"Autopilot is a taught page-turner. You'll fly through the book as you breathlessly await the next twist."
"Dave Fymbo is the “Sully" Sullenberger of contemporary fiction! Just when you think the American novel is headed toward a certain and violent death, Fymbo skillfully navigates the farcical and dramatic melange of modern American living and lands this novel in the Hudson River."
I suppose this would have been more helpful earlier, but here it is for any new readers or anyone who wants to read it again. Think of this as the director's commentary for the second time through. I designed each chapter to be short enough that anyone could pick it up and get through a chapter, even if they only have 10-15 minutes per day to read. But that way you do lose some of the flow and perhaps some of the references if it doesn't stay fresh in your mind.
On the other hand, some people are likely to carve out a few hours on a Sunday afternoon and finish it in one sitting and I'm not sure that's the best either. Sure it's fresh in your mind, but you don't get a chance to absorb and reflect on what you've read.
If you asked me, I look at it like a season of 24. They have six DVD's with 4 episodes each and watching 4 episodes in a night engrosses you in the story. Any more than that and it will all blend together.
Here are the six parts of Autopilot, as I see them:
Part 1: Chapters 1-4
Part 2: Chapters 5-8
Part 3: Chapters 9-12
Part 4: Chapters 13-15
Part 5: Chapters 16-18
Part 6: Chapters 19-21
So I would recommend reading one part per day, and finish the whole thing in a week. Personally, I love parts 4-6 the most. And I think parts 1 and 2 are better the second time around.
It's no secret that there is one author who I've been most inspired by: Chuck Palahniuk. And one tidbit is that every one of his novels includes the color cornflower blue and Missoula, Montana.
Well, now I've got two works out there and there are things that I've repeated in Autopilot from Roadside Attractions. Some were techniques or descriptions that I considered a little nod to anyone who read my first book. Others might become "easter eggs"--little things that will appear in everything I write.
Here's what I've found so far:
I like to write things that I would want to read. So that means keeping it short, no filler. That also means that every sentence should be important. Often I find myself reading books where you could skim entire pages and not miss anything. My goal is that you have to be engaged with every line. I want to be able to tell you something important and know that you're going to read it and not skim through it.
So I hope that you find Autopilot engaging to read, easy to finish because of its length, but complex enough that you might want to read it over and over again to see what you missed.
I should start by saying up front that this is the biggest, and most personal project I've ever done. I don't know how many hours upon hours it took and I often wondered if I would really make my self-imposed release date, my 25th birthday last November. Well, I didn't. But five months later it's finished and ready for you. And I hope that you'll agree that it was worth the effort.
So how did I get to this point?
Shortly after I self-published a small collection of stories, Roadside Attractions, I started writing fragments of something in the summer of 2007. By the end of July 07, I decided to write my first novel. I didn't really have characters yet, just ideas. Throughout the fall, I kept brainstorming, working on the plot, crafting any interesting ideas into paragraphs.
Around December 07 I started creating an outline. It was hard to know if I had too much or too little to work with, but it felt like enough to get started. And around the week of January 25th, 2008, I started writing the first chapter. (It wouldn't be until July 08 that I landed on the title.)
It took over six months to write the rough draft, including some weeks where that's all I thought about. From August 08 until March 2009, it's been in the editing process, and I owe a big thank you to my editors, Brittany, Bobby and Matt. Now it's finally ready to print and I couldn't be more excited. Some of these thoughts I've had hidden in my mind for almost two years. And now it's time to let it out.
I'll assume that if you made it this far, you're one of my bestest friends and you've already bought at least one copy for yourself. Perhaps one for home and one for the office. Or you've bought a couple because you know it makes a great stocking stuffer. And since you're one of my bestest friends, you're going to want to share this site with your friends by posting it on their facebook or by email. All you have to do is click this fancy button. Thanks.
Found a typo? Or something that just doesn't make sense? Post it here in the comments so I can fix it. Thanks.
