The Event of the Century Is A Smashing Success!

Well, I’m sure my vast audience of blog readers are dying to hear all about my book release party! (Except that they were both at the party and already know the details.) (Hi Rachael. Hi Shelley.)

Still, it was a glorious event. And even if this posting falls only on the eyes of some random Google searcher in Slicklizzard, Alabama looking for a good deal on patio furniture, the details of the Legends of the Plastic Chairs Official Book Release Party deserve to be broadcast.

I will begin by reiterating a line from my last posting: “I do not have conventional friends.”

That reality was never so apparent than between the hours of 2 and 5 PM at the Thai Swan Restaurant in Orange last Sunday.

What a joy it was for me to scan the crowd and observe the classical composer bent in rapt attention toward the vitamin salesman; the insurance investigator, the rocket scientist, and my neighbor Tom mixing it up over a joke; Neil the MySpace guy and the children’s theater director debating the best forum for a screenplay; the eighty-year-olds and the rock band guitar player scrutinizing Beth’s flawed emerald ring; the audiologist, the core sample driller, the bookkeeper, and the church choir director teasing the Brooklyn Italian over his tough guy accent. There was my old boss talking recipes with Aree the restaurant owner, my son Ryan flanked by two doe-eyed beauties who he thinks just want to be his friend, the software developer and her daughter, the amateur photographer who seemed to be everywhere at once. There was the shy, quiet one who stood aloof much of the time, the old friends who told funny stories about me, a couple of charming ex-husbands, and a best friend who flitted about like a beautiful social butterfly making sure no one was left out.

The weather was a perfect 73 degrees. Aree’s food was fabulous. I sold enough books to pay next month’s rent. The gathering was every bit as extraordinary as I had predicted.

My friends are an unconventional lot, and I love them all for it.

The "Legends of the Plastic Chairs" Official Book Release Party

My official book release party is coming up on Sunday, November 25th. For this momentous occasion, my friends at Dog Ear Publishing have rented the ballroom of the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. Naturally, all of Hollywood’s elite will be attending, and Sting is slated to perform as a warm-up to my reading.

Bruce Willis has requested to be my date.



Mmm hmmm...



In reality, my official book release party will be considerably less ostentatious than all that. But I don’t mind. From humble beginnings come great artists. The “Legends of the Plastic Chairs” Official Book Release Party will be held proudly on Sunday at the Thai Swan Restaurant in Orange, California. There may not be any celebrities in attendance, but all the important people in my life will be there. And that’s what it’s all about.

The Thai Swan is a bit of a hole in the wall, but not in a bad way. In a good way! It feels authentic. It’s small, immaculate, smartly decorated, and most importantly there is no finer Thai food in all of Southern California. Lucky for me, the owner of the restaurant is dear friend, Aree Shepard.

Aree is from Thailand and learned to prepare all her sumptuous dishes growing up there. Did you know that Thailand has four distinct culinary regions? Because Thailand is bordered by many countries, the cuisine is a blend of Indian, Chinese, and Malaysian influences. I can’t wait for my friends to try Aree’s delicacies at the party. I’m nearly as excited about promoting her food as I am about pimping my book.

I’ve invited another writer to join the celebration with me. His name is Dave Seymer and his book is a teen thriller entitled “One Wicked Summer,” a suspenseful and hilarious story about 12-year-old Jake Andrews and his friends, and the wickedly unbelievable adventures they have one summer vacation. It will be fun having Dave at the party. He and I graduated from college together, both with the dream of writing a book someday. I’m delighted we achieved our dream in the very same year.

I’ve also invited a musician friend whose latest CD will provide the lyrical backdrop for the event. Dwight Mikkelsen primarily writes movie scores, but he also composes and records the most gorgeous contemporary classical music to ever to grace one’s ears. Dwight was actually the person who came up with the title for my book, “Legends of the Plastic Chairs”. You can read that story here.

