I’d rather take a chance on being called cornball than to die a wise ass.” — Jim Harrison
The other day, my webmaster and older son (not necessarily in that order) told me that it was past time to update my website, reminding me gently that it was easier to do it now that he’d shown me how I didn’t have to go in, kill everything out, and build it from the ground up any more. The look he gave me while he was explaining all that was the kind of look you’d give a whimpering stray puppy just as you were setting out a big bowl of Kibbles ‘n’ Bits. So, then, here we are with an update, in which — as Jonathan intimated — I need not be logorrheic. Or, as Jack Webb (kids, ask your baby-boomer parents) might’ve said, it’s just the facts, ma’am.
And here are those facts:
1) Since leaving the newspaper on Sept. 1 of last year, I’ve been able to get into a variety of projects. Perhaps the most high-profile of them was a gig doing all the text for the tour book celebrating music legend Roy Clark’s 60th anniversary in show business. I’ve known Roy for many years, and his manager, Taylor Seale, has also been my pal for just about that long. They are both very good men, and I was honored to do the job. Roy has a year-long tour planned for this year, so if you see him in concert, check out the deluxe tour book, and you’ll not only see the words I wrote, but a wonderful selection of photos — many of them rare — from Roy’s career. The book even includes a CD featuring some of Roy’s most enduring hits.
2) If you’re in Oklahoma, check out the latest issue of Oklahoma Magazine ( www.okmag.com ), which has a profile of yours truly made to look far better than I actually am by the fine writer Marnie Ducato. Next issue, just in time for Easter, the magazine will feature a story of mine on the strange relationship between one of the all time-great exploitation filmmakers and the annual Lawton, Oklahoma, Passion Play. It’s the first of a bimonthly series Oklahoma Magazine’s publishers have asked me to do.
3) I’ve also been doing some enjoyable work for the feisty Texas-based music magazine Mavrik (www.LoneStarMusic.com). The January/February issue cover-featured my piece on the guys of Cross Canadian Ragweed, and the new one will have a similar story on the Red Dirt Rangers and their new disc. Working at the Tulsa World gave me the opportunity to cover the still- emerging phenomenon of Red Dirt Music from its very beginning, and it’s a pleasure to put some of that first-hand knowledge to work in a music magazine — especially one out of Texas, where the Stillwater-based Red Dirt and the singer-songwriter style known as Texas Music tend to get all smooshed (to borrow a term from Grandpa in Grapes of Wrath) together.
4) After a frustrating several months of non-publication (when we expected the opposite, obviously) by another imprint, Mike Price and I are happy to be back with Midnight Marquee Press for Forgotten Horrors 4: Dreams That Money Can Buy. A recent mass email from MidMar’s Susan Svehla indicates that the book will be out by the end of April.
5) In a related story, look for some new “Forgotten Horrors” columns for Fangoria (www.fangoria.com). Michael and I have a couple in the can, and a couple more on the way. I’m also working on some solo stuff with Fango in mind. Editor Tony Timpone was very kind to me when I left the newspaper, emailing me with the assurance that I’d always have a home at Fango. I’m in the process of gratefully taking him up on that.
6) I’m happy to say that both of my current books are doing well, even though if you only check www.amazon.com, it’ll look like — in the words of Raymond Chandler — they’re trying to crawl under a duck. I’ve come up with the little conceit that my books are like beer from a microbrewery. They’re not Bud or Coors, and they don’t have a huge corporate distribution machine behind them, but many discriminating souls — bless ’em — people find them not only just as satisfying as the stuff from the big guys, but in some ways, even better.
So, if you haven’t picked up Ghost Band, my novel about a touring musician trailed by specters, or From the Blue Devils to Red Dirt: The Colors of Oklahoma Music, my non-fiction look at national music trends that originated in Oklahoma — which just became a finalist for an Oklahoma Book Award — this might be a good time. If you’re in the Tulsa area, both are available at brick-and-mortar bookstores, including Steve’s Sundry Books & Magazines and Barnes & Noble. Otherwise, you can them from the usual online sources or order them from your bookstore. Check out the “Books” section of this site for more info.
7) Finally, because of my, ahem, changed circumstances, I find myself doing a lot more personal appearances than I used to. Just this week, I’m going to Bristow, Oklahoma, to speak to their library group, to Claremore for a similar thing, and then to Stillwater for a lecture in its citywide Big Read event. If you know of any similar groups where an Okie writer might fit behind a podium, give a crowd a few laughs, and sell a few books, please let me know.
Many thanks, and so long for now.