I’m over at Drey’s Library today, talking about what it is about Trevor that makes him such a great character.

Come see it through my eyes — and then share it through yours.

I’ve been reading too much Captain Underpants ’cause I want to giggle, all Beavis-like, at the idea that I’ve started a movement. (“I said movement!”)

But maybe I have. I sure hope so.

You’ve been hearing a LOT about me trying to sell LOTS of books so I can donate part of the royalties to charity (So far, we’ve raised about $12. That’s it! I was hoping for … more).

Two authors have joined me in this effort, and I want to tell you who they are, so you can buy THEIR books if you won’t buy mine. (*sniff* books make great gifts, you know!)

First is Sue Lange. You can buy her collection of short work (the stories even have intros, like The Demo Tapes do!) via Smashwords. It’s called Uncategorized, and yes, I’ve read it. (here are some of my thoughts, in case you missed them) For a whopping $1.99, you can read it, too. AND help make a donation to Haiti.

Second is my good friend Wylie Kinson. I love Wylie; talking to her is like talking to a super-strong breath of fresh air. She’s got two books out via Ellora’s Cave, and while I’ve only read the one (Law of Averages), I’m confident in telling you to pick up both these books and settle in for a steamy read. These books are on the pricier side (yes, sarcasm intended); one’s priced over five bucks and the other just under four and a half.

So. Check out some Susan-approved authors. If you hear of more authors who’re doing the donation thing, let me know I’ll help spread the word. Many of you have been helping spread the word about me, so please. Let me return the favor.

Let’s do some good in the world. Royalties to help Haiti.

I decided today was going to be a Sweatpants Day. After all, I wasn’t really going anywhere. Why get a good pair of jeans dirty when I was going to be cooking and writing all day long?

That, of course, made me think of our favorite band.

1. Sweats are perfect for the tour bus. Especially for overnight trips.

2. As the band gains popularity, though, they often feel the need to change into jeans before going into the hotel.

3. After all, their fans are hanging out, waiting for autographs, pictures, whatever they can get from the guys.

4. Trevor, of course, once vowed to wear sweats the first time the band walked a red carpet at an event.

5. Everyone ignored him, trusting that his vanity would win out when the actual time came.

6. It did.

7. Of the four guys in ShapeShifter, only Eric and Daniel are likely to hang out in sweats.

8. Trevor says he likes his pants tighter.

9. Mitchell doesn’t like to feel sloppy. Or so he says.

10. Kerri thinks he just wants to show off his legs.

11. Kerri also wonders what he’s got to show off, and why he’d want to. Showing off is more Trevor’s thing.

12. Still, sweats make for a comfy way to pass a long, boring day on a tour bus.

13. Just so long as there’s no one to see you, I guess.

Remember, I’m donating a portion of my royalties between now and January 31 (at least) to the Red Cross. It’s the least I can do, don’tcha think? Books make great gifts, remember — and I’ve posted a coupon code for the print version if you buy through Lulu. Read all the details yourself.

Come visit with me over at Drey’s Library, where I’m the January Featured Author. Today, I’ve written about the books I love. Which, I’m sure you guys know, is a wide cross-section of goodness.

I need suggestions to add to my wishlist, though, so stop on by and see if you can make the list grow to 2100. Yes, Two Thousand One Hundred.

I guess when I created the characters of Mitchell and Kerri (guitarist and artist, respectively), I wasn’t that far off the mark. After all, lots of rockers make art in their free time. KISS’ Paul Stanley is one of the most visible of them.

Enter David Lee Roth.

I gotta say, I like the demon with the drumsticks. And the woman with the hair and the weird skivvies. The warring fingers are a bit of a mindfuck, no?

Go on. Give me some perspective that I’m missing…

Maybe it’s a sign from above, but last night as I was writing up my Thirteen (scroll down or click through to see/read it), royalties from Smashwords showed up.

So there’s our first concrete donation… keep the sales coming, gang. Keep spreading the word. All it takes is a few minutes of your time — and you get to keep the book, too!

