February 7, 2010 • reading •

Sunday Salon: Guess who’s in a book? No, really!

The Sunday Salon.com

BREAKING NEWS: GUESS WHO’S BEEN PUBLISHED – IN AN ACTUAL BOOK?!
I haven’t previously shared the details of this with anyone except my husband because I didn’t entirely believe it would happen, but a post of mine from September 2007 has been published in an essay anthology. (I’m trying to sound matter-of-fact about it, but trust me, I’m totally SQUEE-ing on the inside!)

Early last year, I received an e-mail

“…to inquire about an essay ‘The Responsible Child?’ appearing on your blog on the topic of “boomerang” kids who return to their parental home (or presume that they have a right to return) following college. Your essay responds to a blog entry posted on Penelope Trunk’s site.

We would like to run both pieces in the 10th edition of the expository writing textbook, The Contemporary Reader by Gary Goshgarian, to be included in a new chapter exploring the financial burdens facing college students and 20-somethings post-graduation. The idea is to present two viewpoints, not necessarily opposing, on the same issue.”

I was thrilled to grant written permission, but assumed they’d only publish the piece if they also received the right to publish the “other-viewpoint” post as well. Since I had no control over that, I didn’t give the matter too much more thought, and months went by…

A few days ago, I opened a package from an address I didn’t recognize, and found this:

Contemporary Reader, The (10th Edition)

I flipped to the table of contents, and on page 174, there it was:

The Responsible Child?
Florinda Vasquez

The anthology actually looks pretty interesting. In addition to the unknowns like me, there are pieces by some well-known writers, which really makes me feel kind of weird (in a very good way, though!), and discussions of all sorts of current topics. But in addition to their value as content, the essays were also selected to offer students examples of specific writing concepts in action. EEK – I’m setting an example!

In return for granting the right to publish the essay, I was offered author credit for the piece (done), reference in the acknowledgments (done), a copy of the book (done), and an honorarium payment (not done yet, but I’ll be watching my mailbox).

I’m not linking to the original essay because I’m re-posting it here tomorrow, and I’d love to have you weigh in on it. Also, if you should happen to come across the book itself (which I should warn you is sold as a textbook and priced accordingly), it does look like some pretty good reading – I’m excited about the chance to check it out!

DISCLOSURE: I received a copy of the book from the publisher as partial compensation for my contribution. The cover photo was obtained via Amazon.com. I am an Amazon Associate and receive a small percentage of any sales generated via links.

BOOKKEEPING: The Reading Status Report

Next reviews scheduled:
American Rust: A Novel, by Philipp Meyer (TLC Book Tours, Thursday 2/11)
The Wives of Henry Oades: A Novel, by Johanna Moran (TLC Book Tours, Tuesday 2/23)

New to my LibraryThing “To Read” Collection:

For review:
The Danish Girl: A Novel, by David Ebershoff (from the author, for an upcoming book tour)
For me:
Housekeeping vs. the Dirt and Shakespeare Wrote for Money, both by Nick Hornby (still waiting for The Polysyllabic Spree, which is on backorder)

New additions to the Wishlist:

BOOKMARKS: Reading-related Reading

What do book bloggers say about the books we passionately DON’T love?

What makes for a good author interview? And what do authors say about publishers and diversity? Also: what really makes one “a writer”?

Why reports of the impending death of publishing may be inaccurate

About Twitter book clubs and bookseller/book blogger connections

A survey about “temptation” reveals that even in a tight economy, people are still indulging in buying books

Challenges and Events

Do you need to challenge yourself to read more non-fiction? Or do you just like the idea of having a good excuse to read more of it…like counting it for a reading challenge?

I’m in the second category. I read a fair amount of non-fiction – mostly memoir – and have several nonfiction books already earmarked for my Women Unbound and Blogging Authors Reading Project lists, so the Truth is Stranger Than Fiction Challenge is impossible for me to resist!

The challenge is hosted on its own blog by Caitlin of Chaotic Compendiums, and you can sign up there. It will run for 13 months (2/1/10-2/28/11), and participants choose their level of activity:

  • Just the Facts – Read two non-fiction books.
  • The Scoop – Read four non-fiction books.
  • The Whole Story – Read six non-fiction books.
  • Nothing But the Truth – Read eight (or more) non-fiction books.

