Okay, so I guess this is turning into the first ever "annual" blog, but in my defense I became a dad a year ago (son, Griffin, 13 months old), and for much of that time I had a runny nose and/or ear infection (he and I are linked, like ET and Elliot)...but anyway, my first middle grade novel is now available! It's called THE DETENTION CLUB, and rather than mangle an attempt at describing it I'll simply paste the official description here:
Detention:
The best worst thing to happen to Peter Lee?
Peter and his best friend, Drew, used to be so cool (or, at least, not total outcasts) in elementary school. But now they're in middle school, where their extensive mica collection and prowess at kickball have earned them a new label: losers. Then Peter attracts the unwanted attention of the school bullies, and his plan to become popular through his older sister, the practically perfect Sunny, backfires.
Things go from bad to worse when Peter gets detention. But what at first seems to spell his utter doom turns into an unlikely opportunity for making friends and influencing people. . . .
Next week I'll be starting a blog tour--for more info on that feel free to visit www.daveyoo.com
Meanwhile, I also have a short story, "A Fistful of Feathers" that is now available as an e-book. Originally published in the anthology GUYS READ: FUNNY BUSINESS, it's the story of a homicidal turkey (I know, ANOTHER story by you about a homicidal turkey? What can I say, I'm a one trick pony)...it's available for 99 cents at all online merchants (amazon, B&N, etc). In my humble opinion I feel it's worth a buck fifty, so it's a pretty sweet deal if you ask me...
Today is the pub day for volume 1 of the Guys Read collection, FUNNY BUSINESS. I have a story in there, "A Fistful of Feathers," about a homicidal turkey, and the collection includes funny stories by these amazing authors: Mac Barnett, Eoin Colfer, Christopher Paul Curtis, Kate DiCamillo & Jon Scieszka, Paul Feig, Jack Gantos, Jeff Kinney, David Lubar, and Adam Rex, who also did the ridiculously cool cover/illustrations. (oh, I just realized I listed the authors in the previous post--sorry to be repetitive, in my defense I haven't blogged in months...)
The goal of GUYS READ is to get more boys to read, and this is just the first of a series of anthologies, each with their own theme. Check out the web site: www.guysread.com. The book is available today wherever books are sold!
In other news, or to explain why I've been in cognito this summer blogging, here are my reasons:
1.) We had our first child--Griffin Young Yoo, born May 14, 2010. Since he's not old enough for us to leave him for extended periods of time in the little crawl space under the stairs, I've spent all of my free time this summer hanging out with the little guy, and when I'm not with him I just drift around the house in a sleep-deprived stupor.
2.) This summer I finished my forthcoming book, THE DETENTION CLUB (Spring 2011, Balzer+Bray), my first middle grade novel. I'll have more info in the coming months.
3.) I just finished the last of my essays for my first book for adults, a collection of essays coming out I don't know when via Grand Central. I'll be asking you for help picking a title for the book this fall...
4.) Finally, my desktop is on its last legs, got it in 2001, and it's become a bit of a pain to try to blog--notice I couldn't even put a clickable link for the guysread web site in this entry...sigh.
So anyway, I should be blogging a bit more frequently this fall, dad-er, dear readers...
The book trailer for the anthology Guys Read: Funny Business (Walden Pond Press, Fall 2010), is online now. I have a story in this collection, and the trailer is all the authors telling the same joke. The video they had me turn in was pretty embarrassing--apparently I'm babblingly shy even in the privacy of my own home, but luckily they spliced bits and pieces so you can't quite tell that I'm mortified. The anthology is great--I've gotten a chance to read it--funny stories by Paul Fieg, Adam Rex, Mac Barnett, Jack Gantos, Christopher Paul Curtis, Kate DiCamillo, David Lubar, Jon Scieszka, Eoin Colfer, Jeff Kinney, and me. (And yes, I'm well aware of (considering the roster of talent) the answer to the question: Which one of these don't belong? Answer: Uh, I d'no...Scieszka?)) *
*Also, in case you're curious, yes, you can use a parenthesis within a parenthesis. Is good English.
I'm on the advisory board of a great new journal and the deadline for the annual literary contest is in less than 2 weeks! Here's the info from Lee Hope, editor of Solstice: ---------------------------- Solstice: A Magazine of Diverse Voices reminds you of the deadline of March 25, 2010, for our first annual literary contest....we're inviting previous contributors, faculty, and others to submit. Judge for fiction/nonfiction is Andre Dubus III, author of such books as House of Sand and Fog. $1,000 prize. Judge for poetry is Terrance Hayes, author of collections such as Hip Logic. $500 prize. Check out contest guidelines at www. solsticelitmag.org
Also, check out our inaugural issue...Our new Spring issue will be posted March 20th and features terrific poets such as Ted Deppe, Betsy Sholl, Kathleen Aguero, Laban Hill, Helena Minton and more.
In fiction, we'll feature Grace Talusan, with a moving story of child abuse, and Helen Elaine Lee, who writes from the point of view of a woman in prison, as well as many other top pieces, some TBA.
In nonfiction, we are including a lyrical essay by a prisoner on death row, and a piece by Marie Myung-OK Lee about arriving in North Korea, and other meaningful essays and memoir excerpts.
Solstice lit mag is an eclectic journal of diverse voices, some much published, some from the margins. We have a mission of outreach. Thanks to our editors...Pablo Medina for nonfiction, Betsy Sholl and John Pijewski for poetry, and William Betcher for photography. Also, thanks to our super advisory board. (See under Staff on our Website.)
It's been a hectic few months, so I've had to curtail my blogging as of late, and as a result I'm posting this news almost a week late--this past Tuesday the paperback version of my novel, Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before (Hyperion) was released! Pitifully, there's still time for you to be the first person to own a copy of it, so if you're interested, you can purchase through my web site, http://daveyoo.com/html/bookstore/stop_me.html The link is for the hardcover version, but if you click on the link for paperback at the various sites you can purchase the far more affordable softcover. Or you can visit your local bookstore, futiley search for it, then ask an employee to order it for you and you can purchase it that way, a few days later.
Now, if you're one of the dozens who already own the hardcover version, you should know that the paperback is a little different from the original--some words and tenses have been changed, some typos have been corrected, making the reading experience that much less bumpy. If you haven't read the novel yet, I highly recommend it, and I'm not just saying that because I wrote it. I'm also saying that because, my personal connection to it aside, I'm also...a fan.
Some other writing news: This fall I have a short story in an anthology called GUYS READ: FUNNY BUSINESS, more on that later. And I'm currently working on my first book for adults, a collection of essays tentatively titled THE CHOKE ARTIST (Grand Central), pub date forthcoming. In non-writing news, my wife and I are going to be having our first kid this spring. And even crazier, two weeks ago I finally won my first BSSC indoor soccer championship, with my beloved new team, Urine Trouble. The reason we actually won the thing is because I'm the only player old enough to have actually experienced urine trouble, which is kinda like how the drummer for the Beach Boys was the only one who surfed...
Anyway, that's my update for now. I'll hopefully blog more in the coming weeks, as of late every time I think of blogging I instead remember that I'm having a kid this spring and just kinda sit here in a daze, occasionally muttering to myself, "Holy crap."
