Hanging Out in Steinbeck's House

I know the way to San Jose; I was born there. I also know the way from San Jose to Steinbeck Country, where I lived as a teenager.


Join me as I hang out in the house where John Steinbeck grew up, tell the staff there a few things about the Steinbeck family pictures, experience the Steinbeck Center, walk through the scenes featured in East of Eden, check out the Steinbeck Library, and spend a little time in Cannery Row.


Etched in stones are Steinbeck quotes, like “Books are the best friends you can have: they inform you, and entertain you, and they don’t talk back” and “I nearly always write—just as I nearly always breathe.”


It’s all a part of my continuing California book tour travel story being published in serial form by Atticus Books.


Join us at the Atticus Books Blog.


ttp://atticusbooksonline.com/blog/2015/08/26/booking-it-along-the-california-coast-a-book-tour-road-trip-across-the-pacific-coast-7/

Making Out in San Francisco

Join me as I sip tea with an old friend from Russia in Zen Valley, Explore the wonders of Golden Gate Park, and experience the hills and valleys of San Francisco. Chinatown, Grace Cathedral, and City Light Books are also on the agenda. Not to mention the Make Out Room, where I take to the stage in front of a beer-lit crowd.


It’s all a part of my continuing California book tour travel story being published in serial form by Atticus Books.


Join us at the Atticus Books Blog.


http://atticusbooksonline.com/blog/2015/08/19/booking-it-along-the-california-coast-a-book-tour-road-trip-across-the-pacific-coast-6/

Bad Commutes, Good Sourdough, and High Art

It’s all a part of my continuing California travel story being published in serial form by Atticus Books.


In this fifth installment, I experience the worst commute ever before making it to San Francisco. It gets even worse when I’m not even permitted in prison. But things look up as I sample sea soup and sourdough in Fisherman’s Warf, take in some high and manufactured art, and venture across the Golden Gate Bridge.


Join us at the Atticus Books Blog.


http://atticusbooksonline.com/blog/2015/08/12/booking-it-along-the-california-coast-a-book-tour-road-trip-across-the-pacific-coast-5/

Time Machines, Reunions, Japan, and California

It’s all a part of my continuing California travel story being published in serial form by Atticus Books.

In this fourth installment, I meet up with my first book event and old friends for a reading at the end of Rout 66 followed by a reunion of friends I went to school with in Sasebo, Japan.

Like a word you hear and read often after learning it for the first time, Japan and the 1980s seem to pop up at every turn as we explore Los Angeles and the area. It’s like a tar pit time machine.

Join us at the Atticus Books Blog.

http://atticusbooksonline.com/blog/2015/08/04/booking-it-along-the-california-coast-a-book-tour-road-trip-across-the-pacific-coast-4/

So Long San Diego (Part 3 of My West Coast Story)

Join me for a tour of San Diego in the third installment of my California travel story.

The Atticus Books Blog is serializing the series, which I wrote based on the west leg of my book tour—taking me to old homes and favorite places.

Read the third installment of “Booking it Along the California Coast: A Book Tour / Road Trip Across the Pacific Coast” at the Atticus Books Blog.

http://atticusbooksonline.com/blog/2015/07/14/booking-it-along-the-california-coast-a-book-tour-road-trip-across-the-pacific-coast-3/

Come Back to California with Atticus

Come back to California for a quick read.

My most recently published travel story is a series that covers my travels along the coast of California while combining business with pleasure: visiting old friends and stomping grounds while on the west leg of my book tour for Tracks: A Novel in Stories.

The Atticus Books Blog is serializing the series. They published the first installment while I was still traveling in Budapest! Link to the second installment below.

Join me as I search for Oz, Point Loma, and shade in San Diego. Read Part Two of “Booking it Along the California Coast: A Book Tour / Road Trip Across the Pacific Coast” at the Atticus Books Blog.

http://atticusbooksonline.com/blog/2015/07/07/booking-it-along-the-california-coast-a-book-tour-road-trip-across-the-pacific-coast-2/

Booking It with Atticus

You can bet a series of travel stories about our recent experiences in Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, and Slovakia are coming in the near future.

