Michael Kimball Joins Lit & Art This Sunday

Join us on May 26 from 2 to 5 p.m. and discover “the best excuse to get lit on a Sunday afternoon in Baltimore.”

Well into its fifth year, the Lit & Art Reading Series showcases local, national, and international talent—fiction, poetry, non-fiction, memoir, original art, live music—all topped off with wine, refreshments, and conversation.

Featured readers at the May 26 event include Michael Kimball, Holly Morse-Ellington, Sid Gold, Caryn Coyle, Nik Karpon, and Shirley Brewer. Live music by Goodloe Byron, original art by Manzar, and wine, refreshments, and conversation will fill out the program.

Hosted by Baltimore authors Nitin Jagdish and Eric D. Goodman, the event takes place at The Watermark Gallery at 100 S. Charles Street, across from Baltimore’s Inner Harbor in the BOA building, and takes place from 2 to 5 p.m. Bring a bit of your own work to share at open mic!

Join us on the Lit & Art Facebook Page!

www.facebook.com/home.php#!/groups/181120815252390/?fref=ts

Go To Gaithersburg Tomorrow

The Gaithersburg Book Festival takes place on Saturday, May 18 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Gaithersburg City Hall Grounds. This celebration of the book, which began in 2010, is a fun-filled day with many featured authors—and both admission and parking are free!

The day’s events include readings and talks from local, regional, and national authors, book signings, writing workshop information for children, young adults, and adults, and a host of literary exhibitors.

Learn more, and plan your day, at www.gaithersburgbookfestival.org.

Girl 2, 5, or 7 is Waiting to Meet You

The Potomac, has published my story, “Girl 2, 5, or 7,” in its most recent issue.

The Potomac is a literary journal of poetry and politics. My bit of flash fiction is included in the “Quicktions” section, right next to “Discount” by Caryn Coyle.

“Girl 2, 5, or 7” is a short piece I wrote during my residency at the Ox-Bow artist colony. (It’s fiction, not memoir.)

In the same issue, you’ll find a fine book review of Rushdie’s memoir by Nitin Jagdish, as well as reviews of the latest books of Nathan Leslie and Jen Michalski.

Girl 2, 5, or 7 is waiting to meet you here.

http://thepotomacjournal.com/issue13/Fiction/Goodman.html


Check out the other great selections in the latest issue.

http://thepotomacjournal.com

Turning 40 Again

My reflections on turning 40 years old (which I’m doing again this week) were published in 2011 on the popular website, Turning 40.

Two years later, my story remains one of the most popular they’ve published. It is still one of the “featured” stories at the top of the page and has been read by nearly 10,000 people.

In the article, “Turning 40 as a Sounding Board,” I meditate on how turning 40 seemed, to me, to be more of a sounding board than a milestone. It includes quotes, words of inspirations, poetry, even a little bit of alternate history. You’ll laugh (if you’re 20). You’ll cry (if you’re turning 40). Hop on over now to read my reflections. (On second thought, walk slowly and carefully—you don’t want to put out your back).

www.Turning40.net

You can read my thoughts on turning 40, or watch Heidi Klum talk to Ellen about turning 40. But which do you think will be more interesting?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlkarRWBYEM

Go directly to my article—a lot of people have turned 40 since Monday!

http://turning40.net/turning-40-as-a-sounding-board-by-eric/

Glass Mountain Supports Tracks

Glass Mountain is a print literary magazine published by the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. With a circulation of 2,500, it launched nationally in 2006 and has featured such notable literary figures as Mark Doty, Nick Flynn, Mat Johnson, and Tony Hoagland.

The most recent issue, hot off the press, includes my story “Idle Chatter” from Tracks: A Novel in Stories.

To find out more, visit the Glass Mountain Wikipedia page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_Mountain_(journal).

Or, visit them directly at http://www.glassmountainmag.com.

Michael Kimball Joins Lit and Art on May 26

Join us on May 26 and discover “the best excuse to get lit on a Sunday afternoon in Baltimore.”


Well into its fifth year, the Lit & Art reading series showcases local, national, and international talent—fiction, poetry, non-fiction, memoir, original art, live music—all topped off with wine, refreshments, and conversation.

Featured readers on May 26 include Michael Kimball, Holly Morse-Ellington, Sid Gold, Caryn Coyle, Nik Karpon, and Shirley Brewer. Live music, original art by Manzar, wine and refreshments will fill out the program.

