Funny You Should Ask

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A restless young journalist with big dreams interviews a Hollywood heartthrob—and reunites with him ten years later to discover exactly how he feels about her in this sexy and engrossing novel “You will absolutely devour this book. It’s filled with delightful banter, hot romance, and a love story that’s worthy of the big screen.”—Kate Spencer, author of In a New York Minute and host of Forever35 ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Cosmopolitan, NPR, The Washington Post, Book Riot Then. Twenty-something writer Chani Horowitz is stuck. While her former MFA classmates are nabbing high-profile book deals, all she does is churn out puff pieces. Then she’s hired to write a profile of movie star Gabe Parker: her number one celebrity crush and the latest James Bond. All Chani wants to do is keep her cool and nail the piece. But what comes next proves to be life changing in ways she never saw coming, as the interview turns into a whirlwind weekend that has the tabloids buzzing—and Chani getting closer to Gabe than she had planned. Now. Ten years later, after a brutal divorce and a healthy dose of therapy, Chani is back in Los Angeles as a successful writer with the career of her dreams. Except that no matter what new essay collection or online editorial she’s promoting, someone always asks about The Profile. It always comes back to Gabe. So when his PR team requests that they reunite for a second interview, she wants to say no. She wants to pretend that she’s forgotten about the time they spent together. But the truth is that Chani wants to know if those seventy-two hours were as memorable to Gabe as they were to her. And so . . . she says yes. Alternating between their first meeting and their reunion a decade later, this deliciously irresistible novel will have you hanging on until the last word.

***PRE-ORDER FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK . . . AGAIN: MORE OF YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY THE QI ELVES NOW*** The perfect gift for all those big and little kids in your life who ask 'why...?'. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ZOE BALLPre-order the next book in this series, 222 QI Answers to Your Quite Ingenious Questions, published in paperback on 3rd November.'QI have outdone themselves!' ALAN DAVIES 'Fabulous . . . A cracker of a book!' SUE PERKINS'The QI Elves are barnstormingly brilliant.' ZOE BALL'Genuinely useful and endlessly fascinating.' THE SPECTATOR'Hilarious.' DAILY MAILThe QI Elves are the brains behind the enduringly popular BBC TV panel show QI.Every Wednesday the Elves appear on The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show where they answer the ponderings and wonderings of BBC Radio 2's most inquisitive listeners.Dive into this splendid collection of listeners' unusual questions and some unexpected answers that are sure to make your head spin on topics ranging from goosebumps to grapefruit, pizza to pirates and everything in-between. Generously sprinkled with extra facts and questions from the Elves, Funny You Should Ask . . . is essential reading for the incurably curious. How much water would you need to put out the Sun?If spiders can walk on the ceiling, why can't they get out of the bath?Why do dads make such bad jokes?Why does red mean 'stop' and green mean 'go'?Can I dig a tunnel to the other side of the Earth?How do plant seeds know which way is up?Can you fill up a black hole?Who popularised the recorder, and where can I get hold of them?For more from the team behind QI, visit qi.com. You can also follow QI's fact-filled Twitter account @qikipedia and listen to their weekly podcast at nosuchthingasafish.comFor more mind-boggling nuggets of wisdom check out the QI FACTS SERIES

There is a certain perception from the outside that the publishing industry is a near insurmountable fortress, with gatekeepers and naysayers manning the turrets looking for any way to fire a flaming arrow at the dreams of an aspiring writer. Funny You Should Ask, based on the popular Writer's Digest column of the same name, assists to deconstruct, inform, and illuminate the path to publication and beyond, all while dispelling the rumor that those in the industry are better than thou. And even though each writer's publishing journey is like a game of PLINKO--you can drop the chip in the same slot every time and get a different result--there are still common constructs and confusions that can be shared and explored together in order to help inform all writers. From understanding the nuts and bolts of a query letter, to learning how to process the soul-searing envy of watching someone else's career flourish, to how to talk to your editor, veteran literary agent Barbara Poelle covers the approach and execution of the common and uncommon bumps along the traditional publishing path. Includes • More than 100 questions answered including expanded answers to topics that didn't get the full treatment in a column • Writing exercises, submission checklists, and publishing BINGO for every publishing milestone

An abundant cache of ideas for using words and wordplay to create engaging riddles and jokes.

This oral history of television sitcom writing offers the perspectives of 22 of the best and most prolific early comedy writers. How they broke into the business; how they wrote scripts (and where they got their ideas); what it was like to work on hits--and on flops; what the sitcom actors were like; how they collaborated with other writers and producers; and why they retired are just some of the topics they speak to. The book documents insider knowledge and gives the reader a better understanding of what makes great television comedy. The writers' observations about the changes that took place during their long careers help explain why television comedy has evolved so greatly in recent years.

Answers to over 100 questions about superstitions, customs, clothes, food, music, science, etc.

From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together

Former CBC Radio host Marg Meikle's three humorous but fact-filled books You Asked for It!, Funny You Should Ask and Ask Me Anything! are now available in an omnibus bindup at a sensational price! The award-winning books are included in their entirety, along with over 140 illustrations. Here are the answers to all the questions that hundreds of kids asked her-questions that would likely stump most adults. Half the fun of reading the answers is the off-on-a-tangent-with-more-facts approach that Marg is famous for using. Among the hundreds of trivia questions answered are: Why is 13 unlucky? Why don't tattoos come off? Do twins have the same DNA? Why is it called a funny bone? What did we use before toilet paper? Do animals dream? Why can't you tickle yourself? Over 300 wacky but informative answers fill the pages, grouped under themes of Customs, Holidays, Superstitions, Food, The Opposite Sex, and more!