The New "Coolest Thing Ever"

For anyone researching a book, the days of spending weeks in foreign ports of call, "getting a sense" of the world are really not that necessary.

A nice slice of The Interim was researched with Google Earth. However, I was able to merely fortify places that I had seen, first-hand, such as Memphis and Indianapolis.

Now, Google Maps Street View is here. Have you seen this?

About a dozen U.S. cities are on "Street View", including much of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. It is unbelievable the detail you can swing yourself through. Now, as I am going through my third novel, Royal's Demons, I can take full advantage of accuracy for my scenes in New York City, Boston, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Los Angeles, San Francisco-Oakland, Chicago and Detroit.

Of course, I could just spend hours and hours looking up places I've already visited. Ah, The Great Timewaster of 2008! Hear ye, hear ye.

Awards Time. The Season To Add Feathers To Caps.

With 2007 closing up shop in two weeks, this is what I'm looking at for my Christmas list.

A nice run for fiction awards.

When actors or producers are nominated for Academy Awards, they will often break out the "oh, it's just great to be nominated."

Well...I want to win.

The Interim has picked up great reviews for 2007 and I'm interested to see how that will play out in certain novel awards and contests in the coming weeks and months.

I've been searching, off and on, for a Sports Novel of the Year Award. Of course, I guess I could just create one and give it to The Interim. At least, the growing genre of sports fiction has Male Fiction's Heaviest Hitter in the thick of it this year, with John Grisham's Playing for Pizza.



Yeah...I can take him.

Author's note: I've still yet to read Playing for Pizza but I will always back John Grisham's work. There is no crime in wildly popular just as there is no glory in being fully unpopular. I guess I'm somewhere in the middle.

A Team Desperately In Need of Life in Fiction

Now that the proverbial dust is settling with the reviews and distribution of The Interim -- still rather brisk and positive, I might add -- I am also focusing plenty of attention to the team of my childhood for my third novel.

The Kansas City Royals.

My goodness. Is there a professional organization more in need of a shot in the arm than this one? Probably not many. 22 years since the last playoff appearance. Just one winning season in the last 14. Kansas City is the only major league market that has still not recovered from the 1994 baseball strike.

So I'm doing my part with my third novel, Royal's Demons. Look for it in June 2008 and I'm working through the edits and rewriting.

Big Thanks to The Comfy Place Coffeehouse in Bloomer

Just coming off a successful signing at the Comfy Place in Bloomer on Saturday, December 8th. The books are "moving" throughout the bookstores in the region and I'm very thankful for that.

Still plowing through the editing for my upcoming third novel, a baseball epic set for a Spring 2008 release, at least at this moment.

Tomorrow brings a welcome break for me as I'll be at Raiders-Packers at Lambeau Field. This may be one of the last home games for Brett Favre. After years as a sportscaster in my previous life, I could find myself getting numb to incredible sports achievements. However, this just might be it for #4, right? Oh, wait...we've all covered that story for the last three years.

My brief take: If the Packers win the NFC, I think Favre will step away. If Green Bay falls short, my guess is that he'll return for 2008.

Book Signing - December 8th in Bloomer

I'll be signing The Interim on Saturday, December 8th at The Comfy Place Coffeehouse & Bookstore in Bloomer from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. I've been in contact with Darren, the owner up there, in recent months and really look forward to hitting Bloomer.

Thanks for great signings in the last six weeks at the Borders in Eau Claire and at Bookends in Menomonie. If you haven't heard of Bookends, do check it out when over in Menomonie. Harriet, the owner, has a delightful store with a substantial kids area. Definitely worth the trip.

Quick Review on The Interim from the Rockford Register-Star

This from the Rockford Register-Star:

The Register-Star's 10-Second Review

Thanks to Lisa down at the RRS.

Back on the Horse

What a month this November has been. That's why the posts have dried up.

This has definitely been the most challenging November I've ever gone through. As a family, we have been battling a serious illness within. One that still isn't over but things seem to be turning around for the better.

Thus, the writing has stopped. The blogging has stopped. But, right now, I think...I THINK...that it's all improving a little, day by day.

Thanks for the patience.

So...This Turned Out to be Paradise?

When we're all children and dreaming of our futures, what comes to mind? For me, it was, one day, being a Master of the Universe in New York City, like the troubled Sherman from Tom Wolfe's epic of the 1980s, Bonfire of the Vanities. Big city, big life, everything BIG.

