FOODCHAIN has been turned loose...

Man, I had a good week.  No, scratch that.  I had a GREAT week. 

My book was officially released on Wednesday, March 17, 2010.  It didn’t have the splash of a traditional book launch, things were a bit more low-key, but this week was more of a celebration of generally being a writer.

It was also Story Week for the Fiction Department at Columbia College Chicago, where I teach.  So I got to meet some wonderful writers and hear some truly amazing writing. 

Highlights?  I got to hear Mort Castle read Altenmoore, Where the Dogs Dance, and it was deeply moving.  Trust me, his story deserves to be read.  It’s short, so go here and read it, dammit!

During the same evening, I heard David Morrell give voice to a quietly tense scene from Shimmer.  And Maggie Estep described this huge woman reclaiming her abducted dog from a dog fighting organization.  It was more fun than I’ve had at the movies in a few years.

I was a featured reader at the Down and Dirty Grad Reading.  This was a blast.  Some good friends came along, folks that had never been to any kind of literary event before, and they loved everybody’s stories.  I read from the first chapter and while I had practiced a few times (honestly I did!), I still butchered poor Guilio’s name every time I stumbled through it.  This was videotaped, and I’m hoping to get the footage up on the site soon.

Probably the highlight of the week, at least as far as my book was concerned, was signing a copy for David Morrell, whose great quote graces the cover.  It was a hell of a thing, signing my own novel to the guy who created John Rambo.  He urged me to date it.  And it just happened to be Wednesday, March 17th, 2010.

I don’t care how you slice it, that’s pretty damn cool.