Hosted by Baltimore authors Nitin Jagdish and Eric D. Goodman, the event takes place at The Watermark Gallery at 100 S. Charles Street, across from Baltimore’s Inner Harbor in the BOA building and takes place from 2 to 5 p.m. Bring a bit of your own work to share at open mic!

George Saunders Celebrates 10 years of CityLit Fest

The annual CityLit Festival, a favorite spring event in Baltimore, is celebrating 10 years this Saturday. From its very inception, ringmaster Gregg Wilhelm has brought in top names to headline the festival: the likes of Edward P. Jones and Junot Diaz.

This year, the fiction headliner is George Saunders, author the bestselling Pastoralia, set against a warped, hilarious, and terrifyingly recognizable American landscape; CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award; and In Persuasion Nation, one of three finalists for the 2006 STORY Prize for best short story collection of the year. The New York Times Magazine called Saunders's latest collection, Tenth of December, "the best book you'll read this year."

Headlining poets are poets laureate Stanley Plumly of Maryland and Dick Allen of Connecticut read their latest work. Plumly is the author of Orphan Hours and is recipient of the 2010 John William Corrington Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature). Allen is the author of Present Vanishing and recipient of the 2013 New Criterion Poetry Prize, one of the country's most prominent prizes for a book-length collection of poems that pays close attention to form.

Other featured authors include Jen Michalski, Elisabeth Dahl, Nathan Leslie, Tim Wendle, Nik Korpon, and CL Bledsoe. I’ll be on hand as well in the Literary Marketplace.

Join us on April 13, 2013, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in downtown Baltimore, and discover (again) why Baltimore magazine called CityLit Festival "a can't miss event on the city's social scene."

www.citylitproject.org/index.cfm?page=news&newsid=130

Live Cargo on WYPR's The Signal Today

If you’re in the Baltimore-DC area, tune in to The Signal on WYPR, 88.1 FM at 7 tonight or 1 p.m. Saturday (tomorrow) afternoon. If you’re elsewhere, listen to the program live at www.wypr.org.

I’ll be reading an abridged version of “Live Cargo” from Tracks: A Novel in Stories. After my reading, stay tuned for details about the upcoming Lit & Art at the Watermark this Sunday.

The Signal is a weekly radio magazine that explores Maryland’s thriving artistic and cultural scene and is produced by Aaron Henkin and Lisa Morgan and hosted by Andy Bienstock for Baltimore’s NPR station, WYPR.

Here’s how WYPR describes my story.

“Holocaust Remembrance Day - Yom Hashoah - begins Sunday evening, April 7th, and continues through Monday until sundown. Writer Eric D Goodman joins us to observe the somber occasion with a short story. It’s the story of a survivor – and that survivor’s memories – so please be advised that the following does include some grim details. The story also includes strength, and hope…”

Get your serving of strength and hope today at 7 p.m. or Saturday at 1 p.m. at 88.1 FM or www.wypr.org.  

Here’s the plug from The Signal’s website:

“In observance of Yom Hashoah - Holocaust Remembrance Day – writer Eric D Goodman joins us with the story of a survivor’s pilgrimage to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC.”

Visit www.wypr.org/stationprogram/signal.

To Miss Lit and Art on April 7 Would Be A Crime

It would be a crime to miss the next Lit and Art at the Watermark on April 7 from 2 to 5 p.m. The scene: The Watermark Gallery, 100 South Charles Street, second floor of the Bank of America building right across from Baltimore's Inner Harbor. The skinny: five authors and poets share their works of literature, poetry, and crime fiction. Accomplices: live music, original artwork. Exhibit A: wine; Exhibit B: light refreshments. Spotted at the crime scene: You.

The April Lit & Art event features readers traveling from as far as Indiana — and as close as our own back alleyway. Featured authors and poets include Lucrecia Guerrero, Jerry Holt, Julie Wakeman-Linn, Austin Camacho, and Kathy Cottle. Live music by singer/songwriter Goodloe Byron and original artwork by Manzar. Hosted by Nitin Jagdish and Eric D. Goodman. Bring five minutes of your own work to share during the open mic session.

The Lit & Art Reading Series is free and open to the public. Wine and refreshments will be served. Join us for Lit and Art at the Watermark from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 7.

You don’t have to be a sleuth to figure out why it’s been called "the best excuse to get lit in Baltimore on a Sunday afternoon."

