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The word for the day is . . . panic. Why? No idea.
Maybe it’s that whole artistic temperament thing. I try never to use the excuse that I’m an artist to explain away bad behavior or weird behavior, but sometimes you wonder. I have friends that are not arty, and they seem calmer. They seem to glide through a world I have never known where possibilities are more limited and their imagination is a quieter thing. It looks peaceful, this other way of going through the world, but it is not my way.
Jon thinks that the funeral on Monday raised issues about my grandmother, and heck, my mother. Death does that, if you haven’t worked your issues. One death reminds you of others.
Maybe that is it, or maybe some piece of a book, story, or character, is pushing too hard below the surface. Sometimes that can make me jumpy. I walk through the day with that nagging sensation that I’ve forgotten something, but it’s right there on the tip of m mind, but I can’t think what it is, so frustrating.
In USA Today, the paper, THE HARLEQUIN is number five over every book in the country. Most people don’t realize that the USA Today list is sales only. Not just of the new hardbacks, but of every book in the entire country. New, old, hardback, paperback, adults, children’s, Fiction, non-fiction; it all goes into this list. Selling fifth over all is pretty damn good. Of course, MICAH was number one and that would have been nice. What, you expected me to lie or be humble and say five is good, that’s great. It’s five. I want number one. All of us do, that are honest.
But there are some heavy hitters on the list, many of them Oprah picks with either this book or the last one they wrote. Some of them had movie tie-ins with earlier books. I think one book that I’m ahead of actually has a movie coming out soon that ties in.
We’ll find out in a few days how the New York Times list shapes up. Keep your fingers crossed, I am. Frankly, there are such huge books on this list that number two would be terrific. But, yeah, I want number one.
Books get on the bestseller lists in many different ways, including being chosen for the Oprah Book, having a film or tv adaptation made, an author appearance on the Today Show, The Late Show With David Letterman or Conan O?Brian. For better or worse, none of those things have happened to me or my books.
So how did it happen? If I could truly answer that, I could sell the secret to publishers and make a mint. Part is that I’m writing the books I want to read, which means I’m having a wonderful time and I think that shows on the page. But an even more important part is you guys reading this blog right now. Even with all the commercials and interviews I’m doing, what we hear most in line at a signing is that a co-worker, a family member, a friend, a bookseller, recommended my books to you. More than that, you had someone you trusted say, “You have to read these books.” You guys tell me that once you read them, you’re hooked, too, and you become another one of the readers that say to people, “You have to read these books.”
So here’s a BIG thank you to all of you. We’ve done this together. More than almost any other writer on the list, it is my readers and their enthusiasm that has made the difference. Your energy and love of my characters has helped me keep the faith, and keep working my butt off to get the books out there so you can read them. I really am writing as fast as I can, so we can share more adventures, and together can find out what happens next.