by Conrad on December 23, 2011
Cover of US paperback edition. Art by Istvan Banyai.
Yippee-aye-oh-cuy-ay!
In a few days, “Adios, Nirvana” will debut in paperback. The official date is January 10. However, unofficially it may land in bookstores in a week or two, or so the publisher tells me.
The cover artist is Istvan Banyai, whose work has appeared in Rolling Stone, the New York Times, the Atlantic Monthly, and Playboy. He’s also done many New Yorker magazine covers. His cover for the paperback edition captures an under-the-bridge, noir-ish view of West Seattle–very appropriate given all the bridges mentioned in the book. Istvan’s also caught that lanky, restless, every-kid look. I love this cover!
German-language edition on Feb. 10.
“Adios, Nirvana” comes out in a German-language edition on Feb. 10. The translation was done by Karsten Singelmann, who has translated books by John LeCarre, John Grisham, Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, and many others. My knowledge of German is limited to two phrases — “Jugendherberge” (youth hostel) and “Verdammen sie rechts!” (Damn right!). Fortunately, Karsten is brilliantly bilingual. I had a good time trading e-mails with him. He had lots of subtle questions. For example:
“Page 30: ‘Flat Ass rises like a biscuit and floats away.’ We can’t quite picture that. How does a biscuit rise?”
“Page 40: About Mimi’s face — not beautiful, ‘but a face you see from a great distance, very focused.’ I translated that without actually understanding it. Can you explain — why from a great distance?”
Hmmm. Not easy to answer — because I wasn’t always sure of the meaning myself. Karsten’s questions reinforced a basic rule of writing — keep it clear, don’t muddy the water.
It pleases me to think that the youths of Munich, Stuttgart, Dusseldorf, etc. will get to meet the “Thicks,” that shaggy gang that struts across West Seattle jamming on guitars and eating vodka-injected grapes.
The German cover has a grungy, Kurt Cobain-ish look. I like this one, too, but the band Nirvana was not my main motive for the title — kind of a secondary one, though.
Earlier this year, YALSA (the Young Adult Library Services Association) placed “Adios, Nirvana” on its list of 2011 Best fiction for Young Adults. I was greatly honored. The book has been nominated for a couple of other honors as well. It’s nice to receive good feedback, but what’s important is that we write the books we need to write. When you dig deep and answer your own needs, you’re more likely to say something meaningful to others.
Marcel Proust said it much better: “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”
Happy holidays to all!
by Conrad on July 23, 2011
Funny the doors that stories can open. Those of you who have read ADIOS, NIRVANA may recall that Eddie Vedder (of Pearl Jam fame) is a character in the book. He mentors the twin brothers, Jonathan and Telly, who call on him to advise them in choosing a guitar.
I’ve never met Eddie Vedder. However, last fall, I dropped off a copy of the book at the school his daughter attends. It’s the same school my kids attended, and I know many on the staff. I asked the Director of Admissions, “Hey, can you pass this along, if he ever shows up?” I inscribed it: “To Ed Vedder, who inspired the brothers in this book–and the author.” Or something like that.
Last Thursday, I received this e-mail:
Hi Conrad,
My name is Noelle Broom. I am Eddie Vedder’s assistant. He has asked me to get in touch with you, regarding his concert at Benaroya Hall Friday and Saturday night. I apologize for the last minute inquiry, but Ed was wondering if you would like to attend the concert either tomorrow or Saturday night. If this is something you’d be interested in, please let me know. I can be reached via email, or on my cell phone.
I hope this finds you well. I look forward to talking with you soon.
Thanks so much,
Noelle Broom
A friend and I attended the Friday concert. It was brilliant! One of the best ever. I didn’t meet him backstage or anything, but I didn’t care.
Eddie covered Pearl Jam, the “Into the Wild” songs, and many ukulele tunes. He must’ve played a dozen different guitars, plus uke, banjo, mandolin, and harmonica. My favorite was an a capella hum-chant he did toward the end of the evening. His voice rose and looped back on itself, track upon track, until he was five voices, like five hawks spiraling. When he slipped off stage, the voices kept going up and up.
An unforgettable night.
Thank you, Eddie Vedder!
by Conrad on June 22, 2011
Outside the Granada with fellow authors.
