Lots going on!
It looks like I'll be at the Flux/Llewellyn booth at the big ALA convention here in Chicago. I'll be signing both SPARKS, the Stonewall Honor-winning novel that I wrote under the name SJ Adams, and (I think), advance copies of my new GHOSTS OF CHICAGO book. According to my calendar I'll be there on Sunday the 30th. I'll put up more details when I have them.
Doing a lot of "Chicago ghostlore" stuff lately; I was on Fox 32 talking about H.H. Holmes last week. On Monday I'll be on Bob Trzeciak's Paranormal Radio program. I also just did a fun article about comedian Del Close donating his skull to the Goodman Theatre so he could play Yorick for The Order of the Good Death.
Meanwhile, in the midst of doing copyedits on that ghost book, I'm also doing last-minute checks on another Chicago history book that I did under another name, and I'm working full time on revisions and fixes for When Iowa Freezes Over, the new novel that's due out next year. Revisions are probably my favorite part of a book; that's where you get so buried in it that you see lines in your sleep and obsess over minor word choice issues. It's fun.
Let's see...what else? In the last month I saw my 40th Bob Dylan concert, bought my first car in 10 years (a blue 2007 Prius named Artoo), and started research for what I hope will be another Smart Aleck's Guide.
How to Get Suspended and Influence People: Now With More Swearing!
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The rights to my first novel, How To Get Suspended and Influence People, reverted to me last month, so I've put out a new edition which restores all the swear words that were taken out of the original draft!
Leon Harris, a "gifted pool" hooligan, takes on his middle school after being suspended for trying to direct an avant garde sex ed film as a school project.
Originally published by Random House in 2007, and a part of the American Library Association's "Banned Books Week" packet, this new "author's edition" of the hilarious, critically-acclaimed cult YA hit features more than thirty additional swear words that were removed from the original edition!
WHAT THE CRITICS SAID:
"Smart and savvy on all fronts, full of 'read out loud to whoever happens to be nearby' passages." - Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"This funny, fast-paced novel is filled with characters who epitomize the middle school experience, and it presents a lesson or two about free speech as well." - School Library Journal
"Selzer’s zany, edgy debut thumbs its nose at censorship and prudishness..."miscreant kids" will appreciate the plot's outrageousness and applaud's Leon's commitment to his quirky vision." - Booklist
"In his debut, Selzer manages to capture the voice of a smarter-than-average young teen as he humorously observes his parents, the teachers and his classmates. Pervasive strong language and subject matter bump up the target audience, but there's definite appeal in the plot and some real laughs along the way." - Kirkus
Features an active table of contents and a new introduction by the author.
Q: Why did you take the swear words out in the first place? A: My editor said she'd go to bat for me if I thought they were important, but that the book would probably sell better without them. Sell-out that I am, I took most of them out. But it might have been a mistake; the times people tried to throw it out of libraries were the best publicity I ever got! Q: Why put them back now? A: Because I can! I got the rights back and thought it would be fun. It's the kind of thing authors can do now, and without paying a fortune upfront for a re-printing, so I thought I'd have some fun with it. Q: What are your thoughts re-reading it today? A: Well, like any book from seven years ago, it's sort of a period piece now. There weren't a lot of 2007-era cultural references, but it's still a book that takes place in a world without Youtube. Leon doesn't text anyone, there isn't much mention of social media, etc. The world has changed a lot for eighth graders. But I think it holds up pretty well; there are jokes that I'd forgotten that made me crack up when I re-read it. But contemporary humor has been so out of fashion in YA the last few years that it's weird to read any of it at all anymore. Q: What would Leon be like when he got older? A: You'll soon find out! Next year, Simon and Schuster is putting out a book tentatively titled WHEN IOWA FREEZES OVER. It features Leon as an 18 year old slacker; I've been calling it "a novel for young adults who worship the devil." It's much more of an "older YA" book than this one. People who wanted to ban Suspended are really going to hate that one. |
Ebert
I'm still processing Roger Ebert's death. His work was a huge influence on me both as a writer and as a person. I never really saw his show, to be honest, but in high school I took to reading his movie reviews every week. I often tell people that you don't need to get any of those "How to Write" books if you just read his 0-1 star reviews and the four star ones. All you need to know about writing - characterization, plot construction, etc - is in there.
In particular, I often cite his review of Kazaam! In it, he imagines the meeting in which writers and producers, tasked with writing a vehicle for Shaq, said "Hey, he's bald - he could be a genie!" At that point, Ebert said, someone should have said "Okay, that's level one. Let's take it to level three."
I got to see him in person twice. The first was shortly after I moved to Chicago, at a book signing. I told him I had an idea for someting called "Ebert! The Musical," which would open with him, a young boy whose father runs a fruit cart in the car chase district, describing his future career, to which his father would respond with the song "No Son of Mine Is Going To Do THAT With His Thumb." He told me to give it a shot, but I never got around to it.
