Release Day!

Today is a big day at my house. My husband, Matthew, has his first book as author AND illustrator out today, Trouble Gum. This book is beautiful and funny and sweet. It received a stellar review this past weekend in the San Francisco Chronicle. You can order it here, or harangue your local independent bookseller into carrying some copies (actually, it probably won't involve haranguing. This baby sells itself!). Today also marks the release of my novel, Get Well Soon, in paperback. So if you didn't have the dough to buy the hardcover (I mean, you really wanted to, but you couldn't afford it, so you checked it out from the library, which is still very awesome), you may now purchase the paperback. And, it has two special bonus features: a long interview with me AND the first chapter of my upcoming novel, Into the Wild Nerd Yonder, which doesn't even come out until September 29! Yowza!

On to more stuff. There is an interview with me up at derekerdman.com, all about The Tube Bar Deluxe CD, which I appeared on due to a weird cassette tape I made back in 1990 that wound up in the hands of some jokey indie record company guy at Teen Beat Records. If you go to this link, you can read all about how it happened, plus you can listen to the CD track. It's all very embarrassing, in a high school junior of 1990 way.

Speaking of listening, here is the latest episode (broken down into two 15-ish minute segments) of "The Neverending Commute." Enjoy!

Part 1

Part2

Neverending Commute Episode 2

Here's the second episode of my podcast, The Neverending Commute. I broke this one up into two parts, each about fifteen minutes, so that it's much more digestible. This episode I talk about all of the TV shows I'm watching these days, plus some other things I forget because I recorded it during my Friday commute home, and it's already Sunday. The brain leaks. Hope you like it!

Part 1

Part 2

The Neverending Commute Podcast--MP3

I realize now that I didn't post my first podcast as an MP3, so here is the new link to the MP3 version. Tomorrow I'll be posting the second episode, which I broke down into two more bite-sized episodes (the first is 44 minutes long, just so you know. I don't call it the Neverending Commute for nothing).

Proust Questionnaire Thursday! Today's Special Guest: Andrew Smith

Andrew Smith is a fellow Feiwel and Friends family member. He writes a book pretty much every time he poops (um, I guess that would mean he poops kind of infrequently, but I mean he writes A LOT). His first novel, Ghost Medicine, was named a BBYA of 2009, and his second novel, the intense in the path of falling objects, arrives in bookstores on 9/9/09. He also likes to discuss boys and books. A LOT. My daughter warmed up to him immediately, so he is most definitely a decent guy. Look for a million other novels by him in the next year or two. And check out his website and blog at ghostmedicine.com.

The following questions are based on James Lipton's questions from Inside the Actors Studio, which, in turn, are based on the Proust Questionnaire. One of the questions is about swearing, so please excuse our French.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present-- Andrew Smith

1. What is your favorite word?

Bloviation

2. What is your least favorite word?

Scrotum. If I had my way, the word would be eradicated from every English lexicon and replaced with "ballsack."

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?

Travel. Going places I've never been. Especially places where I don't speak the language.

4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?

Apostrophe misuse.

5. What sound or noise do you love?

Letting go of the mouth on a filled balloon.

6. What sound or noise do you hate?

When the pilot of the airplane I'm on says, "Holy shit! I fucked up!"

7. What is your favorite curse word?

I can't begin to tell you just how much I love the word "douchebag" Well, "fucking douchebag," actually. But neither one of those answers is actually a word, according to my spellcheck. Spellcheck isn't a word, for that matter, either. Douchebag spellcheck.

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

The guy who runs the body scanner machine at the airport.

9. What profession would you not like to do?

Undersea welder.

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

You again? I'm going to give you one more try to get it right.

PS -- If anyone else picked "douchebag" for #7, then I'll be pissed. It is MY favorite word.

Next Thursday's author: Yvonne Prinz!

My First Podcast!!!

If this worked, I present to you my very first podcast. It's called "The Neverending Commute" and will be recorded most weekdays as I drive home from work (hence the title). In it, I spew about pop culture and heaps of random things, much like my blog. I am trying to figure out the nicest way to post it, and I am really hoping to figure out how to get it up on itunes so people can subscribe and put it on their iPods and whatnot (help?). If you listen, please drop me a line as a comment here or at my email julie@juliehalpern.com. It is long, I know, as is my commute. Perhaps some of you want to listen on your long commutes? Will anyone listen??? Curiouser and Curiouser. Here it is!!!
http://www.sendspace.com/file/omhkpj

B.A.W.

I am now back at work and crying every day about missing Romy. I am also panicking a bit about when I am going to be able to type up the new book. Weekends? That could take many a weekend. And only during Romy's nap time, of course.

As for the blogging, I am going to experiment in the next week or so with a podcast. I figure, I have this severely long drive to and from work, so why not make the best of it? I ordered a digital voice recorder, so that I can attempt to podcast while I drive home. I also ordered a little lapel mic, so I will be hands-free and whatnot. The podcast will be about whatever I like, but I think I will have some featured segments. I have a feeling no one will listen to it, but it'll be like when I was a kid and my friends and I used to make tapes just for the hell of it. That was soooo fun. So maybe this will be, too.

Time to go to work. Sigh.

That was Painful

So I'm done posting polls about how many people read my blog. I think I'd rather pretend I have hundreds of readers, laughing out loud at my hijinks.

I'm back at work full time, so blogging will be more irregular. Stick around for my YA Author Proust Questionnaires (this week with Andrew Smith), and look for upcoming podcasts, tentatively titled "My Never-ending Drive Home." Maybe some of you will choose to listen to them on your never-ending drives home. If I can figure out how to create a podcast.