20 percent of every subscription will fund school libraries built by Pipkin and The Nobelity Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to Education for All. In addition to the physical libraries, proceeds will provide books and educational support to promote literacy at three Kenyan schools, Mwangaza, Mweiga and Wiyoni Primary. The following is a Q&A with Pipkin as we look ahead to the arrival of the first book, The Moleskin Mystery:
Q. What is Turk Pipkin's Book of the Every Other Month Club?
A: It's a subscription series to six new books—all written by me (over a number of hard-working years) and designed by six fantastic book designers. So each is a work from the heart, and each is a work of art.
Q. What’s your favorite of the books?
A. My favorite is always the one I’m currently working on. The past few weeks, I’ve been reviewing the copy edit and design for The Moleskin Mystery, which is a New Orleans love story about a guy who finds a partially written journal and takes over the writing to solve a mystery and shed a little light in his own life.
The day The Moleskin Mystery delivers from the printer, my favorite will likely be Requiem for a Screenplay, which I describe as my magnificent failures—three original screenplays that went up and down the Hollywood development process without getting green-lit. From my work as an actor, I’ve learned that making the movie doesn’t necessarily improve the original written word, and I think these scripts stand up to the test of the time in black and white.
Next November when the sixth book, A Christmas Song, is shipping to subscribers, it will be my favorite. There area a lot of fans waiting for this follow-up to my Algonquin Christmas novel, When Angels Sing, and the movie "Angels Sing," which starred Willie Nelson, Connie Britton, Harry Connick, Jr., and Kris Kristofferson.
Q. Why is the Book Club funding three new libraries at schools in Kenya?
A. The Nobelity Project's films and our other fundraising have been dedicated to the principle of Education for All. Much of that work has been in Austin, but the largest initiative has been partnering with 35 rural schools in Kenya to build classrooms, preschools, science and computer labs, kitchens and more. Reading is fundamental everywhere, so we've accelerated our efforts to build libraries and provide increased literacy and a love books to kids who basically have none. In the U.S., we often take books for granted, but access to books for the thousands of kids we work with in Kenya and creates a love of books, greater literacy and higher scores. A new library can be life-changing as it enables kids to achieve their true potential.
Q. How does someone buy the books in your Book Club?
A. It's a 6-book series for every book lover. There are also higher subscription levels that include canvas prints of my best Kenya wildlife photos. There are links at TurkPipkin.com to subscribe and get The Moleskin Mystery before Christmas. I'll be shipping the other books throughout 2018.
