I Hear Voices!

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

A few weeks ago a box appeared on my doorstep. I opened it and, much to my surprise, inside were 15 copies of my new book, I Hear Voices: A Memoir of Life, Death, and the Radio, all wrapped in plastic. Mind you, I knew the book was coming out, but the official date that I had been given by UW Press was September 24, so I wasn't quite prepared for the shock.

All the books are still sitting in the box in my front hall, still wrapped in plastic, except for one which went to my son when he was home for a visit last weekend. The books, I am told, are already available on Amazon, which bothers me a little bit. I've been instructed not to talk about it in public until bookstores have had a chance to order copies. The lag time is about three weeks -hence the Sept. 24 launch date. So I find myself in a strange sort of time warp. It's a little like being about to deliver a baby - the waters have broken, but the labor pains haven't started yet.

Meanwhile, I've had a nightmare. I show up at Borders in Madison on the day of the launch - Oct. 4 - and I open up a box, expecting that there will be books inside, but instead, what I find is sandwiches - seven submarine sandwiches, one for each chapter, all neatly wrapped and separated by waxy green florist's paper. Did I say 'launch,' or was that 'lunch'?

Anyway, I hope to see you there. Here are the dates:

Border's West in Madison: Thursday, Oct. 4 at 7:00pm
Overture Center, Madison, noon on Sunday, Oct. 14 (as part of the Wisconsin Book Festival)
Harry Schwartz' Bookstore at Shorewood, Tuesday, Oct. 16, at 7:00pm in Milwaukee.