I never dreamed that maybe, just maybe, I would find paradise in a hamlet of 61,000 people.

Yet we have.

I was talking with a close co-worker of mine earlier in the week about the Southern California wildfires, the long commutes out East. I mentioned that a friend of mine was leaving the news business in South Florida to go back to Minneapolis because it was just so...negative.

I've always "stuck up" for Eau Claire, even during our five-year stay in Duluth, because the people here were always so kind to us, especially when I was a 23-year-old just starting out, long on schtick but not as long on talent.

There is something reassuring about knowing when you are in that perfect place. We don't have the constant activity of Minneapolis or Madison...but we also don't have the crime and the commutes. You don't need to send your kids to private schools for a great education.

I see Eau Claire trying, especially for parents of younger children, to offer enough services and entertainment and we do appreciate it. I don't write this to schmooze but to keep it honest -- here in 2007, you can live in a "smaller city" and not really miss out on that much. Besides, what am I really missing out on?

That may be the best part of living here. When we go on vacation, we're always happy to come back. I can say I've lived in places where that wasn't always the case.

NOTE: Two more book signings for The Interim are coming up and I hope you can check them out: Saturday, November 17 at Bookends in Menomonie and Saturday, December 8th at The Comfy Place up in Bloomer. It's good times!

Feeling Blessed When So Many Others Cope With Tragedy

We all hope we never get "that" call.

It's part of what I do at work, following the tragedies of many others. Teens that die in car crashes, their lives cut short while their families have to carry that pain forever.

Now that I'm a parent of two myself, I find myself especially sensitive to cases of sudden death, especially for children, teens and young adults. The other night, in a piece I'm working on for next month, I went out to the remote home of a mother who lost her teen daughter a few years ago.

I walked away from the twenty minutes in her home forever impressed with her resolve over the daily reminders, some suttle and probably painfully obvious.

The silver lining may be that, in Eau Claire, we're all still "relatively" blocked from the pain and death seen in many other places in the United States. In our little corner of the world, parents tend to take care of their kids, putting in place an informal buffer zone to keep them from tragedy.

Of course, it doesn't always work.

When I walk away from talking to a parent that has lost a child or even if it's a news story involving death and someone I've never met, I usually feel the need to hug and hold my two children as tightly as I can when I get home.

There are examples of this all over the Internet. A couple of years back, a friend introduced me to the Miller family, out of Central Texas. Two days before I started off a refreshing chapter to my life, our Joyous Return to Eau Claire, this family had their lives destroyed.

It's actually become a very noteworthy video. Millions of people have watched it and, if you have children, you will cry by the end of it.

The Importance of a 5-Point Harness


Every time I hear this song, which even years after its release it still fetches strong airplay, I think of the little boy and how the family continues to cope with each hour of each day.

We all want to protect our children but, the older I get, I realize that I can't do everything -- sometimes it just falls in a plan greater than me.

As I work through all of the stories of tragedy, you know what? It does wear on me. I'm human. You can't just "turn it off" during news time.

Count your blessings. That gets said often. I'm still trying to make sure I not only count mine but I see all the ones around me.

New Regular Segment: Hockey Fight of the Week

What?

Well, how many other fiction writers would do this?

I never said I was "highbrow". I generally try to write "guy's novels".

So, a weekly feature: Hockey Fight of the Week. As you will see, they will send the "skew" towards the St. Louis Blues. When I was 16, I often bagged the groceries at Schnucks in Creve Coeur for Brett Hull and Adam Oates, the team's two biggest stars back in 1990-91.

Goalie's Battle at Center Ice!

They usually just purchased potato chips, meat and beer.

This week, Detroit vs. St. Louis in late 1992 at The Arena.

Next Signing: Bookends in Menomonie, Saturday, November 17th

This has just been finalized in the past few days but I will be hitting I-94 to travel west to Menomonie for a signing at Bookends, right on Highway 29, across from the Mabel Tainter Theatre.

I've always enjoyed a special relationship with Menomonie. When I was in sports, I covered the always-successful MHS football team. In 1999, I was there, in Madison, when they captured the state title on a brisk, frigid November morning.

That game was actually a watershed moment for my career.

