Steinbeck Calls Tracks “Terrific”

Thomas Steinbeck may be writing in the shadow of a great cypress (Nobel Laureate John Steinbeck), but he also wrote In the Shadow of the Cypress. And Down to a Soundless Sea. Just this month, his third book of fiction, The Silver Lotus, was published by Counterpoint. With advance praise from Publisher’s Weekly and T.C. Boyle, the publisher sold out of the first print run within two days!


I’m honored to say that Steinbeck read Tracks — and liked it! In fact, he called Tracks “a terrific collection of stories.”


Steinbeck also wrote, “Short stories are often an under-appreciated art form. In Tracks, Eric D. Goodman takes the craft to the level of art. An exciting talent.”


Thomas Steinbeck knows a thing or two about writing good stories. His first book of fiction, Down to a Soundless Sea, was a collection of short stories.


Learn about Thomas Steinbeck and his books at his website.

http://www.thomassteinbeck.com/

Flightless Goose Lives

At Thanksgiving, families everywhere have turkey on the mind. Gilbert, the flightless goose, thanks you for that.

Although my focus this year has been on Tracks: A Novel in Stories, goose fans everywhere will be happy to know that Gilbert is alive and well.

In fact, earlier this year, our publisher sent me (the author) and Nataliya (the illustrator) on a book tour to Chicago where we presented Flightless Goose to three different schools in Chicago, and to a childrens’ hospital. We even did an interview for a local television station and appeared on the television show “Storytime with Dot!”

On the heels of the Chicago tour, we did a month-long blog tour for Flightless Goose. I appeared on a number of “mommy blogs” in support of Flightless Goose. You can find some of the reviews and interviews from the month-long blog tour at the links below.

http://www.untrainedhousewife.com/help-your-child-cope-with-bullying-with-flightless-goose-a-review

http://livingatthewhiteheadszoo.blogspot.com/2011/06/flightless-goose-virtual-book-tour-june.html

http://flipflopreviews.blogspot.com/2011/06/flightless-goose-virtual-book-tour-stop.html

http://www.confessionsofapsychotichousewife.com/2011/06/blog-tour-review-flightless-goose-by.html

http://www.spanish4kiddos.com/2011/06/flightless-goose-virtual-book-tour-and.html

http://www.intentionalconsciousparenting.com/2010/10/childrens-book-review-flightless-goose.html

http://kathrynmcgowan.blogspot.com/2011/07/book-review-flightless-goose.html

http://www.stowedstuff.com/2011/07/flightless-goose-author-is-here.html

http://www.lifeas5.com/2011/07/interview-with-flightless-goose-author.html

http://www.lifeas5.com/2011/06/flightless-goose_23.html

http://www.mommyblogexpert.com/2011/07/flightless-goose-virtual-book-tour-kids.html

http://www.prettyopinionated.com/2011/07/book-tour-and-giveaway-the-flightless-goose/

http://www.ourfamilyworld.com/article/flightless-goose-book-review-gilbert-the-goose-has-a-zest-for-life/

http://www.ourfamilyworld.com/blog/2011/07/11/flightless-goose-book-tour-interview-with-eric-d-goodman-and-giveaway/

http://www.ourfamilyworld.com/blog/2011/08/09/gilbert-the-goose-giveaway-win-a-100-back-to-school-prize-pack/

http://www.frugalityisfree.com/2011/11/flightless-goose-by-eric-d-goodman.html

http://raisinglittlesaints.blogspot.com/2011/07/flightless-goose-virtual-book-tour-for.html

http://adventuresinallthingsfood.blogspot.com/2011/06/flightless-goose-book-review.html

http://www.graceandme.com/2011/07/friendship-friday-flightless-goose.html

http://en.paperblog.com/flightless-goose-book-review-and-giveaway-48874/

http://www.simplystacie.net/2011/07/book-review-giveaway-flightless-goose-ww/

http://stinkylittlefeet.com/2011/07/27/its-a-giveaway-its-a-book-review-its-a-chat-with-an-author-its-gilbert-the-flightless-goose/

http://www.joysautismblog.com/?p=2597


As a result of the blog tour and Chicago tour, Gilbert has garnered quite a few new friends. More than 5,000 fans “like” Gilbert on the Flightless Goose Facebook page. You can too!

http://www.facebook.com/flightlessgoose

You’ve visited the blog posts; you’ve friended Flightless Goose on Facebook. Now, enjoy some recreation at the Flightless Goose website.

www.FlightlessGoose.com


And top it off with a visit to the original website: www.RunGoose.com.

