Goodman Goes Genre

Beijing’s Forbidden City. Shanghai’s Pearl Tower. Suzhou’s thousand-year old canal villages. Hangzhou’s West Lake. Xi’an’s Terracotta Army.

 

What do these places all have in common, besides being in China? They make up a few of the many settings in my latest novel-in-progress: Dead and Buried.

 

For a couple years now, renowned author Bathsheba Monk and I have talked about collaborating on a novel. After writing well-reviewed literary fiction for the likes of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Bathsheba decided to take up genre fiction. Thus the Swanson Herbinko Cozy Mystery series was born. So far, her popular mystery novels have included Dead Wrong, Dead Silence, and Dead Karma. Each is set in a different country.

 

When I returned from my two weeks in China last year, I knew I wanted to set a novel in some of the exotic locations. I realized my ideas might make for a good addition to Bathsheba’s series.

 

Dead and Buried is a bit of a mystery-thriller hybrid, and my first collaboration with another author. Written from the perspective of one of the side characters in Bathsheba’s previous books in the series, Dead and Buried takes the familiar characters—and new ones—on an adventure throughout China’s most interesting places in search of an Imperial artifact. Of course, there’s a murder or two to solve along the way.

 

Look for Dead and Buried from Blue Heron Book Works later in 2015.

 

Learn more at www.blueheronbookworks.com/eric-d.-goodman.html.

For the new eReaders

If a new eReader is one of the items you received over the holidays, or if you plan to load more good books to your eReader in 2015, here are some suggestions to consider.

Tracks: A Novel in Stories is on sale at Atticus Books for only $7.99. Find it at https://atticusbooksonline.com/shop/tracks-a-novel-in-stories.

While you’re at it, check out some of the other fine eBook titles in the Atticus Books catalog, available at https://atticusbooksonline.com/shop.


Another great place to go when you’re looking for eBooks is Blue Heron Book Works. There, you’ll find memoirs like Kindle #1 Bestseller Rigger as well as books in the popular Swanson Herbinko cozy mystery series by Bathsheba Monk. Find Blue Heron books at www.blueheronbookworks.com.

Keep watching small presses like Atticus Books and Blue Heron Book Works for new fiction, memoirs, and books in 2015.

Happy New Reading Year

Happy 2014 to all the readers out there!

Are you looking for an eBook for the new eReader or electronic device you received over the holidays? Look no further than the Atticus Books online book shop, where you can find most of the Atticus titles on sale, including my own Tracks: A Novel in Stories.

https://atticusbooksonline.com/shop/product-tag/ebooks/

In the mood for a good eBook mystery? Check out the latest two Swanson Herbinko mysteries from Bathsheba Monk.

http://bathshebamonk.com/sample-page

Whether you’re sticking with old-school printed books (like me) or reading on an electronic device, here’s wishing you a new year full of great reading.

Fiction! Poetry! Live Music! Original Art! Lit & Art at the Baltimore Book Festival’s CityLit Stage

The Baltimore Book Festival kicks off this Friday, September 27 and runs through Sunday, September 29.

 

Join the Smile Hon You’re In Baltimore crowd on Friday night at the CityLit Tent where they’ll kick off the festival with the release party and reading of the latest issue. The Occupational Hazards issue features such authors as D.R. Belz, Fernando Quijano III, Earl Crown, Caryn Coyle, Eric D. Goodman, Jeffrey Shipley, and more! Plus live music and beer. It all starts Friday at 6 p.m. at the CityLit Stage. Pick up your copy there.

 

And be sure to join us at 1:30 on September 29 at the Baltimore Book Festival’s CityLit Stage for the Lit and Art Reading Series. NPR’s Aaron Henkin of The Signal emcees the event, which features original art by world-renowned artist Manzar, live banjo by Pop-Grass star Jacob Panic, and original readings by Jessica Anya Blau, Eric D. Goodman, and Nitin Jagdish, and Bathsheba Monk.

