Meth Monday: A Quick Cook

Hello, Readers Mine! We're just in from a deliciously long weekend out of town that included naps, room service breakfast, lunches and parties with friends, and remembering why we got married in the first place. We haven't been back home long, and the holiday isn't officially over, so this week's "Meth Monday" is gonna be a short one.

In Wanna Cook? news, we learned late last week that Wanna Cook? The Complete, Unofficial Companion to Breaking Bad is being translated into Portuguese for publication in Brazil! I'll link to the publisher's site and hopefully a pic of the Brazilian cover as soon as I can. So that means that Wanna Cook? has been published in 3 continents in 3 different languages - and that, friends and neighbors, is pretty frellin' cool!

As for the rest of this Memorial Day post, enjoy this lovely little parody where Taylor Swift meets Walt and Jesse (thanks to @_ath3na for sending this our way!):

Until next week - Keep Cookin'!

Meth Monday: International Edition, Partie Deux

Hello, Reader's Mine! Sorry for the gap last week, but the weekend leading up to last Monday was full of me loping across a stage under a giant Quonset hut while wearing funky sleeves in order to receive an empty degree-holder as a symbolic representation of my MA. Here's proof:

There are the authors of Wanna Cook? as you probably never expected to see us. Suffice it to say that while it was a fun weekend, it was also an exhausting one, and Monday was all about recovery and starting to get my bearings now that I am living in only one place for the first time in four and a half years. So "Meth Monday" just kinda slipped through the cracks. Sorry about that.

In any event, while I might be laying down on the job Breaking Bad was not, winning Best International Series at the BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Awards, beating out House of Cards and The Returned for the honor. This is a pretty big deal as BrBa has a rocky history when it comes to being available in the UK. At one point, UK viewers were almost a year behind as various broadcast and streaming rights were worked out between AMC, Sony, and Netflix. Still, the show was just as popular there as it was here.

Which brings me to the other international news about Wanna Cook?our official, UK publication date came and went last week on 13 May, and we celebrated with our UK publisher, Myrmidon Books, and you can also find our cousins across the pond at @WannaCookUK, where they're busily selling copies to all our Anglo-Saxon-Celto-Nordic friends! In fact, Wanna Cook? was featured as the book of the day at O'Mahony's Booksellers in Limerick, Ireland (they do just sort of write themselves, don't they?)

Of course, you don't have to live in the Splendid Isles to get your own copy. You can toddle over to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Powell's, or your favorite independent bookseller and get your copy today! Who knows? Dale and I might be coming to a town near you in the next several months, so you could get your copy signed! Stay tuned here, and over on Unfettered Brilliance for updates on that! That's it for this week, Readers Mine - see you next week, and

Keep Cookin'!

Meth Monday: International Edition

Hello, Readers Mine! Well it's been a hell of a week at Solomon Mao's (or at least in the pocket of space-time where the author of Solomon Mao's lives). I wrapped up graduate school completely last Wednesday, making me a Master of the Arts (History) at long last, and spent the weekend just past celebrating my wedding anniversary, saying some good-byes, and moving everything from the apartment back home. That's right, after four years of marriage and one co-authored book, Dale and I will actually be living together on a full-time basis at last! Who knows? This might result in more books!

But you don't come here for updates on my personal life, so onward to our shared obsessions: Breaking Bad and Wanna Cook!

So Vince Gilligan had an interesting encounter down under at the Sydney Writers' festival this weekend, where he got to meet some of the people who helped make Australia the number one nation for illegal downloading of Breaking Bad episodes in the world. Gilligan apparently proved that Southern-by-way-of-LA charm is just as effective on Southerners-by-way-of-the-Tropic-of-Capricorn as it is on any other group of folks, and responded with his trademark mix of modesty and gratitude. (It's also worth noting that Gilligan made a nice pile from Breaking Bad - and deservedly so - so he can literally afford to be gracious!) Check out the full story in The Guardian. 

In Wanna Cook? news, I got a peek at the German cover of our book! Working with ECW, the German publisher Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf was translating Wanna Cook? as we were writing it, and the result will be available to the public on 1 June 2014 (according to Amazon.de). So, pretty cool in-and-of itself, right?

It gets better: It seems that fair use copyright law in Germany is a bit broader than in the US, Canada, and the UK, so our book got a new title, and a new cover. Check this out -

Wanna Cook? in German, by Guffey und Koontz!!!!

That. Is. AWESOME!!!!!!! We get a couple of author's copies, and I can't wait to see em! What do you guys think?

