School Library Journal (or, another review)

This review just in from School Library Journal. Gotta love that last line:

The summer before Christopher Newell is set to start college, he gets a job in the morgue because it’s his life’s goal to become a spy and working there should teach him about forensic pathology, if nothing else. Instead he discovers a murder cover-up that points to town officials and close friends. As he works to discover whodunit, the plot thickens with bribery, blackmail, murder, and revenge. With everyone suspect, and danger deepening, it seems that the only person Christopher can trust is Tina McIntyre, an insanely hot, brazen reporter who wants to boost her career with a killer story. Together they might discover the truth, but at what cost? Ford makes his debut with a solid mystery infused with dry wit, but it’s his likable, quirky detectives and their crackling chemistry that make The Morgue and Me anything but stiff.

"Anything but stiff" -- ha. This will be out in the August issue. Thanks SLJ!

I Am an Amazon Best-Seller (or, a challenge)

Yes, that's right -- The Morgue and Me is now selling enough copies to get ranked on one of Amazon's best-seller lists.  

As you may know, Amazon keeps lists of the 100 most popular titles in many different categories and subcategories of books.  For instance, there is a list for "books > teen novels."  And a list for "books > teen novels > mysteries."

You may have figured that the The Morgue and Me, my teen mystery novel, appears on that last list.  Not quite.

The Morgue and Me--I'm proud to announce--currently sits at #34 in this category:

Books > children's books > history & historical fiction > United States > colonial & revolutionary

Awwww yeah.  

Don't get too wrapped up in the fact that The Morgue and Me is not set in colonial times, has nothing to do with the revolutionary war, and is in fact not a piece of historical fiction.  What you should be getting wrapped up in this this:  even with those handicaps, I have blown right past books like Pocohontas: Young Peacemaker and Traitor: The Case of Benedict Arnold.

So I'm sitting at #34 for now (and actually, the Kindle version of The Morgue and Me is up at #32), but now that I've tasted success, I want more.  I'm setting my sights on the top ten.  I urge you to spread the word about The Morgue and Me, so it passes And Then What Happened, Paul Revere (#20) and its ilk like they're standing still.  

I'm depending on you.  You, readers of this blog, are like my Minutemen.  Do it for your country, or at least for The Morgue and Me.

It's time to compete with the big boys:  I'm looking at you, Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims (#8).  

WBAL Weekend Edition! (or, my tv debut)

Very exciting weekend.  On Saturday morning, I woke up at an ungodly hour -- well, it was before 8:00 a.m. -- and drove in to Baltimore to be on the NBC-WBAL 11 morning show. A cool experience to be sure, though I'm not sure I'm processed it sufficiently to write about yet.  

For now though, I have to tell you at least one cool factoid, which is this: those cameras on the right and left aren't operated by cameramen.  They're, like, ROBOTS.  I think they're remote controlled from another room, but it's somewhat freaky to see these large cameras moving all around the set on their own during the broadcast.

Anyway, before I link to the interview, let me tell you something.  Watching yourself appear on tv is like hearing a recording of your own voice -- you know, where the sound of your voice makes your skin crawl a little bit and you're like "do I really sound like that!???" -- only TEN TIMES WORSE.  So, yeah, it's sort of painful for me to watch this, but WBAL anchor Kate Amara was awesome and I'm so glad they asked me on the show!

The WBAL interview!

ALA Thoughts (or, one amazing speech)

I wish I could be in Chicago this weekend.  Actually, I often wish I could be in Chicago.  The city rocks.

But the sentiment is especially true this particular weekend, because the American Library Association is holding its annual meeting in the Windy City.  Thousands of librarians, authors, and other bookish people will congregate to share their love of literature and really good swag.  I went to ALA meeting in DC a few years back -- on a whim, because it was right in my backyard -- and ended up roaming the exhibit floor for hours, astounded at the plentiful displays, free ARCs, and star authors.

Apparently, one item on the ALA's agenda this year is a drastic change to the Best Books for Young Adults list.  It appears there is a proposal to replace that list, heretofore selected by tireless  librarians who scour the landscape for BBYA-worthy titles, with a list generated by a poll of readers.  Nothing against democracy here, but I'm leery about this idea at best, given the inevitable tendency of a popular poll to overlook hidden gems.

My own opinion on the matter is less important than that of Cindy Dobrez and Liz Rutan and author Alex Flinn.  Both of the posts explain, quite convincingly, why it would be wise to keep the BBYA list as is.  Well worth reading.

On the topic of ALA, congratulations to Melina Marchetta, who will be accepting the Printz Award for Jellicoe Road.  I'm about a quarter-way through it right now, and it's sort of blowing me away. 

And finally, on the topic of ALA, things worth reading, things that have blown me away recently, and Printz Awards, I direct you to John Green's 2006 Printz Award acceptance speech.  My God.  Just read the thing, seriously.

