"Some Tears May Be Crocodile, But My Salt Is True."

Just sent the final version of The Infects in less than twenty minutes ago. I feel like I've given birth, but without the drugs. It's going straight to copy editing. Three hundred and fifty pages of zombie mayhem is finally done! And coming your way! Be very afraid.

Right On. The Online Gargoyle picks You Killed Wesley Payne as one of the top 10 books of the year. Thanks, Gargoyle!

Hey, check out this very cool collage drawn by Wesley Payne fan Shannon Resser! Thanks for sending it in, Shannon!

Nothing to do tonight? Times Square sound like a stone drag? So does staying home alone and drinking Sterno? Well, friend, here's a party you're invited to! Bring a lox plate and a bottle of Royal Gate and come on in!

I received two (2) different copies of The Art of Fielding. Why not just send me a Xerox of the guy's royalty statement instead. But I also got a crystal skull full of vodka. Guess which of the three I'm going to open?

There are times, usually quite late at night or on Sundays, when I begin to suspect that the last thing the world needs is another novel.

You've no doubt seen a million "Best Of" lists already. Want another safe, ass-kissing, favor-returning, totally uninspired and criminally incestuous list? This isn’t it.

It's a sad day for those who admire having the intellectual chops, not to mention the stones, to spend a lifetime writing brilliantly, eloquently, and persuasively about the unpopular. I looked at the numerous volumes of Christopher Hitchens' books on my shelf this afternoon and felt a great sense of loss. See Hitchens' Times obituary here.

A scene emailed to me today from the Fairfax, CA public library...thanks for reading! And please, do not deface that book. Or spindle it. Or mutilate it in any way. On the other hand, feel free to read aloud. Even after the security guard comes.

Very cool that You Killed Wesley Payne was selected by The Nervous Breakdown as one of the Best Books of 2011. Here's the excellent synopsis:

"This book kills. The clever reworking of the noir format, the crisp plot, the rich and off-kilter world of Salt River High that Beaudoin has painstakingly created, the memorable characters, the cliques from hell, the dark and allusive humor bursting on every page—to label this “YA” is to limit its ambition.  Would that we had a guide like Beaudoin when we were in high school, to help navigate our nerd rowboat along the rocky and perilous shoreline of the Island of Cool."

What other company is Wesley in? Only books by such kickarse writers as Joan Didion, Tyler McMahon, Jessica Anya Blau, Vanessa Vaselka, Francine Prose, and Justin Torres. Congrats to Ben Loory for winning The Nobbie!