P.S. Did you spot the Alpha-Bits cereal? Not surprisingly, that was my favorite when I was a kid, but I haven’t seen it on a store shelf in years.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore from Moonbot Studios on Vimeo.

Me: This is true.

Publicist: Wouldn’t it be cool if we celebrated the last 30 days before publication by asking people what they’d do during their last days?

Me: You just want to tell me your last meal, right?

Publicist: Of course not, but it would involve cheese.

Me: Calories aren’t really a concern at that point.

Publicist: (ignoring me) We should also give away a prize. A good prize.

Me: Not cheese.

Publicist: No, too perishable. We’ll give away a basket of books from HarperCollins worth $100. That’s good, right?

Me: Can I win?

Publicist: No.

Me: Are there rules?

Publicist: Yes.

30 Days To LOSING CLEMENTINE Contest

How to play:

- Follow Ashley on Twitter or “like” her author page on Facebook.

- Respond to her daily questions. If you’re on Twitter, don’t forget to use the #losingclementine hashtag.

- Each response is an entry to win a book basket from Harper Collins ($100 value).

- Re-tweet Ashley’s question or repost it to your wall for a bonus entry. Just don’t forget to use the hashtag (Twitter) or tag Ashley’s author page in the post (Facebook).

- Contest runs Feb 5 – March 5, winner announced on March 6.

 Rules

- Maximum of 2 entries per day (1 response and 1 retweet/repost).

- Must use the Twitter hashtag or Facebook tag to count.

- Winner will be chosen using random.org.

Photo by Eunice. Used via Creative Commons License.

Ten copies of Losing Clementine are being given away on Goodreads in the next 20 days. That averages out to one copy every two days. Pretty good odds. If you’re on Goodreads, you should check it out. And if you’re not, this would be a good time to sign up.

(Goodreads is a free site where folks who love books talk to other folks who love books about the books they love. Think virtual book club and you don’t even have to get out of your pajamas.)

p.s. I, too, organize my bookshelves by color. Other people seem to think this is weird.

Photo by Mo Riza. Used under Creative Commons license.

If you’re a newsletter subscriber, you already read the first chapter a whole month ago. You’re like “whatever man, I am in the know.” But if you’re not a newsletter subscriber, then you can click here to read the whole, entire, complete, uncut first chapter of Losing Clementine right now.

Also, you might want to ask yourself why you waited so long. You might not want to wait so long in the future. In that case, sign up there on the right for the newsletter. It comes out just a couple times a year. And it has absolutely everything first, including excerpts from upcoming books, info on new releases, details on my book tour, you name it. Also I promise not to sell your e-mail address to anyone, especially that guy who needs your help wiring money from Nigeria if only you’ll hand over your credit card number.

I’m into this:

And also this:

And I’ve been reading this for a year: (I’ll finish eventually.)

I find it impossible to read just one book at a time. How about you? Whatcha readin’?

Jessica Anya Blau, author of The Summer of Naked Swim Parties, said of my book, Losing Clementine:

“It’s hard not to fall in love with Clementine Pritchard—she’s talented, witty, inventive and suicidal. You won’t want this story to end as you root for the wonderfully lawless and impulsive Clementine.”

I am loved.

(My publicist, who stands behind my chair with a large whip, wants me to say this: If that made you want to read Losing Clementine, you could pre-order it from the usual place or go indie.)

Photo by Edsel Little. Used via Creative Commons License.

Many folks bemoan the loss of independent (and recently chain) bookstores. Writers, for reasons of obvious self-interest as well as sentimentality, bemoan louder than the rest. As I prepare to head out in two months for my first book tour, I’ve noticed something.

My book tour hits as many “third places” as it does bookstores. A third place is a well-known social concept. Your home is your first place. Your work is your second place. And your third place is a hang-out. Traditionally, it should allow for lengthy lounging, eating/drinking and social interaction with a low cost of entry. It can be a pub, a coffee shop, a diner, nearly anything. I’ll be speaking at a library in St. Louis, a wine market/bistro near Chicago and The Writers Place in Kansas City. Any of those might be your third place.

But wouldn’t it be great – really great – if our precious remaining indie bookstores became our third places? What if, instead of all going to Starbucks to write or telecommute to our tech jobs, we could find the same sort of atmosphere at our neighborhood bookstore? (Mine is Skylight Books in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles. Shout out.) What if there were as many tables and chairs and coffees and electrical outlets there as at a coffee shop? What if we all went there and bought lattes and a paperback in payment for the community space we occupy as we write our screenplays and PowerPoint presentations? What if bookstores were community living rooms and offices, as well as retail spaces?

I’m not the first to suggest this, I’m certain. But perhaps if we all suggested it often and vocally and then, when such spaces began to happen, we all took our $3.95 daily Starbucks habits down to the indie instead, maybe things would be better.

Photo by e-magic. Used via Creative Commons license.

Sean Ferrell wrote this blog about the pain that often comes for writers when creating new worlds and new people in our minds and how we do it anyway. It’s good. You should read it.