The other thing is that I’ve neglected to mention I’ve been out and about lately. I’m the featured author this month over at Drey’s Library, one of my favorite places (it helps that Trevor’s got a crush on Drey). And today, I’m at Booking Mama, talking about my awesome book club.

It seems that everyone who’s leaving comments wants to join my book club. Talk about the compliments you guys can pay me…

Don’t forget to pay the highest one: buy The Demo Tapes. Both Year 1 and Year 2. Let’s make a nice, big, fat difference for the people of Haiti.

1. If you were here with us a long time ago, (way back in October of 2007, in fact), you know that the big tragedies in the world bother me.

2. Maybe more than I let on. *grin*

3. And if you follow me around when I guest blog, you’ve seen me talk about my desire to be a great philanthropist.

4. This morning, we woke up to images of Haiti.

5. I knew better than to hope that we’d never see things like this again. I still remember the great tsunami of 2004.

6. I’m in a better place this time. I’ve got two books out.

7. I can. And I am.

8. Donating part of my royalties on those book sales to the Red Cross. (Although, after reading this, I might need to change my mind.)

9. Buy one (or both!) before January 31 and I’ll tally up and make the donation.

10. The timing for this is quite good. I’ve got a coupon code for the print version via Lulu.com.

11. I’m offering a free Demo Tapes: Year 2 if you buy Year 1 for your Kindle. (Via the Kindle store)

12. And have just dropped the sale price at Smashwords.

13. It’s never been easier to make a positive difference in the world. Please help spread the word; let’s make a big donation to The Red Cross, shall we?

It’s been a busy week over here. I’ve been writing up a storm — writing up some novel-length storms, which is good news for you Trevor lovers.

But I had to give my friend Mary at BookHound some props.

She sent me a link to The Smoking Gun’s Friday Photo Fun. It’s a picture of a piece of a concert rider, asking that bacon be provided at all times for the band’s crew. We were supposed to name the band.

I got it right. And then I even told Mary this story of how I associated backstage bacon with Big Mick, Metallica’s now-retired (and very legendary) sound guy. I even met him once; he told amazingly neat stories. I wish I could listen to him for hours.

Turns out that not only was the band Metallica, my bacon association was right on. It was all about Big Mick.

Whether or not I officially won the contest — and HUGE kudos to TSG for offering BOOKS as prizes. I like them even more for that — I’m patting myself on the back and feeling good about my useless knowledge.

Come feel good with me, will ya? You know your love fuels my fiction.

Ordinarily, I let Chelle LaFleur do the ranting here at the Meet and Greet. But I don’t want to stay quiet about this one.

You see, I’m a member of a number of author’s lists, where we authors (published and aspiring) talk amongst ourselves about all sorts of stuff. I came late to this particular discussion. I’m sorry I did, or I’d be blasting them personally. Maybe I still will, but I doubt it. If you read my post over at Killer Fiction, you’ll understand why I’m making noise here, not there.

The statement was made that authors are shocked when readers come up to them at signings and say, “I loved your book so much, I shared it with all my friends!”
Some of these authors seize this opportunity to educate these excited readers. The authors have lost royalties, you see, because the book was shared. Multiple copies weren’t bought. This reader has now ripped off the author.

Hello?
For real?
For fucking real????

***
I’m going to put on my reader’s hat for a second here, since I am every bit as much a reader as I am a writer. When I tell an author I loved his/her book so much, I shared it with all my friends, it’s the highest compliment I can give. That means I didn’t buy it, read it, and donate it to the library for their semi-annual sale. It means I didn’t immediately list it at the book trading sites. It means I didn’t stick it on my shelf and forget about it.

Not even close.

It means I loved it so much, I wanted to share it with the world. And since it’s a book and since communities are formed around books, I made good on that need to share. I handed it to my friends. I spread the magic inside those covers. I saved my friends from a bad book, and gave them an amazing one, instead.

***
“I shared your book with my friends,” is a compliment. We authors should stop crying over spilled milk (or unrealized royalties) and acknowledge it as such. Yeah, it’d be much nicer to hear, “I bought copies for my fifteen friends,” but let’s face it. Buying fifteen copies of the same book means another author somewhere else (maybe even fifteen authors) lost out on their royalties. Not to mention that any reader who can buy that many copies of the same book can afford to shop exclusively at Neiman Marcus. Before the sales.