Learn more (and join the online Lit & Art community) at www.facebook.com/home.php#!/groups/181120815252390/?fref=ts.

Pen In Hand Writing Resolutions

How are your writing goals and resolutions going so far this year? Is it time to take the pen in hand (or keyboard to fingertips) and get to it? Or are things moving along as planned?


The Winter 2013 issue of Pen In Hand features my article, “Write Yourself a Lucky 2013,” in which I give some advice on keeping your resolutions attainable. Here’s a sample from the story.

“The important thing to remember when it comes to setting your goals and resolutions for the new year is to keep them within your control. I don't mean to limit yourself to what you hope to accomplish -- we should all strive to reach further and to break barriers. What I mean is that we should define our goals and resolutions in a way that is within our own immediate control.”

For example, resolve to write a certain number of pages each month, not to “finish a novel.” Resolve to keep submitting to agents, not to “get an agent.” Concrete goals that are within your control will allow you to be the one who makes or breaks them.

Read the article—and many other great material—in the latest issue of the Maryland Writers’ Association’s Pen In Hand.

www.marylandwriters.org/PenInHand/2013-Winter.pdf

Next Best Book Blog Showcases My Desk

Over the past couple months, I’ve been spending a lot of time in my writing studio, at my desk. The same simple pine desk has seen the writing of at least part of just about every bit of fiction I’ve written since I was 12 years old. I’ve been there recently to revise my latest novel-in-progress, Setting the Family Free.


The Next Best Book Blog recently featured my desk and writing studio in their Where Writers Write series.

Where Writers Write is a weekly series that features a different author every Wednesday as they showcase their writing spaces. It’s your chance to see where the authors roll up their sleeves and make the magic happen. Featured authors have included J.A. Tyler, Ben Tanzer, Greg Olear, Dinty W Moore, and even Margaret Atwood.

See the pictures and read about the place I write at the link below.

http://thenextbestbookblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/where-writers-write-eric-d-goodman.html

Real Travel Adventures Goes to Madrid

Does the rain and snow (depending on where you are) have you wishing for sunnier weather? Pour yourself a snifter of Spanish brandy, prepare a bit of tapas, and come with me to Madrid!


Real Travel Adventures is an online travel magazine that draws the eyes of half a million unique visitors each year. The current issue features my travel story, called “Spanish Holiday: Part 2, Madrid.” It's illustrated by my wife, Nataliya A. Goodman.

I’ll admit that the published story has been cut down to size, and much of the detail and experience has been omitted or altered—rendering some reference confusing or unexplained. But the story will give you a glimpse of Madrid's beauty, along with its darker side.

So warm that chill with me in Madrid at Real Travel Adventures International Magazine!

www.realtraveladventures.com/2Feb2013/spanish_holiday_in_madrid.htm


You can also go back to Part 1, Barcelona, at the following link.

www.writeful.blogspot.com/2013/01/real-travel-adventures-goes-to-barcelona.html

In With The New

I don’t want to say “out with the old,” so let’s just agree to welcome in the new.


Last week, I was The Next Big Thing! This week, I’m the last big thing.

The Next Big Thing is a a sort of “pay it forward” interview series providing readers with an ever-growing series of discussions about writers and their works. It offers an inside view of our process, our passions, our efforts to create our best work.

Author Debra Leigh Scott asked me to participate a few weeks ago. You can see my write-up about her interview here:

www.writeful.blogspot.com/2013/02/writers-pay-it-forward.html


My own Next Big Thing interview from last Friday is here:

www.writeful.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-next-big-thing-interview.html


And now, I’d like to introduce The NEXT Big Thing!

Lauren Eisenberg Davis is working on Other Mothers’ Daughters, a memoir about the plight of vulnerable children and the adults who exploit and protect them, told from the point of view of the child of an abusive mother and the adult wife of a pedophile.

Find Lauren’s interview at her Facebook page.

www.facebook.com/LaurenBethEisenbergDavis



Sherry Audette Morrow is currently working on two novels. Her articles, short fiction, and poetry have appeared publications in the United States and Canada. The anthology New Lines From the Old Line State includes one of her short stories and one of her essays is featured in Mean Girls Grown Up: Adult Women Who Are Still Mean Bees, Middle Bees and Afraid-To-Bees. Sherry is the founding editor of Scribble Magazine — www.scribblemagazine.us.