Here are a few photos from a recent “Book Lovers Fest” at Klindt’s Bookstore in The Dalles, Oregon. Klindt’s, the Pacific Northwest’s oldest continuously operating bookstore, has been in business since 1870. The event gathered 12 authors under one roof — I was fortunate to be one of them.
Klindt's is located in one of the most scenic and storied cities on the Columbia.
"You're pretty young for this book, Jasper. I have two words for you: Buyer Beware!" Jasper bought a copy anyway. Then he regaled me with stories of his adventures in Kenya, from which he and his family had recently returned.
With two of the Pacific Northwest's greatest champions of literacy, Kristin Klindt and Angela Dietz-Johnson.
Meeting friendly readers at the "Book Lovers" extravaganza at Klindt's — the legendary bookstore — in The Dalles, Oregon.
Inside Klindt's. They don't make 'em like this anymore.
by Eric Shalit, Blog Developer on May 21, 2011
Here’s the cover of the German edition of “Adios, Nirvana” — slated to be released this fall. We’re very excited. Here’s what the publisher, Carlsen has to say about it on their website:
Der 16-jährige Jonathan weiß mit einer Gitarre und mit Worten umzugehen, doch den Tod seines Zwillingsbruders Telly hat er auch nach Monaten noch nicht überwunden. Und wenn er in der Schule nicht schnellstens die Kurve kriegt, müssen seine besten Freunde ihren Abschluss wohl ohne ihn machen. Erst als Jonathan sich mit einem blinden Kriegsveteranen anfreundet, ein geheimnisvolles Mädchen kennenlernt und mit King Kong auf der Bühne steht, ist die Zeit endlich reif für ein Comeback ins Leben!
by Conrad on March 15, 2011
From Conrad: Once in a while, I get an e-mail that lifts my spirits into the troposphere. I received this from Elissa Hoole, a teacher, poet, and fellow YA novelist who lives in northern Minnesota. I have this in common with Elissa’s students — we all struggle to spell my name. Thanks, Elissa, I greatly appreciate your kind words.
Mr. Wesselhoeft,
As a writer, especially perhaps a writer coming off a long and rather painful editing jag, I have an increasingly difficult time getting “swept away” by a book — that semi-magical sense of connecting with a book emotionally and intellectually and…I dunno, bodily. Like getting slugged in the guts and enjoying it or something. So yesterday I was only sixty-some pages into ADIOS, NIRVANA, and I was reading at my desk (I am a teacher in the daytime life and a writer in the “mystical trough”), propping myself up with caffeine since I had stayed up way too late reading the night before, and I was like okay, that’s it. I’m changing my lesson plan.
My 8th graders had been flailing about at the mere suggestion of poetry, and it just so happened we were reading some Whitman — “I Hear America Singing”, among others — and so I said everyone stop! and I read to them from your book. I read the part about Jonathan at the hospice and his Whitman “patter”, and I read them the jagged glass butterflies scene, and then pretty soon we had some Bukowski up on the board and I read it and we argued and maybe a few kids kind of pretended they weren’t into it, but they were. And then pretty soon we were listening to Eddie Vedder read Kerouac’s “Hymn” on the tribute CD and then we read some Ferlinghetti and then it was time to go, but by this time they were all lining up to get a look at how to spell your name and what exactly the title of your book was and signing up to read my copy as soon as I was through.
And now I’m home, and I’ve completely ignored my family in order to finish, and…I was swept away, that’s all. So thanks!
Elissa
Elissa Janine Hoole is a YA (Young Adult) writer, a teacher, a mama, a wallflower, a word-eater, a poet, a terrible cook. She’s represented by Sarah Davies of Greenhouse Literary Agency, and her debut for teens, KISS THE MORNING STAR, will be published by Marshall Cavendish in Spring 2012.
by Eric Shalit, Blog Developer on February 10, 2011
The Capital Area District Library (CADL) of mid-Michigan included “Adios, Nirvana” in its list of recommended reading for young adults dealing with grieving and healing. Grieving and healing are key themes in the novel, and we’re pleased that “Adios, Nirvana” is having a positive impact on readers.
by Eric Shalit, Blog Developer on February 10, 2011
“Adios, Nirvana” was recently reviewed on DeRaps Reads, a blog for ‘young adult lit reviews & more’. We’re pleased that “Adios, Nirvana” is having a positive impact on readers. Here’s an excerpt from the review:
“Many of you know that I am a teacher, but what I don’t usually talk about is the fact that I work (pretty exclusively) with teens who are considered to be “at-risk.” In our local jargon, this means that my students will probably not graduate if they have no intervention. I am telling you this because this story, this character, Jonathan, reminded me of so many young men that I’ve met over the eight years that I’ve been doing this.