***
In all honesty, if an author popped my bubble of goodwill toward his/her books by lecturing me about lost royalties, I’d never buy that author’s books again. Any of them. And I’d make damn sure all my friends — the same ones I’d raved to about how great the book is — know what a jerk the author is. And why I’d never again contribute to those precious royalties.

As a reader, it can be intimidating to meet this person who created the characters you’ve grown to love. Some readers put us authors on the same plane as the biggest of the media stars out there. C’mon. Don’t tell me no one’s ever turned you into Simon Cowell and pitched their book to you.

Yet you’re gracious when they do. So why can’t you take the idea of your book being shared among friends as the same sort of compliment?

***
In fact, speaking as a writer, it seems to me that the only possible response to being told your book was shared is, “Oh, be sure to tell your friends to pick up [insert title from your backlist] the next time they come in the store here. I’ll even ask the manager if she minds if I sign what’s in stock and that way, they can have my autograph, too.”

***
Think about it, fellow authors. As a reader, which response would YOU rather hear?

So, awhile back, I listed my Best Women-Penned of 2009. This week’s Booking Through Thursday asked what our best books of 2009 were, and since I wasn’t able to make the vague ideas for this week’s Thursday Thirteen gel, here’s a list of 13 of the best books I read in 2009.

**Note. Some links will take you to reviews, others to buy links via Powells.com. Any books you buy with my Powell’s affiliate will earn me money … which will go to buying books to share with you guys. I’m not keeping any profits I make through the Powell’s affiliate, only from the royalties I earn on The Demo Tapes (buy link for THAT below).

1. I started off the year with my first Greg Iles book, 24 Hours. I need to find more of Mr. Isles’ books. This was a great thriller.

2. Then I stepped back in time — with my very next read! — and discovered Michael Simon. I started with his first book, Dirty Sally. Loved the noir going on. My book club? Not so much. I’ll keep reading the series without them.

3. I read a bunch of rock and roll fiction. Rock Bottom by Michael Shilling, The Rock Star’s Homecoming by Linda Gould, Bahama Burnout by Don Bruns, Dark Side of the Morgue by Raymond Benson. Some were great, some weren’t. Later in the year, I got to A&R by Bill Flanagan and Do The Devil’s Work by Rick Florino, as well as Erica Kennedy’s Bling and Cecil Castellucci’s Beige and Dylan Schaffer’s Misdemeanor Man. (Reviews of these last three will appear at Rocks ‘n Reads sooner or later.)

4. Sometimes, I feel like I was one of the last people to be introduced to Lloyd Jones. His Mr. Pip is still making the rounds of my book club, and it’s a book I repeatedly refer to.

5. I really like fantasy and George RR Martin is truly one of the masters of the genre. I read A Clash of Kings this year — it took forever, as it was the book on my nightstand — and found that even though the cast is huge and I’d read the first book in the series years ago, I was brought up to speed seamlessly.

6. I got around to reading a lot of popular books: Audrey Niffeneger’s The Time-Traveler’s Wife, Christopher Paolini’s Eragon, Ann Brashare’s The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. One I loved, three I liked, one didn’t impress.

7. I’ve spent LOTS of time raving about Hank Phillippi Ryan. Why haven’t you joined me yet?

8. Another rock book and another rave: Tommyland, written by the majorly colorful (on many levels) Tommy Lee. I think you guys know I dig these books written by rockers. (See my raves about Tommy’s bandmate Nikki Sixx and his Heroin Diaries.)

9. The brilliantly written Shadow Man introduced me to Cody McFadyen. I’ve heard a lot about McFadyen from a number of you guys. I finally picked this book up and … wow. Okay, I had a FEW quibbles, but overall, this is a great debut. I can’t wait to read the second in the series; it’s sitting here, waiting for me.

10. Although I already raved about it in the women-penned list I linked to above, Song of the Seals by Christy Yorke deserves a second mention. The atmosphere alone made this an incredible read and as we’re passing it around my book club, we’re all talking about how it steered away from cliche.

