Laurie Sandell

The paperback is out today! (I mean, yesterday)

Who “forgets” the launch of her own paperback? A woman so busy with other projects (and/or frantically searching through her DVR to find out why The Bachelorette didn’t tape) she neglects to mention the debut of her paperback on her blog. Allow me to correct that. With all the fanfare of a wet fireworks display, I hereby announce that The Impostor’s Daughter is now available in paperback. Get your copy here. It’s cheaper, cuter, lighter than the hardcover–and even nominated for a 2010 Eisner Award in the “Best Reality-Based Work” category. It is the perfect book to read on a plane (takes about two hours), to stuff in a stocking (oh, you’ll be hearing from me come Christmas), or to whip out on the subway (graphic novels are cool, it’ll get you noticed.)

But that’s not all: It comes packed with extras like a recommended reading list *cough all my friends’ books cough*, a Reading Group Guide, and an Q/A conducted by none other than Merrill Markoe, Emmy Award-winning co-creator of The David Letterman Show and the author of eight or so books herself. Convinced? Please head over to Amazon now and purchase your gift copy. I’ll know if you did it, because the book’s ranking will change. I’ll wait right here…

It’s official: I am going to Comic-Con!

Bless my publisher. They are sending me to Comic-Con to attend the 2010 Eisner Award Ceremony, since The Impostor’s Daughter is nominated for “Best Reality-Based Work” alongside David Small’s Stitches, Joe Sacco’s Footnotes in Gaza, and Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s A Drifting Life, among others. Think of me as Gabourey Sidibe in this situation:  Thrilled to be in the company of these amazing people, but aware I have zero chance of winning. So, on to the next important question: Whatever will I wear?? Right now, I’m deciding between a tight, grey, “sexy office-worker” dress like the one Gwenyth Paltrow wore in Iron Man 2, a Sarah Silverman-like ensemble (cute hoodie and red Converse sneaks), or a cat suit. I’m leaning towards the latter, but feel free to weigh in.

A reading and spring love

When I read at Barnes & Noble last year, this wisecracking, hilarious elderly woman came up to me and introduced herself. “I’m Norma,” she said. “I do a one-woman show called The Angina Monologues.” Since then, she’s hooked me up with gigs around the city for the 80 and over set; today, I read at the Council Senior Center on the Upper West Side. Norma was there in the back row, saucy as always: “How are you?” I asked. “Never ask an old woman how she is!” she said. “You’re not going to like the answer.” Then she asked if I was still doing celebrity interviews, adding, “I don’t know the difference between Brad Shit and Courteney Cox.” The crowd was bright and lively and my story went over well. On the way home, I encountered this couple on the subway; they were way too adorable not to photograph (surreptitiously, with my iPhone.) Love them!

Thanks for coming out, Westport

Thank goodness the Westport Public Library is run like a well-oiled machine. I had no idea how bad the traffic was going to be from Brooklyn and showed up five minutes late. Normally that wouldn’t be that big a deal, but my reading is a PowerPoint presentation, with slides and audio and a million chances for things to go wrong. Since I’m not a backup plan kind of girl, I usually end up standing there shaking and smiling and saying, “OK, well, while they’re setting up, why don’t we talk…no question too personal!” The reading was nicely attended, and my college friend, Nikki showed up; she even brought a photo of the two of us in 1991, wearing our fashion forward “Jersey Shore” garb and petting sheep. (What is it with me and sheep? Check out this earlier blog post.) And if you weren’t able to attend but would like to hear the reading, here’s a podcast of the event. Q/A with the audience begins at 23:10.

I’ve been Briticized

Last year, I did a photo shoot and article for a British magazine called Red. I never saw hide nor hair of the article until a friend sent it to me last week. I was highly amused to find I’d been quoted in a language that wasn’t entirely my own:

“I asked my mum what Dad did for a living and she’d say, ‘He sets up computer systems for foreign governments.’”

“When my family discovered I planned to publish my revelations about Dad, my sisters and my mother closed ranks.”

“Now that I’ve freed myself from my father’s stories, maybe I can finally get on with my own.”

Do you know what? I prefer my quotes with a British accent. I sound smarter. More credible. I think I’ll keep it.

A night out with a book group in Beverly Hills

Julie Goler, Book Club Facilitator

Since I’ve come to LA, I’ve met with a number of book groups who are reading my book, thanks to the amazing Julie Goler, who holds the interesting position of “book club facilitator” and also teaches at Beverly Hills High School. She chooses a book for her group then moderates the discussion; there’s an interesting article on what she does, here. So far, the groups have been made up of women only, but the women come from all walks of life, and I’ve so enjoyed hearing their thoughts on the book from all their different perspectives. The other night I met with a group of women who were all around my age–25, give or take a few (or ten or thirteen) years–and the discussion took place in a sprawling home in Beverly Hills, over sushi from Koi and a cupcake tower. (Hello, can I join this group?) It’s funny how the same questions seem to come up over and over: What do your parents and sisters think about the book? Why did you tell the story in cartoons? Would you like a glass of wine? (No, thank you–see Pg. 199 of The Impostor’s Daughter: A True Memoir.) But the more I ruminate on the answers, the more clarity I get, and the more clarity I get, the more depressed I get…kidding, sort of. Connecting with readers has been by far my favorite experience of writing a book. That, and the mega-chunk of change that is sure to be deposited into my bank account when/if the paperback becomes a best-seller and when/if the movie rights sell.