Find Sherry’s interview at her Facebook page.

www.facebook.com/notes/sherry-audette-morrow/the-next-big-thing/10151294288882711

The Next Big Thing Interview

Today, I’m The Next Big Thing!


The Next Big Thing is a writer interview series that is getting a lot of buzz this year. It’s a sort of “pay it forward” interview series providing readers with an ever-growing series of discussions about writers and their works. It offers an inside view of our process, our passions, our efforts to create our best work.

I was asked to participate by author Debra Leigh Scott. You can see my write-up about her interview here:

www.writeful.blogspot.com/2013/02/writers-pay-it-forward.html

Now … here is my ten-question interview for The Next Big Thing …



Ten Interview Questions for The Next Big Thing:

1– What is your working title of your book?

The book I’m used to talking about is Tracks: A Novel in Stories (Atticus, 2011) which you can find at www.TracksNovel.com.  

But the book I am working on now is called Setting the Family Free. I plan to have a draft to my agent this spring.

2–Where did the idea come from for the book?

Although fictionalized, I was inspired to write this book by a unique news story. In 2011, a private animal collector unleashed his zoo of exotic pets and then killed himself. Most of the animals had to be killed because they were a threat to local residents. I thought the idea of these animals on the prowl and the hunters tracking them was as fascinating as what made the man release them and then take his own life. I pretty much knew from the first news story to break that I wanted to write something about this.

3–What genre does your book fall under?

Something between literary fiction and contemporary fiction. It’s all about the drama and feelings and relationships between the people involved in the story.

4–Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I have a hard time picturing actors while writing—and I don’t want to taint the characters by beginning to write descriptions of the actors playing them. So instead, I’ll refer to Tracks: A Novel in Stories, which is already written.

I could see Morgan Freeman playing Franklin, the conductor. Tom Wilkinson as Prewitt. Natalie Portman as Christi. Harrison Ford as Murdock, the salesman. Daniel Craig as Charlie, the hit man. Demi Moore as Demi. Johnny Depp as Colin, the poet. George Clooney as Gene Silverman. Know their agents?

5–What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Tracks: A Novel in Stories, set on a train traveling from Baltimore to Chicago, is all about how people—even strangers on a train—can connect in meaningful ways.

But back to Setting the Family Free … (and this is my first attempt): As experts hunt down a private zoo of exotic animals set free in the city, those who knew animal-lover Sammy Johnson struggle to understand why he sent his beloved family to their deaths before taking his own life.

6–Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Tracks was published by Atticus Books. Setting the Family Free will also find a traditional or independent publisher (I hope) with the help of my literary agent.

7–How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I find rewriting to be the hard part. The original draft came to me in only two weeks while I was at a writing retreat. Granted, every need was catered to during that two weeks, so I was able to devote all of my energy to writing. But I was able to write that first draft (about 320 pages) in just two weeks.

Rewriting? Months and months, so far.

8–What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

The subject matter is something I haven’t encountered before—the idea of this person releasing his animals into the city, examining why he did it, following the local authorities and neighbors as they discover what is happening and prepare to hunt the animals down. But in style, I tried to take some examples from the work of one of my favorite authors, Tim O’Brien. This is no war story. But In The Lake of the Woods inspired me to try something that included quotes and excerpts as part of the story. And I liked his method of weaving backstory with current story from multiple perspectives. This is more story than novel in stories, but different chapters are told from different points of view. We see things from Sammy’s point of view, and from the wife’s, and from the sheriff and his deputy and the animal experts. So in some ways, although it is a novel, its individual parts may have the feel of a story collection.

9–Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I was inspired by Tim O’Brien’s format and style in his novel In the Lake of the Woods. I had recently re-read it when the real animal story broke. The real event inspired me to think about writing either a non-fiction narrative or a fictional account of the events. Imagining the great news quotes and different takes on the story, I realized it was a perfect match to the format.

10–What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

I think readers who enjoyed the novel-in-stories format of Tracks sill like the format of this book. It is more novel than Tracks was as it follows one story. But within that story are many others. The man who made it all happen. What drove him to do it? The wife, who lost everything she loved. The sheriff, forced to lead the hunt. The deputy, who struggles with guilt over the slaughter of the animals. Some chapters even look at things from the point of the view of the animals. That said, the chapters of this book are much tighter than my novel in stories. The chapters in Setting the Family Free are not stand alone stories so much as parts of the larger story.

That, and animals. Readers who love animals, should try Setting the Family Free.



