So psyched! My novel is a finalist in this year’s IPPY Awards, in the regional fiction division. I’m psyched both because, if the entrants mean anything (and I’m sure they do), this is a pretty prestigious contest for indie publishers (just scroll down to the Literary Fiction division, for starters – I mean, Matterhorn guy is there for cry eye! And the highly regarded indie publisher Other Press has a bunch of finalists, McSweeney’s has one in the Popular Fiction category, Rachel Kramer-Bussel, the queen of erotica, is in the Erotica division, etc. etc.). I’m also happy because I’m in the race for a regional award. I tried to make New York a real character in the story as much as the human characters and I feel my book is as much a New York novel as it is one about a young woman with Globus Hystericus. This makes me feel I kinda succeeded in doing that (at least in someone’s estimation 🙂 ).
I really really wanted an IPPY! And I really wanted to be in the running in ForeWord’s BOTYA (btw, here is a pic of my little ole book in their display at the recent London Book Fair — I’m on middle shelf all the way at the end). So, I am very happy right now — particularly after getting T-rashed by one reviewer — which put me in a blue funk for days… More on that to come!
Book publicity stuff and planning for the party tonight have put me behind on dance reviews (4 to be exact — Luciana Achugar’s rather eerie Puro Deseo at the Kitchen, the birth of a compelling new modern dance company – DeMa — which took place on Thursday night at the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theatre, and two NYCB performances). I promise to try to get to them tomorrow afternoon and Monday.
