It's been a very busy summer for my wife Robin and me. Robin
got a fantastic job at a school in San Antonio, so after spending all of our lives in the Midwest, we are now in South Texas. Y'all.
Moving is not one of life's great pleasures, so I'm glad we're finally
here and settling in--and that our furniture finally came. Texans are very hospitable people, though, so
we're already feeling at home.
"Hola" from the Alamo city.
Before we left St. Louis, I had
the chance to attend one final book club for MTI. The lovely and charming Lyn Castellano hosted the
event. Lyn had made a generous donation to a St. Louis charity (Angel's Arms) at a silent auction, and the "prize"
was a few copies of MTI. Lyn threw her doors open to me and several of her friends and we had a fantastic
evening. Plenty of laughter. (And boy, did the ladies come down hard on Mitch.) I felt sorry for the poor
guy.)
Thanks so much, Lyn!
My final St. Louis book club couldn't have been better. Lyn is seated on sofa, holding her
dog.
Thanks to Scott Breihan of Johnny Brock's Dungeon (costume shop), I've
found myself in some excellent company lately. Scott moonlights as an assistant to legendary radio host Johnny
Rabbitt at KMOX radio, and Scott was kind enough to introduce my book to Mr. Rabbitt.
Johnny had me on his show recently and we talked about MTI, writing, agents, and my uncle who's a priest.
Scott also provided an on-air review of the book, which was outstanding. A great big thanks to Scott
and Johnny.
Legendary radio personality Johnny Rabbitt doing his thing in the KMOX studio.
And, as if that weren't enough, Scott's girlfriend Melanie invited me to a book club gathering of the Book
Club Hotties this past week. The BCH are, well, hotties, and also the finest booksellers in town.
They do their outstanding work at the Barnes & Noble at West County mall. Stop by soon and
see them. We had a wonderful time talking about MTI and pink slippers and hairy legs and
imbibing a few adult beverages. Thanks BC Hotties! front: Mel, Connie, Terry. Back: Eden, Louann, Dan, Shelly, Mary, Scott, HJ.
How hot are the Hotties?
One of the best things
about having a book published is all the wonderful people you get to meet. Over the past couple months, I've been invited to speaking engagements, signings, and book club gatherings. Great great fun.
Thanks to Linda Briggs-Harty, Janice Denham and the women of the Missouri Professional Communicators organization,
Gayla Narike of MICDS, and Christine Beckner and her merry band of readers!
Speaking at the Missouri Professional Communicators breakfast.
Book cover is not actual size.
MICDS book fair at Barnes & Noble, Ladue Crossing. My wife's students LOVE MTI.
Christine Beckner and her bookclub friends. Ten degrees outside,
but when you've got wine, who cares?
Earlier this fall, I had a chance to participate in the Big Read festival.
The Big Read is a national organization, with chapters located througout the country. The St. Louis chapter held its festivities on the grounds of Clayton High School. It was a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning...but
extremely chilly.
Greg Mortenson, Nobel Peace Prize nominee and bestselling author of Three Cups
of Tea, was the keynote speaker.
At the podium, reading from Ms. Taken Identity.
Signing books after my reading.
I'm also at work on my next novel, untitled at
this point. Opera plays a role, and I had the great pleasure of sitting down with local opera aficionado Alif Williams. We talked a lot about arias and drank our fair share of wine. Thanks so much, Alif!
