On the road again, The Devil's paperback, two movies

...some books, Brazilian cover, and candy for Elegguá.

Hello, everyone! I hope this finds you all healthy and happy. I came back from Utah on Sunday and then received an email that there were at least 10 confirmed Covid cases from folks who’d been at the Quills Conference. I think we all make the mistake of forgetting about Covid from time to time. I had it back in early 2022 and it was not as bad as it is for some people. I guess I was lucky. That said, I don’t want to have it again. I’m either ridiculously lucky or just one of those people who never get it again because I’ve been to dozens of events since August of last year, have spent time with thousands of people, and have been at many events that were followed by “we have confirmed Covid cases” emails and I have been perfectly healthy for the last two years. Anyway, stay safe out there. Let’s get to some other stuff.

I had a blast at the Quills Conference

As you know, the League of Utah Writers invited me to this year’s Quills Conference as a guest of honor. I love doing guest of honor stuff because for a decade I couldn’t afford to go to events and whenever you’re a guest of honor, they basically cover all costs. In any case, Quills is a great conference. They set me up in a nice hotel room and had a solid schedule going throughout the conference. I taught two workshops, sat on three panels, did two signings, met some cool people, and saw a few old friends like C.R. Langille and Willow Dawn Becker.

Whenever I visit a new place, my state of mind dictates which approach I take. If I have a lot time, I will do the tourist thing and try to check out as many places as I can. If I have work to do (in this case it was reading and a lot of grading), I settle into a routine almost immediately. I found a Planet Fitness nearby, so I woke up every morning at 5:00am, hit the gym, and then worked until I had some events…or went to my events and then went back to the room to work. That means I didn’t see much of Salt Lake City, but I still walked around a bit. Here are some pictures I took.

The paperback of The Devil Takes You Home is here!

In other news, the paperback of The Devil Takes You Home came out two days ago! All my previous books were paperbacks, so this is the first time I’ve had the hardcover/paperback a year later experience. I want to make sure it gets the best release possible, so if you need me for anything—a class visit, a reading, a workshop, an interviews, whatever!—just let me know. The back is amazing and the front has a new LARB burb and, only online for now, the Bram Stoker winner sticker. Oh, and it got some love in the NYT, who called it “riverting/.” I like that.

Brazilian cover

In related news, the Brazilian edition has a cover and it’s up for preorders. I love the cover:

Okay, I think that’s enough images for one newsletter.

Two movies

I watched two movies on this trip. I watched Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant on my way to Utah and Robert Rodriguez’s Hypnotic on the way back. You don’t have to run to see either of them. The Covenant is a painfully predictable movie that often feels like an amalgamation of all the war movies you’ve seen before. The Americans are, of course, the good guys and everything ends well because of fucking course it does. Hypnotic has a very promising concept at its core and I love the work of Robert Rodriguez, but messy writing, plot holes, uninspired performances (Ben Affleck looks like he’s ready to take a nap for half the movie), and a few other things turn it into a derivative, mediocre film.

Some books

As always, I’m reading a dozen books or so simultaneously. I’m loving Angie Kim’s Happiness Falls, Jo Nesbo’s The Night House, and Andrea Lankford’s Trail of the Lost.

Candy for Elegguá

Elegguá abre el camino. I have an important interview this afternoon, so I’m leaving out some candy for him. More on that if things go well. If they don’t, no worries; the only thing we can do in life is keep going and try again.

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful rest of your week!