At halftime, with Menomonie leading, I accepted the main sports anchor position at KDLH-TV in Duluth (we had operating pay phones in the last century). That led to a five-year odyssey where I "grew up" in Duluth, adding two children and even some maturity before we were blessed enough to move back to Eau Claire.

Hope to see you there. Saturday, November 17th at Bookends in Menomonie, 1 p.m.

Here is their website:
Bookends

Bookends is a locally-owned bookstore. They're stocking The Interim right now so, if you're close by, stop on by and pick one up.

Thank You for a Wonderful Signing!

I'm entrenched in the Colorado-Kansas State football game on ESPN2 (it's halftime and I'm in a writer's block on my current project) as I write this but I wanted to take a moment to thank all who came out for today's very successful signing at Borders in Eau Claire.

The people who works at Borders Eau Claire have always been very supportive of what I'm trying to offer up, fiction set here in Wisconsin that can strike a chord. Today, I met a charming cross-section of people, grandparents and younger people. I signed books for high school students at Eleva-Strum, North, Memorial, Fall Creek. That is a "target audience" for me, "mature teens", because, when I was that age, finding interesting fiction was difficult.

Again, thank you!

Need a Baseball Team to Root For? Why To Root For Colorado.

As a lifelong Kansas City Royals fan, I need to find reasons to even care about baseball after Memorial Day. Unlike fans of, say, the Cubs, who at least sniff the playoffs, that just doesn't happen with me.

If you are, like me, a casual baseball fan without a "horse in the race", consider this team.

The Colorado Rockies.



Clint Hurdle is the manager of the Rockies. Has been since 2002, when he took over a bad team. Colorado was supposed to be mired in another bad season this year. Just when Hurdle is getting sized up for the Managing Guillotine, they won. And won. And won a little bit more. All told, Colorado won 13 of 14 to end the year...and they STILL had to win a play-in game.

Colorado just finished off a sweep of Philadelphia in the National League Wild-Card round. They're into the NLCS.

I grew up watching Hurdle when he was a "phenom". At the age of 20, Hurdle faced immense pressure as SI put him on the cover in spring training in 1978. That only made it even more difficult for Hurdle to crack the Royals' lineup and be an everyday starter, much less hit .327 and be "the next George Brett".

Those Royals teams, mind you, were loaded at just about every position. Hurdle platooned in right field, usually playing when facing right-handed pitching. But he just never found the "greatness", at least not with Kansas City.

Clint Hurdle had a solid, if not spectacular, 10-year career in the majors. After getting out of Kansas City (and all those expectations), Hurdle did win a championship with the 1986 New York Mets (wayside: The '86 Mets were, possibly, the craziest baseball team ever. Read "The Bad Guys Won" by Jeff Pearlman. It's a fabulous inside look at baseball's loosest, loudest, most drug-infested and morally-questionable championship baseball team of the modern era).

Anyway, in 2001, my aunt, 48 at the time, got sick. Really sick. I remembered, growing up, that she told me Clint Hurdle was "so cute" and was her favorite Royal. In a city where George Brett was everyone's favorite athlete, I remembered that, even decades later.

To bring a little joy to my aunt, I went onto eBay and, for about $3, I bought the 1978 SI for someone in New Jersey. Then I sent the SI to Hurdle, then the first-base coach with the Rockies, to sign and mail back.

Clint Hurdle mailed the SI back to me, signed, within five days. Got it to my aunt right away. (By the way, she's fine now and living in Arizona.)

That spoke volumes to me about Hurdle's character. He didn't have to do that, much less do that so quickly.

The next year, Hurdle becomes manager of the Rockies. Turns out, he is also the father of a little girl named Madison. "Maddy" was born just three weeks after my son, Sam.

Yet I read that Madison is diagnosed with Prader-Willi Syndrome. What that essentially means is that Madison's body cannot tell when it is "full". Food has to be kept, literally, under lock and key.

Now as the manager of the Rockies, Clint Hurdle is in a high-stress, high-profile position. Because of Madison's (she's in the white shirt, on her father's left knee) constant need for medical care and various surgeries, Hurdle has to, often, miss his team's games to be with his family. I understand the Rockies management has been very supportive throughout all of this.



Even in this moment of "professional greatness", I still cannot imagine the everyday battles the Hurdle family must overcome for parts of the day that I take for granted. I'm bless to have two healthy, wonderful children, a beautiful and supportive wife, a enjoyable job and a city I love living in.

