My Trip with Doctor Who, and How a Small Child was Maimed at the Book Blogger Social

Happy Monday y'all.


How about some Thing 1 and Thing 1!

Thing 1:
Doctor Who visited me in my sleep last night. For those of you who don't know, Doctor Who is a time-travelling man/alien who saves the world a lot. 

Dr. Who and Rose. They made me cry a lot.

Last night, I dreamed I got to go on one of his exciting adventures.  Where would we end up? Ancient Rome? Shakespearean London? Or... a thousand years into the future? 


No. He took me to 1989 to see the filming of that Patrick Swayze classic Roadhouse. You know, the one where Swayze plays a tough bouncer hired to straighten out a dirty bar? 

It's his way... or the highway.

Yeah, I wasn't familiar with this movie either. I have no idea where it was hiding out in my sub conscience.


Before you ask, no, I didn't get to see Mr. Swayze utter his most famous lines:


"Pain don't hurt."


and


"Nobody ever wins a fight."


and finally,


"My way... or the highway."


I asked the Doctor what we were doing here, and he looked at me like, "Duh, it's your dream. Isn't that a question for your therapist?"


I'm inclined to agree with him. 

Nobody ever "wins" a fight! Except the last guy standing...

Thing 1:
We went to the Utah Bool Blogger Social Saturday night. Utah is home to a staggering amount of book bloggers, and twice a year they get together to party with the local authors.


And when I say party, I mean party. Want proof? Check out this candid pic:

Authors Matt Kirby, Bree Despain, and myself.
Photo taken by Heather Gardner Photography. 

This picture popped up on the internet after the party. I love it. Bree and I look thoroughly unimpressed, and Matt looks a little disgusted. 


I'm here to tell you, that was not representative of the evening! Heather has promised to give us a little more notice before she snaps a candid picture next time.


Overheard at the party:


-Emily Wing Smith and I, taking turns to see who could cough up a lung first. (I won)


-Bree and Emily, having a discussion that involved the phrases, "Who did you fork that one time?" 
It's not like it sounds. They have both had accidents where they nearly impaled a bystander with a fork. 


-Matt Kirby said afterward that the "Who did you fork" conversation would make my blog. He claims his blog-worthy-statements-detection-skills are running at about 98%.


-During the book swap, Chersti Nieveen trampled a small child to get her hands on Emily Wing Smith's ARC of BACK WHEN YOU WERE EASIER TO LOVE.


-She later swore the child was really the devil's spawn, and deserved to be trampled. 
Here's a picture of the unfortunate demon child:

Don't be fooled by her angelic disguise.

Here's a pic that better captures the spirit of the event.

Top: Matt Kirby, Bree Despain
Bottom: Chersti Nieveen, Emily Wing Smith, Leisha Maw

Because nothing screams "Party!" like Bree Despain wearing Princess Leia Buns made out of lightbulbs. 


So, what did y'all do over the weekend? Were you at the social? (If so, give a holla in the comments). Did you see any good movies? Did you trample any small children?

In Which I'm on Goodreads! And Matt Kirby's Book Launch

 Hey y'all. It's time for:

Thing #1 and Thing #1!

Thing #1:

Yesterday, someone tweeted to me that I'm on Goodreads! Click here to see.

Here's my attempt to cut and paste the entry:

The Ever'neath

by
Brodi Ashton

my rating:

add to my books

read currently-reading to-read

Added to my books! add my review

The Ever'neath

by Brodi Ashton

The Ever'neath 5.00  ·  rating details  ·  1 rating  ·  1 review

"The first book in the deal, The Ever'neath, is partially based on the Greek myth of Persephone: a 17-year-old who's been banished to the underworld escapes to her former earthly existence with her family and boyfriend. The catch is that she only has six months in the real world before being sent back to Hades, this time forever. Book one is tentatively scheduled for ...more "The first book in the deal, The Ever'neath, is partially based on the Greek myth of Persephone: a 17-year-old who's been banished to the underworld escapes to her former earthly existence with her family and boyfriend. The catch is that she only has six months in the real world before being sent back to Hades, this time forever. Book one is tentatively scheduled for winter 2012." (less)

Published 2012 by Harper Collins / Balzer + Bray 

I do have to say, that cover is creepily like the one I came up with. I might have to sue. 

