“If you need any proof that fiction can scare us, move us, and break our hearts simultaneously – look no further.” – Jodi Picoult
July 2, 2014
Dear Friends Who Read and Readers Who are Friends,
I hope your summers are off to a wonderful start. Certainly mine has been, enhanced by terrific new books from Peter Heller (The Painter), Emma Straub (The Vacationers), and Ellen Litman (Mannequin Girl). And, of course, there are the new paperbacks of The Engagements (J. Courtney Sullivan), The Curiosity (Stephen Kiernan), and Help for the Haunted (John Searles).
And while I do not see the following book on any publishing schedule, I am hoping that someday soon Noah Hawley will give us The Wisdom of Lorne Malvo. (Yup, I was glued to “Fargo” for ten weeks this spring.)
In any case, next week my new novel, Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands, arrives. What’s it about? A sixteen-year-old homeless girl named Emily Shepard, living in an igloo made of trash bags filled with frozen leaves. A cataclysmic meltdown of Vermont’s lone nuclear plant. And Emily Dickinson. Yes, that Emily. . .
But you can learn all about the novel, read the early reviews, and see a 60-second video that previews the novel beautifully right here.
And if you really want to know what makes me tick – how some of my books are, in my opinion, “tree-killing mediocrities” or how many thousands of words it takes me to figure out what any one of my novels is really about – read this Boston Globe Q and A from last Sunday.
Lastly, I may be coming to your town. I’m coming to a lot of towns beginning Monday night, July 7. It wasn’t all that long ago that my books sold briskly, but only among people with my last name. I try never to forget that. So, I always like to say thanks in person. The full tour schedule is right here.
And this year’s rock ‘n roll t-shirt? It features Emily Dickinson. I love them.
I hope I see many of you at these appearances – and I hope with all my heart that you spend a part of your summer with Emily Shepard, Emily Dickinson, and Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands.
All the best,
Chris B.
www.chrisbohjalian.com
or www.facebook.com
“Bohjalian once again reveals an uncanny talent for crafting a young female protagonist who is fatally flawed, but nevertheless immensely likable. . . Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands resonates with a message of hope, truth and the fragility of life.”
— Karen Ann Cullotta, Bookpage
