I was very pleased to have this item pop up on the old radar. I’ve been dreading early reviews of Jo-Jo and the Fiendish Lot, not because I think they’ll be bad, but just because the book is a bit unconventional, and early blog reviews tend to be more unfiltered than those of, say, Booklist. Plus, early reactions can definitely set a tone for a book’s lifespan. If everything out of the gate smells, then it’s going to take a lot of air freshener to get rid of that nasty stench. Or something.
So I was thrilled to see Book Muncher’s very positive response to Jo-Jo and his adventures in the Afterlife. I was especially flattered by the contrast and comparison to Zevin’s Elsewhere, which I remember as being pretty popular when it was published at right around the same time as Funny Little Monkey. So, hats off to you, Rachael! You’ve just made an overworked, underpaid, and exceptionally out-of-shape YA author very happy. Bring it on, Kirkus! (Just kidding. Please don’t hurt my feelings.)
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July 30, 2008: While it may be unrelated to my writing, this bit of news is certainly related to my life, which, I dare say, includes things other than getting paid to lie, feeling lazy, and berating myself for a lack of prolificness. I’d like to announce the birth of our second child: Teresa Grace Auseon-Zogby, or “Tess,” as she’s known around the ESPN Zone. I did little to bring this development about. My involvement may have been key during my wife’s trip through the hospital parking lot, when she began shouting, “I’ve gotta push!” but I coasted through most of the rest of it. We woke up at 2:05 a.m., got to Labor and Delivery around 3:20, and had the baby at 3:34. Booya! Talk about efficiency. Plus, the kid is perfect: 7 lbs., 15 oz. of Grade-A baby. Yums!
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Okay, so apparently I’ve been sniffing too many deodorant sticks. There are indeed ARCs for Jo-Jo and the Fiendish Lot, but they are not going to be available at BEA or ALA. You can try to look for them, you can tackle a Harper rep and steal all of her complimentary pens, you can weep into your cocktail napkin as you spear the last of your cherries, but you will most likely not be able to get your mitts on a copy of this life-changing masterpiece. That is unless you’re a bookseller or librarian, in which case I think you can get one if you request it from the publisher. But seeing as I only got four copies, I would expect a very small box. Of course, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. Thanks!
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Another beautiful weekend here in Baltimore, which means that my laziness quotient was bound to increase at an exponential rate, which means that I spent most of the weekend going to the park, drinking beer, and blowing up a virtual recreation of 1940s Europe online with a band of weirdoes from Scotland with names like AssKillah095. It’s sad, because despite my very full life, I manage to squeeze in more time wasted than a bunch of potheads in a basement with the shades drawn.
It’s bizarre holding an Advance Reader’s Copy in my hand again. It’s a feeling of, “Uh oh, here we go again.” With the ARC of Funny Little Monkey there was an accompanying feeling that anything was possible and that things were about to take off. This time, with Jo-Jo and the Fiendish Lot, that feeling has been supplanted with a combination of anticipation and dread. I guess you could say I’ve been educated. On a side note, I spent a good ten minutes online making the rounds of the Young Adult Lit network I used to surf regularly, updating myself on what’s been going on since my last book. All the stalwarts are there, friends and acquaintances. Mostly it just reveals how much reading I have to do. No more rereading “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” or that episode guide to The Simpsons. That’s why I chose to break from my weekend laziness to venture to do one productive thing, and that was to venture to the library and snatch up a stack of middle grade series books, including The Sisters Grimm, Chet Gecko, The Spiderwick Chronicles, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and Chasing Vermeer, to name a few. I guess you could say I’m working on something. Something specific.
I’ve also been kept pretty busy at work, where my compatriots and I have been busily crafting what will most likely be the greatest video game story since…well, since last year’s “Bioshock.” It’s been interesting working with a group of writers as opposed to being in a group of writers. I’m a lot crankier a collaborator than I remembered. They assuage me with coffee and small travel-sized bottles of whiskey, and most of the time I keep the baseball bat in the bottom drawer…most of the time.
Auseon out.
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