In the "Lengths Writers Will Go To Promote A Book" department, Tom Dolby, author of The Trouble Boy, submitted to an SFist grilling. And by grilling we mean a nice, spicy rub-down followed by a slow, low-temperature smoke. Because Tom is a native of The City, and successful in New York, so we can't really be all that hard on him.

As part of local literary impresario Kevin Smokler's "Virtual Book Tour," Tom will be spending the day online shilling his paperback edition of his debut novel. While we didn't get a chance to read it through ourselves, we've seen more positive reviews than negative, and frankly, we're willing to give any book with a fictionalized account of Lizzie Grubman's SUV 'incident' a fighting chance.

Tom dishes on the differences between San Fran and New York, what it's like to sell gossip and gay sex to bookstores, and where to find the Big Apple gliterati at play after the jump.

What do you miss most about San Francisco living in New York -- besides the weather?

Well, I love staying at my parents' hotel, er, I mean house. Seriously, for being in a city, I think you can't beat the peace and quiet of San Francisco. New York can be a very frenetic place.

Your father is rather famous for founding Dolby Labs, which we're pretty proud is in San Francisco. That said, we can imagine it would be difficult for you two to swap stories about your work. How much do you know about your dad's engineering, and how much does he know about your writing?

I've learned a fair amount about his work over the years, and he's read my book and enjoyed it. He said it opened up a new world to him, one that he might not otherwise know anything about. But yes, it's true, what we each do are two very different professions.

So when you decided to move to New York, was it for school, for work or just to go somewhere new and exciting?

I was already in Connecticut for boarding school and college, and New York just seemed so exciting and glamorous that I had to be a part of it. While I have great affection for San Francisco, New York allows me to be my own person, separate from my parents.

Okay, so The Trouble Boy seems to be something of a roman a clef. For instance, we remember reading about the book when the hardcover came out on Lizzie Grubman-obsessed Gawker. How much of the book is a fictionalized account of your personal experiences, or those of your friends?

Actually, the book was on Page Six, the gossip page in the New York Post. The novel is inspired by some experiences I've had--fictionalized and altered, of course--and other situations and characters that I've imagined. I would say, though, that there's a grain of emotional truth for me in nearly every element of it.

[Ed. Note: Okay, we didn't edit our questions, so the next one looks stupid, but we swear Gawker mentioned the book. How could they resist?]

Speaking of Gawker, you're using the Virtual Book Tour and otherwise being very effective in marketing your book through the medium of blogs. Are you a blog reader? What kind of value have blogs offered in terms of providing results for the book's marketing campaign?

I love blogs, and they've been great from the beginning. I noticed last year that readers were recommending the book on their personal blogs, and that literary blogs were linking to articles about The Trouble Boy. So I realized that blogs could be a powerful tool--they're so individualized, and so immediate. If someone on a blog you regularly read says a book is great, it's like getting an endorsement from your best friend.

So you're in a unique position to point up the differences between the New York and San Francisco society mills. How would you compare the two? Who serves the better food at charity functions? Who mixes the better martinis? All things considered, who has the higher snob quotient?

I think San Francisco can be very insular, because everyone knows everyone, and it's not always welcoming to newcomers. I've heard horror stories from my female friends about how competitive the man market is in the Bay Area--apparently, these society girls can be vicious when it comes to competing for a husband! So the snob factor there is that the scene can be a bit provincial--San Francisco has nothing to compare itself to, so it thinks it's the center of the world (yes, I know, it is, it is). New York, conversely, has a genuine snob factor, but there's also a sort of mobility. I think someone can arrive on the scene and make a splash almost immediately, if they are audacious enough. You go to charity functions and launch parties and you see 23 year-old fashion designers next to society doyennes, drag queens next to Broadway stars. There's more of a mix.

I've read a lot of reviews on the internet about how "hott" you look on the jacket photo. In the history of publishing do you think anyone's gotten a date from their press photos?

First of all, I have a huge thing about spelling. If anyone ever called me "hott," I just couldn't in good conscience write them back. But yes, I can attest to getting many offers because of my press photos--which, by the way, I can guarantee you is the best I'm ever going to look. In any case, I'm quite flattered by the emails--at least by the ones that are well-written. They're hott.

One review I found was from a bookstore employee who found your book in the general interest part of the store, which surprised him, since there are some steamy gay scenes. Were you consciously attempting a book for a mainstream audience instead of just the "Queer Lit" market? Did you have to fight with your publisher to have it marketed to a more general audience?

Actually, my publisher sees it as a general fiction selection. It's silly that it should be marginalized because of a few sex scenes. I mean, we don't put Philip Roth in erotica because he describes masturbation! I like it best when the book is put in both general interest fiction and gay fiction. The gay section will help gay people find the book, but the novel is so much more than that.

We actually were going to NYU when Peter Gatien was taken down as the owner of the Limelight after the drug raids, tax evasion and Angel Melendez murder. In fact, one of the kids in our dorm (who went by "Baby Joe") had their phone tapped by the FBI as part of the investigation. Has New York nightlife recovered since then? In your opinion, what's the most debauched club on the scene today? Because, um, we, uh, want to warn our readers to, erm, stay away. Yeah, that's it.

I think nightlife hasn't been the same since the late '90s, though I've heard that drug use is still rampant, especially in the gay community, which is just sad. I honestly don't hang out with people who use, so I don't see it. I did the debauched thing in my early twenties at Peter Gatien's Tunnel (when it was still around) and in the meatpacking district (when it was actually cool). Now there are still the hot places like Bungalow 8 or whatever, but I don't go to them too often. I go to private parties, and I try to be in bed by one.

Think you'll ever move back to San Francisco?

I would always like to have a relationship to San Francisco. No other city can compare in terms of aesthetics and ease of lifestyle.

And, since we ask this question of all our interview subjects, give us an "Only in San Francisco" story...and thanks again for taking the time to do an interview!

You know, I got such an incredible reception in San Francisco when my book was released: there was a rather juicy article in the Chronicle, both of my readings were packed, and I landed on the bestseller list. I didn't expect any of this, and I don't think my parents did, either. One evening during that time, my mom was about to go out to a cocktail party, and I asked her if it bothered her that now everyone knew she had a gay son. She replied, "No, not at all--I'm out!"