Hollywood, Book Critics, and Ridiculous Slippers

The Kopp Sisters Are Going to Hollywood!

I am so wildly excited to finally share the news! We have a deal to make an Amazon TV series based on the Kopp Sisters novels. Don't believe me? Here's the official announcement.
 

This picture does not come from the TV show! It's from a hilarious episode of Drunk History about the Kopp Sisters that aired a couple of years ago. If you missed it the first time around, go watch it here.

I don't know when the show will air. First they have to write it, and then they have to film it, and I'm probably oversimplifying the process just a bit. 

What I can tell you is that the show is in very good hands. When the NPR interview aired, over three years ago, we got a call from Elizabeth Banks' production company, Brownstone. She's working on getting more women-centered projects made, and this one fits the bill. Two very talented screenwriters, Jen Crittenden and Gaby Allen, were eager to take the project on. (You've seen their work most recently on VEEP.)

Before I signed the deal, I met with the writers in LA (believe it or not, in a bar at the Hotel Constance) and we talked for an hour or two. I felt like they understood what I was trying to do with these books, and they had a lot of respect for the Kopps' true story. Obviously, they're free to change that story as much as they want, but I think they'll make good decisions and have fun with it.

Fast-forward three years: While I was getting away from the February gloom in Mexico, they were going around to networks, pitching the show. There was nothing I could do but to drink tequila in a very supportive manner. A few weeks later, they emailed to say that my tequila drinking worked, and we had a green light!

More as I know it, but meanwhile...

Let's Celebrate with a Giveaway!

A box of Miss Kopp's Midnight Confession paperbacks just landed on my doorstop (and in bookstores everywhere), so I'm giving away a set of all three paperbacks, plus a few other books and a bunch of swag. (Pencils! We now have pencils!) 

Go here to enter, and...this part is optional...tell me who you think ought to play Constance, Fleurette, and Norma in the TV show! They really do ask the author who they imagine playing the role, so I have a chance to at least cast a vote. Next month, I'll report back on your casting decisions.

Congrats! You are America's Most Important Book Critic

(with apologies to Ron Charles.)

Ron Charles is the sharp and witty book critic for the Washington Post. If you've never seen his Totally Hip Book Review videos, in which he makes fun of book reviews and the book world in general, go check those out.

Ron Charles might actually be America's most important book critic, but as it turns out, so are you. In the last few years, reader reviews have taken on a surprising--and well-deserved--power in the book world. When a reader posts a review online, publishers pay attention. Bookstores pay attention. Libraries pay attention. Authors pay attention.

There's not as much newsprint or airtime devoted to books anymore. But readers--passionate, opinionated readers--have filled that void and have, collectively, become a powerfully strong champion of the books they love. 

The world is listening. You are being heard.

Once I realized that, I started posting more reviews of the books I love. Every time I give a book the thumbs-up, I know that I'm helping to put a book into another reader's hands.

I hope you'll consider doing the same. Doesn't have to be my books, could be any books you love. Every time you post a review or follow an author on a site like Goodreads, Litsy, Bookbub, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or any other such bookish site, you are lending your most-important-book-critic-in-America voice to the conversation.

Thank you for that.

And Now For Something Completely Ridiculous

Don't you love a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process? You know, those weird writerly habits and rituals that make it possible to sit down and face another blank page?

Well, I have a new one for you.
 

It involves these crazy microfiber slippers. Writers are known for taking up extreme, unnecessary cleaning projects as a means of procrastination.  I've never been one of those people--cleaning can wait, as far as I'm concerned--but I do need to get up and get away from my desk every hour or so. It helps to do something physical. It helps to move around.

That's where these silly slippers come in. Now that it's spring and my windows are open all the time, my nice wood floors are picking up an astonishing amount of dust, pollen, and grit that blows in along with the lovely breezes. 

Sweeping feels like a chore, but gliding around in these weird fuzzy slippers is surprisingly  fun. It's weirdly satisfying to step out onto my little balcony, shake out the dust-filled slipppers, and get back to work. I think I manage to shake a little dust out of my head when I do it.

(And if you want some for yourself, you can buy them anywhere. Just search online for microfiber slippers.)

Am I Coming to Your Hometown?

If so, I would love to meet you in person--and I will have a present for you. It's just a small token of my affection, but it's something I'll only be giving to people on this list. So come up and introduce yourself, and tell me that you  subscribe to this newsletter!

Portland, OR: May 10 Broadway Books
Cannon Beach, OR: May 18-20  Get Lit at the Beach
New Orleans, LA: June 23 American Library Association 
Mackinac Island, MI: Aug 26-28 The Grand Garden Show

Updated tour dates can always be found on my website. Please confirm details with the venue before you head out.

OMG These T-Shirts! 

AT LAST I can tell you what our prize is!

If you pre-order a copy of the fourth Kopp Sisters novel, Miss Kopp Just Won't Quit, you'll get a signed bookplate AND you'll be entered into a drawing to win a Miss (or Mr., or Ms) Just Won't Quit t-shirt of your very own. Or you can have a coffee mug. Or coasters. You can see them all here.


It works like this:
 

• Pre-order from your favorite bookseller. (links here)

• Forward your email receipt, or snap a photo, to promo@amystewart.com with NEWSLETTER in the subject line.

• Include your shipping address! This one's important!

• I will mail you a bookplate with Sheriff Heath's real signature (in the form of a rubber stamp) and mine.

• I'll also enter you in a drawing to win one of our fabulous personalized prizes. (You can actually just buy one if you want to. But winning is so much fun!)

• US only, enter by Aug 31. Winner announced by Sept. 10.

What Are You Reading?

I'm doing a little research right now, so there's nonfiction on my nightstand: Her Own Hero, The Origins of the Women's Self-Defense Movement, by Wendy Rouse, and The Second Line of Defense: American Woman and World War I by Lynn Dumenil. Both excellent overviews of their subjects, with great pictures.

What about you? Join me on Facebook or Goodreads or Litsy and tell me what you're into these days!