Yet, as I've watched the Rockies' games in the playoffs, Madison isn't too far from my mind. I hope that Colorado's deep run into October does raise more awareness about Prader-Willi, a disease that strikes only 1 in about 12,000 but one that requires constant attention.

So, if you need a team to root for in the playoffs, join the Purple and Black.

The Best Part of Writing...The Research

This just may be the best part of writing a new novel.

The research.

With the access available through images, Google Earth and a website for just about everything, the days of having to travel to Italy for two weeks to "compose ideas" just may be over.

As I work through my fourth novel, The Last Drive, I'm taking my mind back through some dynamics cities. Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia.

If you ever get the opportunity to go to these cities, I'd highly recommended it. Searching through my memory and the Internet have provided plenty of inspiration to keep writing, such as the endless rain and modern vibe of Vancouver or the laid-back beauty of Victoria.

The snapshot of the seaplane (above) played a major part in my fascination with those two large hamlets of British Columbia. If it wasn't so bloody expensive, I'd probably consider living there one day. Who knows, if enough people buy The Interim, it just may happen. There...was that suttle enough?

Hope to see you at the Borders signing, next Saturday, October 13 at Borders in Eau Claire.

Packers. 16-0. Believe it.

'5 out of 5' - Latest Review on The Interim

Excellent words coming from the respected Heartland Reviews.

Their Review (9/26) on The Interim.

Without question, landing a '5 out of 5' review over the book makes it much easier to market. Right now, we've shifted our focus over to other states where parts of The Interim are set, such as Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Missouri and Kansas.

Just When I Thought I Was Out...

Inspiration for writing a new novel comes from so many places -- my own past, this experience or that -- but the "watching a football game is causing a new book" bug, similar to in 2002 with Gotcha Down, is hitting again.

I was so taken by Brett Favre's recent performance against the New York Giants, a rather easy win over the always over-hyped Giants, that Favre's "Cocoon-like" trip back ten years inspired the plot for a fourth novel, scheduled for release in 2009.

Settings and scenes: Starts in Vancouver, British Columbia but heavy in the Green Bay setting.

Four nights into it -- yup, it's got legs. We'll see where it goes.

A Final Thanks to Wisconsin Libraries

As I close out my push to get The Interim in libraries all throughout Wisconsin, I'm taking just a moment of thanks to all of the library directors I've been in touch with, even the ones who were, well, a touch short with me at times.

Currently, more than 115 Wisconsin libraries are stocking The Interim as I shift my focus on getting the book into other libraries in the Midwest (Eastern Iowa, parts of Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri and Michigan -- pretty much, anywhere there is a setting in the book).

To the library directors: I appreciate your mission in these days of tight budgets and tighter staffing. Look for my third novel next summer and I hope The Interim keeps moving in the check-out line.

13 Miles. 13 Blisters

Nice work, Tour of Eau Claire.

On Sunday, I was one of about 1,000 from all over the region, running, sweating and gasping all throughout Eau Claire for the first Tour of Eau Claire, a 13.1-mile marathon through the north side, downtown, UW-Eau Claire campus and then back through the Bike Trail along Half Moon Lake.

I covered Grandma's Marathon in Duluth for five years, where 15,000 runners come to a town of 85,000 to run a full-marathon, half-marathon and 5K race. For a first-time, the Tour organizers did a spectacular job of keeping us all hydrated, directed and, essentially, babied all along the course.

Okay...now the goods: My time...2:10. I was absolutely humming, rolling along at about 8:45 mile clips until just past Mile 10. Then the blisters hit -- apparently, my experiment of "two socks on the left, one sock on the right" didn't work so hot -- and I was hampered in an odd, run/walk the last three miles. Still, so many people came out to cheer all of us on and, no surprise, the other runners were fairly jovial.

Well done on this one for the organizers. I'll be ready for next year and, after that, I want to see if I can slide over to Green Bay in the last three weeks for the run/bike Duathlon to close out the summer season.

A Little Boy's Journey To School...A Father's Journey Within

Today marked the Ground Zero of Parenting. After five years of watching little Sam turn into a healthy, active, curious and constantly growing little boy, this Wednesday brought a morning that I had only heard about.

The day you start to "let them go".

When a 5-year-old says "bye" and runs off to a new playground, with hundreds of new little boys and girls and seems to be completely happy, it makes a father think about his new place in the hierarchy of a child. Still important? Or just Money Bags Dad, there to pay for Skee-Ball, Pizza and, eventually, Car and College?

