Lit in the Lou and Elsewhere

Swell time at the Lit in the Lou festival yesterday and though I felt a bit out of my element on a suspense panel, my table mates Scott Miller, Kristy Makansi and N@B alum Jack Ryan saved my bacon and carried the day. Thanks folks. Both N@B alum Fred Venturini and Tim Lane had events happening at the same time as mine, so I didn't get to go enjoy them (I hope you did), but Fred, Jack and I had a couple pitchers' worth of quality time afterward to get lit in the lou together.

And I had a blast in Arkansas last week. Big thanks to Lisa Reynolds-Sharp, Nightbird Books, the Fayetteville Public Library and the True Lit Festival for having us. N@B at Nightbird was a lot of fun - I read from Peckerwood, Jake Hinkson gave us a taste of Saint Homicide, John Hornor Jacobs read a killer unpublished short story and Scott Phillips cleansed the event with a blaze out of Hop Alley. I also scored myself a UK paperback of Jacobs' The Incorruptibles featuring a heartwarming inscription suggesting my company the equivalent of a tug job at the movies. Thanks, man. You too. Go check out Booked Podcast's The Incorruptibles episode. And speaking of swell podcasts go check out Stephen Usery interviewing Smith Henderson at Mysterpod about his terrific debut novel Fourth of July Creek.

Taking a couple weeks off of book events before Noircon in Philadelphia where I look forward to pressing palms with the likes of Rusty Barnes, Andrew Nette and Michael Kazepis for the first time as well catching up with favorite folks like Christa Faust, Joe Samuel Starnes, Vicki Hendricks, Ed Pettit, Eddie Muller, Lou Boxer, Paul Oliver and David James Keaton. Plus - fuckin Stuart Neville reading as Ted Lewis before a screening of Get Carter? The fuck out. I'm so fucking there. Also, fuck Peter Rozovsky. You gonna be there Dennis Tafoya, Wallace Stroby, Duane Swierczynski, Kieran Shea, Megan Abbott, Anthony Neil Smith? I hope so.

Finally, it is Red October once again and the St. Louis Cardinals are playing the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS. Seeing as how both cities have their own N@B chapters, N@B-STL and N@B-SF have a friendless wager going where by after each game, the 'winning city' gives away copies of their books on FB. Last night the Gnats got lucky and took game one. Today - Joe Clifford and Tom Pitts have to give away one of their books. To enter - leave a comment on THIS FB POST before game 2 begins tonight and they will scientifically determine a winner. After tonight's game look for another FB post from the winning city's N@B representative to enter to win another book. Last night was truly Trouble in the Heartland and if there's not enough Hustle tonight and the Giants can Piggyback another win... there will be Lamentation.

Had it been the Blue Jays playing the Cardinals this post season, I would've reached out to Rob Brunet for this little N@B kerfuffle, but he beat me to it and has reached out by way of setting up a signing in my home town tomorrow night at Subterranean Books. I'll be at work and not able to attend, so excuse me while I catch up with Rob on his day off. You're not off the hook tho. Everybody show up to Rob's Stinking Rich signing at Subterranean tomorrow night!