Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Hittin the Links

Dan O'Shea & Frank Bill listen to Aaron Michael Morales read at N@B
Some little bit o' catchin' up to do at the HBW. First, over at Ransom Notes I'm still a bit high from the N@B event over the weekend and I'm telling a few stories about book events. Have you one? Please go there and leave it in the comment section. Second, I've not yet linked to my thoughts on two big summer books, so here they are: Jason Starr's rabid moon thriller The Pack (check out Cullen Gallagher's notched toply interview with Jason here) and Marcus Sakey's forget me not The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes. Third, Patti Abbott forced me to take part in her series "How I Came to Write This," so here's a link to the story behind my story Politoburg.

I've been touching up a story about a fallen away preacher at the ass end of Sherman's March this week and still thinking about it as a novel. There's a biblical character he's modeled on, and I think there's a novel's worth of story there without even trying. Perhaps it's my next big project.

You guys see that Spinetingler magazine is going into publishing eBooks? Snubnose Press is debuting with the mini-antho Speedloader soon featuring N@B alumn Richard Thomas and Jonathan Woods as well as HBW friends Nik Korpon, Nigel Bird and Matthew C. Funk. Now, I've got to familiarize meself with W.C. County. eBooks. Here we go with eBooks again. Man, I don't think I'll ever back down about there being something special about print, but I'm just gonna be left out of too much good shit to not read em. So, I just picked up (not literally of course, sigh) Roger Smith's Dust Devils, How Do You Like Your Blue Eyed Boy by Barry Graham and The Adventures of Cash Laramie & Gideon Miles by David Cranmer pseudonym Edward A. Grainger. Of course Anthony Neil Smith's Billy Laffite books Yellow Medicine and Hogdoggin go in there too, but just for objectivity as I've already got reading-friendly physical copies that I've comfortably dog-eared, (actually the new covers by Erik Lundy are worth picking em for - but damn - I'd really like to hold those tattered pulps). Check out Mr. Smith on the Booked Podcast talking ePublishing-n-stuff. My favorite quote from that interview? "Being dragged kicking and screaming to ePublishing is like being dragged kicking and screaming to a blow-job."

N@B is coming backatcha August 6 with Jesus Angel Garcia, Jane Bradley and David Cirillo, so make your travel plans now. July 20, Donald Ray Pollock is here and though it's not technically a N@B event, me and Scott are involved and trying to make it special for as many folks as possible, (think we could twist some arms to show? Maybe Alan Heathcock? Chris Offutt? Pinckney Benedict? Robert OlmsteadKyle Minor? Scott WolvenBenjamin PercyDaniel Woodrell? Tom Franklin? John Brandon? Bueller? Bueller? I dunno, but will keep you posted.

4 comments:

pattinase (abbott) said...

Because I can never navigate the B & N website, my favorite author talks include Ruth Rendell telling an audience member she created Kingsmarkam so butt out on correcting her geography.
Tobias and Geoffrey Wolfe remembering their separate childhoods.
Two biographers of Graham Greene arguing over whether a life or a year of researching GG was the better choice.
A writer in La Jolla who admitted she researched her novel on how famous couples met by googling them. She made sure that at least two online sources agreed.
No one raised an eyebrow.

jedidiah ayres said...

Mine are pointy

Nook on Sale said...

Your story about the preacher sounds interesting. Keep us updated on any progress with it.

jedidiah ayres said...

Nook - the preacher story will drop on Halloween in the Surreal South '11 antho