Joe M. O'Connell: July 2007

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Photos from the big night!

Eleanor took these photos, and I never even saw this sign in BookPeople for the reading!

The actors--Gary Kent, Ana Garcia and Chris Sykes--were excellent!

Nicholas, of course, had his hand in everything (including his mouth), and was the star of the night.

I read from the poems that grew into the book. What? A book adapted from poetry? Yep.

Ah, the book signing... Did I mention they make lovely Christmas presents?

We're a happy family.

Friday, July 27, 2007

Jesse Sublett jams for the crowd.

I'll post more pix later (hey, Chuck, send me some of yours!), but just a note to say last night's release party for EVACUATION PLAN was awesome. Jesse Sublett rocked the house, the actors were great and we pulled in a crowd of more than 100. Oh, and we sold 74 books!

It was a little steamy at BookPeople in the middle of the crowd, but it was a heartfelt night. Thanks to everyone who came. If you missed it, I'll be reading next in Austin at the Writers League of Texas meeting at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 16 at Barnes and Noble-Westlake. Come on by!

The true star of the night, of course, was Nicholas, who had a harem of attendants.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Today's the day and Statesman piece

Today is the day for the release of Evacuation Plan! I was on the Dudley and Bob Show this morning, and they couldn't have been more gracious. Very high-tech in the studio and running like a well-oiled, funny machine.

Also today, the Austin American-Statesman wrote about the book as the "Best Bet" for entertainment today. Brad Buchholz writes:

"Austin author Joe O'Connell's first novel, 'Evacuation Plan,' sets out to honor the dying — and those who care for them — in the setting of hospice. '(You) know the difference between death and an electric eel?' observes one of the characters in the book. 'People aren't afraid to talk about electric eels!' O'Connell was inspired to write 'Evacuation Plan' after a three-month stint as a volunteer at Hospice Austin. His novel, crafted in the style of Tim O'Brien's recent novel 'July, July,' is a collection of reminiscence — tales alternately gentle, dramatic, surrealistic, that collectively affirm the beauty of being alive, even as they acknowledge that all of us face the necessity of making our own 'evacuation plan.'

" 'The message of hospice is more important than my book,' says O'Connell, who is donating a portion of sales to Hospice Austin. 'And that message is that you can have dignity and control over the end of your existence, that chance to say goodbye on your own terms. Who can ask for more than that?'

In celebration of 'Evacuation Plan,' BookPeople is staging a dramatic reading tonight that features Austin actors Chris Sykes, Amparo Garcia-Crow and Gary Kent. They will speak in the first-person voices of the novel's characters. Austin writer and rocker Jesse Sublett will play music that honors the novel's themes. What we have here is a home-grown Austin writer, and not your traditional book signing."

Very cool! Hope to see a great crowd tonight!

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Daddy has a new shiny toy!

I drove through pouring rain and rush hour traffic this afternoon to finally see the completed, printed book. Ahhhh. Nicholas took one look at it and decided it was delicious.

Monday, July 23, 2007

My name in lights!

Charlene tipped me off about my fleeting fame on the BookPeople sign. Ah, the fame. What, you aren't already planning on joining me this Thursday at 7 p.m. at BookPeople for the release party for EVACUATION PLAN? Come on... I'm a star after all. Me and my pal Harry Potter (I hear he and Paul McCartney are dead).

Friday, July 20, 2007

Look Mom! I'm all hands!

Nicholas has discovered how to use his hands in the last couple of weeks, which makes play time lots of fun.

The dinosaur doesn't stand a chance...

Hey, I just thought of something else I can do with my hands...

Next up on the skill chart: rolling over!

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

'Evacuation Plan' release is next week!

The actors get their pages!

The book release is next week. I met yesterday with the actors who will be giving a dramatic reading from EVACUATION PLAN. And tomorrow I meet with Brad Buchholz of the Austin American-Statesman for a piece expected to run right before the reading.

Sunday, July 1, 2007

Keeping it clean

Bath time has moved up to the kitchen sink.

Mother and child reunion

I had to share these photos of Tiffany and Nicholas...

