Q. Do you know how to do that thing everyone else can do where a Youtube video actually appears in your blog and people just have to click play for it to work?
A. I think so! I hope this works. So, a Looking for Alaska reader (okay fine it was my dad) has posted a video of my lengthy appearance on the Today Show last week. You can watch it here. To be funny and also make fun of me, Dad made the intro like twenty-four seconds long, so that you'd think we were leading up to something significant, and then, well, you'll see:



Q. When does your new book, "An Abundance of Katherines," come out?
A. Three days. I am very excited. Although actually, I am not THAT excited, because nothing really happens on the day the book comes out. I remember when Alaska came out, I kept waiting for something to happen. But books are like babies in that the first couple months tend to be pretty boring. You have to wait for them to grow up a little.

Q. Who won the soundtrack contest?
A. Um, I'll get back to you. It is a lot of soundtracks to listen to, in my defense.

Q. Who won the Picture Contest?
A. The Swing, although the Book-Inside-the-Yellow-Pages also had a lot of votes. So congratulations! I'm going to keep that picture on my myspace forever. It's great.

Q. Speaking of myspace, once a year or so don't you go through google and laboriously invite everyone who listed Alaska as one of their favorite books to be your myspace friend?
A. I do. I've always liked monotonous and repetitive tasks, and this is one that I particularly enjoy, because it's a chance to briefly say thank you to a lot of people who've read the book, and also I am just a myspace nerd.

Q. In the process of doing that recently, have you learned anything interesting?
A. Well, I learned that there is now a band called Looking for Alaska, which they indeed got from the book. There is also a band called The Great Perhaps, but they are unrelated. So anyway, take that Harry and the Potters!