Martha Stewart, Nicholas Sparks, and Koalas With Chlamydia

Welcome to my 2011 Year In Review special edition blog post!

Things started on a high note last January, when Harper Perennial released my debut, Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love, as a paperback and e-book. The New York Times Book Review called it "cheeky," while Martha Stewart's Whole Living recommended it as the perfect Valentine's Day gift book. Meanwhile, Amazon reviewers called it "funny but shallow," which perhaps sums up my personality.

After my east coast book tour wrapped up in February, I sat down to work on my second nonfiction book, tentatively titled Literary Rock Stars: A History of Wayward Writers (due out spring 2013 from Harper Perennial). It's shaping up to be a fun, but cautionary, look at the lives of writers who went overboard with alcohol, drugs, sex, and self-destructive behaviors.

In May, I started a Twitter hashtag called "SparksFacts," including such gems as "Nicholas Sparks once delivered a woman's baby during a reading, then signed the baby." Sparks replied, saying that many of the facts, while not true, were "quite funny."

During the spring and summer, I took time off from my manuscript to attend BookExpo America, the RT Booklovers Convention in L.A., and the Romance Writers of America annual meeting in New York. I had so much fun, in fact, that I'll be hitting the same conventions in 2012! If you're there, flag me down and we can grab coffee.

In June, Neil Gaiman smacked me down on Twitter after I asked him to assist me in my attempt to educate koalas, who are dying in epidemic numbers due to chlamydia, in safe-sex practices. "You do realize the chlamydia they're dying of is a form of pneumonia and not an STD, right?" he said. I hid from Twitter in shame of my ignorance.

In November, I once again attempted to write a novel in 30 days during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). My book, a werewolf romance called "The Very Hairy Sheriff," stalled out about halfway through at 30,000 words. It was total garbage, and went straight into my Macbook's trash bin. My hats are off to the novelists out there who have the patience to see their books through to the end. Writing a novel is still on my bucket list, but I think I'll stick with nonfiction for now.

And, lastly, if you have a copy of Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love on your bookshelf, please kindly cross that line out of the bio that says that I live with my wife in Iowa, as that's now outdated. We divorced last year; my ex-wife kept the house and the dog, while I moved to Kentucky. It sounds like a country and western song, doesn't it?

How was your 2011? Any significant life changes I should know about?

-------------

Andrew Shaffer

Twitter: @evilwylie / @andrewtshaffer

Comments

[Greeting Card Printing]

Nice. I jut can't get enough with the works of Nicholas Sparks. The best novelist for me.

- James

[Sharon]

Wait, you moved? No more visits to Eastern? Why were we not made aware of this?!

[DeadlyAccurate]

I'm sorry to hear about your divorce. No life changes for me. I adopted a kitten. Does that count?