But If You Try Sometimes …

 

As the old Rolling Stones wisdom says, you can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find you get what you need. The Stones are one of a number of musical acts referenced in my new novel, Wrecks and Ruins.

In the short novel, men and women of a certain age rummage through the ruins of their wrecked relationships to create something beautiful … and a main character finds beauty in the byproducts of automobile wrecks and the ruins of dilapidated homes and buildings. What’s this book all about, besides just telling a story?

People today tend to idealize what a relationship is supposed to be. Our instant-gratification, post-and-like mentality, coupled with images of what we “deserve” in a mate perpetuated in movies, shows, magazines, and on social media, give people the impression that if things aren’t perfect, then end it and search for that perfection. But relationships aren’t about getting everything you want. They’re joy and sadness, pleasure and pain, compromise, and work along with the play. Working at a relationship—whether a marriage, friendship, or professional one—is not “settling.” It’s being an adult and a realist and being part of the effort. We should all do our part to make meaningful relationships work.

Readers of Wrecks and Ruins will get to know characters who are not perfect and who do not have perfect relationships. But like a phoenix from the ash, they flourish.

Learn more about Wrecks and Ruins at www.EricDGoodman.com. 

Beyond Vilnius

 

Some scenes in my novel Wrecks and Ruins, take place in Vilnius, Lithuania. It’s a rich city, which I explored in person, in some travel stories, and in my new novel. But there’s more to explore in Lithuania beyond the city limits of Vilnius.

 

Whether you have read the Vilnius scenes in my Baltimore-based novel, Wrecks and Ruins,  yet, take a side trip with me in “Beyond Vilnius,” published in Go World Travel Magazine.

https://www.goworldtravel.com/beyond-vilnius-travel-in-lithuania/

But If You Try Sometimes …

As the old Rolling Stones wisdom says, you can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find you get what you need. The Stones are one of a number of musical acts referenced in my new novel, Wrecks and Ruins.

In the short novel, men and women of a certain age rummage through the ruins of their wrecked relationships to create something beautiful … and a main character finds beauty in the byproducts of automobile wrecks and the ruins of dilapidated homes and buildings. What’s this book all about, besides just telling a story?

People today tend to idealize what a relationship is supposed to be. Our instant-gratification, post-and-like mentality, coupled with images of what we “deserve” in a mate perpetuated in movies, shows, magazines, and on social media, give people the impression that if things aren’t perfect, then end it and search for that perfection. But relationships aren’t about getting everything you want. They’re joy and sadness, pleasure and pain, compromise, and work along with the play. Working at a relationship—whether a marriage, friendship, or professional one—is not “settling.” It’s being an adult and a realist and being part of the effort. We should all do our part to make meaningful relationships work.

Readers of Wrecks and Ruins will get to know characters who are not perfect and who do not have perfect relationships. But like a phoenix from the ash, they flourish.

Learn more about Wrecks and Ruins at www.EricDGoodman.com. 

My short story, "Infected" (an excerpt from Wrecks and Ruins) was published in Loch Raven Review. Here’s an excerpt of the excerpt.

“When the COVID-19 pandemic began, it had been all fun and games, at least for Stu and Tiffany. They relished the opportunity to spend all their time together in their spacious home on Pinehurst. Coronavirus was all anyone talked about on the news or in phone conversations—it dominated talk the way it dominated the economy, the health system, politics, and everything else.

On the plus side, Stu and Tiffany and most of their friends and family were healthy, so even if they contracted the virus they knew they would likely be fine, not much worse off than if they were to get the flu. But as the quarantine dragged on from March to April, April to May, all the way into June and July and autumn, and winter, the novelty of being stuck in the house together had worn thin.”


Read the full story at the link below:

https://thelochravenreview.net/eric-d-goodman-5/

Vilnius, Lithuania: Fact and Fiction

 

Although the majority of my most recent novel, Wrecks and Ruins, takes place in the city and suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland, some sections take place in Vilnius, Lithuania. 

Before setting scenes from the novel in the Eastern European city, I explored the city myself and wrote some travel stories about those experiences.

Check out my travel stories and photographs in “A Family Pilgrimage in Lithuania: Vilnius, Siauliai and Hill of Crosses,” published in Go World Travel Magazine.

https://www.goworldtravel.com/visit-vilnius-lithuania/

Author Interview on Wrecks and Ruins published by Apprentice House Press

 

Apprentice House Press published a Q&A interview about Wrecks and Ruins, where we discuss the book and my motive for writing such a story.

