Yes! It was 24 degrees Fahrenheit in Madison when I arrived last Friday. And it snowed two inches on the first day of April!! Mamma mia! In Chicago, the cold rain chilled all exposed parts. In Wisconsin, the wind felt Arctic! But the storm is also a metaphor: I have been performing THE MAN WITH EIGHT PAIRS OF LEGS non-stop for nine weeks – readings, interviews, public conversations, signings. I met my publishing team at Sarabande Books for the first time in Philly, my fellow Sarabande authors (who are awesome!) and sat, finally, on the other side of the table, the published side. I have welcomed this “storm” of activity centered around old friends, new friends, independent book stores heroically surviving despite online shopping and the pandemic; and, of course, my debut collection of fiction. 

THE WANDERING MINSTREL OF 2022

I have now sung my work to 470 people at 12 venues. I have been roaming from town to town like a bard of olde. By bus, by train, by air. What a pleasure! To sing my art out loud to curious readers eager to hear my every word!! And I do sing it because language is music to me, the paragraphs measures in a musical score. Venues have played the book’s soundtrack as folks arrive and again as I sign, arousing the audience, and haunting them. They always boogie in their seats when The Supremes come on with “Where Did My Love Go?,” the song featured in my story “City of Angels.”

In the next printing, maybe I should include a QR Code so every person who buys my collection can also listen to the soundtrack! Or we’ll put the link on my book-mark swag!! If you haven’t yet heard the playlist, including one musical piece linked to each story, here is the link!

A taste of my bardic adventures:

I AM ASKING YOU FOR A FAVOR. I NEED YOUR REVIEWS. No reviews on Amazon or Goodreads yet. Only a handful of ratings, and some mischievous or disgruntled person gave the book a one-star rating, which drags the whole thing down. I have heard rave reviews from many of you personally! Please feel free to go ahead and write your praise down on one of these public forums! (You need to buy a book from Amazon to post a review there – so please buy one, even if it is a second one, and give it to a friend!) THANK YOU!! 

INVITE ME TO YOUR BOOK GROUPS! A friend recommended my collection for her book group in Ann Arbor, they read it, and I joined their meeting on Zoom to discuss it. The whole experience was deeply rewarding for me. The conversation intelligent and engaging. I was happy to participate! If you love my book, please recommend it to your book group (s) and let me know if you would like me to come when you discuss it! Book groups are a great way for authors to gain more readers!

UPCOMING APRIL EVENTS!

If you are in any of these places, please come to the reading!
If you are not, and know family or friends who are, please invite them to come!