I can’t believe it’s October. Oh. My. God!!!!! This of course makes me feel like I’ve become one of those old people that I never understood as a kid who would walk around saying how is it October? How is that possible? It seems like just yesterday I was dying easter eggs!!! Oh wait, grownups I knew never said those things…. I guess that’s just my weird little version of HOW IS IT OCTOBER?! Let me clarify though, this is actually a really really good thing. I’ve been waiting for October ALL. YEAR. LONG.
I can hardly believe that the NYC release for Roving Pack is next week! I’ve been planning this for months, and to think that at this point its only days away? Dream come true. If you’re in the NYC area I hope you’ll come out to Bluestockings on Friday October 12th at 7pm It’s going to be a really fun event – I’ll read a little bit and it will be a really fun way to celebrate the release of the novel. Please please please come out, the event wont be the same without you!
Now that it’s October the PoMo Freakshow Europe Tour that I’m embarking on with Kestryl Cael is feeling incredibly real and outrageously close! We’ll be hitting 5 cities in 10 days (November 1- 11) – Berlin, Paris, London, Utrecht, and Amsterdam. More details about each city’s events coming very very soon. I’ve never been to Europe before, I’ve actually never even left North America so this is pretty huge for me, and I’m thrilled that I’m going to have the opportunity to share Roving Pack with queers in all these amazing cities! I’ve been told that there are lots of great interesting potato chip flavors like American cheeseburger (which is actually vegetarian) and spaghetti ! My plan is to try as many weird chips as possible while on tour! I’m also working on a plan for regular blog updates and maybe even some vlogs while we’re in Europe! More on that soon : ) I’m also starting to plan my 2013 touring schedule – I’ll be in New Orleans reading and presenting at the 10th annual Saints & Sinners Literary Festival which I’m super excited about (more info coming soon) and am working on booking other readings and workshops across the US. If you’re school, community group, youth center etc. is interested in having me come please get in touch with me at sassafraslowrey@gmail.com to talk about ways to make something happen.
October marks the official release month for Roving Pack- The novel is now up on all the big online big box book retailers which is my least favorite way for people to buy BUT I also recognize that for folks who are geographically isolated or in communities without local queer/feminist bookstores and in that way I think online booksellers have made a tremendously positive impact in the lives of folks who desperately need access to queer literature.
Now that the pre-ordering is over (all pre-orders have been sent and yours should be arriving any day now if it hasn’t already) I will continue to be selling signed copies of Roving Pack directly from this website ::points at the sidebar:: If someone’s not going to purchase through a local independent feminist/queer bookstore (I love indie bookstores—supporting them is a HUGE part of my commitment as an author) then I’m asking folks to order directly through the site because it’s a way to ensure that 100% of your money goes to supporting an independent author (I receive very little via Amazon sales) and you’ll get a copy of the book sent directly to you, signed and dedicated to whoever you wish!
One of the best parts of my job and life is getting the opportunity to talk with folks who have read my work and in someway been impacted by it. I am beyond humbled by all of the incredible notes, comments, and private messages that I’ve gotten from readers who felt in someway touched or connected to Roving Pack. In the last few weeks I’ve received handwritten thank you letters, messages telling me that this novel was so close to home and so triggering that readers have had to give it time to slowly digest as they read in chunks, facebook wall posts from readers who stayed up all night to finish, learning that excerpts of it are being taught in at least one college class this fall, and the news I got yesterday that it’s hit the shelves of its first queer youth center with high recommendations from staff. As a writer it’s hard to get a better compliment than someone saying that the characters you created and the stories you wove have touched them, and I am overwhelmed and humbled by all the feedback I’ve gotten from readers about who their favorite characters are, who they have crushes on, and how this book is impacting them regardless of their past experience or connection to the themes I wrote about. For me, that kind of feedback is what tells me that I did my job well and that Roving Pack truly did become everything I’d hoped and dreamed it could be.
For now I’m keeping super busy getting ready for the release event, tour, and having amazing conversations with readers whenever I can about Roving Pack. I’m also working really hard on editing Leather Ever After the new BDSM fairy tale anthology that will be released from Ravenous Romance in early 2013. It was definitely some schedule tetris to take on editing another book last spring right as I was finishing Roving Pack and preparing for the release, butLeather Ever After was such a fun opportunity I couldn’t resist. Right now all the selections have been made and I’m working on getting edited pieces back to the writers for review, and the legendary Laura Antoniou has received rough working copies of all the stories is working on the anthology’s foreword! It’s an exciting time for me as an editor where for the first time I’m starting to see the anthology actually take shape, watching the pieces flow together and begin to feel like a real book!
p.s. back to Amazon – have you read Roving Pack already? If so I’d LOVE it if you would take a few minutes and write a quick reader review of the book and post it here. Those reviews make a huge difference for folks who don’t know my work or me and just stumble across the book, as well as factor into the mysterious formula that = amazon book rankings…