Jonathan typifies the most difficult type of at-risk teen to work with, in my opinion. He is super smart, creative, sensitive, and in serious pain. He is gifted, so school work does not really pose a challenge to him. His mother is a single mother, and is very lax and in a great amount of anguish over her son’s death. More than this, Jonathan pretty much sees the world for what it is — a series of hoops to jump through, a means to an end.
I was impressed with the way that the school dealt with Jonathan. Rather than coming up with a generic, impersonal academic plan, they allotted time for Jonathan to find his strengths and his bearings as a teen who has lost his twin brother, his best friend.
This book is raw and beautiful and mentions all sorts of music and writers that I love. Poetry and lyrics and intelligence are a focal point. Jonathan feels like a real person, one that you’ll want to encourage, unsure if he’ll actually make it.
I loved this book for its writing, its realism, and its honesty. Very good indeed.”
by Conrad on January 27, 2011
The most productive part of the writing day — Conrad and Django at Alki Beach.
Nobody understands the power of peripheral vision better than Django.
Django (pronounced JANGO) is a standard poodle named after the Belgian jazz guitar legend Django Reinhardt. Each morning while I write, he inches into my periphery so that I become aware of him by slow degrees, the way one becomes aware of, say, a change in temperature. Then — bang! — I am aware. He has wrenched me from my cozy fictional playground into the harsher, prosaic “real” world.
The instant our eyes meet, Django raises a paw and transmits this message telepathically: “It’s snack time.”
In Django’s mind, the most powerful word in English is not “No!” It’s “cheese!” He will do anything short of a felony for a bite of Tillamook Medium Cheddar.
How does Django’s behavior lend itself to writing? First, he keeps me company. He’s not as well-mannered as Ernest Hemingway’s springer spaniel, “Black Dog,” who would curl at the author’s feet and not twitch a muscle until Ernest had set down his pencil for the day. Black Dog revered the craft of writing and his master. Django does not.
On the other hand, Django understands that we must get on with life — must get out there and sniff the wind, chase the ball, and wag the tail.
At day’s end, we go for a walk, along the bluff and down to the water. Django splashes in the creek. Tugs on the leash. Barks at other dogs. On a lucky day, we spot an eagle or sea lion. In short, we do the most important thing a writer can do — get distracted by life — it’s little, tasty snacks. These “snacks” may be the most productive parts of my writing day. My best ideas often reveal themselves while Django and I are out walking.
By day’s end, Django has more than earned that slice of Tillamook Medium Cheddar. He’s earned a bacon chew strip as well.
His message to me, and all writers:
“Keep it real — and don’t forget to snack.”
by Eric Shalit, Blog Developer on January 13, 2011
YALSA, the Young Adult Library Services Association, just came out with its 2011 Best Fiction for Young Adults list. I’m thrilled to have “Adios, Nirvana” on the list. Here’s the selection criteria:
“The books, recommended for ages 12-18, meet the criteria of both good quality literature and appealing reading for teens. The list comprises a wide range of genres and styles, including contemporary realistic fiction, fantasy, horror, science fiction and novels in verse.”
For more than 50 years, YALSA has been the world leader in selecting books, videos and audiobooks for teens. YALSA is a division of the American Library Association (ALA), which is the oldest and largest library organization in the world.
by Eric Shalit, Blog Developer on January 13, 2011
“Notes from The Librarian Chick” is the blog of a librarian at the Winter Park Public Library in Winter Park, Florida. She put “Adios, Nirvana” on her list in the #1 position. Here’s what The Librarian Chick says:
I can’t keep up. There are SO MANY teen books on my “To Be Read” list that it’s impossible to read all the latest. I did really enjoy some of the 2010 books that I managed to read. I’d like to share my Top Ten with you and would love to hear what books you enjoyed reading this past year.
1. Adios, Nirvana by Conrad Wesselhoeft is one of those books that most people will never hear of. It will never get the kind of publicity that Twilight, Lighting Thief and the Hunger Games get. But I fell in love with the Wesselhoeft’s beautiful, lyrical language, and I was devastated along with Jonathan over the loss of his brother.
