The first trailer for the adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson‘s The Rum Diary has been released.

We’ve embedded the video above–what do you think? It will hit theaters in late October this year. As we previously noted, Oscar nominee Johnny Depp stars in this film about young writer living in Puerto Rico.

Depp actually played Thompson in the 1998 adaptation of Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas. (via Deadline)

Tracey Guest, director of publicity at Simon & Schuster, has been promoted to vice president, director of publicity.

Guest has been with Simon & Schuster since 1998. In her time at the publisher, she has worked on a wide range of books by authors including: Hunter S. Thompson, Bob Woodward, Don Rickles, Mike Birbiglia, Bob Dylan, Paula Deen and Sylvia Nasar. Guest’s most recent publicity campaign was for Jaycee Dugard‘s bestseller, A Stolen Life. Guest began her career at Dutton/Plume in 1991.

In an email, Adam Rothberg, SVP, corporate communications at Simon & Schuster, wrote: “Through it all, Tracey has demonstrated excellent judgment, warmth, spirit, and an ability to make good things happen for our authors in all forms of media.”

We don’t think animals should be denied the right to get into the Halloween spirit. The video embedded above shares a cornucopia of pet costume ideas for Halloween, but we are building a list literary costume ideas for the galley cat (or dog) in your life.

We suggest: Clifford the Big Red Dog, Curious George, or The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Tweet your literary pet ideas with the hashtag #literarypetcostumes to or share them in the comments section.

The Book Bench hosted the Critterati contest this year, asking owners to submit a photo of their pet dressed like a literary character. Last year’s five winners included a puppy imitating Hunter S. Thompson. This year’s winners will be announced today.

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In 1958, the great Hunter S. Thompson applied for a reporter spot at the Vancouver Sun. The paper reprinted his cover letter, reminding us all that even the most original writers were once looking for work.

Here’s more from the cover letter: “I’ve taken some writing courses from Columbia in my spare time, learned a hell of a lot about the newspaper business, and developed a healthy contempt for journalism as a profession. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a damned shame that a field as potentially dynamic and vital as journalism should be overrun with dullards, bums, and hacks, hag-ridden with myopia, apathy, and complacence, and generally stuck in a bog of stagnant mediocrity. If this is what you’re trying to get The Sun away from, then I think I’d like to work for you.”

Last year, this GalleyCat editor took Thompson‘s novel, The Rum Diary, along on a vacation to Puerto Rico. The video essay embedded above traced Thompson’s footsteps around 1959, when he struggled as a reporter at a Puerto Rican newspaper–one year after his Vancouver application.  (Via Bud Parr)

A couple weeks ago we wrote about one company’s efforts to create merchandise to sell alongside the adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert‘s memoir, Eat, Pray, Love.

The Europe on Five Bad Ideas a Day blog took the idea and ran with it, creating some hilarious concepts for literary tie-ins: “The Innocents Abroad (Mark Twain): cigars, random bones of random saints. Assassination Vacation (Sarah Vowell): replica of Ford’s Theater, grassy knoll, wind-up toy of singing-dancing assassin. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Hunter S. Thompson): um, nothing that would be legal to sell.”

Add your capitalistic ideas in the comments section. This GalleyCat editor only has one piece of merchandise to add: H.P. Lovecraft-inspired Cthulhu Sushi…

“The water was that clear turquoise color you get with a white sand bottom. I had never seen such a place. I wanted to take off all my clothes and never wear them again,” wrote Hunter S. Thompson about a particularly beautiful stretch of Puerto Rico, reminding us that everyone, from publishing folks to crazed journalists, needs a vacation.

Starting this afternoon, GalleyCat editor Jason Boog is leaving for a week-long vacation. He will return relaxed and refreshed on Monday, October 26, along with more unexpected publishing news, tech-savvy author interviews, Darwinian writing advice, and good old fashioned Apple Tablet speculation.

If you have any breaking news in the next week, you can still email GalleyCat your tips. Our senior editor Ron Hogan will hold down the GalleyCat fort next week, both on the site and on Twitter.

Actor Johnny Depp is reportedly docked outside of Puerto Rico on a 156-foot yacht, shooting an adaptation of the Hunter S. Thompson‘s novel, “The Rum Diary.”

During a recent trip to Puerto Rico, one GalleyCat editor re-read the book and explored vintage footage of the island. This video essay retraces Thompson’s footsteps around 1959, when he struggled as a reporter at a Puerto Rican newspaper–long before his famous drug-fueled reporting during the late 1960s and 70s.

Literary Traveler describes the period: “Puerto Rico was like another West, where people dreamt of staking out a piece of paradise and getting rich. Young Hunter S. Thompson tried to get a job at The San Juan Star, but was rejected by the editor, William Kennedy, who went on to become a successful writer and recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for his novel, Ironweed. (Despite rejection, the two remained lifelong friends.) Still desperate to get down to San Juan, Thompson accepted a more dubious position at El Sportivo, a fledgling English weekly about sports.”