The Fix Up: The Update

I have continued to be humbled and amazed by the willingness of people to buy copies of my first book, The Fix Up. Not only that, but many of them have even said they liked it! That's about as good as it gets for an author.

Nathan Comp, a fine writer himself, was kind enough to give the book a proper review, and you can read it over at dane101.com today. His criticisms are constructive, and his compliments quite flattering. Deeply appreciated.

I'd also like to mention that I only have 9 copies left that can be bought directly from me for a discounted price. If you'd like to get a book using this method, now's the time to act! Just drop me a line via email to arrange it, or send $12 (cash or personal check only) to me at the following address:

Emily Mills
P.O. BOX 3001
Madison, WI 53704

Be sure to include your preferred mailing address and I'll be sure to sign the copy for you. Otherwise, you can still purchase copies at A Room of One's Own bookstore in downtown Madison, or securely online at my e-store here.

And now? Well, I must admit that I've already written the first page of the sequel to this book, but I'm also heavily focused on working on a novel I've been mulling on and off for the past couple of years. You could say that it's a bit different than this one--it deals with a woman who poses as a man and fights in the American Civil War. Because I'm a huge history dork! And because it's based on a real person, and real events, which interests me. It's going to be quite the project, but I'm excited to really tackle this one. Heck, I may even shop it out to proper publishers once it's finished. That is, if there are any proper publishers left at that point. What a world, what a world.


(photo is of my good friend Jenny, who was so enthusiastic that she had to eat my book)

I wrote a book!

It's true! Last year, I actually buckled down and completed a novel as part of National Novel Writing Month (wherein you must hit the 50k word mark in 1 month). Since then, I've been hacking away at it, drafting a few writer friends to help provide edits and suggestions, and generally whipping it into shape.

Now, I am giddily excited to say that said novel, The Fix Up, is available in honest-to-goodness book form. I went through a company called CreateSpace (which is an Amazon affiliate), which provides really high-quality print-on-demand services for books, CDs, and DVDs. Turned out to be a pretty good deal, really.

I realize that this is just self-publishing, and not as fancy pancy as getting a novel published by some big publishing house (that'll come, just you wait!), but I still happen to think it's pretty cool. Honestly, this whole print-on-demand thing may well be the future of publishing for everyone.

In the meantime, it's my present. And I would love it if I even sold, like, 10 copies. So hey! If you're in the mood for some entertaining fiction, head on over to my store and check it out.

I will also be making copies available through me, myself, and I, for just $10 (I should mention that this will happen in about a week, at which time I will post about it again). Heck, I'd even sign 'em if for some crazy reason you were into that sort of thing. So if you're interested in that method, drop me a line at lostalbatross at gmail.com and we can arrange to either make the trade in person or by mail (U.S. only, and no extra cash for shipping).

Here's the somewhat generic teaser I whipped up for the book, to wet your whistle:

Chapel's not having a good decade. Released from prison for a crime she doesn't particularly want to talk about, she's looking to lead a more normal, legal life - but life, that bastard, has a few curve balls aimed at her head.

Befriended by a couple of well-connected street punks, Chapel finds herself navigating a treacherous underworld filled with drugs, betrayal, sexual ambiguity, crime, crooked cops, and death. All she really wanted to do, though, was make rent.

Inspired by the short film series and character created by Rob Matsushita, The Fix Up is equal parts suspense thriller and introspective, darkly humorous personal journey.

Those short films I reference are "Complicated" and "Distracted," in case you're curious.

So yeah, it's not the Great American Novel, but I'm happy with it. Nice to actually finish a novel for once in quite a long while, too. I may post a small excerpt from it in the near future, so you can get a better idea of what you'd be in for. That seems fair, anyway. Regardless, please check it out! And have a great weekend.