Marching In...to March

 

Spring is about to, well - spring, which actually means that summer is about to hit us here on the Gulf Coast. We skip over the nicest month of the year here on the Gulf Coast and go from a dead stop into the heat and humidity of summer. Just kidding, of course, but it sometimes seems that's the way it is.

I had an amazing time at the Orange Beach Festival of Art in - where else? - Orange Beach, Alabama this past weekend. Met some really great people including a couple from Long Branch, NJ, which immediately brought back memories of my first job in radio at WWUU - U107 - in Long Branch. I was working parttime overnights and part of my job was calling the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford and get the harness racing results read them over the air. And if I ever hear the Sheena Easton song, "9 to 5 (Morning Train)" one more time, it will be too soon.

The best part about doing an event like this where there are two or more authors together is spending quiet times talking about writing and the business of being an author. I learned so much comparing notes with history author Mike Bunn, poet and songwriter Mike Turner, and of course, mystery author Carolyn Haines who gave me invaluable insight into the process she uses for writing her 30 (THIRTY!) Sarah Booth Delany mysteries. 

It's on to the next event and it will be a big one - my new book, "The Pig War and Pelican Girls," hits both brick and mortar and online booksellers April 22nd and on April 26th, my first signing at one of my favorite indie bookshops, the Haunted Bookshop in Mobile. The signing coincides with Independent Bookstore Day. I'll be there from 1pm to 3pm. If you can't make it, you can pre-order the book here. While the sub-title says "21 Extraordinary Tales of American History," there are 21 main stories and another 25 shorter ones. I think you will find the stories fascinating.

Oh, and did I mention - author Frye Gaillard will be there signing as well from 11am to 1pm. His book, "A Hard Rain," is on the top of my recommended reading lists.

As for writing, I have a ton of projects in motion, as always. Besides doing promotion for "The Pig War," I am completing production of the 10-part companion podcast. My book, "Notable Women of Alabama," is still not ready for release. I was hoping the publisher would have had the edits and galleys completed by now for release during Women's History Month, but the deadline for me to complete the writing made it impossible and those edits are taking a long time. Still, I should be getting the final proofs soon and before you know it, it will hit bookshops. The book bios 50 incredible women who are from or moved to the state and made a difference not only here, but around the world as well.

Two publishers have shown interest in a couple of proposals I have sent out - a new non-fiction history and a new fiction book. Keep your fingers crossed on those. If the fiction is picked up, I'll be a happy man. It's something I've always wanted to write.

And that's all from the writing room for now. I hope to see you April 26th in Mobile.