Warning: Some Violence and Much Strong Language.HE WROTE: Day, uh, Six
I'm sitting in the back of Jenny's session on community at the New England RWA conference. She just mentioned Seinfeld. Hehe. I've corrupted her. The parking garage episode. We did the keynote this morning. It went all right. We're working on it.
You know if you read DLD backwards, well, I won't give it away.
The neatest thing so far on the tour has been this machine on the 7th floor of the hotel where you push this button and put this packet in and it makes hot chocolate. I am so addicted I think I broke it the first day making so many cups but they fixed it. Thank you SMP. I went up in the middle of Jenny's talk and made two cups and brought them back down. I got the hot chocolate jones. Also the machine is cool. You punch this button and the front slides open and you put this packet in, and it slides shut, then you push another and various lights blink and then it tells you the hot chocolate is done. Basically a gadget.
We're doing YEX and Violence next. Then we're done except for the conference booksigning later. Then we leave here in the morning and fly to Cincinatti in the morning. Oh boy. We do Cincy, Dayton, Louisville, Lexington, etc, next week. But I don't want to think that far ahead.
Jenny and I have been talking about the 'bubble.' The DLD bubble. We figure it's either going to get bigger or burst and we have no clue.
OK. Now all the talks are done and just the booksigning later. Cathryn Perry, who is the conference coordinator who is doing a great job is also looking a little frazzled. Who can blame her with people like Jenny and me, her and I, as speakers. Got to get after us with a stick. Also, Cathryn was the one who saw me coming out of Jenny's room on Thursday at 11:30 with the Do Not Disturb sign on the door. She knew she was in for trouble right then.
OK, the booksigning went well. Jenny and I, her and I, we sat there and signed books for a lot of very nice people. Then we signed all the stock like demons. Our 'posse' helped by handing us books and ripping open cases and putting stickers on the books. Jenny foolishly named them in her blog so now the West Coast Romantic Adventure posse can go after them. Wait, there is no other Romantic Adventure posse. Whew.
We were doing this even while the hotel staff was breaking down for like a party. We got in a frenzy signing stock. I started humming the theme to Patton. Then I started murmuring the song "We're on a road to nowhere."
It was a very well run conference. Very professional. Kudos to all involved.
Tomorrow Cincinatti. Oh boy.
Thanks to all the support everyone has given. The comments on the blog have been a blast. The spreading of the word has been great. We don't know where the tipping point is. But there is the tipping point out there.
31 Comments:
Just got my copy of DLD!!! That first chapter is a "grabber"...gets your interest with a bang.
Don't wear out your signing fingers...keep up the good blogs.
IS DLD in PX's???? My daughter in Korea needs this book and cant find it..Bob I thought you'd be all over this................
What tipping point? Are we talking author meltdown or what?
lbooth
We are still waiting for the 'skirt' picture.
the theme to Patton, huh? At least you aren't whistling the theme to Bridge over River Kwai (sp?)
Uh, Bob. You might get a better reception in Cincy if you spell it right (two "n's" and one "t").
Go see the flying pigs while you are there. Really.
Being female, I missed the 'gadget gene' but that hot chocoloate gizmo sounds like it might be worth learning to use. Never have been a coffee/tea drinker - but Hot Chocolate does it for me every time.
Don't worry about the bubble bursting. Just try and enjoy the ride. And, when things get so chaotic that you can't remember what's her name, you'll have the blog for reference.
FYI - We cherrybombs are a new group, but we're here for the long haul.
Glad the conference went well.
Hey. Upon my third (fourth?) reread of DLD (I got sucked in, ok?) a marketing idea struck me. This is probably more up Jenny's alley, and I was thinking of sending an email, but since the comments section is a better forum for discussion by the fans, I might as well post it here and see what they think.
There's a lot of music mentioned by name in the book. A lot of it is plot-significant. But me, I don't know any of those artists. (Some of the songs I know, but I know, like, the Ella Fitzgerald version.) Not to say I dislike the type of music-- quite the opposite. I'd probably really like it. I've just never heard of it before.
Nifty thing about iPods is that the iTunes music store (which is largely a marketing ploy to sell more of the precious little gizmos) has a whole feature where you can create and upload your own iMixes and Playlists. I dunno what it takes to get a Celebrity Playlist on there, but that'd be sort of neat. (Current celebrities whose playlists are featured include the women's snowboard halfpipe gold medalist from Torino, and, like, Kiefer Sutherland. (I'm not kidding.)
