I hope the holidays have been good to each and every one of you out there. I know they were good to me. It’s been a happily hectic time full of family and friends and NOT posting things to my web page.

To catch everybody up, Author Mike spent a great evening attending the play Appetite. Playwright Arden Kass wove a compelling plot about survivor’s guilt and the freedom that comes from reconciling with the past. The cast was top notch and brought home this poignant tale to each and every one in the audience. Bravo to Arden, the actors, and to Cindy Dlugolecki for bringing this troupe all the way from Philly!!!

Now that we’re into the bleak midwinter, Author Mike is returning to the keyboard to resume work on a World War II novel, and a Lazy Dog mystery. But all that will have to be put aside when editor Rida Allen sends me the edits to The Gospel of Matthias Kent. It’s going to be a busy winter!!!

A good crowd turned out at the Midtown Scholar Bookshop for Author Mike’s riff on Ray Bradbury’s impact on our present day world. Among the attendees were various and sundry members of the Pennwriters and Susquehanna Writers. Judging by the lack of boos and hurled vegetables, everyone enjoyed the speech. Thanks to Cindy Dlugolecki and everyone at Jumpstreet for setting up such a fine event!!!

On the day after the keynote, Author Mike had a book signing for It Came From Beyond the Sun at the Mechanicsburg Mystery Book Shop where Debbie Beamer hosted a discussion of the book’s creation and a chat about writing styles before a rapt and congenial audience of ardent readers. What a great gang of folks!!!

And last, but not least, Author Mike signed copies of Sun for those brave and hearty souls that ventured out into the snow this past Saturday at the Bookworm Bookstore in the West Shore Farmers Market. Sam and Rae were wonderful hosts and author Mike got to meet a lot of new faces. If only I could have landed one of those cheese Danishs I could see from my 2nd floor perch!!!

Rae and Sam have invited me out to the Bookworm Bookstore in the Lemoyne Farmers Market on Saturday, December 5th, from 9:00 AM until noon to sign copies of It Came From Beyond the Sun, my anthology of tabloid sci fi.

The Bookworm is one of those great bookstores  of collectible, used, and new books that’s a pleasure to browse and buy. Plus, the author’s signing table is right above one of the Farmer’s Market bakers whose sweet treats waft up and make your mouth water for cinnamon buns.  Hopefully, I won’t get any icing on any books I sign!!!

Author Mike will be appearing at the Mechanicsburg Mystery Book Shop on Sunday, November 22nd, 2009, from 2:00 - 4:00 PM to sign and share his anthology of tabloid sci fi, It Came From Beyond the Sun.

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Ah, the day of the big keynote for the Big Read is fast approaching and author Mike is hard at work finalizing all the details for an entertaining and thought-provoking speech called “I Blame Ray Bradbury” — a tongue-and-cheek look into uber-author Ray Bradbury’s iconic work - Fahrenheit 451. 

Jumpstreet coordinator Cindy Dlugolecki has been equally hard at work lending her shoulder to the proverbial grindstone, and making sure all the niggling details have been hammered out. BRAVO CINDY!!!

The program begins at 2:00 PM this Saturday, November 21st at the Midtown Scholar Bookstore on 3rd Street in Harrisburg. It’s right across from the Broad Street Market. Keep in mind that the store moved last September, so those of you counting on your GPS to guide the way may find yourselves a few blocks up the street. Fear not! Just come down 3rd or set your navicomputer to the Broad Street  Market.

My advice is to come early and drink in both the atmosphere and/or some hot coffee or tea. The Midtown also offers desserts and such that are pretty good.

I’ll look for you there!!!

The above number is NOT the anti-Christ in hexadecimal, nor is it this week’s winner lottery number. Just what it it?

It’s the number you should give to the person at the register of your local Barnes & Noble on Saturday, October 24th, 2009. By giving them that number, a portion of the proceeds goes to support Jumpstreet. This means ANYTHING purchased in ANY Barnes and Noble. Latte’s, brownies, fine novels like Bark of the Tree - ANYTHING.  

I’m definitely in support of Jumpstreet. They’ve participated in the NEA’s Big Read for a number of years and are a huge advocate of the literary and other fine arts right here in our community!

So fellow readers & writers, save your B & N purchases for Saturday, October 24th, 2009. Then go on out and say “I’m supporting Jumpstreet today - 10004422.”

Author Mike made a brief appearance (time-wise, not undergarments-wise) at the Jumpstreet Spectrum Awards Breakfast to invite everyone to the Big Read Keynote on November 21st, 2009 at 2:00 PM at the Midtown Scholar Bookstore on 3rd Street in Harrisburg, PA.

The Spectrum Awards are Jumpstreet’s way of recognizing community and business leaders for their amazing and generous support of Jumpstreet’s mission to bring arts to schools and communities.

One of these missions connects to the National Endowment of the Arts Big Read of Fahrenheit 451 this year - that’s where Author Mike will try to blame Ray Bradbury’s classic for a host of modern ills from iPods to the end of life as we know it.

Special thanks to Cindy Dlugolecki who served up a fine intro and who works so tirelessly to put fine writing into the hands of so many, many people.

There’s a moment at the begining of the publishing process I call, ‘Letting go.’ This is that terror-filled second where your mouse-clicking finger hovers over that left mouse button, as the onscreen arrow jabs the word “Send.”

This is the point where you commit your manuscript - your passion - your characters - your strengths - your weaknesses - your BABY - to someone else. It’s hard to let go.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited as all-get-out to begin the editing process that will bring The Gospel of Matthias Kent to the bookshelf, but now it’s all for keeps, so to speak. I can’t go back and constantly meddle with my character’s lives, or twirl sentences around my mouth to make sure each and every one comes out sounding just right.

But letting go is the only way to let your characters breathe, to let them spell out their lives in a world of ink and paper, one word at a time in a reader’s mind.

And that, fellow writers, is what it’s all about.

*Click*

The news is chocked full of eReader news these days. Amazon’s dropped the Kindle’s price a whopping $100 from when it was first introduced. Sony’s been ahead of the game with significant price drops on hardware AND on eBook prices. Add to this fracas, brick & mortar giant Barnes & Noble, who promises to announce an eReader all their own before Christmas.

But the real news isn’t about a digital blitzkrieg — it’s about a wholly-analog campaign being waged by none other than mega-tech company Google. Google has been leveraging Project Gutenberg, the digitization of pretty much every out-of-copyright book on the whole friggen planet, in a brand new old-fashioned way. They are going to offer to print any of the works in their catalogue on a portable book-making-printing-press in bookstores across the nation. You want a copy of the Gutenberg’s Bible? Swipe your debit card, then go read something out of the magazine rack for a few minutes. Voila, a book pops out of the machine, warm and fresh like muffins from the oven. Seriously, the books come out warm.

eReaders may be gaining ground and will no doubt replace paper the way pixels replaced silver halide in photography. But that’s a longer way off than the eReader manufacturers want consumers to think. Google’s investment in this printing process displays some savvy marketing skills. After all, the public still wants books and this press prints them on demand. No muss. No fuss. No waiting for an order to come in the mail. What a novel idea - pun intended.

Author Mike’s tabloid sci fi anthology is now up on Amazon.com in both Print and Kindle editions. Get your copy now!!!