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gregolear
04 December 2008 @ 10:32 pm
What's Your Book About?  
People ask me that question all the time, and it's surprisingly difficult to answer. Like when my old friend Roman won the Funniest Man on Campus contest, and people would come up to him and say, "Hey, funny guy! Say something funny!" Easier said than done. (Brady had the best response: "What you find funny causes me pain.")

Here are some stabs at answering the question:

Short:

Set in New York City in 1991, TOTALLY KILLER is a Gen X send-up of classic Baby Boomer thrillers like The Firm and Disclosure—a noirish novel of intrigue and suspense, but viewed through an “I Love the 90’s” filter. I’d tell you more about the plot, but then I’d have to kill you.

Longer:

In TOTALLY KILLER, Greg Olear explores the depths of deceit and power and captures the humanity and the struggle of a generation.

Taylor Schmidt, a recent college graduate from Missouri, comes to New York City seeking fame and fortune. Unfortunately, she arrives in the summer of 1991, during a crippling recession, when jobs were impossible to come by. Desperate for work, she signs on with the enigmatic Quid Pro Quo Employment Agency, who promise her a job to kill for—and they aren’t kidding around. Taylor finds herself embroiled in a twisted plot involving sex, murder, politics, intrigue, suspense, obsession, conspiracy, and Duran Duran—a plot that claims her life.

Looking backward in 2009, Taylor’s roommate, Todd Lander—your typical flannel-shirt-wearing, Nirvana-worshipping, Gen-X slacker—narrates this darkly comic tale, his voice brimming with generational angst, pop cultural savvy, and unrequited lust for his sex-pot subject.

Above all, TOTALLY KILLER is a period piece—a valentine to both the popular culture and the New York City of the early 90’s.

Comparison:

Think Reality Bites meats The Firm, or Heathers for grown-ups.


 
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gregolear
04 December 2008 @ 10:17 pm
Chapter One  
This is a blog about the ins and outs, ups and downs, trials and tribulations, and so forth and etc., about the publication of my debut novel, TOTALLY KILLER.  Just the straight dope.

A few things that have already happened: in early June, I got an offer from Harper Paperback, a division of HarperCollins, to publish the book in North America (other countries, including the UK, require separate -- and as-yet-unsold, in my case -- agreements).  Three months later, I signed the book deal, and the revisions began.  In mid-November, I turned in my final draft, which was approved. 

The manuscript is now being copyedited.  They look it over for grammar, punctuation, syntax, and continuity.  I'll get it back in a few weeks and have one more opportunity to read it over and make small changes.

In January, I should have the jacket cover.  In April, the manuscript goes to the printers.  TOTALLY KILLER is slated for an October, 2009 release.

Thanks for reading!

Greg
 
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