11. After hearing one of my son’s classmates’ moms tell me she didn’t like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series (written by Jeff Kinney), I picked up the first and read it. I like the mom, but it was a reminder of why I don’t fit in with many (most?) of the moms in this area. I can’t even pretend to share her concerns.

12. Series: Gini Hartzmark, Charlaine Harris (Sookie), Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum), Steven Brust, Kathy Reichs, Colleen Gleason (another West of Mars favorite), Rachel Caine, MaryJanice Davidson, Marcia Muller, Linda Fairstein, Alexander McCall Smith.

13. And, of course, there are my own books. If you haven’t joined the Trevolution yet, why not? Drop me a line; I can hook you up with autographed copies.

Thirteen (totally fictional) kids whose lives were changed by Music in the Schools programs

If you’re new to West of Mars, you’ve missed out on three previous years of benefits thrown by our favorite fictional band, ShapeShifter. On the Monday during Hanukkah, the band rallies the troops, raises lots of bucks, and gives it all to a charity that helps schools fund music programs. Sometimes, these charities are fictional. Sometimes, they’re real.

So to make it all the more real to you, me, and the guy across the street, I present 13 entirely fictional kids whose lives were changed by Music in the Schools programs.

1. Meet Yahir. An immigrant from Mexico, he couldn’t speak the language when he arrived in America. Yahir picked up a saxophone, spent a year taking lessons, and found that during band, no one made fun of his broken English or his accent.

2. And then there’s Angel. A real beauty with blonde hair and blue eyes, Angel came to her parents when she was left at a church and it was her mom who opened the door and found her on the proverbial doorstep. Angel picked up the cello, grew her hair long, and learned to rock like Apocalyptica.

3. Steven picked up the drums, loved the exhilaration of marching band so much that halftime of high school football games wasn’t enough. He found a spot in the Drum Corps International Blue Devils and spent a few summers traveling and performing.

4. Gage realized the tuba was the only instrument as big as he was. But it’s also way more important to a band than he ever thought he could be. He learned otherwise.

5. Sheelagh watched her grades go up and school get easier the more into band she became.

6. Lily put down the violin she’d learned via the Suzuki method when she was three. She picked up the flute instead and while she realized her parents’ ambitions for her to play in a major symphony, she found a way to do it on her own terms.

7. Nate realized he had no musical ability whatsoever and that Guitar Hero was going to be his shot at the spotlight. That’s when the acting bug bit.

8. Meryem learned that music was a lot more than the stuff her dad made her listen to when she was in his car. No matter how good Old Blue Eyes sounds to Dads, he’s not always a hit with kids.

9. Allison learned about respect and power. She learned you get more of both when you don’t jump into bed with every Tom, Dick, and Harry who promises respect and power.

10. Sanjit learned the value of teamwork. Of being part of a section of instruments and how horrible they sound when even one person (okay, it was him) decides the music in front of him is only a suggestion.

11. Caitlyn learned that reading music is a lot like learning to read Russian. It’s a new alphabet, sure, but it’s not unconquerable with some hard work. Best of all, Caitlyn’s grandmother immigrated from Russia and is thrilled her granddaughter can speak the mother tongue.

12. Devon learned how much trouble you can get into when you’re part of the drumline. And how delicious it is to get into trouble. Sometimes.

13. Susan learned she can’t read music worth a damn, but has a good ear for what’ll be a hit on the radio. So she went into radio. For awhile. And now she sits at home and writes books about musicians and the people in their lives. And dreams of when these Musical Hanukkah Benefits will come the rest of the way to life and earn some actual bucks that she can donate in the name of West of Mars.

Oops. This last one ain’t fiction. But it’s not entirely reality yet, either.

Happy Hanukkah to all of you. Friday’s the last night. Have a jelly donut and go make some music.

Okay, so maybe I overdid it today at Boot Camp. I’m sore. My perennially sore parts are sore.

