Thaddeus "Thad" Drubbnick is my rep. I would have to ask legal to see if he's my agent, manager, both, or something else entirely. I try not to pay too much attention, as long as he gets the job done and everything is legal and over the board. Sure, he might dress in shabby navy suits that went out of style years ago, but he is good at his job. He might be balding, but he is not even forty. Most people in his position would let an underling handle the task of covering a client interview, but since this is my first time on national television, he wanted to be here for the big event.
He chats up with the aides guiding me to makeup. I hand him my tote before he gets too caught up in the conversation. He's a talker. You can't pick up the middle European accent at all, unless you knew his family immigrated to the America before he was two. I sit down before I get dragged into the convo as well. I really don't need makeup, not at all. Maybe at little touch or so, that's it. I feel I look fine as is.
Within minutes, I am up front to shoot my teaser that will air just before the show breaks for the local update. I was hoping to get some work in, just so I can say I actually worked. I'm so close to finishing. The assistant comes over with some last minute suggestions as we set the table up for the segment. Because of some wild coincidences, none of the regular hosts could be here today, so I will be talking with the fill-ins this morning. I'm not that familiar with any of them, so I get quick introductions all around. I'm fortunate that one of them, Liana, is familiar with me. She doesn't look the type for this.
An assistant director calls out that we were going back to live in thirty seconds. This was it. I sit back into the chair facing the hosts as we go live.
"Welcome back to CBS This Morning," Liana chimes in. "Next up, get ready for an up-and-coming author whose personal struggles could be said to be 'stranger than fiction'."
The taped package starts on the monitors. A camera crew followed me at my signing in Chicago last week, before I went on break for Sam's graduation. Pretty standard footage of people waiting in line in a book store. Then, the old footage kicks in, of me as child, my father and his firmly, my mother, some school pictures. Basically, the entire incident of how I met my brother occurs in the voice over.
Dissolve to footage at the house, taken just last Thursday. I'm in the library, of course. Where else would there be enough books to convey "author" after all? I'm giving the highlights of the house and how Sam and I had been getting along. One could just see Sam wandering by, just before he got his hair cut. I think one of the crew pointed out how long it was. Sam wouldn't have gotten it cut if not for that, I think.
The package ends, and the actual interview begins.
"So, Chris, how did you come up with the idea for your book?" the male host, Vance, I think, takes the lead.
"Well, I had started on an online program to get my Master's degree in writing," I begin. "While not an actual part of the program, I was encouraged to post some of my work on sites outside of class. As it just so happened, I had been working on something for over a decade in my role-playing campaign."
"Role-playing. So, you've been doing this for a fairly long time?" Liana gets to ask a question. Good, as she seems to knew where this is heading.
"Yes. Although I was a little young for it, I really got into these old "World of Darkness" games through Jim, the older brother of one of my friends in high school. While the rest of my friends ultimately drifted off, I was able to keep the campaign going through proxies and other players. Part of that game let me to develop my own spin on some of the material.
"Anyway, I posted some of the historical background information on a forum one day, and the other commenters really liked some of my ideas. They encouraged me to create some community content for the game. A few months later, I submitted the first few chapters of what would become my book. It was an instant bestseller. In fact, it was becoming so popular that the current publisher and holder of the property wanted to use my work as the basis for one of their own. I was hired to write out a full book based on what I had already wrote. This was about two years ago.
"When they published my novel, it was a fairly big hit, at least in the game fan circle. It went through four printing in six months. That's when the publisher realized that there might be a bigger market for the work, so they set up a deal with Random House and me. Last fall, a deluxe hardcover edition of my work, The Chronicles of Caine: The First Vampire, was published. It took a few weeks, but it landed on the bestsellers list. Not top ten, but not too shabby a showing either."
"And you've been touring this spring?" the other female host, Julianna, pops in.
"Yes, in conjunction with the deluxe trade paperback edition. I took a break this week to be at my younger brother's graduation, but as of Thursday, I'm back to finish up the tour, starting in my hometown of Lexington." Well, I consider my hometown now.
"The paperback edition, it has a surprise for fans, right?" Liana asks the pertinent question.
"Yes. It feature the first few preview chapters to the follow-up, The Second City, coming out this September..."
I panic and stop before I continue. The book was originally due out September fourth, but Random wanted to push it back so that it would be closer to October and Halloween. I know it wouldn't be the eleventh, but was it pushed to the eighteenth? I can't remember, so I immediately stop talking.
"I guess you'll be touring again for that one." Vance, again.
"Not too much," I respond. "Mostly in October and early November. I think there will be a second leg starting next year, but I'll have to check into that."
"You mentioned trying to get your Master's degree. How far along are you with that?" Great follow-up from Julianna.
"Actually, I finished up last December." I try not to act to smug with this. "I was officially awarded my degree soon after."
"Well, it was great talking to you Chris," Vance is hurrying up to finish up. I had a feeling we were running long. "Next up, the latest on the set of the new hit series..."
I stop paying attention as an aide rushes up to remove my mic setup. Thad is close behind with my tote.
"Great job, Chris. I don't think anyone could tell that this was your first time on television."
"Don't mention it. You did great work too, Thad. I just need to get home for my afternoon meeting. I need to call Cheri to pick me up."
"Uh, about that, Chris," Thad starts to speak. I can tell something is wrong.
"What, Thad?"
"Well, I need to get you down to The Rock for your second interview."
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