The winner is announced in March, so I have that long to arrange horrible accidents for Monica Ali, Mark Haddon, Khaled Hosseni, Audrey Niffenegger, and Julie Orringer. No, wait! That might trigger a sympathy vote. Maybe I should toss myself down some stairs.

Only a week or two now before my US book tour! I talk, I read, I sign books, I answer questions; it's like a wild and crazy party for librarians. You should come along.

To celebrate this, or, more accurately, to attempt to kick sales of it along, in early February I'm coming to the US and doing a 10-city book tour. This is terrific, and not just because my publisher is going to pay for my room service. It means I get to meet people who read my book, which is lots of fun; also oddly reassuring. Check out my tour dates here!

9th: The New York Times has released its list of Notable Books for 2003, and Jennifer Government is on it! Admittedly, it's a long list. But... the New York Times! I'm stoked.

Meanwhile, I've realized I can manipulate the stock market. The Hollywood Stock Exchange, anyway, which is just as fun and minus the risk of getting hauled off to jail. If I say something on this web site about the movie's development, the Jennifer Government stock goes up; if I don't mention it for a while, it sinks. This makes me want to announce that Nicole Kidman has committed to play the lead. (But she hasn't. They're still working on the screenplay.)

If you're in the UK and keen to get your hands on an autographed copy, you can now do so via the Orbit Books website. At least, that's what Orbit tells me. The page doesn't actually say they're autographed copies, so you have to take it on faith that Orbit isn't a bunch of filthy liars. But I'm prepared to do that if you are. The books are large paperbacks with a signed book plate (i.e. sticker with my scribble on it) stuck in the front.

In film news, Section Eight has switched screenwriters from Scott Burns to E. Max Frye. I don't know the details, so let's just assume there was some kind of almighty screaming Hollywood brawl involved. It's juicier news that way.

Since Syrup hasn't been published in the UK yet, Jennifer Government is my debut novel there. It's nice to be a first-time novelist again. I feel all clean and innocent.

1st: Sneaking in just ahead of the UK, the German edition of Jennifer Government comes out today. It's called Logoland, because "Jennifer Regierung" doesn't sound nearly so cool. Or so I'm told. Frankly, I've never understood this translation business. How do my characters know how to speak German? I don't know.

The German publisher has gone with a different cover: to the best of my knowledge, they're the only ones in the world do that. Genius? Insanity? You decide.

Later today I'm going to check out bookstores and quietly move all their Jennifer Government copies to more prominent locations. (Oh come on, other authors do it.) I just need to limber up first. They are really big paperbacks.

This is extra cool for Brits, Aussies, and Kiwis, because the book isn't out there yet and nobody will know what the hell it's about, thus bestowing upon you a mysterious air of innate coolness. Of course, you won't have read the book, so you just have to take it on faith that it's any good. Mysterious airs of innate coolness never come risk-free.

Early signs suggest the book is selling well, although it's hard to be sure. Book stores generally don't report this information to publishers, so I can only get an indication from store re-orders, my Amazon.com sales ranking, and bestseller lists (which lag by a couple of weeks anyway). But so far, so good!

I'm doing two appearances this month: one in New York and one in LA. If you can't make it but want to get your hands on a signed copy, contact either bookstore and have them reserve one for you.

In film news, Scott Burns has been hired to write the screenplay. Scott recently adapted another book for Steven Soderbergh, Kurt Eichenwald's The Informant: A True Story. So I'm guessing the man can write. He's also something of a legend in the advertising world, with credits including the "Got Milk?" campaign. That won't go astray with Jennifer Government. The corporate advertising experience, I mean. I have enough milk.

I won't be reading it myself. Trust me, this is a good thing. You don't want to spend four hours figuring out my accent, no matter how sexy and authoritative I sound. And frankly, it's not that sexy and authoritative. So to hear me in person, you need to turn up at one of my bookstore readings next year. Or else get hold of my home phone number and make prank calls. But don't do that.

The book now has an official on-sale date (in the US, at least): 21 January, 2003. That means you can mark it on your calendar and cross off each day it gets closer. When people ask why you're so happy, say, "Why, because it's only 173 more sleeps until Jennifer Government, of course!" That's what I'm doing, at least.

Also, old editions of the Jennifer Government newsletter are now available in the Extras section. But you won't need them! You've already signed up for the mailing list, right?

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