So Labor Day's over, summer's gone, and THE GUY NOT TAKEN comes out tomorrow.
I have to say, this is the most low-key publication I've ever had.
With GOOD IN BED, I was a nervous wreck. Would anyone like it? Would anyone buy it?
I remember the day the book came out, checking my Amazon rankings about once every thirty seconds, leaving the house only to hang around the Borders on Walnut Street behind the "New in Fiction" shelf, where the book was housed at ankle level, desperately wishing my last name started with a more advantageous letter and praying that someone would pick up a copy.
I quit Amazon years ago, and stayed away from the stores with subsequent publications (okay, I'd stop in long enough to ascertain that the books were where they were supposed to be and grumpily note which authors had better placement or bigger stacks than I did) but I was still a nervous wreck.
I think it was actually worst of all with GOODNIGHT NOBODY, in part because it was a different kind of book than what I'd written before, and because the movie of IN HER SHOES was coming out right on the heels of the book, and I was feeling like I had the success of an entire genre of book and film on my shoulders (not realistic, but that's how it felt).
This book's different. Maybe because there's no movie to worry about, or because it's a short story collection, not a novel, but I'm . . . well, not entirely calm, but certainly more calm than I've ever been the night before a book comes out.
Maybe it's because I really like the stories. I hope you will, too. And I hope to see you at the readings in NYC or Philly!
In other news, I did an interview over at Conversations with Famous Writers. Check it out!
Finally, sign up to get my newsletter -- for my summer reading recommendations (I know summer's over, but they're still good books) and for the PG-13 version of the making of the commercial for THE GUY NOT TAKEN.