NEXT UP for The Next Big Thing: Tune in for interviews with Sherry Audette Morrow and Lauren Eisenberg Davis next week. Visit www.Writeful.blogspot.com next Friday to link to their interviews!

Lauren Eisenberg Davis is working on Other Mothers’ Daughters, a memoir about the plight of vulnerable children and the adults who exploit and protect them, told from the point of view of the child of an abusive mother and the adult wife of a pedophile.

Sherry Audette Morrow is currently working on two novels, and her articles, short fiction, and poetry have appeared publications in the U.S. and Canada. The anthology New Lines From the Old Line State includes one of her short stories and one of her essays is featured in Mean Girls Grown Up: Adult Women Who Are Still Mean Bees, Middle Bees and Afraid-To-Bees. Sherry is also the founding editor of Scribble Magazine — www.scribblemagazine.us.  

Keep following The Next Big Thing—it’s the next big thing!

F. Scott Fitzgerald House Up for Grabs

If you are a writer (or a musician or artist) then it’s likely you’ve dreamed of living the “Jazz Age” lifestyle of F. Scott Fitzgerald.


If you happen to have half a million dollars to spare, now you can!

F. Scott Fitzgerald's town house at 1307 Park Ave. in Baltimore is up for sale. For $450,000, it could be yours.

This is one of two Baltimore homes F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald lived in during their five years in Baltimore. (Zelda burned their first one down while dispensing of papers.)

He’d already enjoyed the success of The Great Gatsby, known by many as the Great American Novel, when he lived in this home. He lived here when he published Tender is the Night.

What a perfect place for a writing residency, visiting authors, and literary events!

Read more about it in the Los Angeles Times.

www.latimes.com/features/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-f-scott-fitzgerald-baltimore-town-house-20130130,0,4281960.story

Writers Pay it Forward

The Next Big Thing is a writer interview series that is getting a lot of buzz this year. It’s a sort of “pay it forward” interview series providing readers with an ever-growing series of discussions about writers and their works. It offers an inside view of our process, our passions, our efforts to create our best work.


I was asked to participate by the founder of the Eludia Award for Fiction and the Hidden River Writers in Philadelphia: Debra Leigh Scott. Debra is the author of Other Likely Stories and is working on a documentary—but in today’s interview, she talks about her most recent project: Piety Street, a novel being published this year by New Door Books.

“Readers who like entering into an entire world and staying there, discovering a variety of powerful characters, experiencing mystery, struggle, injustice, crime, and ultimate resolution and redemption, will love Piety Street. It’s filled with everything found in my beloved New Orleans: mysticism, magic, spirituality, passion. And all of that is blended with historical events: the great immigrations of Sicilians to New Orleans at the turn of the 20th century, the sweep of death caused by the 1919 influenza pandemic, the great flood of 1927 that destroyed large areas of New Orleans – much like the more recent Katrina.”

Check out Debra’s full interview today, and come back next Friday to see mine!

http://hiddenriverwriters.wordpress.com/2013/01/30/the-next-big-thing-an-writer-interview-series/

Real Travel Adventures Goes to Barcelona

The wintery mix outside may have many readers longing for warmer weather. Brew yourself a café con leche and settle into my latest travel story, published in the current issue of Real Travel Adventures International Magazine. We’re going to Barcelona!


Real Travel Adventures is an online travel magazine that draws the eyes of half a million unique visitors each year. The current issue features my travel story, called “Spanish Holiday: Part 1, Barcelona.”

I’ll admit that the published story has been cut down to size, and much of the detail and experience has been omitted or altered—rendering some reference confusing or unexplained. But the story will give you a glimpse of Barcelona’s beauty, along with its darker side.

So warm that chill with me in Barcelona at Real Travel Adventures International Magazine!

www.realtraveladventures.com/Jan2013/spanish_holiday__part_1__barcelona.htm

Lit and Art Kicks Off 2013

Join us this Sunday as we kick off the 2013 Lit and Art schedule!

The first 2013 event in the Lit and Art Reading Series takes place on January 27 from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Watermark Gallery, 100 South Charles Street, second floor of the Bank of America building right across from Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

Featured authors and poets include Virginia Crawford, Earl Crown, Tom Glenn, Nathan Leslie, and Laura Shovan. Live music by Erik Kestler and original artwork by Manzar.  Hosted by Nitin Jagdish and Eric D. Goodman.