The guests at my party will include a conglomeration of family, friends, and acquaintances. A sprinkling of my MySpace contacts have committed to making an appearance. I’m looking forward to meeting these particular people in person. I’ve enjoyed getting to know them electronically and I’m impressed with the support they’ve shown. I really appreciate my eclectic little circle of MySpace “friends.”

The party will go from 2 to 5 PM on Sunday, and I expect a turnout of about 60 people. I have another friend who will be photographing the event so I can display photos on my website later on. I don’t expect that this will turn out to be a conventional book release party…but then again how could it? I am not a conventional writer. “Legends of the Plastic Chairs” is not a conventional book. And I do not have conventional friends.

The party is destined to be extraordinary.

“Legends of the Plastic Chairs” Gets Its Very First Review!

There is a blog out there called The PODler whose soul function is to review self-published works, and to hand out their annual “International Print on Demand Award” to the very best POD book they encounter long the way.

Although The PODler specializes in reviewing “the independent novel,” they mention in the fine print that basically anything goes:

“I review the following: thriller (any: medical, political, techno, etc.), mystery, historical, suspense, espionage, sci-fi, fantasy, literary with any of the above genre elements, (for instance, a book along the lines of House of Sand and Fog.), literary (coming of age, growing up, immigrant) mixed genres (for instance alternate history detective as in Fatherland). Some YA adult novels are okay, as long as they are along the lines of Dragon Rider, that is fantasy/ sci-fi/ adventure. Please query if unsure. We also welcome non-fiction (memoir, biography, history, current events/politics).”

With great anticipation, I completed their simple submission instructions and began the wait for news. They do not promise your book will be reviewed. You just have to wait and watch. To my delight, it was only four days before my first official book review appeared in the glassy lights of The PODler's pages. The reviewer made a startling confession in the very first sentence:

“Legends of the Plastic Chairs is our first non-fiction submission and it comes from Patricia Curtis.”

Now think of it. Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, my little book was the first non-fiction submission The PODler had ever received. That came as a bit of a surprise to me. Reading on, their unfamiliarity with non-fiction became evermore apparent.

(See entire review here.)

Even though I only scored a “C” on their rating scale, I rather enjoyed my first review. It was full of fascinating observations. At one turn, they called me a mystic and a Saint; at another, they claimed my ability to hear “The Voice” was an outright lie. (I wonder, would it have been more believable if I was writing it in a novel?)

Their main criticism of the book, however, was a lack of detail:

“Although I like the underlying story, I have some problems with the execution--one huge problem is the lack of more details; the author tells and summarizes too much instead of really getting into the moments of her life by vividly presenting events in form of scenes. This lack of detail makes the story seem thin and sometimes less than believable. This is too bad because the story is an important one.”

Now, I could take this personal, but I won’t. I will continue to bear in mind that this reviewer was stacking my one little inspirational submission up against a mountain of fictional submissions. Fiction relies on detail. We all know that. Fiction is detail. But my book does not need the details of my job at Kragen Auto Supply in order to get across a message of hope to persons who have been emotionally brutalized. I got my message across care-fully and elegantly. And even the reviewer admitted to that. (OK, not really, but I'm going to imagine they did.)

The bottom line is, I got a decent review from a reputable blogger and I am happy with it.

My little book that could is going to become a best seller someday. Mark my words.

It's Official!

I feel like such a rockstar now.

Last Wednesday I received a delivery from UPS, 150 copies of my new book, Legends of the Plastic Chairs. It’s finally official. I am a published author. I have the proof right here in my hands. And not only that, but my book is now listed on Amazon.com

Amazon.com: Legends of the Plastic Chairs by Patricia Curtis

My friend over at Dog Ear Publishing, Matt, informs me it may take a bit longer before Barnes and Noble picks up my listing. I guess they’ve got a backlog of new books or something. But that does not dismay me. I am a published author and a rockstar and nothing can diminish my joy.