Today the book is out and so Im sitting in a back room of the Pasadena Central Library in the same chair where I wrote most of PLUS ONE, under a tall window and a table away from a pungent homeless gentleman watching Rambo on a portable DVD player. Oh glamorous publication day! It feels weird and scary and exciting and a little sad. Things are always best for me just before they happen. When you tear open the bag of Mint Milanos. When you lay your head down to sleep. When you first lay down the needle on a new record. Now that this book that I poured so much of myself into is actually out... its gone. Into the world. Where people can love it or hate it or, worst of all, ignore it entirely or sneer and call it inconsequential. (Looking at you, PW). Of course people will think what they think (and thankfully, Kirkus and Library Journal and a whole of of my literary heroes like the book a lot), and the healthy thing for me to do now is hunker down and write and not worry about the response. But maybe Ive spent too much time in Hollywood, where ratings and response (and awards - ugh) are everything and everyone is constantly hustling for parts and deals and validation... but lets just say I get a tiny bit weird about approval. Its taking all the self-control I possess right now not to switch over and check my Amazon sales ranking right now (OK, I lose: #71,456. How sad is that? Im just 70-some-thousand books below The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up and The Zero Belly Diet!). OK, stop. Its a happy day and a proud one and when I was looking at the Amazon page I found a super-nice review from a book blogger at VoxLibris who said the book made her laugh so hard I thought Id pulled a stomach muscle. Im glad she enjoyed; I really hope her stomach is OK. Anyhow, all of this is to say that Im a bit of a wreck today, worried and overthinking and all up in my own business. The answer to all this silliness, I know, is only as far away as a nice long walk outside with the dog and some time with the kids and a reminder that maybe that cruel, unforgivable reviewer at PW isnt so far off, in an ultimate sense anyhow: were all pretty inconsequential. (PS: Ive been inspired by the long-ish, meander-y status updates of Anne Lamott and am going to try to do more like this on my FB author page. Please enjoy. And if youre so inclined, please spread the word about PLUS ONE - we need all the buzz we can get. Not that Im paying any attention at all.) amazon/Plus-One-Christopher-Noxon/dp/1938849426
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 19:27:09 +0000
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