Bring your own work to share during the open mic session.

The event is free and open to the public. Wine, refreshments, and conversation will flow.  Join us for Lit and Art at the Watermark from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, January 27. Come discover what has been called "the best excuse to get lit in Baltimore on a Sunday afternoon."

Learn more about the events, featured participants, and more at the Lit and Art Facebook Page:

http://www.facebook.com/groups/408637512490280/?ref=ts&fref=ts#!/groups/181120815252390/?fref=ts

eTracks eBook eSale Ends Tomorrow

Whether you got a new eReader over the holidays, or you have a tried-and-true eReader thirsty for some new content, Atticus Books has a great deal going on—but only through Tuesday!


My publisher, Atticus Books, has put my novel in stories, Tracks, on sale for only $2.99! The cover price is $15.95 and the ebook retail is $9.99, so this is a great opportunity to get on board for a fraction of the usual cost.

Winner of the 2012 Gold Medal for Best Fiction in the Mid-Atlantic Region from the Independent Publisher Book Awards, well reviewed in the media and by readers, and now on sale for only $2.99.

This sale lasts through January 15, so order Tracks now to take advantage of the sale! And please spread the word!

https://atticusbooksonline.com/shop/tracks-a-novel-in-stories-epub/

If you’d like to learn a little more about Tracks before placing your order, visit www.TracksNovel.com, where you can find radio readings, published excerpts, pull-out quotes from the book, reviews, blurbs from other authors, and more.

Or go ahead and place your order while the sale lasts at the link below.

https://atticusbooksonline.com/shop/tracks-a-novel-in-stories-epub/

Exciting Year for Lit and Art

Along with 2013, we ring in some exciting changes for the Lit and Art Reading Series. The first event of the new year is Sunday, January 27 from 2 to 5 p.m. at The Watermark Gallery.

Started in October 2007, the Lit and Art Reading Series provides a unique opportunity to sample a wide variety of artistic sensibilities in one sitting. Hosted by authors Eric D. Goodman and Nitin Jagdish and the Watermark Gallery’s resident artist, Manzar, the events are free and open to the public. Let us pour you a complimentary glass of wine!

In past years, we have averaged about five events per year. For 2013, we’re proud to announce five events in the first half year, with more to follow.

This year’s programs will feature the talents of Michael Kimball, Nathan Leslie, Laura Shovan, Virginia Crawford, Tom Glenn, Julie-Wakeman-Linn, Earl Crown, Nik Korpon, Kathy Cottle, Djelloul Marbrook, Holly Morse-Ellington, Caryn Coyle, Lucrecia Guerrero, Jerry Holt, Austin Camacho, Lauren Eisenberg Davis, Harrison Demchick, Charles Rammelkamp, Sue Ellen Thompson, Goodloe Byron, Erik Kestler, Manzar, and more!

The first 2013 event takes place on January 27 from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Watermark Gallery, 100 South Charles Street, second floor of the Bank of America building right across from Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

Featured authors and poets at January’s event include Virginia Crawford, Earl Crown, Tom Glenn, Nathan Leslie, and Laura Shovan. Live music by Erik Kestler and original artwork by Manzar. Hosted by Nitin Jagdish and Eric D. Goodman. Bring your own work to share during open mic.

Come experience “the best excuse to get lit in Baltimore on a Sunday afternoon.” Learn more about the Lit and Art reading series and other literary events at www.facebook.com/home.php#!/groups/181120815252390/?fref=ts

Something for Your E-Reader

Over the past year, e-reader sales have soared. And during the holiday season, tablets and e-readers were hot sellers. That means that in addition to the millions of e-readers out there, many more find themselves with new e-readers hungry for content.


So how about a sale on content?

My publisher, Atticus Books, has put my novel in stories, Tracks, on sale for only $2.99! The cover price is $15.95 and the ebook retail is $9.99, so this is a great opportunity to get on board for a fraction of the usual cost.

Winner of the 2012 Gold Medal for Best Fiction in the Mid-Atlantic Region from the Independent Publisher Book Awards, well reviewed in the media and by readers, and now on sale for only $2.99.

This sale lasts through January 15, so order Tracks now to take advantage of the sale! And please spread the word—I’d love for more readers to take advantage of the sale price while it lasts.

https://atticusbooksonline.com/shop/tracks-a-novel-in-stories-epub/

A Holiday Tree for You

In selecting my holiday ecards this year, I came across an animated video that I’d like to share here. It’s a simple, one-minute video that depicts a year in the life of a tree (and the trees around it).