I realize that singing the praises of John Green is not exactly a novel endeavor, but I also noticed that his blog post with his 2006 speech has only six comments underneath it.  I hope it's not lost among the vast repositories of jokes, provocative thoughts on publishing, and dubious home-cooking videos that the inimitable Mr. Green has filed away on the Internet. Because this 2006 speech is amazingly good.  To anyone who values YA literature, writing, libraries, or articulate thinking about the above, it's a treasure.  

Still Midnight (or, how to buy a book from the UK)

Did you know that you can get your hands on books that are released in the U.K., but not in the U.S.?  I had no idea, until yesterday.

Yesterday, you see, I discovered that Denise Mina has released a new crime novel.  Ever since I was introduced to Denise Mina through my friend Miss Lemon, I've devoured all of her novels.  They are uniformly intense, wickedly funny, layered, and occasionally gruesome crime stories that often play out in dodgy neighborhoods of Glasgow, Scotland.  (And, I should note, not for youngsters.)  I may not be the likeliest candidate to fall in love with books about female characters in Scotland, but, well, I have.

All of which is to say: when I found out that she's released a new novel, called Still Midnight, I of course had to have it.  Problem: it's not out in the U.S. until spring 2010. 

That's a painfully long wait.  And yet, I thought I would have to tough it out, believing for some reason that it was impossible to get books from the UK over here.  Nonetheless, I sneaked over to the Amazon UK site and, with some trepidation, tried to buy it.  Just to see if I could get away with it.  And . . . I could!  Turns out they totally let you buy books from the UK.  You have to pay an abnormally high shipping fee (I think it was like $8 to get Still Midnight to DC), but I was happy to do it in this case.

I'm not sure where I got the idea that this was impossible to do, but it was firmly fixed in my mind.  Anyway, for any of you who are desperately desiring a book from UK that hasn't been released in the states yet, go ahead and pick it up from Amazon UK.

Attention Grandparents (or, the AARP digs me)

Another nice surprise: the AARP has chosen The Morgue and Me as one of its "Books for Grandparents" for July 2009.  

In this case, a "book for grandparents" means that it's a good one for grandparents to give to their teenaged grandchildren.  (Though grandparents everywhere should feel free to get it for themselves, too!) 

Anyway, Sarah Dessen's Along for the Ride and three other cool-sounding teen books are the other choices, so I'm keeping good company on this list.  Thanks AARP!

Catching Up On Reviews (or, pleasant surprises)

A brief history of the reviews that The Morgue and Me has received.  

First, I was very happily surprised when Sarah Weinman wrote it up in her Dark Passages column, which first appeared online in the LA Times.  Here's what Sarah said:

. . . keep in mind "The Morgue and Me" (Viking: 314 pp., $17.99 hardcover), John C. Ford's memorably titled debut. It may be housed in the young adult section, but Christopher's summer stint as an intern in the Michigan morgue jump starts a throwback-style detective novel that readers of all stripes should pay attention to. There is blackmail, cover-ups, misunderstandings with best friends about taking relationships to the next level, families in danger and secrets -- a plethora of them. There's also a scenery-chewing sidekick journalist named Tina whom I hope to see return in future novels. And there's a chance to get in on the ground of what looks to be a promising career in crime fiction -- regardless of bookstore classification.

This review also appeared in The Baltimore Sun, The Orlando Sentinel, The Morning Call, and The Daily Press.

Next, I was thrilled when the New York Post picked The Morgue and Me as one of its "Hot New Titles for Tweens and Teens":

A teen takes a summer job at a morgue, only to discover a murder cover-up and a blackmail ring. Fast-paced and full of red herrings, it'll keep you guessing.

My little debut novel was in quite good company in the Post, which also picked The Real Real by The Nanny Diaries team of Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus; Strange Angels by Lily St. Crow; The Season by Sarah MacLean; and George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt by Lucy and Stephen Hawking.  

Yep, that Stephen Hawking.

Then there was the honor of getting a starred review in Publishers Weekly.  Wow.

Ford's dark and stellar debut, which nicely updates many classic mystery tropes, tells the story of high school valedictorian Christopher Newell, who takes a summer job at the hospital morgue before heading to college. Naturally, he stumbles across something he shouldn't—$15,000 in cash and a dead body that the medical examiner has ruled a suicide, even though the body had been shot five times in the torso. Certain that the medical examiner and the sheriff are connected, Christopher starts to investigate alongside Tina, a sexy young reporter for the local paper. The plot covers a wide range of characters, including Christopher's ex-neighbor (and crush), Julia; her police officer older brother, Tim; the town's mayor and his daughter; and Christopher's best friend, Mike, an amateur bookie. Christopher and Tina uncover interlocking mysteries involving blackmail, corruption and murder, which span years of the town's history. Ford spins a tale that's complex but not confusing, never whitewashing some of the harsher crimes people commit. The result is a story that holds its own as a mainstream mystery as well as a teen novel.

