April Tours Bring Sig Sauers

Hey, big congrats to N@B-star Dennis Tafoya on having reached publication date on his excellent new title The Poor Boy's Game. It's a corker and comes with all the achy-heart shit you tough guys secretly love. I got to see Dennis and his lovely wife in Memphis last week and it was just one of the nicest times I've had in a good long time. Also along for dinner and drinks were Scott Phillips and Stephen Usery who was kind enough to ask me to pinch hit for the scheduled, but unable to make it, Megan Abbott on a panel at Bookstock. I was thrilled to take part in the panel discussion with Scott, Ace Atkins and Michael Kardos, though I imagine my presence has probably never been been a bigger letdown for more people (other than maybe that one time I showed up at a school dance for like ten minutes). Also terrific surprise to see Jack Pendarvis for a few minutes! (That guy makes me want to use exclamation points!) 

And thanks, Stephen for having me on Mysterypod this week. We recorded the interview in Memphis on Saturday after the Bookstock festival and after an upcoming episode of Booktalk with Scott about his latest novel, the now available Hop Alley. Git yur Ogden on.

Scott read from Hop Alley (and I took another public whack at Peckerwood) for the first time last week in Madisonville, KY to a great group of folks who showed up to see us including N@B-vet David James Keaton and big supporter, Dakota Taylor, who made the two hour trip from Louisville.

After the reading/discussion it was business as usual with big talk about N@B-Louisville sometime. Big thanks to everybody involved with putting that on, especially Jessica Leonard who's organizing another Books and Booze Live event (this time in Louisville) featuring Keaton, Rob Hart, Amanda Gowin, Leah Rhyne and Patrick Wensink. 

In other N@B related news, please welcome Durham NC to the fold. Dirtbags author Eryk Pruitt will be running the event with the first happening in June. I won't say yet, 'cause he's still finalizing the talent, but the folks he's already got on board are a daaaaaaaaamn good lineup. Anybody out that way should stay alert for updates, you're not going to want to miss this one. If you don't know Eryk, tune in next week for a guest post by the man.

Also next week, the first interview I've conducted since... I dunno Daniel Woodrell? Grant Jerkins? It's been a while. Anyhow, no better way to re-break the ice than with Johnny Shaw in support of the new Jimmy Veeder title Plaster City. See you then. 

Meantime, enjoy Free Comic Book Day Saturday. I plan on taking my kids to Starclipper where Brian Hurtt will be signing in the morning. Got my eye on that Nick Mamatas All You Need is Kill translation/adaptation and I'll probably also pick up something to scratch the itch Kieran Shea keeps tickling when he feeds my stuff like White Suits, Fatale and The Massive. (BTW kids, T-minus pretty damn soon for Koko Takes a Holiday - save your loose change now and you can get it when it drops in the next few weeks).