If you look closely, you can see the book title and the author name.
Thanks to the incredible talents of Philadelphia’s Big Red Tank design studio, the cover for my novel is just about finished. And I couldn’t be happier with the look. The font, the colors, the photography… it’s all just perfect.
I’ve posted the way the book will look with the spine and backcover as well, right after the jump. The designer left plenty of space for the publisher to place the necessary business: barcode, company logo, the book’s summary and author (me!) bio. There’s still some more tinkering to do on their end, but this is what it’ll look like. I’m so excited!
Next up, working on the book’s website and podiobook.
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This weekend, my editor gave me back my manuscript of the novel. And yes, that’s an actual photograph of some edits. I’m fortunate to be working with someone kind and good humored. For every grammatical correction, there was a smiley face and a written laugh near one of my quips. I’m working hard through the end of the month, fixing bits and pieces here, adjusting characters flaws and plots holes there… it’s strange. I thought I was done.
Ah, and then there is her character. The love interest, who I based strongly on my now ex-girlfriend.
How does one make changes? I mean, she effectively ripped my heart out, rolled it around in sea salt, and doused it in delicious buffalo sauce before taking a vicious bite out of it. She may have squeezed a lemon wedge over the exposed, pulsating muscle as well. I couldn’t see. I was too busy trying to make out what sort of buffalo sauce she was using. I hope it was Frank’s. She could have at least done me that honor.
Good humor aside, it’s rough.
I’ll always know that this character I wrote and breathed life into is based on someone I cared about dearly. No one else will know that the wild, free spirited woman in my book is her. The characters look different and don’t share the same name, but it’s the little things. How they both have one off-white tooth. Swear at adorably inappropriate times. Carry themselves with careless grace.
When she first read my novel, she said it was like falling in love with me all over again. Now that I’m editing it, I’m profoundly reminded of why we fell in love in the first place.
So like I said. It’s rough.
It’s easy to edit someone out of a book. It isn’t so easy to edit someone out of your life.
Whoa, shiny! Backgrounds courtesy Anthony Clark.
IZEA, a wonderful social media and marketing group that occasionally works with Geekadelphia, awarded me “Postie of the Month” for the month of January. It’s pretty exciting, and looks super cute on my desk. I always wanted a shiny glass award.
For those of you who don’t know, Izea works with bloggers on a pay-per-post basis, and I’ve been fortunate enough to work with them on a number of fun projects. Thanks to them, I was able to make the connections to Hewlett-Packard for Geekadelphia’s big three year anniversary party. I was also able to donate printers to local in-need institutions, raffle off electronics for charity in November, and this month, donate money to the American Red Cross.
I know there’s a stigma in the blogging community when it comes to pay-per-post. As for me, in a time when internet advertising isn’t as popular as it once was, I see it as an opportunity to do some good, and interact with the community I love. Thanks Izea.
Today at work, I was pleased to find a large box of Quirk Books’ upcoming release, Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls, waiting for me at my desk. The book doesn’t come out til the end of March. Awesome.
My lovely blog, Geekadelphia, is hosting a Zombieland movie night at The Trocadero here in Philadelphia next Monday, and Quirk was kind enough to donate these books as giveaways / prizes. I’m keeping a copy for myself to review on the blog, of course.
I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a goal of mine to one day pitch a book to Quirk. I just need to think of that killer, uber-creative idea. I mean, I’m an English professor! This should be easy. Let’s see…
- Oedipus The Bling: A Hip Hop Greek Opera
- Spamlet: A Hamlet Adaptation in the Vein of Monty Python
- Beo-wolf: The Untold Story of Beowulf vs. The Wolfman
- Oliver’s Fist: Oliver Seeks Revenge on Those Who Wronged Him
- The Waist Band: T.S. Eliot’s Guide to Losing Weight & Staying in Shape
Quirk, if you’re interested in these, I have about a dozen more. Let’s talk. I will totally accept hugs, high fives, and a value meal from Wendy’s as my advance.
It’s Armageddon… I need Bruce Willis…
One of my favorite things about teaching is bringing new and clever ways of educating into my classroom. Most of the time, this means handing out bizarre and humorous essays to my students, or engaging them in some sort of wacky in-class writing activity. For examples, last week, I had several of my students proof read and correct a classic Prince of Nigeria spam email, in order to make it a more effective persuasive piece, since we were going over Persuasion and Argumenative writing.
This past class, I brought in a couple of literal music videos, a hilarious internet phenomenon that involves folks singing about what’s actually going on in the video. The students watched the original video, followed by the literal one, and we talked about how the language effectively changes what they are seeing. We compared and contrasted the lyrics, the videos, and the new messages.
I used Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart, A-HA’s Take On Me, and my favorite of the bunch, Creed’s With Arms Wide Open. The result was hilarious, and a wonderful learning experience. I can’t wait to do this in future classes.
I know I don’t update this personal blog enough, but I’m making it a New Year’s resolution of mine to update at least once a week from now on. For the most part, you can find me writing on Geekadelphia (we just celebrated our 3 year anniversary, thanks to our friends at Hewlett Packard), on Uwishunu, and Tweeting. I’m also hard at work on a new book, a travel narrative with my good friend (and recently budding stand up comedian) Glen.
The semester is wrapping up quickly, and it’s been a successful one, both in the classroom and out. My two courses at MC3 and Peirce were fantastic, and I spoke at Long Island University last month. I only have one more class at MC3 and Peirce College left. I genuinely feel like I learn so much with every new class, and I’ve been blessed with an administration that welcomes my creativity, and students who respond quite well to it. I’ll be sad to say goodbye to such a wonderful group of kids, but I’m already looking forward to next semester.
I guess it’s about time for a monthly update on here. I know, I don’t write on my personal blog nearly enough, mostly due to writing for my job and for my baby, Geekadelphia. That and I’ve been burying my face into anthologies of essays and travel writing.
This semester at MC3 has been fantastic, and teaching at Peirce College has proven to be both incredibly fun and challenging. However, I always find that the textbooks truly lack modern, unique, compelling essays for my kids. As a result, I picked up a lot of the Best American Essays collections, via eBay and Alibris, to hunt down pieces that I know my students will enjoy. Works that will make them see the FUN in reading and writing essays. After-all, there is a reason people adore Sloane Crosley.
I’ve also picked up a wealth of Best American Travel Writing. This month, I sat down to pitch a book idea to a possible publisher, and he/she absolutely loved it. Come Spring-time, I start work on a travel memoir. It’s an exciting time for me, and I’m trying to read as much travel writing as I can. It’s not enough to be excited. I have to be prepared. I’m leaving the details out until I launch the site for the book.
Things are looking up!
… and my apartment smells of rich mahogany.
Lately, I’ve been asked to speak and attend a lot of fun, blogging-related events, and I’ve got to say, I’m enjoying it quite a bit.
This past Tuesday, Philadelphia’s Public Relations Association invited me to have a little chat with their members here in Philly. The turnout was outstanding, over 100 people showed. Lots of love to my wonderful coworkers who came along. You can spot them smack in the middle. Mary, I do believe you’re smiling at the camera.
Other Philly bloggers in attendance included Hughe of Philly Chit Chat, Dan Gross of Philly.com, D-Mac from the Philadelphia Weekly, and Alan Tu from WHYY. We had fun. Hughe has some additional pics on his post about the event.
Earlier in the month, I spoke at Saint Joseph’s University, and come June, I’ll be attending Blogging While Brown, a diversity summit in Chicago. Chicago!
All of these talks! My CV is looking better and better.
My debut novel comes out this Fall. You'll be able to download free audiobook podcasts 
