Next week it begins, when I get to fly out to Minneapolis to meet with book buyers and booksellers. I'm incredibly excited about the trip, not only for the chance to meet these folks, but also for the following reasons:
1. I've spent time in twenty-eight states. Minnesota is not one of them.
2. Minneapolis was named the most literate city in America in a recent study, found at www.ccsu.edu/Amlc. What better place to begin promoting one's book?
3. Minneapolis was where Mystery Science Theater 3000 was created and first aired, so Minneapolis must be teening with brilliant, witty people.
4. I get to travel with the fantastic E. Lockhart, author of number of great YA books, including Dramarama, The Boyfriend List, and Fly on the Wall. She will be promoting The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, due out from Hyperion in March. I was lucky enough to get the arc of Disreputable History, which I found to be a well-written, clever, and hilarious book. You should obviously purchase it the moment it comes out, even though E. is a little disappointed that I am not the Daniel Waters who wrote Batman Returns and Heathers (for more on this tragedy, read my first blog entry). Alas, I can only be the best Daniel Waters I can be.
I love flying, and I always get a lot of writing done in the air and in the terminals. One of my favorite moments of last year was looking up from a scene of Generation Dead and realizing that I was flying home beside a spectacular lightning storm that was hovering over New York City. I stopped writing to watch long, blue-white branches of electricity arc out over the night sky, backlighting the bank of fluffy gray clouds and descending towards the glittering city below. The song "Saudade" by Love and Rockets was playing on my headphones, which I've come to realize is the best possible mile-high lightning storm soundtrack available.
"Saudade", BTW is a Portuguese word,and among the definitions out there, my favorite is this partial one I found on Wikipedia "is a vague and constant desire for something that does not and probably cannot exist."
Saudade, then, comes as close to describing the drive behind "why I write" for me as anything I know...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
5 comments:
good luck!
BTW something is wrong with your feed-thing. I tried to subscribe to your blog but it wont let me.
Thank you!
And thanks for the heads' up on the feed--not sure how to fix, but I'll give it a shot.
Daniel , your book is amazing. I know it hasn't come out yet but my father had gotten me an unpublished copy and it was amazing. I'm not finished reading it but I'm close. So far its the greats book I've ever read next to Bram Stokers : Dracula. Your writing skills are amazing. Tommy Williams is my favorite character. If I could I would fall in love with him.
Wow, thank you for the compliment! High praise, indeed, to be mentioned alongside of Bram Stoker and Dracula. Thanks for posting!
Re "saudade" -- my feelings exactly, too, Dan. Well said. Tom
Post a Comment