Many of us like to recap our year and share what we’ve been through over the past 12 months; it may be that this tree sums it all up as well as any holiday card or newsletter can.

A few years ago I wrote a short story about a large spruce tree. “Leaving” was about a gardener who began to see things from the point of view of the tree. Inspiration from that story came from a spruce in our front yard that we had to have cut down due to disease. So it’s fitting that a similar tree is at the center of this holiday video.

In “Leaving,” Old Spruce tells his friends to “let peace be.” I offer the same wish now.

Happy holidays to you and yours, and here’s to a new year filled with compassion, cooperation, and peace.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR6xGufBzbU

Readers are On Board with Tracks

Literary journals, magazines, newspapers, and book bloggers are one thing, but what do other authors and readers have to say about Tracks?




This.



"Goodman's Tracks is a most cunningly crafted tale—a perfect read for trains, planes and automobiles... or even for your armchair."

Madison Smartt Bell,
Author of All Souls’ Rising,
a National Book Award nominee



“… a terrific collection of stories. Short stories are often an under-appreciated art form. In Tracks, Eric D. Goodman takes the craft to the level of art. An exciting talent.”

Thomas Steinbeck,
Author of Down to a Soundless Sea
and In the Shadow of the Cypress



“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



"Eric D. Goodman’s novel in stories, Tracks, allows the reader to journey with his characters in their moving and transforming destinies. Sincere and empathetic, Goodman delivers. These intertwined stories are melodious and brim with soulful compassion."

Victoria Patterson,
Author of Drift and
This Vacant Paradise



“Who among us hasn’t sat on a train and played at reading the minds of strangers? In this way, Tracks is a voyeuristic fantasy fulfilled. But here’s the real surprise: Once you have mental telepathy, it’s hard to call anyone a stranger anymore.”

Aaron Henkin,
Baltimore's NPR station, WYPR



"Eric D. Goodman's Tracks is an absolute delight. The beautifully-written stories of strangers riding the same train will hypnotically pull you in and captivate you to the very end."

Jessica Anya Blau,
author of Drinking Closer to Home and
The Summer of Naked Swim Parties



"... irresistible ..."

The Writer Magazine



"Goodman limns the lives of his characters—all travelers on the same train—with a light and sensitive touch, yet he manages to delve deep, right to their very hearts. By turns comic and poignant, these pilgrims are united in one significant way: they all seek to make sense of life’s unpredictable journey."

Yona Zeldis McDonough,
Author of Breaking the Bank,
In Dahlia's Wake and The Four Temperaments


“In Tracks, Goodman manages to capture the complicated push and pull of family, of friends, of history, of life—how it bears down on each of us, pulling us apart while simultaneously pushing us together. His characters are, in turn, compassionate, indifferent, bitter, sympathetic, wistful, and most of all, real. I recognized parts of myself in each one of them, and I imagine this is exactly what Goodman intended. Tracks is a wonderful debut.”

Mary Beth Keane,
Author of The Walking People



"A terrific use of the novel-in-stories as form, Eric D. Goodman’s Tracks does what so many of us wish we could do in our travels: peer beneath the surfaces of the lives that intersect ours, if only for a moment. As his narrative winds from car to car, Goodman explores the ways our urge to isolate ourselves is often in direct competition with the way we long to connect, as well as the many layers of love lost and found we carry with us wherever we go. Hopeful and well-imagined, Tracks skillfully captures what makes rail travel so compelling: that while cars or planes might be about traveling from place to place, the train is a place."

Rebecca Barry,
Author of Later, at the Bar


“Eric D. Goodman gets on board a fictional train from Baltimore to Chicago to tell the compelling stories of passengers taking inner journeys. From the couple who define the beauty of silence, to the last hurrah of a hit man, Tracks is insightful, engaging and, in so many ways, truly moving.”

Toby Devens,
Author of My Favorite Midlife Crisis (Yet)



"I have long been a fan of Eric D. Goodman's taut naturalistic fiction, so I came to Tracks with almost unfairly high expectations. I was not disappointed. Read these linked stories separately for their rich textures, their well-drawn characters, and their breathtaking moments of epiphany. Then read them again in sequence, allowing the cumulative power, the subtle connections and insights to reach their full force. Tracks is an unforgettable journey that cuts deep furrows in both the inner and the outer landscape."

