Author, Writer, Poet
If you are near Philadelphia or the AWP Conference on Saturday 3/26 at 6pm, please join me for a reading and celebration at Head House Books, 619 S 2nd St, Philadelphia, PA 19147.
I plan to read a few brief passages from my new novel Lucky Ride, and a few poems from The Poet’s Garage.
Share the camaraderie of the open road (and some cheap wine)!
After finishing the Lucky Ride copy edit based on editorial feedback from the publisher, Unsolicited Press, I wanted to share the entire first chapter here: Lucky Ride
The novel will not be published until next year, but I am excited to complete this step in the editorial and production process.
Here is the synopsis:
Set in the Vietnam era, Lucky Ride tells the story of a recent veteran, an unraveling marriage, and a hitchhiking trip steeped in hippie optimism, post-war skepticism, and drug-induced fantasy.
When his friend Rick shows up in Binghamton, New York, with an interstate weed delivery, Flash jumps at the chance to escape his wife Ronnie’s affair with her middle-aged boss. Joining Rick on a speed-fueled drive to Fort Worth, Flash dodges a highway stalker and recalls his military service on Adak, a desolate cold war outpost where Seabees bravely defended their country with marijuana and LSD. Hitchhiking west from Fort Worth, Flash confronts Texas Rangers, amorous witches, armed felons, and good Samaritans, all offering advice and misdirection. But his dreams of starting fresh in California recede like a spent wave, his money gone and no chance of a job. Ronnie offers reconciliation and Flash must decide how much he still trusts the seductive pull of the irresistible campus radical he married before the draft descended on their lives.
I’m a fan of Mark Murphy’s poetry and honored that he published a review of The Poet’s Garage, my new collection from Unsolicited Press: http://midwestbookreview.com/rbw/may_20.htm#markmurphy
Fictive Dreams, one of my favorite online journals, tweeted a link to my story, Artie’s Dodge, which they published two years ago.
Curt’s friend Artie always has an angle, and when he arrives clean-shaven at Curt’s apartment, Curt knows something’s up.
Concerned about the global shortage of fresh metaphors and irony, I was relieved to get an email from Facebook informing me I might be eligible for economic assistance from the SBA as the manager of The Poet’s Garage, my upcoming poetry collection. Just in time for its launch from Unsolicited Press.
More importantly, I hope the government will open its vast emergency stockpile of rhetorical and stylistic devices. Ever wonder why you never find synecdoches or charactonymns in the wild anymore?
But before you go searching on your own, practice good hygiene and immunize yourself against clichés by reading a poetry book. This is the best way to protect yourself and support literary recovery.
Here’s the previous blog post in this series: The Poet’s Garage Workbench: Waiting for Corona