weather-appropriate alternative, and the saleslady talked me into a smaller size. She was quite insistent. "It looks supergood! You look superfabulous!" And I was swayed. And then this happened.
Cute top bought for readings has ripped in not one but four places. I AM BOOKISH INCREDIBLE HULK. Cannot be contained by poly/silk mix.
So you might understand why I'd re-fixate on the tunic. The flowy, pretty, comfy item -- you were almost mine, had I not been so cheap, and so cold all the damn time. But now, warmer! And more events! (To Cleveland on Memorial Day, 1 p.m. at Chagrin Blvd. Barnes &
Noble, and Chicago on June 10 at City Lit Books with James Tadd Adcox.) Of course the shirt was no longer available. That was March, This is Now. That's what retailers say when they're trying to be real tough, like S.E. Hinton characters. Clothes don't just wait two months until you're back from book touring and done with the semester grading and all the gardenhousefamily needs (not in that order, that's outside-in, not inside-out.) Which reminds me:
I've been listening to this song a lot lately, traveling. I'm reminded of the R.E.M. song Turn You Inside-Out - words only, not music. Thinking about how crazy the past year has been, with moving and book and the kids and a full-time job, finally, and home home home. And boy was this a welcome sight to come home to.
This is what the "finished paperback" of TRIP THROUGH YOUR WIRES looks like. The official release date is March 17, St. Patrick's Day. Events surrounding the book can be found at my website.
Photo op: I'd set it on the dining room table for better lighting, and saw our Mexico map placemat was nearby. Perfect. The capital city of Guanajuato on the left, and "United States Citizens Visiting Mexico" at the top: I've begun to think of my characters as actual U.S. citizens and Mexican citizens. They feel real to me.
The little spot of spaghetti sauce on the bottom margin of the map lends an air of authenticity to the semi-controlled chaos of our house.
