On October 29th of last year, The Writer Profile Project talked to Vestal Review publisher Mark Budman. (Read the full interview here.) At the time, his novel My Life at First Try had been accepted for publication by Counterpoint Press. Now, just over a year later, in the words of Mark himself, this is where his novel stands:

My novel My Life at First Try is forthcoming from Counterpoint Press on November 28. It has received very good reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus and Booklist. Please see my website for details.

Mark

Just as a reminder and plug for the book, here’s the Q&A from last year’s interview regarding Mark’s novel:

Your novel My Life at First Try is forthcoming from Counterpoint Press. What is the novel about, and when will it be available to purchase?

My Life at First Try is a semi-autobiographical novel-in-stories. Each story is a near-flash, mostly around 1000 words or so. It’s basically the story of my life. However the people around my protagonist may not be what they really were or are. Rather, they are presented through the lens of the protagonist’s mind. The Russian word for “lens” comes from the same Latin root as the English word “objective” in this meaning: “not influenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or prejudice; based on facts; unbiased: an objective opinion.” However, this lens may not be objective in many cases. So instead of a series of coldly realistic photographs, this novel becomes a series of emotional paintings.

From the story of my grandparents persecuted by Stalin to my coming to America to my becoming an English-language writer– it’s a turbulent, rollercoaster tale. The story of its publication is as turbulent as the story of my life. When I finished writing the novel, I had offers to represent it from seven New York City agents. My agent of choice sold the novel to Counterpoint. I was assigned a wonderful editor who mostly finished editing the novel in a month or so. But then disaster struck. Perseus Books, the owner of Counterpoint, sold it to another publisher. My editor lost her job, along with many other employees. I was left hanging. Just very recently, the new publisher was able to assign a new editor and a new publication date in the Fall of 2008.

Though Stalin was a monster when he was alive, death made him a bit milder. I am helping him to maintain a MySpace presence here: http://myspace.com/211074326.