1. Victims of the Deadly Metal Hatchet are generally too dead to be sore.

2. Mitchell fell off the stage once. (It’s referenced in this outtake, in fact) He was sore afterward.

3. Daniel’s a drummer. His shoulders and arms often get sore. (As referenced in these outtakes, in fact).

4. Eric and Mitchell both get sore fingers. What do you expect from a couple of guys who play guitar most of the time?

5. Trevor gets sore… Nah. That’s too easy. You guys know Trevor. He loves his girls!

6. Okay, here’s a better one. The first couple of days on a new headlining tour, the entire band can be sore the next morning. Until they get into the swing of things, you know.

7. After Trevor pierced his ear, Mitchell was mighty sore.

8. And then there were all the fights that Daniel and Mitchell wound up having to fight when Trevor pissed off some girl’s boyfriend. Yeah, they were mighty sore after that.

9. If Eric didn’t pitch his tent in the right spot, he’d wake up sore from sleeping on a rock.

10. To return to Deadly Metal Hatchet for a moment, Fozzy was plenty sore after the accident. For months, in fact.

11. Soul Bedorff was generally too drunk to be sore. Ever.

12. More DMH: Lido’s got a VERY sore heart. You’ll hear about that one day.

13. And last, Chelle LaFleur’s VERY sore at her friend Mitchell. Seems there’s a holiday startin’ on Friday night and there ain’t gonna be a certain benefit concert this year… more on that later, though.

Opening Act #1 can’t get past the outtake I wrote over two years ago. (You’ll find a better-edited version in Demo Tapes: Year 2, you know.)

1. I think the kid’s just got cookies on the brain.

2. So does our favorite fictional band.

3. It probably began with that outtake I linked to above. Mitchell grew up in a house where baking cookies was a sign of love. Or sibling rivalry. You can read that one and decide.

4. That means that when the band was young, Mitchell’s Mom, Sonya, would send them on the road with a few dozen home-made cookies. To eat on the ride.

5. She’d always tell them to save some for after the show, when they’d be hungry. They, of course, never did.

6. As ShapeShifter became more successful, Sonya would fill shoeboxes with cookies and mail them to the band’s hotel. Mitchell always made sure she knew what fake name he’d sign in with (when he needed to; even that took awhile), and those cookies would be waiting.

7. Later, after Val quit her chef’s job, she’d help Sonya fill those shoeboxes. Suddenly, the guys had more than mere Tollhouse or double-chocolate cookies.

8. They would get chocolate crackles. They’d get cookies with candy hidden inside. They got some that were so fudgy, so gooey, the guys needed their fingers licked clean by willing groupies.

9. There were always willing groupies.

10. It fell into a rhythm: Charlie would do his Tour Manager gig and check the band in to the hotel. He’d come out with room keys — and a box.

11. The guys would fight over the box, pushing, shoving, grabbing it out of each other’s hands. Eventually Mitchell would assert dominance over it and open it.

12. Trevor would be first to stick his nose in to see what they’d gotten this time.

13. No one would move for their hotel rooms until the box was empty, their stomachs were upset, and they swore they’d do better next time.

… and the winner of Christie Craig’s latest novel, Divorced, Desperate, and Deceived is….

(we need a drum roll, but when I asked, Trevor threw a fit and said bass players never get any attention. It’s always the drummers, or the blonde asshole up front. I think he’s just jealous, myself)

It’s Anne, from Small Town Mommy!

I don’t usually wade into controversy. While I’m usually not scared to do it in real life, I really hate being flamed here on my blog, too. This is my safe haven.
But… sometimes, I gotta open my mouth. This is one of those times. It’s about that charmer, Adam Lambert.

There are some things I need to say up front:
* I did four years of college radio, running my own radio show. Had a staff, too; it became quite the operation. I worked with the record reps in New York City and LA (and various other places. Manalapan, New Jersey, anyone?).

* I came a job interview away from making a career with a record company. And that’s only the start of the many music-related things I’ve done.

*Add retail sales and concert promotion into the list, as well as stage crew. Don’t forget the FCC Radio Operator’s license in my wallet, although I couldn’t exactly have done college radio without it.

So I’m no stranger to the excesses of the music industry. Most of them just make me shrug. Some of them (like the original hoopla over the cover of Metallica‘s Load album) make me laugh.