During this short interview, we address a number of significant subjects, including what inspired the book, what I discovered about myself while writing it, and other important topics.

Find out more here: https://www.apprenticehouse.com/?p=2265

WBJC included Wrecks and Ruins in its monthly Book Notes feature.

 

WBJC, Baltimore’s classical music station at 91.5 FM, included Wrecks and Ruins in its monthly Book Notes feature. In the interview, we talk about the motivation behind the book, and how we can find beauty in the most unlikely of places.

 

You can tune in to Judith Krummeck’s interview with me at the link!

https://www.wbjc.com/2022/host-blogs/booknotes-finds-itself-amongst-the-wrecks-and-ruins/ 

Palaces of Sintra in Go World Travel

                           

Go World Travel Magazine is consistently on lists of the top travel magazines and websites. The online magazine recently published my travel story, “The Picturesque Palaces and Sights of Sintra: Portugal’s Fairytale Town in the Mountains.”

Complete with illustrative pictures, we explore Pena Palace, National Palace of Sintra, an old Moorish Castle, and the darker Quinta da Regaleira.

Explore the story for yourself at Go World Travel Magazine:

https://www.goworldtravel.com/sights-of-sintra-portugals-fairytale-town/

Writing History

 

David McCollough passed away in August 2022 and left behind a literary legacy.  He wrote some excellent books about history, steeped in research.  He, for one, likely cringed at E.L. Doctorow’s method of researching a book  —  the idea that you should allow the research to find you, to fall onto the floor before you. For fiction, perhaps this approach works better. For histories and anthologies, the research is a little more important.

But along with the research and the writing, David McCollough loved meeting his readers. And oftentimes he was amused at the things they would say.

“I love to meet people who love books,” he shared with us at the National Book Festival some years ago.  “I like talking to readers and listening to what they have to say — and what they think about my books.”

He remembered one gentleman who kept opening the book he wanted autographed.  “[He] went over the pictures, pointing them out and encouraging me to look at them as though I’d never seen them before.”  Another man sighed and said, “I bet you did a lot of research for that book.”

His books depended on a lot of research.

To learn more about McCollough’s own history, read his biography at his website.

http://www.electriceggplant.com/davidmccullough/

“Sisson’s” Published in North of Oxford

 

I’m more of a prose writer than a poet. I write a lot more fiction than poetry. I even write more travel stories than poetry. Over the years of the pandemic, however, I’ve been dabbling in more poetry—reading it and writing it.

So I’m pleased to share that my first submission of poetry in many years has resulted in an acceptance. The online journal, North of Oxford, has published my poem, “Sisson’s.”

Ever want to go where everybody knows your name?

This poem’s for you.
https://northofoxford.wordpress.com/2022/01/11/sissons-by-eric-d-goodman/

Wrecks and Ruins Review Published in the UK literary magazine, London Grip

 

London Grip, the UK literary magazine, published a review of Wrecks and Ruins, where Charles Rammelkamp unravels one of the most important topics of the novel—bonding.

“Wrecks and Ruins is best summed up in one of its epigraphs, from Oscar Wilde, both snarky and wise: “Some things are more precious because they don’t last long.” Goodman is a talented storyteller.”

Read the full review: https://londongrip.co.uk/2022/02/wrecks-and-ruins/?fbclid=IwAR2aWdVf5Rjb4F2bk21OkqpPeXR1dIfsWKC9HVxd5LFwxNc0fADDlJPNhRI

A Poet, Fiction Writer, and Memoirist Walk into a Bookstore

 

On Sunday, September 11, at 5 p.m., My Dead Aunt's Books, a bookstore in Hyattsville, Maryland, will host the Second Sunda Reading Series.

The featured readers on 9/11 are poet, essayist & memoirist Brandel France de Bravo, and poet Christophe Casamassima, and myself. I'll be reading fiction. Specifically, I plan to read an excerpt from my most recent novel, Wrecks and Ruins.

After the featured readers, there will be an Open Reading, allowing members of the audience to share their own work.

The event is free and open to the public, and books will be available, which the featured readers will be happy to sign.

