This last week was a really good, busy one, in case any of you were worried I’d been snatched by bears. I did a commercial for Wells Fargo, finished a couple editing jobs, and continued rehearsals for the play I’m doing, which opens next month. We had our first run-through this past Saturday, and it gave me chills. I’ll post details soon regarding performance schedule. If you’re in the L.A. area, I’d love to see you there.
I’ll also be speaking on a panel about eBooks and e-publishing this Saturday, August 24, at the V3con Digital Media Conference at the Japanese American National Museum. The panel will be moderated by Edgar-winning author Naomi Hirahara and is scheduled for 4 p.m. in the Red Room.
OK, let’s move on to giveaway business. Before I get to the next one, I’d like to announce the winners of galleys of Jussi Adler-Olsen’s The Absent One (out Tuesday, Aug. 21, from Dutton):
- Reggie Lim
- Liz
Please fill out this contact form with your address so I can forward it to the publisher, who will ship the galleys to you directly.
This next book I’m giving away is something I’m enjoying right now. Maria Semple’s Where’d You Go, Bernadette is quirky and witty, but it’s becoming evident (I’m on p. 79) that something darker will be revealed later. My review will hopefully be posted soon (update: it’s up), but in the meantime, I’m excited to help get it into your hands.
Two finished copies are up for grabs. Here’s a description:
Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she’s a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she’s a disgrace; to design mavens, she’s a revolutionary architect, and to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, simply, Mom.
Then Bernadette disappears. It began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica. But Bernadette’s intensifying allergy to Seattle–and people in general–has made her so agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in India now runs her most basic errands. A trip to the end of the earth is problematic.
To find her mother, Bee compiles email messages, official documents, secret correspondence—creating a compulsively readable and touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter’s role in an absurd world.
Watch the funny trailer here, listen to an audio excerpt here, and go to the author’s charming website for more info.
To enter, leave a comment about the most impossible journey you’ve ever taken. It could be to a far-flung location that’s difficult to access, or just a road trip in a clown car with your in-laws that you didn’t think you’d survive. Contest ends next Monday, August 27 at 9 p.m. PST. US/Canada residents only, no P.O. boxes. Winners will be randomly chosen and have 48 hours to claim prizes.
11 Comments
Kathy P
August 20, 2012 at 7:44 amThis book sounds fascinating!! Would love to win!
Motorcycle trip across Canada and back across the States. Crazy!
Lauren
August 20, 2012 at 8:28 amDriving back to CA from KS with my sister and two dogs, one of whom tiptoed to the brink of death and had us stuck in Needles, CA for a night. Oh, and I had to duct tape the windshield to the car body. And said dying dog also had an ulcerated cornea and thus had to make the trip with a cone of shame firmly attached to his head. Ah, good times…
Ann Holt
August 20, 2012 at 5:01 pmWould you believe living in a converted Chevy van while traveling around the US including a side trip to Mexico that took four months with a seven year old and a four year old? We only paid for three nights of camping. Impossible today!
Lauren
August 20, 2012 at 6:03 pmNow I have the song “Chevy Van” stuck in my head.
You win. My dog might have been dying, but at least he couldn’t talk. 🙂
Charmaine Ng
August 20, 2012 at 5:08 pmHow exciting! I wish I could see your performance.
The most impossible trip I took was a month traveling through China with my brother and parents. It was the summer after freshman year, and I couldn’t imagine leaving all my new friends behind for CHINA, of all hot, humid places. My legs got infected with mosquito bites, and I walked around covered in splotches of white powder.
Sarah RH
August 21, 2012 at 11:23 pmSounds like a good read! I don’t remember the trip (does that still count???), but I have heard the story a million times. =) I was 2, flying from South Korea to the United States from the Holt Orphanage to meet my new family. My Dad says I was extra special because he got to meet me before I came over (he & his Naval flight crew were smuggling medicine into Korea). He didn’t get to do that with my sister (a year older & not related biologically). 🙁
Bonnie Yee
August 22, 2012 at 8:23 amThe most impossible journey for me was trying to get to a golf course by public transit, looking up the location on Google maps, then heading there, only to find out upon arrival t my “destination” that the map was for a different location with a similar, but different address. And no time to get to the right location.
Dana C
August 22, 2012 at 8:39 amA trip to Europe by myself for 10 days prior to a teaching assignment. It was lonely but ultimately strenghening.
Michael
August 22, 2012 at 8:50 amThe most impossible trip was one with my non-aunt who was given away at birth by my grandmother and reconnected with my mother in her teens and was trying to re-form a relationship again. Unfortunately she has a terribly snobbish husband and she had an inferiority complex the size of Titanic and thrives on making cutting comments through the holiday trip. In the end, we ended up quarrelling and the 10 day trip was just pure hell.
Adina H.
August 22, 2012 at 12:57 pmDriving through Algonquin Park in Ontario, Canada on Christmas Day. It was definitely snowy!
Anita Yancey
August 25, 2012 at 11:38 amThe most impossible trip for me was driving over 1,600 miles to Texas in a van with a 3 month old baby who cried most of the trip. The book sounds great. Thanks for having this giveaway.