Happy holidays from the Goodmans and the Goose!

B&O Railroad Museum Presents Tracks

Tracks: A Novel in Stories takes place on Amtrak’s Cardinal Line — a train traveling from Penn Station in Baltimore to Union Station in Chicago. It travels along the old B&O line of tracks. And the book even features the old B&O headquarters (now a train-themed Hotel Monaco) as well as the B&O Railroad Museum.

So the next event was a match meant to be: Tracks @ the B&O Railroad Museum!

I’ll be talking about trains and Tracks, and signing copies of my book at the museum this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. You can find me docked at Bay 14/15.

The B&O Railroad Museum calls Tracks “A great gift for the fiction reader or train lover!”

Enjoy a day at the B&O Railroad Museum. While you’re there, stop by Bay 14/15 to talk trains and get your own autographed copy of Tracks!

Learn more about this and other train events at the B&O’s website calendar of events.

http://www.borail.org/Calendar-bo.aspx


Find out more about the B&O at the museum’s main page.

http://www.borail.org/


Find out about other Tracks events at the novel’s website, where you can also read excerpts, reviews, endorsements, listen to NPR readings, and more.

www.TracksNovel.com


All Aboard for the B&O Railroad Museum!

Train Songs and Stories Tonight

Tonight’s the night! If you like trains, music, books, drinks, or parties, you’ll want to be at Cyclops Books and Music tonight! We’ll be enjoying “A Night of Train Stories and Songs @ Cyclops” from 7 to 10 p.m.


The lineup includes readings from my novel in stories, Tracks, set on a train traveling from Baltimore to Chicago. I’ll be joined by other authors and poets with train-themed readings: Lauren Beth Eisenberg, Holly Morse-Ellington, Virginia Crawford, Danuta Hinc, Eric Campos, Jessica Gregg, and Shirley Brewer.


Live train songs will be performed by local band Red Tractor Factory.


Rail drinks (or at least beer and wine) will be served, as well as tea and coffee.


Oh, and everything is free—the readings, the music, the drinks, and the entire party. Everything but the books; those will be for sale. (It is a bookstore, after all.)


Join us tonight from 7 to 10 p.m. for A Night of Train Stories and Songs @ Cyclops Books & Records.

Learn more (and chime in) at the Facebook event page.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=227546907304518


Or visit the evite page.

http://new.evite.com/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=fb_share_widget&utm_content=fb_link&utm_campaign=invite#view_invite:eid=0064AAPMTMDWJMM5WEPBB4ISFUU43Y&gid=fb

A Night of Train Stories and Songs at Cyclops

If you like trains and you happen to be in the Baltimore area, you’re in luck—this Wednesday was made for you.

Join us at Cyclops Books & Music this Wednesday at 7 p.m. for “A Night of Train Stories and Songs.”

I’ll be sharing excerpts from Tracks: A Novel in Stories. Local band Red Tractor Factory is performing live train songs, both original and covers. And some of my friends and fellow writers from the area will share their own train stories and poetry, including readings from Lauren Beth Eisenberg, Holly Morse-Ellington, Virginia Crawford, Danuta Hinc, Eric Campos, Jessica Gregg, and Shirley Brewer.

We’ll also enjoy a playlist of train songs in the background as we mingle on the train theme, and rail drinks (or at least some beer and wine) will be served on the house. And there will be some free train trinkets.

The event is free and open to the public.

It’s a bookstore, so copies of Tracks and (thousands of other books) will be available.

Join us Wednesday at 7 p.m. for A Night of Train Stories and Songs @ Cyclops Books & Records!

Learn more (and chime in) at the Facebook event page.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=227546907304518

Giles House Reading Dedicated to Medal of Honor Recipient

This autumn, I was honored to be a featured reader at the historic Janice Holt-Giles House in Adair County, Kentucky as part of the “Kentuckians Reading Kentuckians” festival. The event took place on September 17. No, I’m not from Kentucky, but I was invited to participate due to my ties to the area.

That same week, local Adair County resident Dakota Meyer became the first living Marine to receive the Medal of Honor in nearly 40 years. President Obama presented him with his Medal of Honor on September 15.

To honor that historic event, changed my original reading selection from Tracks and decided to read an excerpt from the story “Freedom.”

“Freedom” is a story from Tracks about a soldier who returns home after a tour in Afghanistan for some R&R before his tour in Iraq. He has not escaped the war—it wages in his mind and in his interactions with those he loves most.