Because I try to be conservative, yet realistic – that is, I don’t set the bar TOO high – in my challenge commitments, I’m in for “The Whole Story.” Six non-fiction books during the next year should be well within my range.

Any other non-fiction lovers signing on for this one?

liberty cartoon

In other challenge news…inspired by the location of the upcoming Book Expo American and Book Blogger Convention, Softdrink has decided to host her very first reading (and writing) challenge: The New York Challenge.

“The reading portion of the challenge will be super easy. All you have to do is read one book set in New York City. The rest of the challenge is optional, and devoted to fun New York stuff. Over the next few months I’ll be asking you to write posts about New York…memories, travel tips, lists, trivia…you get the picture. Then, during the week of BEA I’ll feature a few wrap-up posts, highlighting everyone’s posts (and New York!). And yes, there might even be a few prizes along the way…”

Get all the details at Fizzy Thoughts. And here’s a start: 10 Great Places to Read in NYC.

Have a great reading week!

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37 comments

  1. That's so great! Congratulations. I remember when you were just a regular blogger, now you are a published author.

    Don't forget the little people. 🙂

  4. Congratulations! That is fantastic news!

    I'm also pleased to see Simon Lelic made it onto your wishlist – I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did!

  10. Thanks, everyone. After the last couple of weeks, it's nice to get comments and support for some good news :-).

    Mike – Don't read too much into it (no pun intended!) :-). And thanks!

    Marie B, Patois, Vasilly, and Heather J – Thank you! It's pretty exciting :-).

    Jackie – Thanks for the good wishes AND the book review. It sounds like a good one!

    Dawn – Oh, good. That's one reason I'm re-posting it tomorrow instead of linking to the original post…hopefully it will make it easier for people (and generate recent comments and search traffic, too :-D).

    I've been interested in reading THE DANISH GIRL for a while, so I couldn't pass up the tour!

    Amy – Thanks! And aw shucks, I'm blushing now :-).

  12. Way cool! I would probably spend the next week or so stroking the book and smiling like an idiot. But then I'm weird like that. LOL!

  13. Way cool, my friend. And well deserved, too. I don't remember if I read that piece or not, but given how thoughtful you generally are (and that's an understatement!), I can see why your writing and thoughts would have great appeal.

  20. oh, I'm SQUEE-ing with you on having a post included in a published work! WOW!!!!! too cool.
    and I'm thinking abt that nonfiction challenge – I love nonfiction, really.

  25. Congratulations! How exciting it must be to see your name in print – I look forward to reading the re-post of the piece tomorrow.

    Thanks for linking to my list of places to read in NYC! Glad to see you liked it!

  27. Kristen – "Preciousss…" Kind of like that? I sort of did that for the first couple of days :-).

    Susan – I'd be surprised if you did read it originally; I think that was before we re-connected via our blogs. I do hope you'll check it out tomorrow though! And when it comes to writing, I think essays are my comfort zone.

    Kathy (Bermudaonion), Beth F, Wendy, Michelle, and Kim – Thank you very much for sharing my excitement over this! 🙂

    Jennifer – We took a very nice drive up to Santa Barbara for the afternoon, and I bought myself three books and a pair of earrings. It WAS a pretty nice weekend :-D.

    Care – Thanks…and thanks for reminding me I actually need to sign up for that challenge!

    Laura, April, Robin, and Nan – Thanks, and I hope you'll come back to read the essay when it re-posts!

    Booksync – I hope to check out a couple of the places on your list when my family visits NYC in June – thanks!

    Jill (Softdrink) – I agree!! It may not be good writing practice, but over-use of exclamation points IS warranted in this case!!! 😀

  29. Congratulations…that is such exciting news! On another note, your picture of your beautiful dog Gypsy on your blog made me smile and want to cry at the same time!

  31. Avis and Michelle – Thank you!

    Kathleen – I know what you mean about that reaction to Gypsy's picture. I tend to have it myself :-).