Learn more about My Dead Aunt's Books and the Second Sunday Reading Series at the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1494745434323199

The Trailer You've Been Waiting For

 

Summertime, for many, is a time to go to the movies. If you're at the edge of your seat waiting for the latest movie trailer, we have a video for you!

Wrecks and Ruins has a new book trailer! Check out the short video to get a feel for what the new novel is all about and to find out why other writers and readers are buzzing about it.

https://youtu.be/VLnLPGs8HJs

Wrecks and Ruins was featured in the TBR [to be read] series!

A new interview about Wrecks and Ruins was published in the TBR [to be read] series!

Wrecks and Ruins is a novel about how relationships are built and how they evolve or dissolve over time. The main character, Stu, believes that romantic love is like the cycle of a cicada: a few months of excited buzz followed by monotonous silence. The book is an anti-love story that corrects itself when Stu connects his broken things to his collection of broken relationships.

Learn more about the book, its characters, and what served as an inspiration by reading the full interview at the link below:

http://www.workinprogressinprogress.com/2022/04/tbr-wrecks-and-ruins-by-eric-d-goodman.html?fbclid=IwAR1eSPBepHF-saCcUWFbl-c4g7tseObOy30TAU7Cxqww7MYSfVozFH93NPc  

Cicadas are Buzzing

Wrecks and Ruins, my latest novel, was published by Loyola University’s Apprentice House Press on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. The endorsements have been great, but the cicadas are still looking for a few good reviewers.

Wrecks and Ruins is a short novel, a sort of anti-love story that corrects itself. Stuart believes that romantic love is like the cycle of a cicada: a few months of excited buzz—romance, lust, excitement—followed by a monotonous silence that can’t live up to the promise at the start. He strings together more than broken relationships. Part romantic comedy, part buddy novel, filled with musical references, and set in real places throughout Baltimore and Lithuania, Wrecks and Ruins finds beauty in the most unusual of places.

If you are a reviewer or are interested in publishing a review or providing other coverage, let me know and we’ll be glad to send you an copy of the novel! Send me a message at edgewriter@gmail.com, or send me an instant message on Facebook, Linkedin, or Twitter.

“Want to learn more about the book before deciding? Check out the book trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLnLPGs8HJs

Toby Devens on Wrecks and Ruins: “Thought-provoking … captivating read”

“The buzz about Eric D. Goodman’s latest novel is loud and laudatory. Synchronizing the cycles of the cicadas with evolving stages of romantic love, its premise is original, characters are entertaining, and theme is thought-provoking. Wrecks and Ruins is a captivating read!”

—Toby Devens, author of Barefoot Beach and Happy Any Day Now

Tom Glenn on Wrecks and Ruins: “A good novel always confronts the reader with a moral question.”

“A good novel always confronts the reader with a moral question. That’s what Wrecks and Ruins Does. This is a buddy novel that offers four different models of how a man should decide about mating. Should he marry young or wait until middle age? Or should he just play the field? Goodman doesn’t answer the question for you. He gives all the evidence and lets you decide.”

         —Tom Glenn, author of Last of the Annamese and Coming to Terms

B. Morrison on Wrecks and Ruins: “Probes the way identity is formed and its fluidity”

“As a young man, seeing that everything breaks eventually, Stuart decides to live life every day, hanging out with his friends, playing the field.  Yet whenever the cicadas sing again, he must reevaluate his decision.  In this engaging story of a man navigating the currents of his life, Goodman probes the way identity is formed and its fluidity.” 

—B. Morrison, author of Innocent: Confessions of a Welfare Mother and Terrarium: Poems

Timmy Reed on Wrecks and Ruins: “Cleverly pieced together”

“Wrecks and Ruins captures the mirrored life-cycle of a romance and a plague of insects the way they deserve to be depicted, as humans and bugs. Goodman's writing on relationships is cleverly pieced together and connects to our recent brood. Dig it up.”

—Timmy Reed, author of Kill Me Now and Tell God I Don’t Exist 

New Book Trailer for Wrecks and Ruins

Wrecks and Ruins has a new book trailer! Check out the short video to get a feel for what the new novel is all about, and to find out why other writers and readers are buzzing about the new novel.

Complete with sound effects, music, and video images representing the novel, this short video may be just what you need to put you in the reader’s seat.

https://youtu.be/VLnLPGs8HJs