It first hit over the innocence of a lunch at Perkins. Sam asked to eat lunch there after we registered him at kindergarten. As Sam polishes off his "smiley-face" pancakes, looks at his mother and says, with a thick layer of matter-of-fact in his voice, "Mom, even when I'm in kindergarten all day, I'll still love you."

She lost it. I didn't but it made me think.

I've reassured myself with this notion that I have, literally, spent the past 5 years and 2 months, as a father, building Sam up for this very day. Each and every day we talked about life or cars or sports or just being friendly and social to others. All so that, sometime in 2007 when it was time for full-day kindergarten, he would be ready.

But would I? Am I?

I think so.


However, now I am in a much quieter house as a little girl, all of 2, looks to me to be the Primary Entertainment Provider. For me, Sam played that role for all of her 34 months on this planet. Now he's gone all morning and I get to have the extra time.

And I welcome every minute of it.

Upcoming Book Signing - October 13, Eau Claire

Just a note that Borders Eau Claire, 4030 Commonwealth, will be home base for my upcoming book appearance for The Interim. Saturday, October 13, 1 p.m. Come on by and offer up a 'hello'. Thanks again to the good people there for helping support The Interim.

Midwest Book Review on The Interim

Weeks after sending the review copies out, waiting for word, good or bad on The Interim, now we're getting good news.

"Midwest Book Review's Take"

I'll take the words "deftly written" anyday. More reviews are forthcoming and, the initial contacts do sound positive. Whether 5-star or I get torn beyond shreds, into dust and ashes, I'll put the links up here.

Put A Wrap on August

As the evidence on the right of this bar will indicate, this writer has not been writing.

Six posts for one month? And you call yourself a writer?

Yeah, yeah, I know but if I haven't been able to update this, it's a "good problem". It means that people are buying The Interim. We have enjoyed a fruitful August as The Interim has made its way all throughout the state, literally, from Cuba City to Marinette, from Superior to New Berlin.

I'd like to think that maybe, just maybe, I'm sitting on a literary monster with this. The detailed reviews are just starting to come in and they're good. Reviewers and readers are talking about the high stakes, character development, morality plays and, for those in Wisconsin, the imagery of reading about life in this very unique state.

Enjoy your Labor Day weekend. With college football now here (I'm watching Syracuse-Washington on my TiVo as I hammer away), I plan on being just "above worthless" on Saturday.

The Interim In Sunday's Leader-Telegram

Just a heads up for this weekend. The Interim will be featured in this Sunday's (August 26th) Eau Claire Leader-Telegram. Entertainment editor Troy Espe graciously took his time to come to our home to talk about The Interim and also my writing in general. Look for it, this Sunday and, yes, I'll probably find the time to post a link here with the story.

An inspiration for The Interim

I actually had to look back 15 years for one of the main points of inspiration for The Interim. Bob McCormack is now the head coach at his alma mater, CBC High School in St. Louis. Back at Ladue High in 1991-92, "Coach Mack" was our coach. He was a fiery 28-year-old in his first head coaching gig. I was an aloof 17-year-old know-it-all, short on talent but long on verbiage. I'm 32 now, he's 44 now and, I swear, he looks younger than I do.

And we all learned about the McCormack intensity. The result wasn't too bad: 4-20 the year before he came. 21-7 in his first year, my senior year. Ladue bagged its first District Title (that's a big deal in St. Louis basketball circles). He was named Coach of the Year in Missouri.

On that team, I was no star. I wasn't even a starter but I learned so much from his organization and his passion -- elements that I like to think I have transferred into The Interim.

Last week's Griswold-style odyssey through St. Louis brought me face-to-face with Coach Mack for the first time since 1996. Since our last meeting, we've both become fathers of two children and have enjoyed success in our relative careers. He won a state title after leaving Ladue for CBC in 1996 and coached an NBA lottery pick in Larry Hughes that year. I had the pleasure of covering Kevin Garnett for years with the Timberwolves. He is entrenched in basketball in St. Louis, where his playing reputation from 30 years ago is still talked about around town.

I only had the pleasure of catching up with Coach Mack for about ten minutes last week but I recommend looking up any teacher/coach from your past who really left an imprint and thanking that person.

This is a friendship that I hope only grows.