It's not like you'd make commission on selling the songs (I mean, if you're interested, they do offer affiliate programs, so if you linked to it from your website-- but that's sort of not the point, as I believe your primary focus is on selling books...), but... it seems like at the least, an iMix of "The Soundtrack To Don't Look Down" would be a neat cross-promo (and anybody can make an iMix of anything). I mean, I could just go and find all the songs on my own (and I will, if you don't care; and if I don't, some other Cherry Bomb probably will), but it would be neat if it were something Officially Sanctioned.
'FI were you, I might consider dropping a line to the corporate-types behind the iTunes Music Store and asking them what they think of the idea. (Or, you know, having your publicist do it. I dunno how these things work-- I still haven't gotten past the "finish your book" stage of the Business.)
Anyhoo. Anybody else? Whatchoo think? Waste of time or neat idea?
(irrelevant to above comment; I have the attention span of a gnat.)
OMG that machine: is it by Flavia?
They have one in the US Airways Club where I work occasionally (it's not just a cute handle, this blogger ID: it's actually what I do).
When the thing flashes "EMPTY BIN" it's not because the bin's empty, it's because you have to empty the bin. The little packets? Have to go somewhere when they're empty.
If I had a dime for every time I've peeled open the front of that machine and dumped out the bin full of packets, to the total astonishment of some poor traveler who fears they've just broken the machine... Well, I'd have a bunch of dimes.
It's kind of cool but, tragically, i don't actually like the hot chocolate it makes. It's sort of... well, you have to add cream and sugar to it, which is sort of... not... hot chocolate.
But, I mean, the fact that it has a user interface with a touchscreen and an automated opening door is pretty damn neat.
Can you really tip a bubble?
(-: If you get this thing to tip (which should happen any day now if it hasn't already -- just look at how the comments have increased!) maybe you can buy a hot chocolate machine for your den.
lbooth -- "The Tipping Point" is a fun book by Malcolm Gladwell (I hope that's his name) that describes how trends spread. You tell two people, and they tell two people, and then suddenly . . . either everyone in the world knows, or the four people who heard about it last go "Eh? So what?" and the trend fizzles out. He's got a new book out too called Blink. The author's photo is deliberately there to mess with the reader's mind, IMO. Bit of a smartass, our Mr. Gladwell is. If that's his name. I'm pretty sure the initials MG are right though. Worth a trip to the library anyway (-:.
airportbartender: we've talked about the music thing over on JSF. Jenny is pretty much the reason I have both Dusty Springfield and Led Zeppelin in my CD library. I'm easily influenced but I'm in good company between the cherries and cherrybombs. :-)
ooops JCF not JSF! Getting late. Brain fried. ;-P
As for nudging that tipping point, I've done my part and blogged about it... anyone else?
Just finished DLD...total awsome!!! I kept getting interupted by "honey do..." Now have to re-read to see what I missed.
Hoping to make it to the Phoenix signing. Are CBs supposed to start chanting "MOOT! MOOT! MOOT!" at first sighting of one or both authors?
DLD backwards is still DLD, have you noticed?
Of course, Down Look Don't just doesn't have the same ring to it, but...
Have I mentioned yet that I love the book?
Oh, and from pure curiosity, does anyone know what a "kudo" actually looks like? They seem to get passed out with astounding abandon. Rather like Moot Points, in fact. :)
Toni McGee Causey asked:
As for nudging that tipping point, I've done my part and blogged about it... anyone else?
Blogged about it? You bet your boots! I actually did two days worth -- the day I had to drive all over town trying to find the book (I thought I was going to have to take someone in Barnes and Noble hostage for a minute there because I was desperate by the time I got to the store. Must. Have. Book.)
Would you believe that the ladies at the information desk hadn't heard about DLD? How is that possible?? Let me tell you, they've heard now. So has the lady who checked me out (I even flashed her the camo cover underneath).
Great book.
Now I just have to get over not being able to go to the RWA conference this past weekend -- or the signing. *sigh* Bob and Jenny were only 90 minutes away...
Camilavonswope,
It's not in my PX... at least not yet. But then, the only thing they get in a timely manner is Harry Potter.
Amazon, etc., do deliver to APO addresses, however. Thank goodness.
About buzz. I went to the local Chapters (chain bookstore north of the 49th parallel) to get my copy yesterday. I had to ask. All I could find to ask were guys -- so I kept it simple and asked for DLD by Jennifer Crusie. Sorry Bob, but they're guys and the store is full of "buy a book for your Mom," "buy gardening items for your Mom," and "buy pastel baby items for a soon-to-be-Mom" and the guys looked permanently uncomfortable, so I kept it simple. One name.
