I apologize for not having a recap last week, but as you’ll see, there’s so much to deal with in this chapter that it’s required double the time to write it.
If you’re looking for a few eye rolls today, check out this interview with Lani Sarem at Mike Mauthor’s blog, wherein she plays coy about her possible “cameo” in the film, says she believes that acting gives her extra insight into writing (I’m sure her experience as an uncredited extra in Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 more than qualifies her to be an author), and changes her story about the New York Times debacle yet again:
Well, I’m the only person that’s ever had that happen to them…people jumped to a lot of conclusions without all the facts and then started saying things that weren’t even close to being true…I hope people will take the time to understand what really happened and enjoy the book for what it is….
In case you’re getting liar whiplash, the story so far has gone:
- I didn’t cheat, we sold this book at conventions based on Thomas Ian Nicholas’s star power
- I didn’t cheat, I did things the way we do them in the music industry
- I didn’t cheat, YA authors are just jealous of me
- Okay, maybe I cheated, but isn’t it the publishing industry’s fault for not being as smart as me?
- Tee hee, I cheated, might as well use it in my marketing
And now we’ve arrived at:
- I didn’t cheat, people just jumped to conclusions without all the facts and then lied about me
The thing is, you can’t really say that people jumped to conclusions without facts when it was their dogged pursuit of the facts that got you found out in the first place. This is probably the most well-documented YA scandal in recent memory. The facts are there. A better strategy might be to discourage people from checking into them.
But it’s not all gaslighting and self-aggrandizement, dear readers. No, no. There is so, so much more for me to share with you today.
There’s a book trailer.
Note how the lush, verdant forest calls to mind the book’s gritty, Las Vegas Strip setting. Wonder at the clips lifted from copyrighted sources (such as Disney’s Enchanted and Cirque du Soleil). Marvel at how clunky and weird it is to announce a guest appearance by the Plain White T’s in your novel.
This is why I don’t have book trailers, guys. Well, this and the fact that they’re so freaking expensive.
Let’s get recapping the first part of this monster chapter.
