Gone, baby, gone. After final approval of the jacket, “The Joy of Killing” goes into print today. Out of my hands and into the world. But still two months to publication date, so now we wait. And do what we can on social media to give it a boost, and try our best not to get obsessed about it. We like to think what others think of the book won’t matter, but of course it will. You write to be read. Maybe not loved, but at least read. One great review from Kirkus is a good start. The cover is controversial. The birds seem to bother some people more than the words themselves. Why is that? Someone suggested they had committed some terrible deed themselves. Someone else sees the bird on the far left as the shadow of a standing figure.