But my most recent travel story published is a series that covers my travels along the coast of California while combining business with pleasure: visiting old friends and stomping grounds while on the west leg of my book tour for Tracks: A Novel inStories.

The Atticus Books Blog is serializing the series. They published the first installment while I was still traveling in Budapest!

Read the opening of “Booking it Along the California Coast: A Book Tour / Road Trip Across the Pacific Coast” at the Atticus Books Blog.

http://atticusbooksonline.com/blog/2015/06/30/booking-it-along-the-california-coast-a-book-tour-road-trip-across-the-pacific-coast/

Searching for Steinbeck with Atticus Books

What happens when you combine the leg of a book tour with a literary pilgrimage? Find out on the Atticus Books blog as I search for Steinbeck.

"Eric D. Goodman's passion for John Steinbeck is contagious,” said Dan Cafaro of Atticus Books. “His imagery-filled essay about searching the west coast for his literary idol is now on the Atticus Books blog. Such a wonderful tribute. If you're not intimately familiar with Steinbeck's works, it will encourage you to experience them."

Steinbeck's writing is contagious, and I'm infected.

Read “Searching for Steinbeck” now at the Atticus Books blog.

http://atticusbooksonline.com/blog/2013/12/09/searching-for-steinbeck/

The Michael Phelps of Books

Here in Rodgers Forge, we’re celebrating one of the most gold-medal heavy communities in the world. Michael Phelps grew up here and is an old neighbor.


If there is an Michael Phelps of books, the closest thing to it would be Atticus Books.

That’s because Atticus swept up the gold at this year’s Independent Publisher Book Awards in New York City. Not only did my own Tracks: A Novel in Stories win the Gold Medal for Best Fiction in the Mid-Atlantic region, but three other Atticus authors took gold for three other regions.

See the press release issued by Atticus Books to learn more about the Olympics of indie publishing.

http://atticusbooksonline.com/atticus-books-wins-four-ippy-awards

Atticus Authors Take Mid-Atlantic By Storm

Earlier this year, I teamed up with fellow Atticus author Alex Kudera, author of Fight for Your Long Day, for a series of readings in DC, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. We had a great time sharing our books at some great bookstores.

“Our authors are on a mission to get out there and spread the good word when it comes to their good works (of literature, that is),” Atticus Books reported.

At the time, Alex’s book had already won the 2011 Gold Medal for best fiction from the Mid-Atlantic Region.

Little did we know at the time that my own Tracks: A Novel in Stories would be the 2012 winner of the same Gold Medal!

The Atticus report was more true than any of us could have predicted. Atticus authors took the Mid-Atlantic by a storm in more ways than one! Who knew the folks at Atticus were profits?

Check out the original Atticus article and pictures at the link below.

http://atticusbooksonline.com/atticus-authors-take-the-mid-atlantic-by-storm

Farley’s Bookshop Spotlights Tracks

In their most recent monthly newsletter, Farely’s Bookshop spotlighted a few notable books. One of them is Tracks: A Novel in Stories.


“Goodman interweaves the stories and lives of a group of passengers on a train headed from Baltimore to Chicago. The book is full of tension, insight and tight, great writing. It is a wonderful look into the human soul and an absolute pleasure to read. Fine work.”

Farley’s Bookshop, located in New Hope, Pennsylvania, has been independent and family owned and operated since 1967.

Novelist James Michener and Fred Rogers (aka Mr. Rogers) helped Jim and Nancy Farley open the shop in 1967.

Farley’s Bookshop has a reputation for discovering and spotlighting indie presses and books.

Visit the bookshop online at http://www.farleysbookshop.com/.

Or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/#!/farleys.bookshop.5