What they're saying about EVACUATION PLAN

"Tales alternately gentle, dramatic, surrealistic, that collectively affirm the beauty of being alive, even as they acknowledge that all of us face the necessity of making our own 'evacuation plan.' "
-- Brad Buchholz, Austin American-Statesman

" The chapters about Matt and the short stories demonstrate O’Connell’s ability to develop sympathetic, true-to-life characters using intriguing details and compelling dialogue. The stories remind us of those times when a brief encounter with a stranger left us wondering about that person’s past. In Evacuation Plan, O’Connell satisfies that curiosity. "
-- The Texas Observer

"It was very hard for me to put this book down. It carries us through the deepest meaning in life and most painful, most hopeful memories for a wide range of fascinating characters. Based in a hospice, this book could have easily resorted to cheap sensationalism, or whacked us upside the head with stereotypic melodrama, but instead it was respectful, honest, and tender. The characters will stay with you - you may even recognize some of them within your own life. "
-- Award-winning author Carmen Tafolla

"An excellent, thought-provoking diversion from our own inevitable plummet toward the grave, and we highly recommend it to you, the living."
-- Wayne Alan Brenner, The Austin Chronicle

"O’Connell has drawn some colourful and believable characters. The material relating to the hospice and terminal care rings true, all the way to reconciliation and forgiving."
-- Dr. Roger Woodruff, International Association for Hospice & Palliative Care

"The tales are nicely written, and some are quite compelling; “The Male Nurse,” for one, is a dreamlike reverie."
-- Texas Monthly

“Evacuation Plan: A Novel From The Hospice by Joe M. O'Connell is nothing short of remarkable … a novel that walks hand-in-hand with death and yet, somehow, the reader finishes the book feeling inspired to live.”
– The Paisano

"A wonderful blend of lives ordinary but with sometimes extraordinary elements. We all share these stories of life in some way, despite moments of harshness or unforgiving pain. There is always a common thread of humanity and ultimately forgiveness to be found, even if it's in the last moment of life."
-- Elaine Williams, author of A Journey Well Taken

"Reading Evacuation Plan is akin to unwrapping a series of small perfectly-chosen presents. Both human and humane, The book resembles a modern Spoon River Anthology with its vivid, touching glimpses into the lives of those in and around a hospice."
-- Tim McCanlies, screenwriter The Iron Giant, writer/director Secondhand Lions

"In Evacuation Plan Joe O'Connell does for the process of dying what Sherwood Anderson did for middle America in Winesburg, Ohio--he shows us in brief flashes the aching beauty of the grotesque, and shows us how extraordinary small lives and quiet deaths can be."
--John Blair, Drue Heinz Literature Prize winning author of American Standard

"Here's a book so rich with stories of the living, so filled with people's bountiful problems, as well as incidents of wry forgiveness, one realizes over and over the circling forces of life's completeness. It's not a sad tale nor a needless feel-good account but a balanced, sometimes comic, affirmation of what is here and what we all know is waiting."
-- Carolyn Osborn, award-winning short story writer

"The broken, the hopeful, the frustrated, the clueless, and the forgiving touch one another with words, remembrances, and hands. Inevitably, readers will quietly wonder about their own evacuation plan."
-- Will's Texana Monthly

O'Connell's protagonist skillfully navigates under the guise of a writer seeking raw materials for his craft in the stories of the dying, but mines and refines instead the stuff we're all made of. In this finely crafted novel, we come away with much more than the astute observation that many of the best stories begin at the end. But, then again, that notion is also worth a lot.
--Jesse Sublett, cancer survivor, rocker and author of Never the Same Again

"Joe O'Connell's Evacuation Plan--this Decameron of the hospice--encompasses a paradox. Death comes for everyone, but death is the only human universal because everyone dies, and witnesses dying, with private, unspeakable shame. Yet there are a few minutes left to speak. As people die, they tell stories which spawn new stories, which remind us that death is agony, a violent struggle, but so is living."
-- Debra Monroe, Flannery O'Connor Award winning author of Newfangled and Shambles

Joe M. O'Connell