Sunday, November 01, 2009

PCJM: THE BOOK! (Well, kind of...)

So I've got some big news to share, definitely the biggest since Miss Kelly arrived.

I SOLD A BOOK!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's not my book alone--I'm co-writing it with college pal Brian Bellmont, a fellow pop-culture junkie and all around great guy. But it is loosely based on one of the most popular elements of 10 years of PCJM -- the longing for retro food, toys and other items that we've lost somewhere along the way. The book is scheduled to be published in the summer of 2011 from Penguin Books' Perigee imprint.

We will now pause for another line of
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brian and I will offer up snappy summaries of the tastes, toys, and trends that raised a generation, and where possible, we'll trace what happened to those things over the years. Pudding Pops were yanked from our freezers, then returned in different form. Pepsi Light vanished, but that doesn't mean Pepsi gave up trying to hawk lemon-flavored cola. Farrell's is making a comeback. "Schoolhouse Rock" published new videos just this year. Doritos has tried coming out with a zillion different flavors using "Taco" in the name, none of which are the Original Taco Doritos people still crave. You get the picture.

Our original book title was "Gen X-tinct: The Lost Tastes, Toys and Trends that Raised a Generation," but that probably won't be the title in the end. But that IS the title of our Web site for the book (genxtinct.com).

It's more than just a promo site, we've turned it into a blog linking to news and fun sites about the same kind of retro topics we're writing about in the book, and will update it regularly (not just saying that!).


If you like PCJM, you'll probably like Gen X-tinct. Please bookmark the new blog, and follow GenXtinct on Twitter. And if there's a topic you'd like to see in the book, suggest it in the GenXtinct.com comments, we're still open to ideas! (How the heck did I not know about Freezy Freakies until someone suggested it last week? Somehow I missed 'em when Matt wrote about them.)

This is my dream, and I couldn't have gotten this far without the support of everyone who's ever read PCJM, liked it, laughed, and passed the link along. I hope you'll keep reading PCJM (which is not going away!) and will now add Gen Xtinct to your reading list, and that someday I can sign a book for you.

Thanks so much,
Gael

12 comments:

NYCGirl said...

Congratulations!

arajane said...

Wow, this is great news Gael! Congratulations!

Unknown said...

Congratulations! Can't wait to see the book.

Alice said...

That's amazing! Congratulations Gael!

Deanna said...

That's great news! Congratulations!

Susan said...

That's fantastic news! I've been reading PCJM for years, and I can't wait to see you (and Brian) in print. Fantastic! Hurray!

Anonymous said...

how wonderful! congratulations!

Laurie said...

Big congrats to you and Brian!! I know I'll LOVE your book and can't wait to read it!! Go Gael!!

K said...

congratulations Gael! this is absolutely wonderful and I'm so glad you're getting to live out your dream

(ps come to Houston on your book tour!)

Anonymous said...

Yay! That is so exciting! Congrats!

Adrienne said...

Oooh...I've been secretly hoping for years that you'd do a book! Hooray and congratulations, and I'm going to hold you to that book-signing thing, okay?

Tish said...

I'm so happy for you! I can't wait to read it. Hope you come to Austin for a book signing. I've been reading PCJM for years, and will now add GenXtinct to my bookmarks. Congrats!