Dot Dead Diary

Say What?

Browsing through barnesandnoble.com and noticed that one of their authorized resellers is offering Dot Dead (autographed!) for the bargain price of $128.90.  I'm practically speechless, but I would suggest that there may be a more cost-effective way of getting a signed copy of the book.  (They must be offering an ARC unless my brother, sister, or father is peddling his/her personalized copy of the book itself.)

Rock Star Wannabe

It's Tuesday.  The official publication date of Dot Dead is Saturday.  My second daughter calls me at work to let me know my latest score on Amazon.com.  ("Dad, you've moved up 23,371 places in the last hour!")  In the next two weeks, generous friends are throwing two launch parties.  By the end of September, I'll have hit 13 bookstores and 2 mystery conferences in seven different metropolitan areas.  (Tour schedule.)

But even though the tour hasn't started, I've already lost my signing virginity.  I signed bound galleys at BookExpo America last month.  On a Friday, I sat in the Mystery Writers of America booth scribbling away.  MWA's inimitable chief honcho, Margery Flax, and the able Carla Coupe and Maria Lima managed to procure a fair bunch of people who dutifully queued up.  (See me signing for the very first time below.)  The next day was even more amazing.  I had a long line of people waiting for me to sign.  I kept asking people why they were waiting in line for an author whom they did not know who had written a book they had not read.  Truth be told though, I felt like a rock star.  I tasted a simulacrum of celebrity and learned what a high it could produce.  (The Stones might need 50,000 screaming fans to get the high; I needed only 150 polite, patient mystery readers.) 

The next three months should be lots of fun.  I hope to see or hear from you.  Now if I can just mix in a little writing on Book #2 along the way....