And yes, I am averaging a 5 star rating. My friend Valynne, who has indeed read the entire thing, posted her review. 

I feel privileged that she gave me 5 stars. She's very tough. She's our critique group (The SIX) bouncer, in charge of event security. (In the event that we actually have an event where security is a problem. Like maybe in an alley known for drug deals.)

Anywho, I had to share the listing, because it's one of those little milestones. The ones where you tell yourself, "It'll never happen, will it? Could I ever write something that would end up on Goodreads?"

Now, for all I know, my mom posted it. But still...

Thing #1

I went to Matt Kirby's book launch for The Clockwork Three at the King's English. 

He did such a good job speaking to the large crowd. He was totally at ease, despite a vocal heckler who kept shouting stuff about a "sequel".

Okay, it was me.

Anyway, Matt talked about how he doesn't really outline before he writes his books. He said, where other writers have a Google Map, with the directions clearly marked, he's going off directions he got from a gas station, from a vagrant, who may or may not have been tipsy. (Okay, so I'm paraphrasing). 

Afterward, we went for dessert at The Dodo, and Jessica Day George called me a "quiet person." Yeah, the rest of the table looked at her like she was the lone participant at the crazy parade.

I also learned what a "pee-smock" is. And I discovered there's nothing funnier than Matt Kirby standing up in a crowded restaurant, demonstrating how a pee-smock would work. 

So, how was all y'all's weekend? Are you going to go to Goodreads and mark my book as "to be read"?

In Which I Answer the Burning Questions about My Book Deal

Hey y'all. 

Okay, so I have no idea how to follow up a post like Monday's, except to say thank you again to all of you for being BFOB's. (Bestest Friends of the Blog). 

Maybe it would be best to answer some of the more frequent questions I've been getting about this whole publication thingee. 

When will the first book come out?

It's slated for Winter 2012, which means anytime from January to March 2012. 

Isn't that, like, a frakkin' long time?

I know 15 months seems really long, but it's actually pretty fast for the publishing world. My editor has even hinted that they are extending a couple of my deadlines so I can make it in time.

Who's your editor? 

Her name's Kristin Daly, and she's with Balzer and Bray. She's the one who read the manuscript, and got the ball rolling. We already get along great. We both love Diet Coke. We both love soup. We could talk or not talk all day long.

Do you get to design your cover?

Of course. Right now, Sam's on the cover, wearing biker shorts, no shirt, and a cape. 

Just kidding. Fortunately for everyone, I will not be designing the cover. Authors rarely have any say about the cover. 

Is there going to be more than one book?

Yes. It's a trilogy.

What's up with everything being a trilogy these days? 

I don't know. One more would make it a saga, and I don't want a saga. One less would be a companion, and I don't want a companion.*

*The above statement doesn't make sense. Don't waste time on it.

How come Jeni got to read the entire first chapter?
 

Because Jeni was in my workshop group at WIFYR last summer. Everyone there was forced to read the first 20 pages. 

Are you going to get a "real" website now?

What? This isn't a real website? Ha ha. Yes, I have a ".com" website. You can check it out now. Just go to your browser and type in www.brodiashton.com.

*snicker snicker*

Do you really think you're being funny?

A little.

Because I think you wouldn't know funny if it bit you in the bum.

Hey, question-maker. That's not even a question.

Fine. You wouldn't know funny if it broke your arm?

You know what, question-maker? Just putting a "?" at the end of a sentence doesn't make it a question.

Are you sure about that.

Okay, now you're just leaving off the question mark. 

Prove it?

Argh. Can we be please just get back on track?

Okay. Where are you going to be tomorrow night at 6:00?

Thank you! Excellent question. I'm going to be at The King's English for Matt Kirby's book launch of THE CLOCKWORK THREE. Everyone is invited! Will I see you there, question-maker?

...

Question-maker?

I'll either be there, or I'll be toilet-papering your house while you're away?

Suck it, question-maker.  

Feel free to add to the questions in the comments. And anyone going to The King's English tomorrow night? Let me know so we can say 'hi'!