Then there was a great review in Armchair Interviews.

Booklist chimed in with a very nice write-up, and Kirkus recommended The Morgue and Me for larger library collections.  Neither of these, unfortunately, are linkable.

Most recent with the review from the Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books, which I've already mentioned.

Phew, now we're all caught up.

Book Giveaway Winner!! (or, drumroll)

Okay, so I have crunched the numbers on my doomsday lottery machine above (actually, I used the random number generator here) and have come up with a winner of my book giveaway.

But first, a note.  The idea of hosting a giveaway was a little silly, since I just started this blog and no one in the world knows about it yet.  But!  Now I'm really loving this humble little contest.  First, I know more than half of the people who entered, so I'm pretty sure it's going to a good home.  Also, just think!  You'll be able to say you won a book from John C. Ford when he couldn't even get twenty people to sign up for a giveaway of his book.  Like, literally, he almost couldn't give the thing away.

This will be very cool for all of us when I'm a big-time author.  Ahem.

Anyway, with no further ado, the winner is . . . wdebo!  

Thanks everyone who entered.  You're all part of a very special, exclusive group in my heart!  

Book Release Party (or, relying on the kindness of strangers)

I just posted some pics from the book launch party I had for The Morgue and Me back on June 26.  (You can see them in that slideshow thingy on the right.)  Amazing, it seemed to go very well.  In the planning process, I discovered that it's quite possible to hold a book party without expending much dough.  Here are my tips:

(1)  Locate a cool venue (in this case, The Darlington House in Washington, DC), tell them you're a first-time author, and see if they'll provide space for free.  If you're lucky enough to run into people as kind as the proprietors of The Darlington House, they'll say yes, enthusiastically.  And then they will offer to provide some finger food.

(2)  Ask your friend who is a liquor distributor whether it's possible to get a wine/beer/liquor manufacturer to sponsor your party.  Then wait a second before he offers, to your amazement, two free cases of wine.

(3)  Ask your friend of a friend who has a great band if he'd like to play your event for a nominal fee.  Cross your fingers he says yes.

(4)  Get a great indie bookstore to set up shop at the event.

(5)  Ask your very kind and supportive friends to show up.

Stir gently.  And presto, a great book party!

A Million Reasons to Be Thankful (or, James Frey and YA lit)

So, I'm a little bit surprised that this story about Harper Collins purchasing a YA series from James Frey hasn't made bigger waves in the YA world.  Or maybe it has, and I'm just out of touch.  

In any case, the bottom line appears to be that HC picked up the first four books in a series about "a group of alien teenagers who hide on earth after their planet is attacked by hostile invaders."  Extremely interesting factoids: 

(1) the publisher reportedly paid less than seven figures;

(2) the agent submitted the work anonymously (that is, without identifying Frey as the author);

(3) Frey will be co-authoring with a recent Columbia writing program graduate, Jobie Hughes; and

(4) Michael Bay of Transformers fame (and Pearl Harbor infamy) is on board to direct the movie(s), the rights to which sold before the novels themselves.

My immediate reaction upon reading news of this development was . . . ugh.  The premise actually sounds fairly cool, but I confess to having certain not-so-positive feelings about the deal that are not unlike those self-pitying feelings that we authors sometimes have with regard to celebrity forays into fiction a la L.A. Candy, the recent smash from Lauren Conrad of The Hills fame.

But this isn't right.  First, though I wasn't a fan of A Million Little Pieces, and setting aside the controversy relating to it, the fact is the guy wrote a book that tons of people liked, including one Oprah Winfrey.  So, on some level, his writerly chops are legit.

Also, even if you view the James Frey project--titled "I Am Number Four"--as a kind of "celebrity" deal, there's no value in being jealous of his star status and/or bemoaning the fact that his book will be taking up space that would otherwise be occupied by a "real author."  I would explain why this is so, except that the wonderful Adrienne Kress (Timothy and the Dragon's Gate) has already done so.  So, if you need some cheering up/calming down about this type of thing, I direct you here post haste.  Read Adrienne's take; like most things she writes, it'll do your soul some good.

Meanwhile, I'll be hoping that "I Am Number Four" proves to be a great read.

Thank you, Center for Children's Books!

Just got word from on high that the Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books has given The Morgue and Me quite a nice little review.  I don't know if it's kosher to post the whole thing, so I'm not going to do that, but I have great respect for book reviewers who have to condense their evaluations of 70,000-word-long books into 100 and 200-word-long reviews, while also outlining the plot/mood/anything else they want to comment on.  And this particular review, I think, manages to capture quite a bit about the book in a very short space.  

Actually, I like it most for six particular words:  "Ford's debut novel is a rousing success . . . ."

Rousing!