 

Then … You don’t want to miss the next big event at The Watermark Gallery during Baltimore Literary Arts Week. Join us on Sunday, October 13 from 2 to 5 p.m. for Lit & Art at the Watermark, 100 S. Charles St., across from Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Original art by Manzar; original songs by Goodloe Byron; readings by Lauren Eisenberg Davis, D.R. Belz, and Barbara Friedland; an exciting presentation by Tom Glenn on the fall of Saigon (he was there as it happened); and a special musical performance by National Book Award nominee Madison Smartt Bell. Did we mention free wine and refreshments?

 

But first … we’ll see you at 1:30 on September 29 at the Baltimore Book Festival’s CityLit Stage.

 

We look forward to seeing you there!

 

http://www.baltimorebookfestival.com/schedule/event-detail/535/Lit-&%20Art

 

Lit and Art Hits Baltimore Book Fest’s CityLit Stage

When is Lit & Art at the Watermark not at The Watermark?

 

When it is at the Baltimore Book Festival!

 

Join us at 1:30 on September 29 at the Baltimore Book Festival’s CityLit Stage as we feature original art by world-renowned artist Manzar, live banjo by Pop-Grass star Jacob Panic, and original readings by Jessica Anya Blau, Eric D. Goodman, and Nitin Jagdish, and Bathsheba Monk.

 

NPR’s Aaron Henkin (who hosts the weekly cultural exploration of Baltimore’s cultural landscape on WYPR’s The Signal) emcees the event on Sunday, September 29 from 1:30 to 2:30.

 

Then … You don’t want to miss the next big event at The Watermark Gallery. Join us on Sunday, October 13 from 2 to 5 p.m. for Lit & Art at the Watermark, 100 S. Charles St., across from Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Original art by Manzar; original songs by Goodloe Byron; readings by Lauren Eisenberg Davis, D.R. Belz, and Barbara Friedland; an exciting presentation by Tom Glenn on the fall of Saigon (he was there as it happened); and a special musical performance by National Book Award nominee Madison Smartt Bell. Did we mention free wine and refreshments?

 

But first … we’ll see you at 1:30 on September 29 at the Baltimore Book Festival’s CityLit Stage.

 

We look forward to seeing you there!

 

http://www.baltimorebookfestival.com/schedule/event-detail/535/Lit-&%20Art

 

Party Like a Librarian!

The Baltimore Book Festival begins today at Noon, and the party continues through Sunday evening at 7 p.m.

All weekend long, book lovers in Baltimore will party like librarians!

The party is at Mt. Vernon Place, surrounding the monument, and features such authors as Emily Griffin, Laura Lippman, Kate Dolan, Joya Fields, Michael Kimball, Kevin O’Malley, Marion Winik, and Justin Sirois.

Learn more about the Baltimore Book Festival and get a full schedule of events at www.baltimorebookfestival.com.



Lit and Art at the Baltimore Book Festival

The highlight of the literary weekend? Don’t miss Lit & Art at the Baltimore Book Festival's CityLit Stage on Sunday, September 30 at 2:30 p.m.

Featured authors include Bathsheba Monk, Jessica Anya Blau, Charles Rammelkamp, Fernando Quijano III, and Nancy Greene with music by Goodloe Byron and original art by Manzar. Hosted by Eric D. Goodman and Nitin Jagdish, the event takes place at the CityLit Stage and promises to be one literary-packed hour. Thanks goes to Gregg Wilhelm for the gig!

Learn more about Lit & Art at the Baltimore Book Festival’s CityLit Stage at www.baltimorebookfestival.com/schedule/event-detail/334/Event%20Details.

Finally, Baltimore Book Fest Video! Pay attention at the 2:09 minute mark and you may see someone you recognize!

www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=i5vXQed674o

York Daily Record Sunday News Features Tracks

Last Sunday, the Portsmouth Daily Times wasn’t the only daily newspaper to run a feature about Tracks in the Sunday edition.

The York Daily Record / Sunday News ran the feature story “Train passengers’ stories become a novel.”

“When Goodman watches a movie or reads a book, he always wants to know more about the side characters. Writing a novel in intertwined stories seemed like the ideal way to learn more about different characters,” wrote Susan Jennings.

