Press about THINKS OUT LOUD

Queen Anne author's debut novel eschews traditional formatting / Queen Anne & Magnolia News, July 6, 2017

It all started as a personal blog.

For more than a year, Martin Perlman published his musings two or three times a week online; social commentary, cultural references, and the like.

Then it became something more.

The result is the Queen Anne resident’s debut novel, “Thinks Out Loud,” a story that follows a burned-out blogger who washes up in the South Pacific, and a group of characters at odds with a high-tech CEO with murky intentions.

How does a blog become a book?

"Perlman's metafictional approach leaves both his in-book blog readers and actual readers guessing what is and is not real. . .fans of stories set in the tech world, residents of the Seattle area, and readers who enjoy offbeat and original stories will be entertained."
--Publishers Weekly, July 2018

"In Thinks Out Loud: A Blog at First, Seattle author Martin Perlman writes what may be the most accurate portrait of Seattle in the present moment. Evoking the hard sci-fi stylings associated with fellow Seattle author Neal Stephenson, Perlman uproariously skewers start-up culture in a novel that will strike true to any Seattleite. This form-breaking novel is written in blog format, hence the subtitle, and even features a villainous CEO who, some may argue, bears a resemblance to Jeff Bezos."
--Review by Third Place Books, Ravenna, August 24, 2017

Reader Reviews from Amazon

I haven't read fiction in years. This was a wonderful break. My family was surprised to see how I mowed through a book. I loved the unique format of telling a story through a blog. The story line kept you guessing and it all came together at the end. I really do want to see this in a movie. Nice work.  --Doug Howell

Thinks Out Loud is different from any novel you've read before -- a whole new genre of blog-based fiction. Great characters, a twisting and slightly twisted plot, and an original format that keeps you reading one entry after another after another. Opening Perlman's book is like opening an exquisite package of potato chips. You think you'll only eat a few and then end up devouring the entire bag. It's so much fun ping-ponging from fog-bound Seattle to Polynesia, all without ever leaving the digital confines of Issac's blog.--Author Mark Baker

In Thinks Out Loud, Martin Perlman delivers an addictive story in a truly novel form: a series of blog entries that are in turns humorous, thoughtful, and dramatic. Perlman adroitly delivers a satire of our out-of-control love affair with instant communication, while simultaneously inviting the reader to consider their relationship to our current technology and whether it makes life more or less meaningful. Perlman has wrapped into this construct an endearing cast of characters and a contagious plot, which makes the book all the more readable.--Peter Moser