Return From The Clark Griswold Experience

2,000 miles in ten days.

The Great American Family Vacation.

This explains the extended gap between posts here on the site. Over the past ten days, we all experienced the passion and purpose of driving through Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas and Illinois. Along the way, we "knocked out" visits with every major family domicile on my side.

With two small children riding in the back, the odyssey became a constant carnival of children's movies and occasional stops along the way, the top two being the Iowa Children's Museum (nice work, Iowa City) and Go-Kart racing in Branson, even amid 102 degree heat in Branson, Missouri.

Now we return to the other end of dramatic weather, deadly flooding in southeast Minnesota and southwest Wisconsin. It's been an unnerving story to return home to and one that we'll all follow closely for the next few weeks.

A Very Welcome 'Attaboy'

As part of the constant search for people to check out The Interim and offer a solid opinion, good or bad, a welcome phone message hit my ears tonight.

"Hi, Chris, this is (enter respected author's name here) and I just wanted to let you know that I think you've written a wonderful, wonderful novel."

The name of the aforementioned "respected author" will be revealed at a later date but, the point is, this man, who has probably sold about 1,000,000 more books than I have over my lifetime took the time to read The Interim. He not only read it, but he told me later that he read it in two days and then offered specific praise over plot twists buried deep within.

You have no idea how much this means, especially as he has set the benchmark for sports books, in well-researched non-fiction on controversial subjects and people. I've read his works for more than 20 years -- one, in particular, pushed me into becoming a sports reporter way back when -- and consider many of the books cornerstones in the world of sports journalism.

A Radio "Hit" Amid A City's Desperate Week

Just yesterday, I made it through a successful segment on WCCO-AM 830, Minneapolis, with host Eric Nelson.

We're now five days from the I-35W Bridge Collapse, near downtown Minneapolis, which has taken up endless hours of airtime, both locally and nationally. As it should. We even had viewers, such as a couple from Spooner (about 75 miles north of Eau Claire) who were in a Jeep, on the bridge, when it fell. Their tale was one of true survival, one of so many that day. Note: However, their survival story has taken a much darker and sadder turn, as recent news viewers can attest.

Eric and I actually spent the opening minutes talking about the collapse and how the recovery efforts were coming along. The story has really been that important and I think the attempts, all over, to localize bridge safety have informed the public. (Mark this as a story that should be localized -- we all drive over bridges.

I could feel myself a little muted, compared with my usual radio appearances when I'm talking about my books.

Next up, gentle reader, on WAYY-AM 790, Eau Claire, this Thursday morning, sometime between 8-9 am. (I'm not saying that to "hook" you for the whole hour, I really do not know which 'slot' I will be at).

Upcoming WCCO-AM 830 Minneapolis Segment

As mentioned earlier in this space, I'm good at making a lot of noise.

That will be demonstrated with Saturday, as I'll be on WCCO-AM 830, "The Good Neighbor" to anyone in Minnesota, of course. During the 5 PM hour, I'll be on with host Eric Nelson, talking about The Interim, along other subjects.

I very much look forward to re-connecting with Eric, as I have not actually spoken with him since 2004, when he had me on about Gotcha Down, my first novel.

Four years ago, Eric put out an intriguing book, titled Slices of the NFL, where he and his brother went on the road, each weekend, to another local to bring readers the scenes and settings throughout the league.

And before that, Eric was yet another TV sportscaster. But he was a darned good one, over at WCCO-TV, the CBS in Minneapolis.

Hope you can catch it. That's this Saturday, August 4th, just after 5PM. 8-3-0 on your radio dial. Anyone still have dials in 2007?

**One final note: An expression of thanks to the many directors of small libraries stepping up to stock The Interim. With each one I talk to, I am humbled by their appreciation for local writers who want to put out a top-tier product.

Up For Back To School Bucks

Coming up very soon on August 9th, I'll be on WAYY-AM 790 for their Back To School Bucks fund-raiser. Murph and Bruce do a solid job there informing, entertaining and, at times, aggravating some of their targets and I'm honored they asked me to tag along.

Aside from wisecracks and other insights that "you won't get anywhere else", I'm also going to offer up a signed copy of The Interim for the winning bidder.

This is a great cause to help fill the backpacks for kids here in Western Wisconsin before they go back to school. I hope you'll give it a listen and consider offering a bid.

