So. There’s been so much exciting stuff going on that I didn’t even have time to tell you about it all.
The biggest deal, of course, is that Other Heartbreaks is alive and well and in the world. Literally every single person who’s read it and reported back has been wowed. The stories are so, so lovely. As Andrew Scott of Andrew’s Book Club said, “Fans of William Trevor and Alice Munro would like this book. Hell, William Trevor and Alice Munro would like this book.” You can read glowing blurbs from Robert Olen Butler, Margot Livesey, Lee Martin, and Robin Black; learn more about the book; and order your copy at the eb home link above. You can also get the book for your Kindle or NOOK or in the iBookstore. And you can order a special edition hardcover complete with an interview with the author and an audio book of the three-story “Other Heartbreaks” suite read by Patricia, but you can only get that directly from Engine Books.
Patricia and Other Heartbreaks have been featured or reviewed in all these terrific places:
- The Glimmer Train Bulletin
- Bill and Dave’s Cocktail Hour
- The Nervous Breakdown
- A 1/2 Dozen at the Home of Baggott, Asher, & Bode
- the October Book List at Hey Small Press!
- Vouched Books
- Andrew’s Book Club
- The Story Prize Blog
- Glorified Love Letters (this one has some plot points, so if you’re reading for plot, you might want to read first, then visit & discuss
- The Pacific Northwest Inlander
- The Quivering Pen Front Porch Books
I’m told there’s much more coming soon, so stay tuned.
If you’re anywhere near Lafayette, Indiana, you’d be silly to miss the Other Heartbreaks launch party. It’s on Saturday 10/15 from 6-8 at Artists’ Own Gallery, downtown Lafayette. There’s a FaceBook event here, if you want to RSVP, but we hope you’ll just stop by any time.
For an update on the issue of bookstore returns, here’s an NPR story from 2008 discussing the problem. If we’re all in agreement that this is absurd, how about we just go ahead and stop it. No? Why is it still happening, more than three years later?
Because you’re on the internet and you care about books, you’re of course already familiar with the many narrative talents of Myfanwy Collins. It’s Engine Books’ great privilege to be publishing her first novel, Echolocation, in March. It’s already available at the Engine Books site for pre-order in paperback or special edition hardcover, the latter of which will be accompanied by a full-length audio book read by Heidi Faith.
The night I read the manuscript Myf sent me, I stayed up until I was finished. I had already been tired for hours, after a long day, but I could not rest until I found out what happened. “I could not put it down” is such a cliché in book speak, but for real, I could not put the manuscript down. Since then, of course, Myf and I have worked together to make the book, believe it or not, even better.
Myf’s already been turning up all over the place talking about the book, including the following:
- Mixer: Shame and Connection: An Interview with Myfanwy Collins
- Vernacular Literary Blog: Echolocation: An Interview with Myfanwy Collins
Did you hear about Gregory Spatz? He’s the Spokane Artist of the year! (I’ll just put this link quietly over here, since they haven’t updated the site yet.)
I’m gonna do my best to hang around here more often, having interesting conversation and whatnot. I hope you will too, and that you’ll leave lots of comments and discussion and what have you. Happy Other Heartbreaks week!