Cover Boy

Y’all. Holy shit. Do you have any idea how hard it’s been to not show you this? Hard. Really hard. So hard.

That’s my book cover. And yes, that’s my baby boy on my book cover, the book about my sweet, terrible, perfect dog, and something about a road trip or America or whatever. The point is…. WOODY COVER. Extremely cool Woody cover. It feels right, that Woody’s on the cover. Wouldn’t have made much sense any other way. He’s the reason there’s a book at all. And if the book’s any good, he’s why.

I could tell you how this cover came about but I would have to show you a string of texts between my brother and me, some ill-advised, though I believe hilarious emails to my editor, at least two group chats, my extremely helpful input of “I dunno, something cool?” and none of that matters, because one day, this showed up in my email and everyone took one look and said “THAT’S IT. THAT’S THE ONE. Because it is, to say the least, something cool. Extremely fuckin’ cool. I’m told this brilliant artist, Tyler Comrie, made it.

Wait.

There’s more.

I know.

I’m trying to be really cool about this. No big deal.

(Jesus Christ. It’s insane that we’re here already. I realize y’all are thinking it’s been 4 or 40 years since I said I was taking a road trip and there might be another book. You have somehow put up with my talking about road trips and writing about road trips for 40 years at least. But to me, somehow it feels like it’s been two weeks since I headed out with Woody. Now I’m over-caffeinated in a hotel room outside Little Rock listening to Woody snore. And I am not ready. Not even a little. I still haven’t finished scouring the proofs for typos. But we’re here.)

Okay, well, Woody’s here. As I’m typing this bit, we are, in the best Best Western in Little Rock.

(Let’s enjoy these last few moments before the fame gets to him.)

Okay. Deep breath.

I’m not sure who’s in charge of my travel schedule but Woody and I would like a word. Woody, because he had to deal with three days in the truck and, this morning, my singing Reba to him. Little Rock, obviously. But mostly, I’ve found that it might be inadvisable to spend the day before something like this driving halfway across the country with Woody. Or maybe that’s the perfect way.

I’m gonna get to Austin before I type the next bit. I haven’t told my dad yet. And I don’t want to accidentally publish this and not get to tell him in person. Not why I’m going to Austin right now. But worth a trip. I’m gonna walk Woody and sing him a little more Reba.

(I’m being told it’s a little weird how often I casually drive halfway across the country. But I want Woody with me. So. Whatever.)

We’ve now made it to Austin. Worth it. Woody has been overfed by his grandma and I’ve had a couple beers with my dad. And I think I’m ready to type another one of those insane statements that happens to be true.

HOLY SHIT. OKAY. SO. Here we go.

By the time y’all read this, somehow, People Magazine will have revealed this cool as hell cover. You could probably go to People Magazine and look. I can’t add a link here because it hasn’t happened yet. But I’m told it will happen tomorrow morning. One of my more infuriating qualities is that I don’t know what anything means. But I know it’s pretty fucking big deal to have a book cover announcement in People Magazine. Weird thing that happens maybe because I’m old enough to experience hot flashes. I mean that I only freak out about things I knew about from the 1900s, nothing else is real. People Magazine is real. People Magazine was the bathroom magazine at my grandma’s house. (If you’re from the 1900s, you’ll understand this was a place of honor.) So my book in People Magazine, cool as hell.

I don’t have a link for that. It hasn’t happened yet. BUT…

The cool thing, the way these things go, is that this—the book cover reveal—means that I can now post this next thing for the first of what will be 500 times at least. I mean that you can, if you’re so inclined, order a copy of my little book, the one with my dog on the cover.

THIS IS A LINK TO MY BOOK

(I want to point out, again, that I have had to sit on this information for weeks, WEEKS. My god. And I’m not the only one. Y’all. Some of you glorious motherfuckers signed up for updates or google alerts or I don’t even know. And you DMed and texted me to tell me you’d already preordered, upon which, I took an extra strong edible. Cried a little bit. And once I was done panicking that dear god I am not ready for this, I asked you to keep it under wraps, and you did!!! For which, for all of which, thank you, truly. We all deserve a cookie or something.)

But now, we’re here. So, if you’re inclined, (please be so inclined) a few bookstores are linked on my publisher’s website. If you want to order from your local brick and mortar bookshop, it may not be up on their website yet, and you might have to call them, though I know some already have it listed. In any case, I am sure they’ll appreciate the business. If you don’t have a local or favorite bookshop, this link will take you to Bookshop dot org, where your purchase benefits independent bookstores.

(Oh hey, psst. Preorders tell bookshops that this is a book they might want to have in stock. And preorders tell my publisher that they might want to send me there, wherever that is. In other words, if you want to meet Woody, you know what to do.)

I really meant to be more eloquent. But I’m too excited and anxious, and I have got to lay off the caffeine if we’re going to survive these next few months. Holy shit. Hang on tight I guess. We’re doing this again. I promise you will get so tired of my posting this link. We’re gonna do a couple giveaways once I have ARCs. But goddamn it’s fun to finally show you something.

HOLY SHIT

Woody and I are going to take a little walk before bed. I’ll see y’all in the morning.

Yep. That’s my book. Holy shit.