I saw him again when he introduced a screening of Citizen Kane in the park - that year they let him pick the movies in the park, and so they screen Kane, Star Wars, E.T., Annie Hall, and, Night of the Hunter. Just about my entire list of my top 5. Before the Kane screening I got to chat a bit about Wonder Boys with him and a guy I later realized was Roeper.
Rest gently, Roger. I'll never stop asking myself a couple of basic questions about each of my books as I work on them: 1. If this was a movie, what would Ebert think? 2. Am I at level one? If so, how do I take it to level three?"
In particular, I often cite his review of Kazaam! In it, he imagines the meeting in which writers and producers, tasked with writing a vehicle for Shaq, said "Hey, he's bald - he could be a genie!" At that point, Ebert said, someone should have said "Okay, that's level one. Let's take it to level three."
I got to see him in person twice. The first was shortly after I moved to Chicago, at a book signing. I told him I had an idea for someting called "Ebert! The Musical," which would open with him, a young boy whose father runs a fruit cart in the car chase district, describing his future career, to which his father would respond with the song "No Son of Mine Is Going To Do THAT With His Thumb." He told me to give it a shot, but I never got around to it.
I saw him again when he introduced a screening of Citizen Kane in the park - that year they let him pick the movies in the park, and so they screen Kane, Star Wars, E.T., Annie Hall, and, Night of the Hunter. Just about my entire list of my top 5. Before the Kane screening I got to chat a bit about Wonder Boys with him and a guy I later realized was Roeper.
Rest gently, Roger. I'll never stop asking myself a couple of basic questions about each of my books as I work on them: 1. If this was a movie, what would Ebert think? 2. Am I at level one? If so, how do I take it to level three?"
Smells Like Family Matters
My old middle school band, Scapegoat, reconvened in Chicago this week to attend a Nick Cave concert and record a new single, entitled "Smells Like Family Matters." It's a largely-improvised track about the ultimate explosion of 90s nostalgia. Available here for free!
Meanwhile, the rights to How To Get Suspended and Influence People have reverted to me, and I'm planning to put out a special "Now With More Swearing" edition soon. More details soon!
Meanwhile, the rights to How To Get Suspended and Influence People have reverted to me, and I'm planning to put out a special "Now With More Swearing" edition soon. More details soon!
Tumbling Along
We're about six months from the release of my new GHOSTS OF CHICAGO BOOK, which Llewellyn Press will be publishing around the time the Halloween season starts. We're not to the point where the Google Books page has the cover up, but the links to indiebound, amazon, etc all work, and the book is available for pre-order.
I'm trying to hold off from using this TOO much yet, but I've started a new tumblr to host instagram shots of stuff from the book and things from my tours. I won't be reblogging gifs or memes or any of that stuff (tumblr is a silly place, isn't it?); it's all about spooky and strange Chicago stuff. Tour locations, stuff from the upcoming book, even the occasional shot of me running a tour. I'll probably use it a lot more around the time the book comes out.
Check it out at the new Chicago Unbelievable tumblr! Here are a couple of sample shots:
I'm trying to hold off from using this TOO much yet, but I've started a new tumblr to host instagram shots of stuff from the book and things from my tours. I won't be reblogging gifs or memes or any of that stuff (tumblr is a silly place, isn't it?); it's all about spooky and strange Chicago stuff. Tour locations, stuff from the upcoming book, even the occasional shot of me running a tour. I'll probably use it a lot more around the time the book comes out.
Check it out at the new Chicago Unbelievable tumblr! Here are a couple of sample shots:
My ride:
The Oliver Typewriter building facade still stands (though the company went under ages ago) at the entrance to an alley the Chicago Tribune once called "the alley of death and mutilation."
Habemus Titulum
We have a “tentative official title” for the “Satanic YA” novel that will be announced in Publisher’s Weekly this week…. WHEN IOWA FREEZES OVER.
It’ll probably change 3-4 times before things are finalized. I still like “Like a Bat Out of Iowa,” too, or “Going to Iowa in a Handbasket.” My favorite was I SOLD MY SOUL FOR ROCKY ROAD, but the word “soul” makes it tricky to market. I’d be perfectly satisfied with WHEN IOWA FREEZES OVER, though.
My list of possible titles also included several that I knew would never fly, but can at least joke about here, including:
Poop: A Love Story
A Hump Like a Snow Hill (hehehe)
Are You There, Satan? It’s Me, Leon
Trapped Under Ice Cream
From Iowa’s Heart I Stab at Thee
Winter In the Ice Cream Parlor of Lost and Forgotten Souls
Nametags of the Damned
Weird Scenes Inside the Break Room
Balls.
Now maybe I’ll get to work on one of those possible follow-ups to I Kissed A Zombie and I Liked it*…. frontrunner is I Kissed a Headless Horseman and You’ll Never Guess WHERE.