And guess what. Both guys had heard of Jennifer Crusie. One said "Oh, that's her new one." The other one said, "We have it; I know we do." I'm thinking that these guys beat the hell out of most bookstore guys in the U.S. (I don't mean to be inflammatory; my relatives are American guys and I've married a couple myself. But as a rule, they aren't usually comfortable with fiction involving shoes.)
And then the other one found it in the back because they hadn't put it out yet.
They hadn't put it out yet. Seriously.
I said, "Thank you very much. I so appreciate all the work you did" because this is Canada, after all, and then I said, "But you really want to put these out on your Mom table because they'll sell out fast."
So northwestern Ontario is slightly behind the times, as usual (we make up for it in wilderness scenery), but we're catching up.
And there is some serious buzz about this book. Even the guys know. Up here, anyway.
Two degrees of separation...
Was it just last Saturday Bob blogged about a boat sinking near his house while trying to pack for the tour?
On Wednesday, I worked a flight from Savannah to Newark (yes, the morning of the freak snowstorm), and spent a good bit of time trying to calm an agitated flyer. She had boarded on crutches and was having a tough time with the turbulence. When I made an analogy between air currents and water currents she yelped and winced and begged me not to talk about water. See, she'd been on a boat on Saturday and it sank...
Yep, one of the passengers from the capsized yacht. And she told me about dangling from the railing with one hand while maintaining her grip on her beer with the other.
So, being a good cherry bomb, I told everyone in her party about how I knew about the sinking and that they'd have to read DLD.
All doing our part...
Kimberly
Bob, don't worry about the bubble. We cherrybombs are obsessive types (in case you hadn't figured that out yet) - enough hot air to keep it going for awhile yet. Just enjoy the ride.
Also - don't know who I pat on the back for this, but I found some of your books on Audible.com - yeah I download books to my iPod as well as read the hard variety. Helps pass the time while doing boring mindless stuff. Anyway, that was a happy find. Howsomever, DLD wasn't there. Bummer. I know there's an audio version out there. And, btw, how much say do the authors have in who records their books? Always wondered. I've listened to so terrific ones and some not so terrific.
Jenny, if you read this, didn't find any of yours. Talk to someone about that, okay?
Airport bartender:
I love the itunes idea, I also go buy music Jenny references in her books.....I guess I am suggestiable, I find myself looking at Wonder Woman with new eyes these days.
That was the only show my Dad would watch with me back in the day.
Hmm, I think I am starting to get that.
And yes, I know about APO shipping but since the last thing I ordered for her took 3 months..I was hoping!
Camilla
Thank you Micki. I'm off to the library...
lbooth
Margarita Cherry- I haven't tried Audible.com yet- I get most of my audiobooks from the Denver Public Library- anyone in Colorado can get one of their cards and then off you go- most of the larger libraries have this option available to card holders- they also have netLibrary and eFlicks- very fun
Nikkie
Was there a bunny behind the cocoa machine? It may have been trying a sneak attack while your defenses were down.
No worries on the bubble. We got yer back.
Shoshana, there is no such thing as a kudo; this is one of the more common mistakes in English. Kudos is a singular word, from the Greek, meaning:
1 : fame and renown resulting from an act or achievement : PRESTIGE
2 : praise given for achievement
Isn't Kudo Moot's daughter?
I urgently need to know whether Wonderwear is actually something that really can be purchased by real people. I am wearing Wonder Woman underpants at this precise moment, but they aren't the same: they're just blue undies with a picture of Wonder Woman on them. I require little tiny blue shorts with stars on them!! Gah.
I had Wonderwear when I was a wee tot-- for my senior yearbook photo I supplied a picture of myself in them, aged about eighteen months. They were awesome, but not made in adult sizes.
I think DLD needs a "resources" page that points out where to find all the awesome things in the book. Man.
p.s. I've had "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" stuck in my head for about four days now.
Er, sorry, Talpiana, I forget you can't hear sarcasm when it's written down.
It's kind of like when I asked my postal worker how many stamps were needed to send someone my sympathies. Of course, it helps if your postwoman was a previous babysitter. ;)
(Is it just me or are the little squiggly letters starting to proliferate? I swear there's been more of them lately...)
GlamorGeek, we haven't had a chance to name the mootants yet, have we? I was thinking there should be some kind of contest....
Shoshana, they ARE proliferating; I think they are breeding. And they are starting to make sense as words...in Klingon...
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