Ups & Downs

Melissa Koltes of Rebecca’s Reads posted a review of Ups & Downs.  She had the following to say:

I do not typically laugh out loud as I am reading.  But this book made me LOL more times than I can count. … The authors do a fantastic job of giving a visual account of the uniqueness of the towns-people, the villages, the countries and the cultures.  The beauty of the landscape, the difficulty of the journey and the individual experiences that each narrate is awe inspiring, incredibly amusing, and greatly entertaining.

Read the entire Rebecca’s Reads review of Ups & Downs here.

Ups & Downs is a Reviewer’s Choice for the Midwest Book Review’s March edition of Small Press Bookwatch.

Every month, Midwest Book Review publishes its Small Press Bookwatch, “dedicated to showcasing reviews for fiction and non-fiction books that are self-published, small press published, or Print-On-Demand (POD) published titles.”  Of the 70ish titles showcased in the March edition, Ups & Downs was one of the four books selected for Reviewer’s Choice.  MBR had the following to say about us:

What happens when you stick two Americans into the Swiss Alps? “Ups and Downs: The Misadventures of a Crusty Old Fart and his Bouncy Son as they Trek Through the Alps” is the story of a father and son as they hike through the famous Swiss Alps. Written in two distinct but fascinating voices, they offer a cross-generational look at Europe and have an adventure that is fascinating to read. “Ups and Downs” is a fine choice for true adventure fans, highly recommended.

MBR also posted its review on our Amazon.com page, giving us five stars.

On Sunday, Don had a release event at the Mary Miller Theater in Lafayette, CO, and on Monday David released the book with a signing at BookPeople in Austin, TX.  Thanks to everyone who attended and made these events a success!

Buy Ups & Downs at Amazon.com today.

Last night was the Colorado launch and tonight at 7 pm is the book launch and signing at BookPeople in Austin.  We’re busy Facebooking and updating and calling people, so we’ll update you tomorrow on how it all went.

It’s been an interesting few weeks … Many people have been telling us that they’ve been getting our e-mails, Facebook messages, Twitters, and so forth, and that they’re looking forward to coming.  Others say they’re sorry they missed it and ask how it went.  At which point we take great pleasure in telling them that they haven’t, in fact, missed anything, and they can still totally come!

It’s one week to launch.  NOW’S THE TIME TO TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS!!!!

Here’s an exercise.  It’ll only take about 30 seconds. Open up a Word document, notepad file, physical notebook, palm pilot, or whatever else you use to keep things in existence, and then spend 30 seconds writing down the names of 5 people you know. Special bonus points if they’re hikers, campers, travel enthusiasts, or Europeans.

***Cue Jeopardy! music as 30 seconds pass***

Now, just talk to them some time in the next three or four days and tell them about this awesome book that’s just up their alley and pretty please come buy it.  Not because you’re calling in a favor, but because it’s HILARIOUS and INTERESTING and ENTERTAINING and OH SO MOVING and they just have to buy it because what would their life be like if they looked back on this opportunity 5 years from now and said, “I once had the opportunity to meet Don/David (circle one) Fried and get a signed copy of his book … and I blew it … and now all I have is this UNSIGNED hilarious, interesting, entertaining, and oh-so-moving book.

We’re thinking about offering up a prize to the person who brings the most people.  Here are a few of the prizes we’ve considered:

• A free book
• A heart-shaped box of Ferrero Rochers purchased the day after Valentine’s Day for 80% off.
• A job.  We hear those are in high demand right now.
• A copy of the Carcassonne board game. Don’t know what that is?  Read the book and find out!

Thanks to everyone for your support.  We’ll see you there!

There’s some nice coverage about next Sunday’s Colorado Launch of Ups & Downs and Don’s playwriting activities in today’s Boulder Camera.

Last Saturday (Valentine’s Day), David Kassin Fried, co-author of Ups & Downs and graduate of the ColdTowne Conservatory, was the featured guest in Stool Pigeon, a weekly improv show where a local celebrity/guest tells stories from his life, on which the improvisers … well, improvise funny scenes.  The star of the show turned out to be the actor-of-Hispanic-descent who wound up playing an Italian pedophile.  Needless to say, a great time was had by all.

Special thanks to ColdTowne for the opportunity, and a special shout-out to their new offspring, The New Movement opening March 1st.  If you’re looking for improv in Austin, check out both – you can’t go wrong.

We know it’s short notice and we know it’s Valentine’s Day, but Ups & Downs was just given a slot at ColdTowne Theater’s weekly Stool Pigeon event tomorrow (Saturday) night at 8:00 PM.

If you’re not familiar with it, Stool Pigeon is an improvised comedy format in which a featured guest (in this case, Ups & Downs co-author David Kassin Fried) tells stories from their life, or in this case, reads excerpts from our awesomely hilarious travel adventure, Ups & Downs: The (Mis)Adventures of a Crusty Old Fart and his Bouncy Son as they Trek Through the Alps.  At appropriate intervals, the guest will step to the side and hilarious improv comedy will ensue, as the improvisers twist the stories into funny, unpredictable, and completely made-up-on-the-spot scenes.

After the show, we’ll be selling advance copies of the book at a discounted rate, so if you want to get it now, come on down!

Come to Ups & Downs Stool Pigeon at ColdTowne Theater.