Tuesday, May 01, 2007

looking ahead

I'm going to be in the States in June, first visiting Texas to pay my respects to my relatives (my Uncle Ed passed away last December), and then spending time with family and friends in the DC/Metro area. I might also meet up with some fellow bloggers in the Alexandria area (I'm an Alexandria native); specific plans have yet to be made.

My parents, bless them, are trying to help out my book sales by arranging some sort of small-scale book-signing event (I'm bringing 80 Seoul-printed copies of my book home with me). I'm mighty curious as to what the venue might be. My father initially suggested our church, but... while some members of our congregation are theologically liberal, many are not, so I nixed that idea. A signing at a bookstore or coffee house may be possible; I've only begun to look into the particulars, and am now realizing I have no idea what sort of logistics are involved in a book signing. I'm a quick study, though, so I hope to know a lot more by the end of the upcoming weekend.

I'm also looking ahead to other CafePress-related projects. Here's what's on my list now, in no particular order:

1. return to work on The Sanshin's Tiger, a story I left hanging after only a single chapter

2. convert Scary Spasms in Hairy Chasms into a CafePress book

3. begin collecting blog material for the sequel to Scary Spasms

4. begin work on some sort of a Konglish guide (my copy of Scott Fisher's The Axis of Evil World Tour just arrived, and in the front matter I see that he has already written a Konglish text, so I might abandon this idea)

5. create The Essential Water from a Skull, a very stripped-down version of my current book, featuring a short list of "best of" essays targeting the miserly folks who would rather not shell out $21.95 plus shipping for the 305-pager

6. create a study companion for Water from a Skull, possibly for the use of church study groups who will undoubtedly find much to disagree with

7. begin notes on revisions and additions for a second edition of Water from a Skull (I can't see this edition coming out until 2009 at the earliest); among the additions will be an index, a reference list, and a glossary of crucial terms

[NB: The book was a one-man show. I gave in to my control-freak megalomania and did it all, top to bottom-- writing, editing, cover design, the works. A task like indexing can be extremely labor-intensive (as this dude knows only too well), which is one reason why I avoided adding an index this time around. I gave myself a pass because books like The Philosophical Challenge of Religious Diversity have no index.]

8. think about translating Water from a Skull into French, and finding someone to translate it into Korean

Those are the projects I'm currently mulling over. I also want to do more with tee shirt designs and comic art. A man's got to keep busy, nicht wahr?


_

5 comments:

  1. Excellent, dude. You have set yourself a lot of goals there. Like you said, one needs to keep busy.

    I admire your passion for life and your thirst for new knowledge and experience. I'm a lot like you in that way.

    Life is just too damn interesting.

    Meanwhile, on to the more mundane aspects of life. It's time to (as the British say) do the washing up, cook, and then eat my vittles.

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  2. Make sure you drop me a line and I will buy you a drink (Old Dominion Root Beer, the best in the world) at the watering hole of your choice.

    -corsair

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  3. A task like indexing can be extremely labor-intensive

    I almost ended up not having an index in my dissertation, but then I figured out a method using the search function of Adobe Reader: it gives a handy list of hits with page numbers, which was not too laborious to work into a respectable-looking index, laid out in small print on two columns in four pages. I'd guess that took four full days to make. Or perhaps five.

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  4. What part of Texas? Anywhere near DFW?

    I met your friend Mike (the Maximum Leader) at a blog meet in DC a couple years ago and would be interested to pick your brain on matters religious and philosophical if you're in the area and want to grab a Texas microbrew or two.

    John

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  5. John,

    I'll be flying into Houston and spending a couple days with relatives in the suburban idyll of Spring, TX. I won't be able to meet up this time, but perhaps another trip can be arranged when next I'm in America.

    Also-- I don't drink, but I'd be happy to down a few dozen mugs of Coke while you destroy your microbrew.

    Antti,

    I may have to keep that method in mind. Thanks.

    Corsair,

    I'll be sure to drop you a line when I'm in the States. Alas, I'm the sworn enemy of root beer.

    Max,

    Much obliged.


    Kevin

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