Patry Francis,
Author of The Liar’s Diary


"Tracks presents a creative approach to addressing the complex issues in the real world and human nature. Eric D. Goodman provides intimate glimpses into the complex nature of a broad cross section of humanity traveling by train through the heartland of America. He integrates themes of familial bonds and fragments of lives and careers in jeopardy through the unique relationship of vividly drawn characters. Tracks is a refreshing narrative presented through deep reflections and vivid imagery that will propel readers into a page-turning adventure."

D.L. Wilson,
Author of Unholy Grail and
Sirocco


"In an age of twitter, microfiction, and small attention spans, the stories in Eric D. Goodman's Tracks are built on narrative fiction and the U.S. rail system, both of which are seemingly pronounced dead every new decade. But like a good meal, these stories of strangers on a train marinate and simmer, creating a flavor that is richer than their parts. Goodman's alternating harsh and tender stories travel the spectrum of human emotion, and his care for his characters is evident from the first page to the last. By the end, we have not only lived through every character, but we are every character."

Jen Michalski,
author of Close Encounters
and May-September



"In the best literary tradition of The Decameron, The Canterbury Tales, and Spoon River Anthology, Goodman's novel-in-stories reveals the rich textures and patterns in the tapestry of human experience. Tracks is elemental storytelling."

D.R. Belz,
author of White Asparagus


"Who doesn’t love a train ride? And what a ride you’ll get with Eric D. Goodman’s Tracks. Hand your ticket to the conductor, join the other passengers in the lounge car, and listen to their stories as the landscape speeds by. You’ll enjoy meeting each of these characters, sharing their fears, their desires and their dreams, in this entertaining and thought-provoking novel-in-stories."

Pat Valdata,
author of Inherent Vice and
The Other Sister



“Eric D. Goodman's scintillating first novel-in-stories travels along several parallel plot-lines, introducing the reader in mesmerizing fashion to men and women and the train tracks which serve as the object of their reflections and obsessions. Tracks is a tour-de-force, mirroring in its original structure perhaps train tracks themselves. The Westward expansion of our country, the grind of the daily commute, urbanization, the Holocaust—Goodman encapsulates all of this, so much of history and contemporary living. In the process, Goodman captures something almost ineffable—trains are us and vice versa. If one of the goals of great fiction is to set forth into new fictional territory, Tracks is that. And then some.”

Nathan Leslie,
Author of Believers,
Madre, and Drivers


“In an age of commuter rush, virtual friends, and novels written in 140-character bursts, Eric D. Goodman reminds us of the richness of train travel or a good book: when the pace is slower, you never know what sort of souls will greet you.”


Gregg A. Wilhelm,
Executive Director
CityLit Project


“Eric D. Goodman is a virtuoso; he breathes life into each character in such a way that you want to know everything about them, and each story makes you want to read the next to see how these lives intersect. Even when Tracks ends, it continues in the mind, leaving you wanting to know more, thinking about not only the lives of these multi-faceted characters, but your own life and the lives of those around you. Life is a journey and Tracks captures that feeling in a way that few interconnected story collections do.”

Nancy Greene
Author of Portraits in the Dark


“Get on board Eric D. Goodman’s Tracks for a rollicking ride from Baltimore to Chicago with a passenger list of colorful characters, from a sleazy traveling salesman, an adulterous sculptress and a Holocaust survivor to a couple of kids in love, a woman returning home to Cincinnati from burying her parents in Baltimore, and a poet. Told in Goodman’s witty, confidential style, these stories – this long tale – are well worth the price of the ticket!”

Charles Rammelkamp,
Author of The Secretkeepers and
Castleman in the Academy


"If you're a regular listener to The Signal, you're probably familiar with the name Eric D. Goodman. His novel in stories, Tracks is set on a train traveling from Baltimore to Chicago. Each story takes the reader into the psyche of another passenger on the train."

Andy Bienstock,
Baltimore's NPR Station, WPYR


"A Tarantino-style LOVE ACTUALLY meets literary fiction — the reader journeys by train from Baltimore to Chicago via the perspectives of a diverse array of passengers."

Doris M. Michaels Literary Agency, Inc.


"If you only read one novel in stories set on a train this year, make it Tracks!



Amtrak Conductor


Want to learn more? Visit the Tracks website where you can read excerpts, listen to radio readings, and find out what others are saying about the book.

www.TracksNovel.com