Here’s an excerpt:

Even with all the people around him on the train, Joe was alone.
Memories of Wu, McMurphey, Manning, and Bi’nh echoed in his
mind the way the train echoed when it passed through a dark tunnel.
There had been the good parts to the visit: holding her, loving her,
her face nestled against his chest, his lips on the warm part in her
silky black hair. Still, something had died between them during this
visit as surely as his friends had died at his side in Afghanistan.

Learn more about the Janice Holt-Giles House and the Kentuckians Reading Kentuckians festival, visit the Giles Society website.

http://www.gilessociety.org/

Read about Dakota Meyers in Kentucky Magazine.

http://www.kentucky.com/2011/09/13/1879627/green-county-native-to-receive.html

Learn more about Meyers and the Medal of Honor at CBS.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/18/60minutes/main20107640.shtml

An early, alternate version of the story “Freedom” was serialized in the monthly newsletter Coloquio, and then republished in serial form at Gather. Begin installment one at the link below.

http://books.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977061477

Or read the final version of “Freedom” in Tracks, available in print and online!

www.TracksNovel.com

Greetings & Readings Book Fest Benefits Habitat for Humanity

This weekend, Greetings & Readings in Hunt Valley celebrates its annual Book Fest! More than 20 local authors will be on hand and ready to talk with you, and sign their books.

The event takes place from 1 to 4 p.m. at Greetings & Readings, Hunt Valley Towne Centere, 118-AA Shawan Rd., Hunt Valley, Maryland.

I’ll be there with copies of Tracks, as well as train-themed free gifts! Other featured authors include D.L. Wilson, Elizabeth Letts, and Al Betz.

A portion of the day's book sales will go to the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity.

Learn more about the G & R Book Fest 2011 at their website.
http://www.greetingsandreadings.com/events/book-fest

Pre-order Tracks or any other featured book at their website and an inscribed, signed copy will be waiting for you when you arrive!
http://www.greetingsandreadings.com/show?product.tracks

Next Week is Train Week

Interesting, how some things seem to come in threes. Next week, there’s an engine, boxcar, and caboose of train-related events. It’s already got some people calling it the unofficial Train Week in Baltimore.


The Engine: Train Week gets started with Blood on the Tracks at Cyclops Books & Music on Sunday, November 13 at 8 p.m. Activist Brian Willson brings his extraordinary story to Cyclops for an unforgettable night of history, horror and hope—and he also brings copies of his new book, Blood on the Tracks.
www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=185466228202347



The Boxcar: A Night of Train Stories and Songs @ Cyclops takes place at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, November 16. I’ll be reading excerpts from Tracks: A Novel in Stories. Friends and fellow writers will share their own train-themed stories and poems, including Holly Morse-Ellington, Shirley J. Brewer, Lauren Beth Eisenberg, Eric Campos, and Danuta Hinc. And live train songs will be performed by Red Tractor Factory. Free rail drinks will be served, and the party includes social time with a playlist of train songs and conversation.
www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=227546907304518


The Caboose: Tracks at the B&O Railroad Museum. Come visit the B&O Railroad museum on Saturday, November 19 between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. and stop by bay 14/15. I’ll be stationed there with a display for Tracks. We’ll enjoy some train talk, and I’ll sign copies of the book the B&O Railroad Museum calls “a great gift for the fiction reader or train lover!”
www.borail.org/Calendar-bo.aspx


Next week is full of train events. Woo-hoo!

Thomas Steinbeck Shares Fiction Tonight

Tonight is your opportunity to enjoy a reading and signing with the great Thomas Steinbeck. He will be reading and signing copies of his latest book, The Silver Lotus, which was published on 11/1/11 by Counterpoint Press.

The event takes place at the Tecolote Book Shop in Montecito (upper village) this Friday, November 4th from 5 to 7 p.m.

Learn more about this evening’s event at the event’s Facebook Page.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=123468777762318

Learn more about Steinbeck’s new book at his website.

http://www.thomassteinbeck.com/Welcome.html

Midwest Book Review—Fascinating and Recommended Read

Midwest Book Review has offered a glowing book review of Tracks: A Novel in Stories.


Established in 1976, Midwest Book Review has been reviewing books for 35 years. Here’s what they had to say about Tracks.


"The overarching story of life is forged by many stories.”Tracks" is a series of short stories crafted by Eric D. Goodman as he brings together a novel forged from these smaller tales. With a unique concept and entertaining writing about a passenger train going to Chicago from Baltimore, "Tracks" is quite a fascinating and recommended read."


Learn more at the following link.

http://www.midwestbookreview.com/sbw/oct_11.htm#Fiction


Get your copy of Tracks here!

www.TracksNovel.com