Adam Lambert’s AMA performance is another story.
(more…)

Yeah. This is so long overdue, I’m not even changing this first line. I began drafting this in June. Yes, I’m embarrassed it’s taken me this long to acknowledge your kindnesses.

Summer can be hard, ya know? The kids are underfoot (sometimes literally), it’s hot, it’s sunny, Susan gets cranky.

And then I steal a few minutes here at my desk and open my e-mail and discover… you guys love me anyway.

Debbie at Wrighty Reads was kind enough to give Win a Book the Literary Blogging Award. She says, “The ladies at West of Mars provide a very valuable service with their ongoing list of the many contests on the blogs. Love the new site!”

Wow, Debbie. Thanks. Win a Book, I say over and over again, is my labor of love. I’m thrilled with its success.

The awesome ladies at Yankee Romance Reviewers work VERY hard to bring a stellar line-up of guests in almost daily. They’ve given Win a Book the Lemonade Cart. I love the lemonade cart, guys. But then, I love lemonade.

Then we have Lady Vampire, a woman I don’t know nearly well enough. I admire the fact that she reads so much vampire-themed books — without growing tired of it. Lady Vamp is definitely setting a standard among the book bloggers. Be sure to check her out, and not just because she’s given Win a Book the Heartfelt Award.

Laura at I’m Booking it gave Win a Book the Let’s Be Friends award. Let’s definitely be friends, Laura. Our acquaintance is new, but there’s room in my world for you.

And then there’s Jezebelsk. I have NO IDEA what kind of name that is, but it’s fun to say. Go on. Say it out loud. Fun, innit? Anyway, she’s given me the Zombie Chicken Award, which is truly one of my more favored award badges. I have to agree. I’d wear a Zombie Chicken t-shirt with pride.

Oh, yeah. J says she loves this site, too, but she’s GOT to know what books are being given away. Which is one of the many reasons I started Win a Book. Yay!

Nightdweller at Bibliophiles R Us has given Win a Book the Bloody Good Blog. Why thank you, babe. We do our best over there.

Wow. Notice how these are all directed at Win a Book? If you haven’t added my kooky, goofy, FUN site to your reader, you may want to rethink that. I have a BLAST with Win a Book. Apparently, it shows.

Shaunie, my dear friend, hangs at both blogs, so she told me to pick an award for each one. I’ve got a ton of awards already and don’t want to be greedy, so I’ll acknowledge the kindness and leave it at that.

So. Want to know where I’ve been hanging lately?

Ha. Win a Book’s been keeping me jumping. Maybe too much. And now I’ve added Rocks ‘n Reads to the mix.

I don’t know. Maybe it’s too much. The problem is, I feel like I’ve got a lot to say, a lot of work to do… What’s the old Gandhi saying? Be the change you want to see in the world.

I’m trying. It sure ain’t easy, but I’m trying.

Trevor pointed out to me that since the Demo Tapes (both of them!) are available through Barnes & Noble, he’s quite available for a little bit of nookie. At less than five bucks for each Demo Tape book, you’re getting the steal of a lifetime.

Yep, it’s true. Trevor Wolff. Appearing at a B&N near you.

I hope I’m the only one who gets nightmares from that idea.

**This offer only applies to the e-book versions, in case the price didn’t tip you off.

1. My Sunday Scribblings this week was the story of Mitchell being allowed a chance to play the famed Oracle guitar. From the scant comments, most of you missed a doozy.

2. The Oracle used to belong to Soul Bendorff.

3. Read more about Soul here.

4. Like his dark blue suede vests, the Oracle was his trademark.

5. He set one on fire every night, at the end of every set.

6. He used that guitar to redefine music.

7. The magic Soul created was part of what made Mitchell pick up the guitar in the first place.

8. The Oracle disappeared for many years after Soul’s death.

9. It finally reappeared at a Christie’s Auction.

10. It sold that first time for $300,000 or so.

11. The MBA developer-cum-memorabilia-collector named Jeff bought it for more than that. But less than it’s currently valued at.

12. Which makes me wonder why he’s offering to give it to Mitchell. But he is. It’s a sincere offer.

13. Just more of the magic of music.

OEBD? Operation e-Book Drop. I’ve mentioned it to you before. One month ago today, in fact. (I’m so slick!)

