Well, it's not actually "out" till April 11, but I just realized they're already doing advance orders of King Dork on Amazon. It has a sales rank (somewhere in the gazillions, one being the highest) so I suppose that means at least one person must have ordered it. Anyway, here's the link, in case anyone else wants to join the club.
By the way, the latest mini-update: I just reviewed, corrected, and turned in what I believe is the final, final, totally final version of the King Dork text. There's nothing more I can do in that regard, which feels a bit weird.
It appears that there will be an audio book concurrent with the publication, and that it may include music of some kind in some form. (Apparently there are many books for which they don't do that, so it's very good news that they're going for it with this one.) More on that later.
I am working on another novel now; and when I say "working," I mean that in the broadest, most expansive and generous sense of the term. In fact, a lot of it involves staring off into space with a drink in my hand, running through the characters in my head and trying to work out how to render what has now become an extremely complicated scenario into a coherent narrative. I know the real way to do that is to start typing, and I have certainly done quite a bit of that. But I find staring off into space so much more familiar. That's how I did the last one, anyway.
Finally, I may be doing an... appearance of some kind in New York towards the end of October. I think it's technically a "reading," but in my case it'll probably mean playing songs, too. More on this as it develops.
Posted by Dr. Frank at September 15, 2005 06:49 PM | TrackBackWill you be doing the reading for the audio book?
Posted by: Amy at September 15, 2005 09:01 PMThat was going to be my question as well. It only seems natural, well yourself or James Earl Jones.
Posted by: Zaphod at September 15, 2005 09:22 PMI wish James Earl Jones would read me bedtime stories...I don't think I'd ever have a problem falling asleep again.
Posted by: Amy at September 15, 2005 10:35 PMRead this in a to yourself James Earl Jones voice :
"Tennis is kind of a riot. You're supposed to hit the ball with the racket so that it lands in the space on the other side of the net and bounces. Then you hit it back if it somehow manages to get hit back in your direction in such a way that it lands and bounces in the space between the white lines on your side of the net.
"No one is very good at this. But I have as much chance of performing this operation as a jar of wet gravel would have of calculating pi to a hundred places.
"Sam Hellerman is the same way.
"So here's our Tennis technique. We hit the ball as hard as we can so it flies over the fence and out into the bushes outside the tennis area. Then we spend the rest of the period 'looking for the ball.'
"One day we were goofing off, holding the tennis rackets like guitars and practicing duckwalks and windmills and scissor jumps. I suck at this also, of course, but Sam Hellerman is surprisingly good.
"The PE teacher in charge of tennis-related activities is named Ms. Rimbaud, which is pronounced Miz Rambo. She looks a little like a frog. If she were actually a frog, she would be highly prized as a source of arrow poison by the natives of South America because of her rich red color.
"She noticed our arena-rock tennis-racket antics and ran over to confront us. I don't think I have ever seen a human face turn quite that vibrant a shade of red.
" 'How would you like it,' she said, 'if we all came out here and started playing tennis with guitars?'
"New band name: Tennis with Guitars"
then giggle.
no longer a lurker of this blog I decided to comment and join the "club"...reserved a copy of king dork on amazon.com. thanks for the link!
Posted by: Catherine at September 16, 2005 08:40 PMhey, thanks a lot catherine!
Posted by: Dr. Frank at September 16, 2005 08:45 PMRE: working on your new novel.
Just remember the wise words of Wernher von Braun: "Basic research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing."
Good luck with the research!
Posted by: Nick at September 19, 2005 12:43 AMCome to L.A. and do a reading! Or play some song. Or whatever! I went to Spaceland two nights ago and that was the last time I saw MTX play. Come on back, Frank! Where else should you stare into space then a place called Spaceland?
Posted by: Jonathan London at September 21, 2005 04:27 PMHey Frank - It's been a while. Hope I'll be in the city when you swing by.
Posted by: Bill at September 26, 2005 01:56 AM