Awesomeness & Hope

Folks, I am having these gorgeous blurbs tattooed on my face.

From Lorraine López, winner of the Miguel Marmol Prize and a PEN/Faulkner finalist, author of several great books including Soy la Avon Lady and Homicide Survivors Picnic:

In the tradition of P.D. James, Ruth Rendell, and Lucha Corpi, Joy Castro shows how mystery can be much more than the unraveling of crimes concealed.  The Desire Projects is a riveting story of trust betrayed and the struggle toward recovery, an irresistible and compelling novel aptly set in post-Katrina New Orleans.

I have been reading, loving, and teaching Lorraine's work for years now, so this blurb is a huge honor.

From Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone, and Shutter Island (among others) and a writer for HBO's The Wire:

The Desire Projects is a terrific mystery set in post-Katrina New Orleans.  But it's more than just a mystery; it's a heartfelt examination of a second America--poor but undaunted--that was swept under the rug but refuses to stay there.  If this is the beginning of a series, I can't wait to see what Joy Castro does next.

Gentle readers:  what Joy Castro did next, when this blurb came in, was to go drink champagne until she was fizzy and dizzy.  (And it is the beginning of a series.  I drafted chapter 7 of the sequel this morning.)

In addition to being known for his work's sense of justice on behalf of the violated and vulnerable, its angry sensitivity to class issues, and its strongly rooted sense of place, Lehane is the author of six books featuring Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro, my favorite male-female investigative duo since Hammett's Nick and Nora Charles:  witty, sexy, tough. 

So I'm wowed and incredibly happy to have these two endorsements from writers I admire so much.

Eventually, these blurbs will show up on the back of the book, which is due out in hardcover and e-book in July 2012, but for right now, they'll be in my editor Karyn's hands when she goes into her big in-house meeting at her publisher's next week. 

The point of having the blurbs ready so early is to rouse enthusiasm for the book among her fellow editors, the sales & marketing folks, etc., so the book will get the biggest push possible from the publisher. 

This is because (as probably some of you have been crushed to learn, too) really big publishers bring out so many books each season that even they don't commit lots of resources to every book.  As with horse-racing, or any other gamble, they put their dollars on the likely winners.  So if you've got the Little Filly That Could, you have to work extra hard to make sure she gets a fighting chance out there on the track. 

That's what these blurbs will help Karyn do.  We hope.  Fingers crossed.