Book Release Countdown: Here But Not Yet There

 On Monday I made a joint presentation at Manhattanville College with my editor, Liz Van Hoose. Turned out to be a red-letter day for a couple of reasons. First, the presentation went really well. Second, Liz had that day received a much-deserved promotion. And third... let's see... I know there was a third thing...Oh yeah: Liz brought along two copies of the book!!!! Now being prepared for shipment and ready for release on August 9.

Book Release Countdown: The Book Jacket

Hot off the press: The Book Jacket!

Just received several of them from my editor. "Printed jackets mean finished books are imminent," she wrote.

Not a bad way to end the work week...

Book Release Countdown Update

Bill Warrington's Last Chance will be released two months from today. (And yes, pre-orders are still being accepted.) Two exciting recent developments to report:

Viking has selected the book for its Flights of Fiction program. You can visit the site to learn more about the book, read an excerpt, and download a podcast of an interview with--and reading by--yours truly.

Penguin has released a Book Club Reader's Guide for the novel. It includes a "conversation with the author" interview. The interview and book club questions can be found here.

Did I mention pre-orders are still being accepted? Just checking...

Revisions: The Phoenix Effect

I recently finished reading the second chapter of the vomit draft of my work-in-progress. I hadn't read it in several months, which helped me gain the perspective needed to admit that "vomit" is a charitable modifier for this particular draft. What a disaster! I wondered how I:

• Created such an unlikable character
• Crammed so many useless details into 5,000 words
• Might chuck the whole thing and not, consequently, be driven to slash my wrists

And yet... once I stewed for awhile... considered a different approach... slashed out the passages that I found particularly annoying and/or humiliating (we're talking pages here)... fiddled with an opening sentence for a couple hours... I grew hopeful that I might squeeze a paragraph or two out of the mess. Hopeful, but not yet entirely convinced.

What's your first reaction when you re-read your work?