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

Words and Trains on Video

It may be a little late to share a “teaser trailer” for a book that has been out almost two months. So consider this a trailer for one of the upcoming events, like the Baltimore Book Festival.


If you like words and trains, check out how producer Gary Wood put them together in this short teaser trailer for Tracks: A Novel in Stories.

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

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.

Join Eric on Facebook

Sometimes it seems as though I’m living multiple lives—blogs, Gather, columns, facebook, public relations writing, fiction writing, the lit scene, family life … so here’s an attempt to splice a couple of them together.

You read my blog, but did you know I was on Facebook?

In addition to posting everything published here, I also share Facebook-exclusive items on the world’s most popular social networking site.

So come on over and “friend” me on Facebook! Look for Eric D. Goodman, or simply hit this link: www.facebook.com/edgewriter.

CBS Sunday Morning Meets TRACKS

The most recent episode of the popular news magazine show, CBS Sunday Morning, which aired December 19, 2010, seemed to be made with the novel in stories, Tracks, in mind.

The cover story was just that: a story on covers. “Judging Books by Their Covers” was a segment all about the art of book cover design.

“The Designs of Dust Jackets Are as Artful as the Words They Encase,” the segment pointed out. “A good cover tells you what kind of book it is - without giving too much away.” It’s an interesting discussion about all that goes into great cover design, covers that scream out to customers, “buy me, buy me!”

“They're part of our visual landscape - easy to take for granted.”

Later in the same program? A story about trains!

“Traveling by train has become a growing and reliable alternative to flying, CBS reported. “In 2007, Amtrak serviced 26 million people, the most in its history.” With more difficult air travel, the popularity of trains seems to be on the rise.

All that was missing from the program was a story to bridge books and trains – a story about Tracks, a novel in stories!

After all, what better way to pass the time on a relaxing train than with a good book? And a book set on a train would certainly fit the mood.

Check out CBS Sunday Morning at their website.

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/sunday/main3445.shtml