Appearance at the Kerrytown BookFest and Random Blatherings

A few things to share:

-I'll be appearing at the Kerrytown BookFest in Ann Arbor, Michigan on Sunday, September 12th. I'll be part of a special "Michigan Lit" panel along with National Book Award finalist Bonnie Jo Campbell, Kristina Riggle and Wendy Webb. It will be moderated by "Detroit Noir" co-editor Eric Olsen. The event is at noon at the Kerrytown Concert House. It should be pretty interesting. If you're at the festival, stop by. Also appearing at the BookFest: Thomas Lynch (I'm looking forward to seeing him), Loren Estelman, Toby Barlow, and a lot of other great people.

-A while back, I did a radio interview with Barbara DeMarco for PEN ON FIRE, her show about Writers and Writing. Typical radio interviews that I've done have been five to fifteen minutes, and have often been my elevator spiel about one of my books. This one is considerably longer. And while I did talk about The Leisure Seeker quite a bit, It was interesting also to talk about craft, getting published, the business of writing, social networking and other subjects. Who knows? It was right before I got sick, so there may some fever-dream, ill-livered, psychotic rantings thrown in there too.

-I'll be reading at the Canton, Michigan Public Library this month. September 22nd at 7pm to be exact. I'll be flying in from Washington D.C. that day. I'm hoping my flight is on time. If I'm a no-show, you'll know why. (I'm talking to you, Delta Airlines.)

-In other news (you mean news that doesn't have anything to do with you, Michael?), I saw some fantastic music this past weekend. My friend Luis Resto, an extraordinarily talented keyboardist, (as well as an Oscar and Grammy winner for his work with Marshall Mathers), played with his band, the Combo De Momento over at the Majestic Cafe in Detroit. A fantastic show, with Luis playing all original music from his new CD. The music is a greasy, fonky combination plate of jazz, salsa, and R&B. Check it out. He did the gig at Majestic before playing back-up at the massive Eminem/Jay Z show at Tiger Stadium (Comerica Park) on Thursday and Friday. Rock on, Luis.

-I also saw John Holk and the Sequins play a wonderful set of real country music at Arts, Beats & Eats. John is a local sound engineer that I've worked with many times. He's a purist when it comes to country music and it shows in his performances with his various bands. You'll hear songs from Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, Buck Owens and many from the pantheon of country music, plus his own originals. John gigs all over Michigan and beyond. If he's ever in your town, do yourself a favor and go see him. You won't be disappointed. Here's his MySpace page.

That's all for now.