For those of you who read German, you can pre-order your copy today (but watch out for shipping and VAT!) For those of you who, like me, can basically only manage ja, nein, bitte, and volksgemeinschaft however, you can get your copy in English right now! And for those of you who not only speak and read English, but live in the Splendid Islands themselves, you can get a copy from Amazon.co.uk! So go, buy our book, enjoy it, and let us know what you think by writing review or two!

So that's it for this week, Readers Mine. Until next time - Keep Cookin'!

Meth Monday: Wanna Cook? is Launched!

Hello, Readers Mine! Sorry to be posting later than usual today, but things kinda got away from me.

So this past Saturday we held the official book launch for Wanna Cook? at Fireside Books in my hometown of Shelby, North Carolina, and it. Was. A. Blast! We saw so many fans, friends, and family who came out to buy a copy of Wanna Cook? nosh on some of the incredible food from Ni Fen Bistro, Blue Sky cupcakes and coffee from Lily Bean's Micro-Roasted Coffee, sip some quality vino from Dragonfly Wine Market, and to talk Breaking Bad. We signed book after book while chatting about everything from Werner Heisenberg to hydrofluoric acid versus lye to chiral molecules to Jesse as moral center. Seriously, we sold a LOT of books, and we deeply appreciate the support we received from our community, so thanks to everyone who came out.

Special thanks go to all the uptown business who got on board to help make the launch such a success: besides the fine folks mentioned above there were Pleasant City Wood Fired Grill, Newt's Pub Burgers, and Joe's Place Shelby who all ran specials centered on Breaking Bad and Wanna Cook. And a big thanks goes out to Holly's Flowers for our lovely lily-of-the-valley bouquet. Thanks so very, very much to you all, and please, if you're in Shelby, drop by some or all of these businesses uptown - I promise you'll have a great time! I'm including a snapshot from the launch below, but you can see more photos from the launch in our public Wanna Cook? album on Facebook.

Dale and I with Dawn Delk at the launch on Saturday,
and yes that's a bit of the Blue and some lily-of-the-valley decorating the table!

So the book is officially launched out into the world. Fireside still has a few signed copies left in stock, and you can find us on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powell's Books, and wherever kick-ass books are sold! Stay tuned here and on our Facebook and Twitter feeds for information on upcoming signings in the Southeast and across the US and for your daily dose of Breaking Bad news and events. Also, if you like Wanna Cook? why not give it a review on the site you purchased it from, or on Goodreads. We'd appreciate it.

Until next time, keep cookin'!

Meth Monday: 5 Days Until the Launch of Wanna Cook!

Well, okay, so Wanna Cook? is already technically launched, in that you can go to your local independent or chain bookseller or your favorite online retailer and order a copy of your very own right now if you want to (and you know you want to), but our big book-launch party isn't until Saturday. So come one and come all to Fireside Books in uptown Shelby, NC at 5 pm this Saturday, buy Wanna Cook?  and get it signed by your loving authors while you enjoy some wine from Dragonfly Wine Market, and some nibblies from Ni Fen Bistro. The head on out into Shelby and enjoy Breaking Bad themed specials like the Heisenburger with Jesse's (blue nacho) Chips at Newt's Pub Burgers, or the Lydia Special of Blue Magic cupcakes and hot tea (add Stevia at your own risk!) at Lily Bean's Micro-Roasted Coffee, or bring your signed copy of Wanna Cook? with you to Pleasant City Wood Fired Grille to get 10% off of your order or to Joe's Place for a free house dessert with your dinner, or keep enjoying the fabulous food at Ni Fen by getting a free order of pot-stickers with your dinner when you show off your signed copy!

Not to mention every other thing that's going on in uptown Shelby that day, like the Broad River European Classic Car Show, Arts on the Square, the Foothills Merry Go Round Festival, and the Foothills Farmers; Market to name just a few! So come out for a big day in Shelby, and top off your play day with an autographed copy of Wanna Cook! We start signing books at 5 pm, and we can't wait to see you!

Wanna Cook? on the shelves at Books-A-Million in Akron, Ohio! Thanks to @UnpluggedCrazy for the pic!

As you can see, Wanna Cook? is showing up all over the place. Seen it on the shelves of your bookstore? Tweet the pic to @KDaleKoontz and/or @EnsleyFGuffey with the hashtag #WannaCook, and we promise to reTweet and repost! Be sure to include the store's location too!

So that's it for this week's (admittedly somewhat rushed) edition of Meth Monday, be sure to check out "Walter White Wednesday" over at Unfettered Brilliance this week, and, until next time,

Keep cookin' Readers Mine!

Meth Monday: Wanna Cook? is Available! (Yeah, Bitch!)

