As Thomas Earl Petty once said, “The waiiiiiiting is the hardest paaart.”

Yoiks. When it comes to my own website, I see that I’ve been somewhat of an absentee landlord. It’s not that I haven’t been blogging, I’ve just been blogging for other websites—guest blogging, so to speak. Most won’t appear until later in the month when HOTEL will be oh-fish-ully released. By then be prepared to see my smiling mug shamelessly plastered all over the Net.

Currently I’m in blissful writer mode, surrounded by swirling activity--picture me at my desk in the eye of a hurricane and you’ll get the idea.

What’s going on around me? Let’s see, in no particular order:

• People unrelated to me are actually reading my book. It started last fall, but now the Advance Reader’s Editions are everywhere. eBay had six up for sale, last time I checked. (One was even signed, by whom, I’m not sure).

• I had to turn off google alerts because my email inbox was bursting with mentions of HOTEL. Mainly on blogs and public library catalog websites. (Many thanks to the King County Library System in Seattle for stocking 67(!) copies across their many libraries, once again solidifying my old stomping ground as the “Most Literate City in America”.

• Videos. Just saw the rough cuts yesterday. One is an author-type interview and the other is a virtual walking tour of the locations featured in the book. Great stuff, though the narrator is a schmuck. (Me)

• Pre-launch interviews, blogs and essays. I had hoped to spend a wintry month finishing Book #2, but I’ve been stuck in a Groundhog’s Day spin-cycle, reliving the same interview again and again. One of these times I’ll get it right and they’ll let me off the karmic merry-go-round.

• Foreign sales and such. In addition to Complex Chinese rights, I've also sold Simplified Chinese rights to HOTEL. Plus German audio rights (abridged, which is another strange discussion altogether) and LARGE PRINT RIGHTS.

• Signing bookplates by the metric ton. I have a degree in art, so I’ve been dyyyying to do something different with my bookplates—and I think I’ve found the solution in an antique Qing Dynasty (1880s to 1911) soapstone chop (red ink stamp). I had to buy it from an east coast art dealer, but it’s gorgeous, and translates to “Library of True Friendship”.

• Prepping for the Bittersweet Tour. February will be a whirlwind of airports, rental cars, swanky hotels and bookstores. If you’re some crazed fan trying to find me, I’ll be registered under the name, Charles Bukowski.

Comments

[Johanna Moran]

Oh, wow, Jamie. Living it vicariously - kind of - maybe - a little bit. Ordered Hotel from Amazon and am very much looking forward. Go. Enjoy the ride.
Johanna

[Kennedy]

Are there any audience questions you'd like to plant for your Menlo Park appearance in a few months? "What were the various titles this story went through?" "What is the average wind speed of the unladen swallow?" "How did you get to be so awesome?" Topics of that nature?

[Jamie Ford]

Actually, if you could just jump out of the audience with a pistol outfitted with blanks, fire a few rounds and then let me wrestle you down, that would be perfect.

[Adam]

I think I might try to make it up to Madison. I don't have a pistol though. That okay?

[Adam]

I obviously meant Milwaukee. >_<

[carleen]

I'd love to know who signed your novel on Ebay! Too funny!

[C. Rooney]

Don't suppose you feel like doing one more interview?

(I'd like to do what I can to get you on the NYT Bestseller list.)