Joe M. O'Connell: April 2008

Friday, April 25, 2008

Jimmy Fallon in late night?

I've long been a Conan O'Brien fan, but I'm wavering. Now we get word that Jimmy Fallon will take Conan's place when Conan takes the extremely unfunny Jay Leno's place? Eek. Sure, you say, Conan came in with low expectations as well. But Conan was a writer, so we didn't know what he would do as a performer. Fallon was on Saturday Night Live in front of the camera and as a comedian he makes a great 13-year-old, slightly creepy boy.

But on to the late night shows in general. It's hard for some people to believe that David Letterman was once extremely funny and extremely innovative (said the guy with not one but two photos of himself with the late Larry "Bud" Melman). And Jay, as a guest on Dave's show, was also funny. What happened to these guys?

I've been Tivoing Conan for a long time now, as he has been my favorite late-night guy (said the guy who wears Andry Richter's bathrobe), but he's fallen into that predictable state that only the writers' strike got him out of temporarily.

The funniest of the late nighters?

+ Craig Ferguson. He monologue is a twisting, looping, goofy masterpiece.

+ Jimmy Kimmel. Unnecessary censorship on Friday nights is a must-see.

+ Conan. I'm still hanging in there with you, but you're dropping down my list.

+ Jay Leno. He steals bits from the old Letterman and is mean, but I admit it is fun to watch him make idiots out of idiots on the street (a bit that everyone steals from Steve Allen).

+ David Letterman. His old NBC show was my holy grail of funny. Now he's just some odd old dude who used to be funny, used to be mean, used to be interesting. For old time's sake I still Tivo him on my secondary Tivo...

+ Carson Daily. Will someone give this guy a sandwich?

In the words of Kinky Friedman: "Is there anyone I missed?"

Saturday, April 12, 2008

'Emily' graduates...

Her real name is Elizabeth, but in my hospice-set novel-in-stories Evacuation Plan, she sort of is Emily, a young girl on the verge of being kidnapped. The real story is I spent a couple of hours talking and playing with Elizabeth when she was a little girl so I could get the voice right for the character in this story. Congrats, Elizabeth!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Want a free copy of 'Evacuation Plan'?

I've decided that it's easier to do book talks than it is to do in-store signings. The photo above is my view toward the front door when I signed at Barnes and Noble-Round Rock recently. Getting people to stop and talk is a challenge when you're at a table oasis in a bookstore. It's much easier when you have a captive audience at a talk!

I got a nice surprise from this new review. If you follow the link you can also leave a note for your chance to win a FREE COPY of my book!

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Nicholas and David: chillin' in the crib

Nicholas' favorite books (though he may be outgrowing them) are the Diaper David series. I always wondered when I'd find Nicholas in this fully standing pose in his crib. Today's the day!

Is Elmo the new David? Nicholas sure loves the little red monster...

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

He's one year old today!

The birthday boy went straight for the presents.

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