That's right, Readers Mine, Wanna Cook? The Complete, Unofficial Companion to Breaking Bad is officially available!!!!! We're not quite sure what happened. At first, all of the online booksellers had the release date as 1 May, and then Amazon started shipping orders, but everyone else was listing Wanna Cook? as not being available until 13 May, then it showed up on the shelves of Powell's City of Books (see pic below), and as of just a few moments ago when I checked right before I started to type this post, it's now available everywhere - at least online. So, you know, go get you a copy or three!

Seriously, though, if you've already bought a copy THANK YOU! You rock, and we will offer up burnt offerings before your alter. If you liked it, you could earn an even higher level of awesomeness if you'd take a few moments and review Wanna Cook? on Goodreads, or the online site for the retailer from whom you purchased your copy.

If you HAVEN'T bought your copy yet, and you live near Shelby, North Carolina, why not wait and get your copy on Saturday, 26 April at Fireside Books in downtown Shelby? (Call 704-487-8477 or drop by Fireside to reserve your copy today!!!) Because we're having a book launch, bitch!  We're starting at 5 pm and we're gonna party like we're at Jesse's house in Season 4! Well, okay, so we're actually not going to party quite that hard, but there will be some food, some wine and other refreshments, and Dale and I will be there signing books and all sorts of local businesses will be running special deals to mark the occasion. So here's the big scoop: show up at the following uptown Shelby retailers  with a signed copy of Wanna Cook? on 26 April ONLY, and you'll get:

Ni Fen Bistro: one free order of pot-stickers with your meal. (Ni Fen will also be supplying the hors d'oeuvres at the book launch!)
Pleasant City Wood Fired Grille: 10% off your dinner order.
Joe's Place: one free house dessert with your meal.
Fuzzy Peach: To Be Deteremined
Lily Bean's Micro-Roasted Coffee: TBD
Newt's Pub Burgers: TBD
Dragonfly Wine Market: TBD (Dragonfly will also be supplying the wine at the book launch!)

Please note that even the places listed above as "TBD" are definitely on board for the evening, they just haven't decided what kinds of deals to give you. We're also hoping to add some more folks to this list, so stay tuned here, and to our Facebook and Twitter pages, and Dale's "Walter White Wednesday" posts for updates. (If you own a business in uptown Shelby, and would like to be part of our launch, just contact me.) In addition, Shelby's annual Arts on the Square festival will be going on all day on the 26th so you'll have a chance to see the work of some of the incredible area artists and craftspeople before the launch. So come on out, say hello, buy a book from a local, independent bookseller, and have some fabulous food afterwards. We promise you it'll be an A-1 Night!

Check it out: Wanna Cook  on the shelf at Powell's Books!!! Thanks to @witnessaria for the pic and the heads up!

Okay, if you don't live around Shelby, you can still get your hands on a copy. Go on over to IndieBound.org to find an independent bookseller near you who's carrying Wanna Cook, or, if you'd rather, you can order your copy online from - well, pretty much everywhere:

Amazon USA
Amazon Canada
Amazon UK
Amazon Germany (in translation)
Powell's Books
Barnes & Noble
Books-A-Million
Wal-Mart (yeah, that's right: Wal-Mart, bitch!)

So, really, there's no excuse for not grabbing a copy somewhere. Like Saul's advertising, we're everywhere!

See you on April 26th at Fireside! Until then, keep cookin'!

Meth Monday: Get Yer Copies of Wanna Cook? NOW!

Hello, Readers Mine! I'm a bit pressed for time this morning, so this will likely be on the short and sweet side of things.

First off, our official book launch for Wanna Cook? The Complete, Unofficial Companion to Breaking Bad will take place on Saturday, 26 April starting at 5 pm at Fireside Books and Gifts in downtown Shelby, North Carolina!! Dale and I will be signing books, and there will be some snacks, some wine, and we're working on getting some great deals in place at downtown restaurants and businesses - show up with a signed copy of Wanna Cook? and get 10% off your order! More details will be forthcoming as we nail things down. Just keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter feeds (those links are for Dale's - you can get to mine via the "buttons" on the upper right of this page), as well as right here at Solomon Mao's and over on Unfettered Brilliance. Give Linda and the fine folks at Fireside a call, or drop by to order your copy for the launch and they'll be there waiting for you on the 26th!

Look! Here's a picture of me actually holding a copy of Wanna Cook?:

It's real! It's in my hand! This actually happened!

One last piece of news before I have to run. If you can't make it to the launch, but still want to get your copy of Wanna Cook? early, head on over to our listing on Amazon. For whatever reason (and see, even authors are - somewhat frighteningly - left out of the loop as to what goes on with their books sometimes) Amazon is selling copies right now! For all I know this may be an error, so head on over and take advantage!

That's it for this week, Readers Mine! Until next time, keep cookin'!