Wow, it's every blogger's dream: Start a blog, get a book contract, get interviewed by the New York Times.
It wasn't quite that easy for Adam Waytz, but close.
In 2004, Waytz and four buddies set up a blog called Free Darko (freedarko.blogspot.com). The blog is devoted to professional basketball; initially, it covered lesser-known players who were full of character, but perhaps didn't get as much ink as the big guys. "European players, or the more head-case players" are the focus, said Waytz, 28, who grew up in Minneapolis and whose family still lives here.
The blog was named for Darko Milicic, who started out with great promise, but ended up riding the bench.
The book idea was always lurking in the back of the bloggers' minds, and after months of shopping around, it found a home with Bloomsbury Press. "The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac" was published in November.
The book is a little tough to categorize, even for its authors.
"It's definitely part almanac, but it has elements of the graphic novel, elements of historical fiction, elements of math textbooks, science textbooks," Waytz said. "It's sort of like an insect guide for NBA players, with these kind of literary essays." And with truly stunning graphics.
The book sells for $23. Its five authors were interviewed in the New York Times last month.
Also ...
• Katie Ford, the author of two collections of poetry published by Graywolf Press, has received a $100,000 Lannan fellowship. The Lannan Literary awards were established in 1989 to celebrate excellence in poetry, fiction and nonfiction. Ford lives in Philadelphia.
• Milkweed Editions has just published "Fiction on a Stick," edited by Daniel Slager (336 pages, $18 paperbound), an anthology of short fiction by Minnesota writers. A reading and book signing will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday at Open Book, 1011 Washington Av. S. At noon Friday , 17 contributors will sign books at Barnes and Noble, 801 Nicollet Mall. And at 7 p.m. Jan. 20, Micawbers Bookstore and the St. Paul Friends of the Public Library will sponsor a reading at Micawbers, 2238 S. Carter Av., St. Paul.
• "The Turtle Catcher," the first novel by Nicole Helget, is scheduled to be published in February by Houghton Mifflin. Helget, who lives in Mankato, is the author of a controversial memoir, "The Summer of Ordinary Ways," published two years ago by Borealis Books.
• "A Long Shout: Selected Writings of Clarence Jonk," edited by Doug Wilhide, has been published by Trolley Car Press of Minneapolis (280 pages, $14.95). Jonk, who died in 1987, was the author of "River Journey," published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press. He was a lockman and carpenter on the Mississippi River and later became a farmer and a writer.
