In exactly one month’s time, SETTING FREE THE KITES will be published. After all this time, it’s a little difficult to wrap my head around the idea. I delivered the first draft of the novel to Amy Einhorn, my then-editor at Penguin, almost exactly three years ago. That’s right. Three years. Since then much has happened. Amy left for pastures new, I got a new editor, and – partly as a consequence of that – the book got a substantial rewrite. It’s all good though. We wouldn’t have the book we have now if it had happened any other way. But, still, you know. Three years.

You would think, wouldn’t you, that with such a long time to prepare, I’d be completely ready for publication. Well, yes. About that. Not so much. The reviews are rolling in, the interviews have begun (Huffington Post last week, which was fun) and we’re putting the final touches to the tour plan. But (and perhaps this is a good thing) I’m too busy to be especially anxious: I’m still running my law firm, pushing ahead with plans for April’s Unbound Book Festival, and trying to finish the new book.

A few random bits of news:

• We’ve added another stop on the tour. I’ll be at the wonderful Left Bank Books in St. Louis on Tuesday, March 7. It’s such a great store, and I can’t wait for that.
• Goodreads are giving away another 25 galleys of the book! You can enter the draw up until midnight on February 1 by going here. Good luck!
• The audiobook of KITES is in production as I write. The book is being read by a well-known and much admired reader of audiobooks, Ari Fliakos, who recently performed Nathan Hill’s bestseller, THE NIX.I’m looking forward to hearing him read it.
• We’re making plans for a great launch party on February 21 at Barnes & Noble in Columbia. It should be a lot of fun – we’re hoping for (among other things) live music and CAKE. If you’re in the area, please do stop by. I’d love to see you before I set off on my travels. The event starts at 7.00 p.m.