Scott Sherman Online

The Other Side of the Mike: My First Interviews for First You Fall

On The Digital Photography Show, I'm used to being the interviewer, but, with the release of my first novel, First You Fall, I've had to wear the opposite hat (because, you know, the concept of an "opposite hat" makes so much sense).

In any case, I've enjoyed the opportunity in the past few weeks to do two interviews in support of the book. The first was on HRC's The Agenda, hosted by HRC's Executive Director Joe Solmonese and the inimitable Mary Breslauer. Joe and Mary were really great. I thought we had a lot of fun, and I was totally jealous of the professional broadcasting equipement they get to use over at XM Radio. You can hear my interview on The Agenda here.

Next, I chatted with my friends Marc and Fausto over on Feast of Fools. Last year, both Feast of Fools and The Digital Photography Show were nominated for the "People's Choice Award" at The Podcast Awards. Sadly, neither of our shows won, although it was pretty amazing that we were even nominated when you consider that both shows made it to the top ten of over 4,000 nominated podcasts.

The Digital Photography Show was also nominated in the in the "Cultural/Arts" category, where we lost to National Public Radio's "This American Life." (Which was totally fair because you can see where The Digital Photography Show's amatuer budget and production values can  compete against the multimillion dollar juggernaut that is This American Life, which, by the way, is not even a podcast - it's a radio show show that is so popular that it also has a spin-off TV series on Showtime. Not that I'm bitter.)

In any case, while I went home empty-handed, Marc and Fausto took home the award for Best LGBT Podcast. It's no wonder - their show is enormously popular and extremely entertaining.

It was really great of the boys to have me on, and I was only too happy to throw on my Feast of Fools t-shirt and rock the interview with them.

Meanwhile, I have to say it's very weird being on the other side of the mike. Suddenly, I was feeling very Janet (Ms. Jackson if you're nasty) - I wanted to be the one in control. Luckily, all my interviewers were terrific and I had a crazy amount of fun. Thanks Joe, Mary, Marc and Fausto. (And thanks in advance to Oprah - just make sure you have me on with that delicious Nate Berkus, hear?)

Talking Dirty with Megan Hart

Smart and hot Megan Hart, author of erotic romances including Tempted, interviewed me about my new book, First You Fall: A Kevin Connor Mystery, for her blog, Reading In Bed. 

Megan's naughty in the best sense of the word, and her books are great steamy fun for grown ups. 

You can read our playful interview here. 

I Built A Website for My Novel in an Hour!

So, I'm getting to know my new Mac and just playing around when I stumble upon the iWeb program. It says it makes it easy to build a website, so I figured I'd muck about and see if really does.

Guess what - it does! So easy, in fact, that in an hour I had basically designed a site to support my new novel,  First You Fall: A Kevin Connor Mystery.

I wasn't  intending to do a site for the book, but iWeb made it so simple that I was done before I knew it. So, I hurried over to GoDaddy, bought the name of the book as an domain, and posted the whole thing in minutes.

Take a look and let me know what you think - especially if you catch any typos! iWeb makes laying out the site easy, but the writing still takes some work. You can find it at www.FirstYouFall.com.

With the Mystery Writing Elite

A few weeks ago, it was my great pleasure to meet some of the greatest mystery writers around at a symposium in DC.

It was just prior to the publication of my book, First You Fall, and I felt like a real chump next to all these established writers.

But they were very gracious and I learned a lot from being in the their company.

Thanks, guys.

They are, from left to right, Anthony Bidulka, Greg Miraglia, Neil Plakcy, Rich Merritt, Mark Zurbo, Chris Beakey and me! 

 

Anticipation is Making Me Wait

About a month ago, the publisher of my first novel, First You Fall: A Kevin Connor Mystery, called to tell me that they were moving the book's publication date up from mid-August to late May.

Incredibly, they're doing it because they really like the book!  They think it's a great summer read, and they want to make sure it's on the shelves as beach-goers get ready to hit the shores. Woo-hoo!

This is great news, as  I can't wait to finally hold my own book in my own hot hands. But, due to the rush to get the book out the door, we only had a short time in which to get review quotes for the back cover.

Luckily, I got two wonderful blurbs.  One came from my fellow podcasters at the top-rated, award-winning Feast of Fools. They're great guys and I really appreciate their support.

The other blurb came from bestselling mystery author JA Konrath. (If you want to read the first book in his suspenseful and laugh-out-loud Jack Daniels series, and you should, go get Whiskey Sour.)

It was incredibly kind of JA to review my book. He is one of my favorite authors, and I never imagined he'd read anything I wrote - let alone like it. But check out what he had to say:

"Funny, intriguing, and exciting---everything a great mystery should be. There's also a warmth, a passion, a sexiness here rarely found in novels of this genre. Kevin Conner is a terrific hero, and I'm looking forward to his next adventure. Scott Sherman is the gay Janet Evanovich."  JA Konrath

I don't mean to sound insipid, but if no one else ever read my book, JA's words would probably be enough to keep me smiling. To have one of your heroes praise you is a heady and humbling experience.  I am truly grateful.

I can't wait to hear what the rest of you think!