* (I wanted to call that one Dead Guys Have No Reason to Live, btw)
"Satanic YA" novel out in 2014
I'm thrilled to announce that my long-threatened "Satanic YA" novel will be published by Simon and Schuster next year. My favorite title on my list of possible ones so far is I SOLD MY SOUL FOR ROCKY ROAD.
Leon Harris was a gifted pool hooligan in 8th grade, but at 18 he's a slacker who spends all his time in a b-list ice cream place with a guy claims to be Satan (and serves as Jeeves to his Wooster). But when he learns that an old girlfriend is moving back from Europe, he realizes how far he's let himself go and begins to panic. It'll take the power of the dark lord to turn him around...
----
I'm sure there'll be a lot of fun promos for this, including a downloadable "soundtrack," and other fun stuff! True Norwegian Black Metal!!!!!!!!!
www.satanicya.com
Leon Harris was a gifted pool hooligan in 8th grade, but at 18 he's a slacker who spends all his time in a b-list ice cream place with a guy claims to be Satan (and serves as Jeeves to his Wooster). But when he learns that an old girlfriend is moving back from Europe, he realizes how far he's let himself go and begins to panic. It'll take the power of the dark lord to turn him around...
----
I'm sure there'll be a lot of fun promos for this, including a downloadable "soundtrack," and other fun stuff! True Norwegian Black Metal!!!!!!!!!
www.satanicya.com
SPARKS timeline
Here's a timeline for how SPARKS was written:
Feb, 2007: My first novel, How to Get Suspended and Influence People is released. It gets good reviews but does not turn up in many stores (establishing a pattern for me).
March, 2007: My publisher tells me that it's not selling well because it's a "boy" book, and boys old enough to read YA usually switch to adult genre books (over the next few years, this would become WAY more true). They suggest I write something for younger kids, and I start on the project that will eventually become Andrew North Blows Up the World.
June 2007: I decide that I like writing YA better than middle grade and want to do another one. After another trip to a book store that doesn't carry my book, I say, "While, all right, damn it, I'll write a GIRL book!" I joke to my agent that I'm going to write a book called Debbie Does Detention, then sit down one morning and write the first chapter all at once. It's to be based on The Old Curiosity Shop, in which a downy innocent is taken around the country meeting a series of grotesques while running away from a weird villain. I didn't plan to have Debbie be a lesbian at first, but as I was finishing off the first chapter I realized it was obvious.
Feb, 2007: My first novel, How to Get Suspended and Influence People is released. It gets good reviews but does not turn up in many stores (establishing a pattern for me).
March, 2007: My publisher tells me that it's not selling well because it's a "boy" book, and boys old enough to read YA usually switch to adult genre books (over the next few years, this would become WAY more true). They suggest I write something for younger kids, and I start on the project that will eventually become Andrew North Blows Up the World.
June 2007: I decide that I like writing YA better than middle grade and want to do another one. After another trip to a book store that doesn't carry my book, I say, "While, all right, damn it, I'll write a GIRL book!" I joke to my agent that I'm going to write a book called Debbie Does Detention, then sit down one morning and write the first chapter all at once. It's to be based on The Old Curiosity Shop, in which a downy innocent is taken around the country meeting a series of grotesques while running away from a weird villain. I didn't plan to have Debbie be a lesbian at first, but as I was finishing off the first chapter I realized it was obvious.
The Naked Trike Angel of Merle Hay Mall: The Talk of the Town!
Been a big week for the Naked Trike Angel of Merle Hay Mall - the statue of a naked angel on a trike that used to grave the main walkway of the mall in Des Moines. On Monday Sparks, the novel I wrote under the name SJ Adams that features the statue, got a Stonewall Honor from the ALA. The statue is referred to in the book as "St. Merle the Naked."
The next day an issue of DSM magazine was published carrying new article on it:
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE NAKED TRIKE ANGEL?
It's a big hit, already racking up some 3k+ shares on Facebook and being featured on radio shows! I feel as though the angel itself has rode over my head on his tricycle of fire.
Here are some collected photos - I'm always looking for more shots of the mall from the 80s/90s with or without the statue:
The next day an issue of DSM magazine was published carrying new article on it:
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE NAKED TRIKE ANGEL?
It's a big hit, already racking up some 3k+ shares on Facebook and being featured on radio shows! I feel as though the angel itself has rode over my head on his tricycle of fire.
Here are some collected photos - I'm always looking for more shots of the mall from the 80s/90s with or without the statue:
(above two courtesy of Mark Jacobsen)
Stonewall Honor for SPARKS!
I was thrilled about the Rainbow List all morning. Then I had some oatmeal, then I was sitting there in the bathroom when my phone started going nuts. This sort of thing ALWAYS happens when you're in the bathroom, right?
SPARKS is also a Stonewall Honor book. We can put a nifty seal on the cover! I am SO PROUD of this book.
SPARKS is also a Stonewall Honor book. We can put a nifty seal on the cover! I am SO PROUD of this book.
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