Meth Monday

Hello, Readers Mine! Yeah, yeah, I'm a lousy blogger. I've accepted this fact, urge you to rely on Dale for your regular blogging needs over on Unfettered Brilliance. Me, I'll do my best to post here regularly, but - hey - you can count on me keeping up with all sorts of posts on the social media you see to the right, so there's that. So let me catch up a bit here. The big news is that the complete manuscript for Wanna Cook? The Complete, Unofficial Companion to Breaking Bad  is finished, line- and copy-edited, and we are currently working through the last part of the publication process, the reading of the proof. Let me tell you, the book looks fabulous! The good folks at ECW Press have done an outstanding job in designing and laying out all of our words, and I can't wait to hold a copy in my greedy little hands, and for you to be able to get one into yours!

Twinkie Me, Bitch! by Brendan Tobin, one of my absolute favorite pieces of fan-art inspired by Breaking Bad, combining as it does Walt, Jesse, and the Hostess comic book ads from the 1970s and '80s.

So here's the deal for the new year: Wanna Cook? will be released on 1 May 2014 (which, by happy coincidence, is also the co-authors' wedding anniversary!). Meanwhile, you can pre-order your copies from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, or Powell's Books (the latter of which's brick-and-mortar location in Portland, OR happens to be Bryan Cranston's favorite place to go and lose a day with a book), and in an unexpected development, you can even pre-order it from Wal-Mart!! And of course, your local independent bookseller will be able to get it for you as well. We'll start doing some promotional stuff as we get closer to May, including, hopefully, some ARCs (Advance Reader Copies) give-aways on Goodreads as well as through our blogs and social media accounts, about which I will most definitely keep you informed. Believe it or not, we actually have two publicists, one for traditional media, and another for new media! (Yes, that's right, we actually have "People" now. Weird, right?) And we're gonna have a full-on book-launch. The details haven't been completely nailed down yet, but I can tell you that it will take place in our hometown of Shelby, NC, and involve as many local businesses as we can rope in. I can also promise that a good time will be had by all. Again, we'll get the word out in plenty of time and as soon as we get things lined up.

So now we are at the very end of this project, and it hasn't quite sunk in yet that we've written a book. For me this is the realization of a dream that I've had since I was eight years-old, and that's the kind of thing that just takes a while to feel real, I guess. Let's also not forget that I wrote this with my wife, and discovered that among all the other insanely wonderful things about being in a relationship with this woman is that we write together remarkably well, and have complementary "voices." I'm not sure how many people ever truly find a full-fledged partner to build a life with, but I suspect, sadly, that not everyone does. To find that I am one of the truly lucky ones is... breathtaking. And humbling as all hell.

So that's it for this go-round. If I keep writing, I'll get all mushy - and who wants that. So, Readers Mine, thank to you for all of your support, patience, and excitement. Until next time, be well.