Back From Book Em

Spent a really nice weekend with Elizabeth Massie and Cortney Skinner in Waynesboro, VA, and participated in Book Em on Saturday, which is a big benefit for literacy with lots of authors in attendance. The crowd seemed much smaller this year than last; I sold a few books, but only about half as many as last year, and, sadly, I heard the same from a number of writers. To the credit of the organizers, things were generally well-run and actually seemed a bit more streamlined than last year. I was on a decent little panel, along with Matthew Warner and several others, about how to get published, and I took part in a podcast for the Augusta Free Press, the local independent newspaper (which may be found here). There's another set for next year, and I'll happily attend, but I hope they can drum up a bigger crowd with better and more meaningful publicity, and perhaps change the venue to something more inviting than the local high school gymnasium.

Naturally, the best part of the weekend was hanging out with Beth, Cort, Matt and Deena Warner, and Barb and Charlie Lawson, all of whom rate as friends of exceptional stature. Last night, we were treated to a viewing of Trail of the Screaming Forehead, for which Cort did a bunch of the creative work. It's the latest from Larry Blamire, who brought us The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra and Tales From the Pub. It was damn funny, very much in the same league as Lost Skeleton. They've got to get this one a general release very soon, if only on DVD.

Today, I went with my mummy to Winston-Salem to see my brother, Phred, in a production of Romanoff and Juliet (written by Peter Ustinov) by the Stained Glass Playhouse. Phred played one of the funny soldiers. Far as I know, he's planning to do some more work with them, which is a cool thing; he hasn't done any theater since high school, but you'd almost think he knew what he was doing. All of the actors were quite good, very professional. Enjoyed myself immensely.

Oh yeah—Beth's got a book trailer up for her new novel, Homeplace. Check it out below.