Becky from somewhere or other is one of my new, very best friends, and all because of John Hodgman, the resident expert on "The Daily Show" and PC Guy on the "Get a Mac" commercials.
Maybe not all because of him, but close enough. Becky and I stayed at the same hotel in L.A. during BookExpo America and met at breakfast one morning. We got to talking about the reason I was there, the release of We the Purple: Faith, Politics and the Independent Voter. As it turns out, Becky is a committed independent, so she stood in my autograph line later that day to pick up a copy of the book.
Beloved Becky, God bless her, then went to John Hodgman's autograph line, got a copy of his book* — and handed him her own copy of We the Purple, talking it up and encouraging him to read it. He received it graciously and seemed genuinely interested, Becky tells me.
How cool is that?
"The Daily Show" staff already has a copy of the book; my publicist made sure they got it along with a media kit. Even if nothing comes of it — even if Jon & Company don't come calling — I'm so grateful to Becky. John Hodgman has my book! That's good enough for me.
Things you probably don't know about PC Guy:
- He used to work as a literary agent.
- He edits the humor section of The New York Times Magazine.
- He plays the clarinet.
- He's a contributor to NPR's "This American Life."
- He's a 1994 graduate of Yale.
- He writes a mean blog.
* I couldn't make it to Hodgman's signing. Ergo, I did not get a copy of his book, More Information Than You Require, or what I assume was an excerpt from it since it doesn't release until October. Whatever he was signing at BEA was titled Taxonomies of Complete World Knowledge; I'm guessing it's a chapter title. Anyway, if the good people at Dutton would like me to get my facts straight, maybe they wouldn't mind sending me a copy of Taxonomies and put me on the hot list for a review copy of More Information.
Cross-posted on my other blog.
5 comments:
Hi Marcia, It's me, Beloved Christine, Beloved Becky's friend! I have been meaning to write, but was waiting to get my box of books from LA.
I wanted to let you know that I gave your info to that writer in Hawaii -- the Independent? I thought you two would be a good mix, although I know little about him except what I read in his wonderful manuscript. I won't write his e-mail or title or anything else here; will leave that up to him and the future.
I have bookmarked this site and will now be following you. Now . . . back to Jon Stewart . . seriously!
Marcia,
I have recently been turned on to you, your writing and the independent political scene. I met Jonathan Merritt this past year and he highly recommended your book, "We the Purple". I must admit that I am still reading it, but the bit that I have read I am absolutely in love with. I look forward to reading what the rest of the book and also continuing to read your blog.
Thanks for your insight and thoughtful comments. I really enjoy finding people who can challenge my thinking and broaden my perspective.
Sincerely,
Heather Fliger
Nice blog. I just added you to my blogroll.
Christine, please let Beloved Becky know I emailed her for her address so I could send her a replacement. Haven't heard back yet.
Heather, thanks so much for your kind comments! I'm so glad you like the book. Enjoy!
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