I’m bringing it back up today because two really cool things have happened that I want to tell you guys about.

First is that I did an interview for the Pittsburgh Literature Examiner about my participation in OEBD. This link will take you to an older article about it, but now you can add it to your reader and keep an eye open for it. I will, of course, let you know when it goes up.

Second is that a mere few hours after finishing the interview and sending it to Holly, I got a note from the kids’ school. One of the fourth grade classes has been writing letters to a serviceman stationed in Afghanistan. This year, the teacher has drafted the other fourth grade teachers to help put together a care package for the Troops.

I’ve got a ton of stuff here: lip balm, thanks to my friend Hank Phillippi Ryan (she sends me a new one with every book that comes my way); sudoku books I’ve never touched; playing cards that the Tour Manager won’t use again for poker.

And then, I’m going to print up some coupon codes for my books over at Smashwords and tuck them inside notecards that include my usual letter — and also offer an explanation of OEBD and how they can get more involved. With 220+ authors at this point, there’s got to be something for every serviceman out there. (The other side of this coin is that with 220+ authors, it’s harder to make Trevor stand out. But we’re dwelling on Only the Good here, right???)

I’m jazzed. I’d love to see OEBD turn into something as routine as those programs that provide books for prisoners. But mostly, I feel a little more connected to this group. Even though it’s not my kids who are writing to this troop, this hits close to home (as does the continued disappearance of Morgan Dana Harrington, but again! Only the Good!). This connection exists within my community.

When I think about all the shit in this world (see above.. Morgan, come HOME, dammit!), it’s these little connections that make me think there’s hope and merit in small acts of tikkun olam — to heal the world.

If you’re an author, why not look into making your books available for OEBD? If you’re not (or if you are; I don’t like to exclude people), please continue to support me and the Trevolution. Giving away free e-books may not cost me anything but time and a few e-mails, but on the other hand, it was you guys who brought The Demo Tapes to life. The bigger this thing gets, the more gestures like OEBD mean.

Happy Friday the 13th.

Holy shit, I’m old. When an icon like Sesame Street is younger than you are, you are OLD. Maybe my dear friend Toby is right and I AM older than dirt.

Or maybe I’m lying about my age.

Doesn’t really matter. What matters is that Sesame Street turned 40.

I have vivid memories of:
1. Mr. Hooper. What a funny thing to think of first.

2. The street itself. The dirty, gritty street that was clearly not the TV set. I always knew it was shot somewhere else. The streets of New York? Didn’t matter. Those city streets were very different from my own suburban white-bread upbringing.

3. Oscar. Man, I love that grouch. Maybe there’s part of him in Trevor.

4. Cookie Monster! I remain envious at the sheer number of cookies that muppet has access to. In my next life, I want to be Cookie Monster.

5. The Count and his organ. I think I liked the organ better than I liked the counting. (See? Music junkie at a young age!)

6. Gordon and Maria. They were so nice. I think the lessons of their different ethnicity were lost on me. Or maybe that explains why I don’t get the fuss about people of other ethnic backgrounds.

7. Bert and Ernie. Gay? Fuck no. Best friends.

8. Big Bird. Big, yellow, feathered … and while others may say he’s a true innocent, I always sort of thought he wasn’t that smart.

9. Grover. I never really got Grover. I just sorta tolerated him, the way you tolerate a goofy friend.

10. “Sh..” “..eep” Remember those word mashes? And the lips that spoke them?

11. MUPPETS. Oh, man. Nothing on that show impacted me more than the muppets did. I adore the muppets. I adore all they stand for: making life a party, and laughing, and caring. Dance your life away, worries for another day… or however the Fraggle Rock song goes. I shouldn’t even be singing it ’cause it wasn’t on Sesame Street.

12. Hi-ho! Kermit the Frog here! Those of you who recall my character of Kermitt Ladd, intrepid rock reporter, will maybe, hopefully, finally get the joke.

13. Rubber Duckie. Enough said.

Happy birthday, Sesame Street. Here’s to 40 more years of you raising our kids right. Assuming you all think I came out right…