MILO on FACEBOOK

I recently wrote about being a Facebook newbie, and to be honest I'm still pretty green when it comes to poking, friending and deciding whether I want to comment on someone else's decision to like "Big Bang Theory" or "100 things I never want to eat".

Still as all my writer friends continually urge me - Facebook is just one of many places we need to put our best word forward and shout about our books, school visits, favorite book stores and what we had for lunch (tuna sandwich, very tasty). I know everyone is hungering to know what is happening in my oh-so-exciting life, which really boils down to doing a lot of laundry and asking the dog if he needs to pee.

But with a new book about to be published I have to face the reality that we writer-types have to do whatever we can to tell anyone with ears that we have a new book coming out. So here I go: MILO: STICKY NOTES & BRAINFREEZE is being published by Aladdin on September 14th. For all you BEA attendees, drop by the booth and pick up an ARC. Tell them, Alan sent ya!

For everyone else - be forewarned: I am on a Milo mission and even though I am usually a pretty reserved guy, I will stop at nothing to mention him. Heck, Milo's even got his own Facebook profile. So if you need a new friend who is 13 years old and has a passion for Freezies - check him out there! You'll not only get to know him - but you'll also meet some of his friends.

More on TRIPP ZOOME

First the good news: Yes, I wrote the Disney Channel movie, DADNAPPED. Now for the bad news: No - there aren't really any Tripp Zoome books. Bummer, right? Because if you were a fan of the film you'd probably be a fan of the books that the main character writes.

If you don't know the film (and if you don't have kids or aren't already a kid - then why should you?) Dadnapped is the story of a famous writer whose main character is a popular teen, super spy named Tripp Zoome. Tripp is smart and clever and can get in and out of trouble using everyday stuff, kind of like a MacGyver character - except he uses a lot of dental floss, preferably minted!

I first came up with the idea for this film after spending the night in a horrible motel in Miami where there was a huge fight going on in the room next to mine. All I could think about was how I wished I could get another room and when I opened the phone book - a matchbook fell out with a phone number handwritten on it. Really - that was all I needed to start the ball rolling in my head.

I knew the dad in the story would be a famous author (and this was years before I even considered writing books) and wanted his creation to be larger than life - a teenaged James Bond. The name Tripp Zoome fit perfectly - it has a sophistid feel as well as a sense of cartoony fun. He needed to be larger than life with a bit of a wink to how fake everything about him is.

I hope this answers some more questions about Tripp Zoome and Dadnapped. If not, feel free to email me or post your questions in the comments section!

FACING FACEBOOK

I used to be an early adopter of all things tech but have to admit I was resistant to joining Facebook mainly because the last thing this attention deficicient writer needs is something else that I can check up on and obsess over.

But alas, I didst succumb to the siren's song. (Okay, the siren was my editor and marketing exec at Aladdin - and their song was more of a pleasant chat). So here I am on FACEBOOK. Yay. And yes, I am wasting all sorts of time, thankfully avoiding building farms or becoming a hit man - but still I am now watching my wall grow and staring at the stream of comments from people I know, or sort of know, or know someone I know or once knew. Phew...

I know we writers are supposed to be the leaders of our own PR parades and that's why I jumped in. With MILO just a mere 4 months away from pub date I know that I need to be doing everything I can to be visible. And as much as I kicked and screamed about social media - I am having lots of fun posting and linking and commenting and counting "friends" like a growing number of jellybeans in a jar (which is always within reach of my wandering desktop mind).

So if you're reading this and want to know what I'm thinking and linking to - come on over. But if you expect me to link to a Twitter account I'm still resisting that one...this week.