My book has been nominated for a 2009 Goodreads Choice Award

I just got an e-mail from the features editor at Goodreads–The Impostor’s Daughter has been nominated for a 2009 Goodreads Choice Award in the “Graphic Novel” category! That’s kind of amazing; it’s the first time the book has been nominated for anything. I’m hoping you, my ten faithful readers, can help me out by voting here; just scroll down to Poll #9 and click on The Impostor’s Daughter: A True Memoir. Here’s the rub: If you’re not already a member of Goodreads, you have to become one. But it takes two seconds and I would greatly appreciate it if you could take the time to do whatever they are asking–whether it’s giving them half your first book advance, allowing them to name your first child, or donating a kidney–since the voting results are going to be posted and I’d hate to show up dead last. By the way, I don’t expect to win; I’m up against Stitches by David Small, The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb, and Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli, among other heavy-hitters. But maybe I can beat that zombie book? (Unlikely, if you consider the success of Pride & Prejudice and Zombies…) OK, it’s official–I need your vote!

Exciting news: I have an Italian publisher

This is something I never expected to happen, since my book is expensive to print (it’s full-color), and it’ll have to be entirely re-hand lettered, since it’s written in a different language. I am thrilled! My friend Nathan Englander, who wrote the extraordinary For the Relief of Unbearable Urges and The Ministry of Special Cases, always raved about his experience with his Italian publisher, and though I don’t know if mine will actually bring me to Italy (it’s a small press that specializes in graphic novels), I am already picturing wine-soaked dinners in the Italian countryside with my rumpled, curly-haired editor, who makes an admiring toast as Stanley Tucci (who will have just bought the film rights) looks on. I know, I don’t drink, but I can’t very well paint a picture of dinner in the Italian countryside without mentioning wine. What–am I getting ahead of myself?

Had a blast at The Miami Book Fair

Carol Tyler, Tim Hamilton, and Sid Jacobson

Here’s what I love about book fairs: Turn to your right, meet a woman who worked for Jim Henson and wrote the definitive book on Sesame Street. (Big Bird wrote the intro. How awesome is that.) Turn to your left, meet the guy who adapted the 9/11 Commission Report into a graphic novel—he also created Richie Rich! There he is on the right, along with my co-panelist Carol Tyler, a hugely influential underground comics creator, and Tim Hamilton, who adapted Farenheit 451 into a graphic novel. Even this morning, when I was headed downstairs to try to do yoga in the gym (the Hyatt doesn’t stock yoga mats), a man stepped onto the elevator and we got to talking. Turns out he’s a really important book reviewer for NPR and asked me to send him my book! See what I mean?

But before I went to the convention center, I met up with my friend Fiona Maazel, who wrote Last Last Chance, and we went to a famous Cuban restaurant in Little Havana called Versailles. Apparently, it’s “Ground Zero” for Cuban-American exiles, and is where all the politicians go–Al Gore stopped by recently. It’s also run-down and authentic and 100% Spanish-speaking. Check out the size of my lunch. I ate that, before I had to sit on a panel, no less. I reeked of garlic, but it was worth it–hands down, the best Cuban food I’ve ever had. After lunch, I took a shuttle bus to the book fair for my event. I was on a panel with Carol Tyler and James Sturm, who did the historical graphic novel James Sturm’s America. They were humble and funny and offbeat; particularly Carol, who at one point turned to me wearing her glasses over her sunglasses. Then I slipped into Sid Jacobson’s panel and listened to him describe the process of collaboration; he also dropped the interesting tidbit that Will Eisner invented the term “graphic novel” and came up with it on the fly, the night before he met with his publisher, because he figured they wouldn’t take “comic book” seriously. Closed out the night with a party for the authors: I ran into John Freeman, who I know from New York and wrote The Tyranny of E-Mail, Sadia Shepard, a friend of Amanda’s and author of the memoir The Girl From Foreign, and–hooray–the person I was looking for all night, Ed Falco, who was my buddy at Yaddo two summers ago. Now I have to figure out a way to get myself invited to more book festivals. More photos to be posted as soon as I get them.

Girls! Girls! Girls! All-Nude Revue

Tonight is my last NYC reading, at KGB Bar in the East Village, at 7:00 P.M. I hope my attention-grabbing headline and drawing will be enough to lure you to the event. Full disclosure: There will probably be no disrobing. I can’t speak for my co-reader, Jeff Sharlet, though. Anything can happen when it comes to Jeff. (He’s reading about a cult.) Come on out and enjoy some drinks, and some mercifully short readings, followed by an author Q/A that we’re going to do together. I’ll hang out for a bit to sign books, then I have to run uptown to do a celebrity interview at 10:30 P.M. I was given the option to do it after my reading, or fly to Paris tomorrow. Normally, I would never turn down a free trip to Paris, but since I’m going to Chicago next week, and Portland, OR, the week after that, I chose the late-night interview. Crazy? Maybe. Jet-lagged? Nope.