“Gathering an eclectic group of passengers -- which includes a salesman, a soldier, a former mobster and a Holocaust survivor -- also meant Goodman could have darker and lighter stories mixed together in one book.”

Susan not only interviewed me for the feature. She also interviewed my publisher, Dan Cafaro of Atticus Books, and Pennsylvania novelist Bathsheba Monk.

“It fills that space between commercial and literary fiction,” Cafaro said.

“The thing about "Tracks" is that, after I was finished, I found myself looking around at my fellow passengers on a plane and wondering at our interconnectedness," Monk said in an email. "So while the story itself was compelling, what it said lingered on in me. That's the sign of a good book.”

Missed the print edition? Read the feature online at the York Daily Record / Sunday News book blog.

http://www.yorkblog.com/books/2011/08/train-passengers-stories-becom.html

Bathsheba Monk: Tight, Colorful, Breathtaking Tapestry

Bathsheba Monk has been making a splash in New York City lately with street productions enacting scenes from her novel, Nude Walker. She is also the author of a collection of linked stories called Now You See It … Stories from Cokesville, PA.

Tim O’Brien said “Bathsheba Monk is a writer I'll be talking about when I talk about brilliant new writers.”

Here’s what the brilliant Bathsheba Monk had so say about Tracks.


“From the first story in Eric D. Goodman’s novel in stories, Tracks, I knew I was in for an enjoyable ride. Goodman is a keen, compassionate and refreshingly un-ironic observer of the human condition. In Tracks, Goodman skillfully weaves stories of chance encounters, lost opportunities and new beginnings into a tight, colorful, breathtaking tapestry which he says is a train ride, but seems an awful lot like life.”

~Bathsheba Monk,
Author of Nude Walker and
Now You See It ... Stories from Cokesville, PA

Learn more about Bathsheba and her books at her website.

www.bathshebamonk.com

Nude Reading

It’s the weekend—time to get a little wild. How about some Nude reading?

I’m not talking about reading in the nude, although that’s not a bad idea. I’m suggesting you read the latest book by author Bathsheba Monk: Nude Walker (FSG).

Nude Walker, published earlier this year, is a novel all about change (and I’m not talking about changing clothes). Nude is actually Bathsheba’s debut novel; her first book was a collection of linked stories: Now You See It: Stories from Cokesville, PA.

There’s a great review of Nude Walker in Potomac Review. Of course I may be a little bit biased. I wrote the review.

Read “Stripping Down Change” in Potomac Review at the following link. Then, get Nude!
http://potomacreview.wordpress.com/2011/05/31/stripping-down-change/

Forbidden Love for Valentine's Day

This morning I passed by a church sign that read “Forbidden Love causes a number to jams.” And I heard that in Singapore young couples were encouraged not to be tricked by the trap of going on a date or buying flowers on Valentine’s day as it can lead to inappropriate behavior.

Forbidden love may not be the best lifestyle choice … but is sure does make for good story. That’s why so many books include a “forbidden love” story. Including Bathsheba Monk’s new novel, Nude Walker.

In her continuing series, “How to Write a Novel,” Bathsheba shares her thoughts on forbidden love. Learn all about writing a novel, forbidden love, and Bathsheba’s new book by watching the video below.

And happy Valentine’s Day.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsUiGddrL2Y

Nude Lit & Art Video

Got your attention? With the next Lit & Art at the Watermark coming up this Sunday, this seems an appropriate time to share with you a video from the last exciting event.

In November, acclaimed author Bathsheba Monk headlined at the Lit & Art Reading Series. Other featured readers included Charles Jensen, Katherine Cottle, and myself; music was provided by Red Tractor Factory and Bahman Panahi.

Bathsheba presented her premier reading from Nude Walker, her second book published by FSG. Novelist Tim O'Brien (The Things They Carried) said, "Bathsheba Monk is a writer I'll be talking about when I talk about brilliant new writers."

Bathsheba turned her first reading from Nude Walker into a video that plugs both her book and, graciously, Tracks, my novel in stories. Watch Bathsheba read from her work, discuss the Lit & Art event, and even offer a few words about Tracks (aka Train) below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5PELu1J0xs