Monthly Archives::
May 2010

NYC tour stops

/ / For The Win, News


Hey, New York! I’m in town for the next-to-last stop of my book-tour for my new YA novel For the Win, and I’ll be at:

* Books of Wonder, May 26, 6-8PM
* powerhouse Books, May 27, 7:30PM
* McNally Jackson, May 28, 7PM

The tour ends on June 4 in Toronto, with a stop at the Merril Collection — can’t wait to see you! (full schedule)

Reminder: There are plenty of libraries, schools, halfway houses and shelters hoping you’ll donate a book to them.

Critical paths and self-publishing

/ / News

In my latest Publishers Weekly column, I dig into the meat of the production on my forthcoming short story collection With a Little Help. In short it’s going well, but the book-tour put a major crimp in it, as did some bad assumptions on my part about the critical path:

It turns out that a few tasks were dependent on earlier stages. And Murphy’s Law being what it is, this meant delays. Specifically, as I wrote in March, typesetting delays meant that I couldn’t get into final cover designs and proofing, nor could I get into prototyping for the limited edition hardcovers. The sound editing couldn’t be done until the sound recording was done, and some of my readers had other priorities that took precedence (such as paying work!). In hindsight, I should have taken notice that the two tasks with the largest number of dependencies were also the tasks that required the most work from my collaborators.

Now, though, all the critical pieces are in place, and the book is definitely, finally, trembling on the verge of becoming a reality. And, I must say, when the typeset book arrived, it was absolutely glorious and well worth waiting for.

Closing In

Review:

The Independent

These characters are neither post-modern nor post-anything much else; they are not bored, disengaged, ignorant, amoral. They are young people caught up in a global struggle for justice in a manner impossible even two decades ago, thanks to the new transnational space they inhabit.

It’s an arena whose unintended effect is to offer its players a crash course in the game-like nature of the political and economic battles waged around them – as well as providing a context within which friendships can grow irrespective of race, nationality, wealth, age, gender or creed. Doctorow’s American teenager teaches himself Mandarin in his spare time, the better to play alongside his guild buddies, even while his parents bemoan the uselessness of his gaming habit.

Tom Chatfield, The Independent