Three Weeks Till Pub Day!

Friends!

It’s been a while. But even in lockdown, life moves forward, and my second novel, The Distance from Four Points, is skipping right along to its publication day of May 28. Three weeks! Three. Weeks. It’s exciting, even though the plans I’d had for celebrating have been indefinitely postponed.

I wanted to drop you a little note with a few updates. First, I’ve been talking about The Distance from Four Points to whoever will listen, and if my essays and Q&As haven’t crossed your social media feeds, you can find them all right here. These have been a lot of fun to put together, because I get to talk not only about the book itself but about the research, revision, and stories that brought the book to life: 

  • On Hypertext: researching this book is what paved the way for me to become a small-town landlord. 

  • On The Quivering Pen: while writing this novel, my life and fiction merged into an indistinguishable blur. 

  • On Mom Egg Review: my characters would not be handling this lockdown very well.

  • On Dead Darlings: a beloved scene I had to cut.

If you want a sneak peek at this book, you can read excerpts (different ones!) on Littsburgh and Hypertext, and you can hear me read a passage for the Writers Conference of Northern Appalachia.

I bet you’re wondering how YOU can help usher The Distance from Four Points into the world. Thanks for asking! Publishing a literary novel with a small press is always a challenge, but doing so in a pandemic is almost like a cosmic joke. But here we are. There are three ways right now that you can help The Distance from Four Points transcend the lockdown: 

  • Pre-order the book! You can order from any bookstore offering online ordering, or you can order from Bookshop.org, B&N, or Amazon. If you pre-order, you’ll receive the book on its publication day (unless covid-19 decides otherwise). 

  • Attend one of my upcoming virtual readings! I have several virtual events in the weeks ahead, including an Instagram interview on May 15 and readings on June 3 and June 20. Details about these and others will soon be added here, and watch my social media for announcements. The events are free, but some require advance registration. These are nerve-wracking in an entirely different way than in-person events, and I’d love to know there are friends out there listening and watching.

  • Choose The Distance from Four Points for your book club, Zoom meetup, writing group, or other gathering! I’d love to join your discussion virtually and answer questions. Email me at margo.orlando@gmail.com to request a date. Trust me, I have the time. (And I’ll send everyone a signed bookplate.)

In other news, I’ve been blogging daily about life in quarantine on my blog Skipping Town, where I despair about homeschooling and unintentionally caused a run on inflatable above-ground pools. 

Thanks for reading! I’ll be sending more info about virtual events in the weeks ahead. More from me very soon.

—Margo

Margo Littell