Avalon!

I was pretty bummed about the Andrew Karre news; he was the main reason I signed a two-book contract at Flux. It was announced just a couple of weeks after I signed my contract and I have to admit, I wondered if I were partially to blame. I imagined him waking up one morning and thinking of the work necessary to get my books to print; in my mind he drops his head in his hands and says, “That’s it, I’m out.”

Okay, so maybe it’s not all about me. Maybe it’s because he was offered a bigger job at a bigger house.

Anyway, today his successor was announced: Brian Farrey. My first reaction was, holy sh*t, have things really gone that far south since Roxy Music disbanded? Then I noted the spelling variation. I very quickly put my finely honed web-stalking skills to work and have decided, after just a few minutes of perusing, that I love him already. Here’s what I know: he’s a writer, he was the senior publicist at Flux, and he’s just returned from traveling the highlands of Scotland.

Look at all our common ground: I’m a writer, I worked in book marketing/publicity for years, and the Scottish highlands are one of my favorite places on earth! We’re like twins except he would be the way smarter, way funnier one. He’s probably cuter, too. Alright, alright maybe not twins but I love him like a smarter, funnier, cuter sibling already. I doubt he’s heard of me but I suspect once he gets hold of my manuscript he'll even start kicking my a** just like my real sibling did.

Speaking of getting his hands on my manuscript, after reading a few of Brian’s book reviews for Amazon.com and other sites, I’m a little scared. This guy is the very definition of perspicacious. He’s good in that seems-like-he-has-a-Masters-in-Literary-Criticism-but-also-watches-sitcoms way. He nailed “Mission to America” by Walter Kirn, reviewed it exactly as I would have. (You know, if I could write a really good book review, which I can’t.) Anyone who knows me knows I’m a sucker for academic types who also have their arms elbow deep in the cultural zeitgeist—but it’s one thing to admire that and it’s another to have it unleashed on your manuscript.

This may turn out to be painful but I hope the end result will be much greater for it. Can’t wait to get started.