How to Repair a Mechanical Heart: Now Made of Actual Trees!
THIS MORNING. 5:04 a.m.
ABEL: Whaaaaaat on God’s holy green earth is she doing at five in the morning?
BRANDON: I think she’s…singing?
ABEL: Let me rephrase that: WHY THE HELL IS SHE SINGING at five in the morning when I was having an incredible dream about that one dude from Nashville?
BRANDON: She did create us. It’s kind of her right.
ABEL: Go see what she’s up to.
BRANDON: Fine, fine. [grumps out of bed] …Nashville?
ABEL: Just go with it.
THREE MINUTES LATER
BRANDON: Captain, it appears she is hanging streamers; blowing up red, blue, and yellow balloons; and baking snickerdoodles and a rocket-shaped cake dotted with cinnamon jellybeans.
ABEL: Weird. It’s not our birthdays.
BRANDON: She’s also hugging a paperback version of How to Repair a Mechanical Heart.
ABEL: THERE’S A PAPERBACK???
BRANDON: There is now, apparently.
ABEL: HOLY SAINT PETER ON A HOVERBOARD.
BRANDON: I know, right? It only took what—three years?
ABEL: She had a lot going on!
BRANDON: Don’t make excuses for her.
ABEL: Shit, she’s gonna make us come to her sad little re-release party, isn’t she?
BRANDON: Probably. Crap. I hate her parties. She’s always hugging us and crying and thanking us for existing.
ABEL: Right, and then she plays all these moldy-ass pop songs from two years ago like she just discovered them. “Guys, I’m obsessed with this ‘Come and Get it’ song by Selena Gomez?”
BRANDON: Aw, we shouldn’t laugh.
ABEL: Yeah, it’s not her fault she’s old.
BRANDON: And I guess this is kind of a big deal, even though I’m super-embarrassed about all the stuff I did in that book.
ABEL: Like fall in love with me on a life-changing summer road trip to six Castaway Planet fan conventions?
BRANDON: …That was the good part.
ABEL: Oh, oh, look, Tin Man. She’s getting ready to do that thing she does.
BRANDON: What thing?
ABEL: Where she makes an announcement and acts all self-deprecating to hide how proud and excited she is?
BRANDON: I’m going back to bed.
***
Well guys, it took three years, but How to Repair a Mechanical Heart is officially out in paperback. When I shoved the ebook out the door back in 2012, I didn’t expect to have more than a handful of readers who weren’t related to me, let alone strangers who wanted the paperback version on their shelves. Thank you, Team Abandon, for all the love and support (and to my “been there, done that” friends who passed me lanterns as I picked my way through Formatting Hell and the Murky Forest of ISBN Decisions—there’s a special place in indie-author heaven for you).
Here’s the link to get the paperback if you’re interested. In the coming days/weeks, I’ll also be stopping by some blogs like The Novel Approach and Joyfully Jay to share excerpts and do some giveaways of signed copies. If you enjoyed HTRaMH, please spread the word to your book-loving friends—for indies, every little mention helps.
In the meantime, if you’re not already #TeamAbandon and want to learn more about the book, here are some reviews, quote graphics, and interviews. Hope you’ll join Brandon and Abel, who will enthusiastically fulfill your summer-road-trip reading needs (and will have a fun subplot in my third novel, in progress and hopefully coming next year).
One more thing…
Also wanted to announce that I’m kinda relaunching this blog, starting NOW. (I’ve been redesigning it and tweaking the layout for a month or so—how’s it look?) Maintaining a disciplined writing schedule is something I always struggle with, and I’m thinking it would help grease the wheels if I tried a regular blogging schedule with an actual (gasp!) editorial calendar. So my goal is to post something interesting, funny, or useful every Monday—whether it’s a book review, an author interview, a little cartoon about writing, or a photo essay on the nine most terrifying porcelain clowns I saw at Goodwill on Saturday. Hopefully announcing it here will keep me honest. Let’s see how it goes! (If you want to follow along/yell at me for slacking, subscribe to the blog in the sidebar to your right.)
Thanks again! Next up: paperback We Won’t Feel a Thing!
This Post Has 9 Comments
So, so excited to have this in my hot little hand! (Also, um, which character from Nashville . . . ?) <3
OH, YOU! <3 (He won't say. I think it's Gunnar, though.)
I HAVE BEEN WAITING. I HAVE BEEN WAITING AND NOW IT’S ON MY WISHLIST FOR NEXT WEEK AND I CAN’T STAND IT.
YOU SHOUTED THIS PAPERBACK INTO EXISTENCE AND I LOVE YOU FOR IT.
Woohoo!! Congrats!!
Thanks, Cayce!
Did a Google search on highly recommended LGBT books, and found your little gem in the Buzzfeed link! ;o) Got it from B&N this past Saturday and plan to finish it tonight! ;o) SUCH A FUN READ and a has a very similar flow to the ‘Tales of the City’ anthology. I may be asking questions you’ve probably been asked a 1,000 times, but I’ll ask them anyway ;o) What was the inspiration for the novel? Aaaaand… Why did you choose 2 male leads versus 2 female leads? Ohhh… And BTW, THANK YOU for writing this book – I’ve enjoyed every smile and every laugh along the way! ;o)
Hi there, Craig. I’m so glad you’re enjoying the book; thank you so much for reading it!
Regarding your first question, I talk a little about what sparked the idea for HTRAMH in this interview: http://the-ll-word.blogspot.com/2012/11/jc-lillis-and-her-boys-have-come-to-lls.html
And as far as “why two boys and not two girls”…I wish I had a profound answer for that, but really Brandon and Abel were just the first two characters that popped into my head when I came up with the concept for the book. I think in my mind they had to be guys because the slash they were snarking on was m/m, and I liked the idea of them bellyaching about the fic for that particular pairing and then gradually coming to ship it as their feelings for each other evolved. (If you like f/f novels, though, my next book is f/f AND Brandon and Abel have a subplot. It’s set 10 years after HTRAMH.)
Hope that helps. Thanks again for reading and taking the time to comment. Glad you’ve enjoyed your roadtrip with the boys!
Fantastic & Thanks for taking the time to respond (had a feeling all of HTRAMH revealed itself to you pretty organically). I’ll totally keep my eyes peeled for the next novel. ;o)