Help Me Board The Train

Over the past few weeks, dozens of friends, family, colleagues and connections have emailed, messaged, and posted to me about the new Amtrak Writer-in Residence program. Hey, I’m on board with that! I’ve written on an Amtrak train before and I’ll be happy to do it again!

I’m gratified that so many people thought of me when they heard about the Amtrak residency. I guess it makes sense since my debut work of fiction, Tracks: A Novel in Stories is set on an Amtrak train traveling from Baltimore to Chicago. And my book has been called a virtual love letter to train travel. It’s all about the passengers on the train and how they connect and touch one another in unexpected ways. But it’s very much a pro-train travel book.

Although I wrote Tracks before ever taking the Cardinal line from Baltimore to Chicago, I did do some editing of the manuscript while on the rails—doing research to make sure I had the details correct. And getting a feel for what such a long-distance voyage on Amtrak’s Cardinal was like. I’d love to do it again.

So if you have a moment, help me get back on board the train. Tell Amtrak you think I’d make a good candidate for their new writer-in-residence program. It’s in its infancy and there is no set application process as of yet. Those who have been granted residencies thus far have done so after being discovered by Amtrak on social media.

I’m not asking you to write a letter or even an email. Just a quick tweet with @Amtrak or Facebook post on the www.facebook.com/Amtrak page. Or a short message by Facebook, Twitter, or email telling Amtrak “Eric D. Goodman, who already wrote a book set on an Amtrak train, would be a perfect candidate for the Amtrak Writer-in-Residence program.”

And if I make it, I’ll tweet and post and message you all along the ride as I work on my next novel.

You may be interested in getting on board yourself. Learn more about Amtrak’s Writer-in-Residence program at www.thewire.com/culture/2014/02/inside-amtraks-absolutely-awesome-plan-give-free-rides-writers/358332/.

Today is Tracks Day

Today is the day—Tracks has arrived via Atticus books. Tracks is on the bookshelves of bookstores (brick and mortar as well as online) across the nation.

Want a taste before you order your copy? Tune into Baltimore’s NPR station, WYPR, on the radio or online tomorrow. That’s 88.1 FM and www.wypr.org. I’m reading from Tracks on NPR’s The Signal at 12 noon and again at 7 p.m. on Friday, July 1. The broadcast will air again on Saturday, June 2.

With the release of Tracks, I’m sighing a breath of relief. It’s a big moment for me as a fiction writer—decades in the making. It may have only been five or six years from first draft to agent to bookstore shelf … but prior to writing the first lines of Tracks, I spent decades writing fiction. From the moment in the third grade when I got hooked by a short story assignment, I dreamed of the day I’d have a literary agent and an independent publisher share my novel with the world. All of the prior novel drafts, comments from publishers, agents, and editors, and hard knocks lead me to what has become my debut novel in stories.

As surely as I’m breathing that sigh of relief, I’m also holding my breath. I’m a debut fiction writer with a small indie press facing an army of goliaths. You may have notice I’ve punched up the publicity for Tracks, in recent weeks, and that’s why. It’s hard for a debut book to be heard in the chorus of established bestsellers.

So please consider sharing Tracks. Whether you tweet it, post about it on Facebook, send an email to your list, mention it in your newsletter, suggest it to your book club, share it with a friend, ask about it at a bookstore that doesn’t have it in stock, or just mention one of the stories that may have hit home with you in a conversation—anything you can do to spread the word about Tracks is very much appreciated. Each advocate is an extra arrow to still my quiver, to continue battle with an army of goliaths analogy.

Today has been a whirlwind with all of the activity on Facebook, online, postcards, phone calls, and all of the congratulations. Thanks to all.

It’s been a long and winding line of track. Now it’s time to enjoy the ride.

Learn more about Tracks at www.TracksNovel.com where you can read excerpts (long and short), listen to past NPR radio readings, find out what others are saying about Tracks, get a timetable of readings and events, and order your copy.