Time is still TBD for Thursday, August 9th for my slot.

Thumbs Up For The Area Libraries

So much of spreading the word about the release of The Interim comes through just getting it in the "hands of the people."

Of course, if I would have said "the hand of the American people", then the chatter would start that I'm following my predecessors into the State Senate or State Assembly.

Not true. Definitely not true!

If you frequent the libraries around Western Wisconsin, you may come into contact with The Interim. Close contact. Many of the library directors are giving the go-ahead to stock my second novel and I do appreciate it.


Here is why: Once a book like mine gets "into the system", then people see it and the word gets around. I've often said that breaking into fiction is about as easy as breaking into Popular Music. About 20-40 "acts" or "authors" are automatically sellers, coast-to-coast. The rest are booked between ska bands and chainsaw jugglers (see right) at empty bars in the middle of the week. At least THIS chainshaw juggler has an audience.

As for me, I'm still "playing The Velvet Tiger on Wednesday nights", which is fine, as I have zero elusions about quitting my real job to sit in a cabin in the deep woods and mountains of Oregon, looking out at the spotted owls and contemplating plot structure and character building. For some reason, that is why I imagine the best-selling novelists do. I love my job but I also love getting people to read my books. Even if they read a library copy, maybe they'll come back in December, shoot me an e-mail and say, "hey, I've got a teenage cousin who I think would really like The Interim."

That happened with Gotcha Down more than you would know.

So, if you're not ready to purchase The Interim here, give it a look at one of your local libraries. And enjoy!

A Sad Way To End The Week

Side Note: Today turned out to be a very bad one for my profession. Four journalists were killed this afternoon in Phoenix, after two helicopters crashed into each other while multiple helicopters followed a police chase. The dead are two pilots and two photographers. Photographers (or 'photogs', as they are usually called) are often the hardest-working but lowest-paid people in the newsroom. There is no glory in their jobs, except for those who take real pride in getting the story on, as these men were doing today.

Industry-wide, hundreds of us in local TV are thinking about these four and expressing our thoughts and prayers for their families. I do hope, in this time of reflection, that all of us remember those same intentions when we deal with the general public which, all too often, comes during a time of tragedy in their lives.

Do The Hustle...For Reviews

I'm good at making noise.

I learned this three years ago during the publicity tour for Gotcha Down. Since I actually work in the media, I understand that radio shows need to fill time, newspaper writers need to fill slot (especially in the summer, when half the staff is on vacation but the same amount of space needs to be filled).

As The Interim embarks on the publicity machine, of the "come look at me! I'm a fantastic story" ilk, now the job shifts from just getting it to the newspapers to getting it to the reviewers.

Ah, the critics.

That's okay. I can handle negative words. I work in a business where a thick skin is required, twice a day. When I hear the phone ringing at 6:31 p.m. or at 10:36 p.m., seconds after I've closed out a newscast, I usually assume it is someone that has an issue, be it with a news story or maybe even some throwaway comment I tossed out there to fill time. I can even handle personal attacks from callers, unaware that I may be the one picking up the phone. "Yup, he already knows because you're talking to him right now." Then the caller will usually back-pedal faster than Rickey Henderson in left field, which brings a high entertainment value in itself.

Whether negative or positive, I just want the words.

Gotcha Down enjoyed praise from Booklist, which is somewhat of a gathering point for new book releases. Off the good review from Booklist (the words, "Earl gets the details right in this engaging story," still ring through my cobweb-laden head). Hundreds of copies sold just because Booklist had some nice words on my first work.

That's the power of book reviews.

It is also why I'm sifting through the various book reviewers. Some love small press (great for me), others just want the latest Grisham/Rowling/Patterson epic, which is fine, too. Finding that ideal review shop is trying, between meeting their various requests for submissions. I understand these people "want things the way they want things".

If my mailbox sprouted 75 books a day, all asking for a review and all convinced they are just one 4-star recommendation from selling 150,000 copies (as I firmly believe with The Interim), I'd be particular as well.

Even reviews that are less than glowing may not help the writer for that work, but they can expose a certain desire to overcome whatever failures were mentioned. Plot. Characters. Realism. Whatever it is. I did not have any below-average reviews for Gotcha Down, but the points that, some said, needed improvement were not taken lightly as I finished up The Interim.

Keep evolving in this world. Keep getting a little better with each book.


I just hope that some reviewers out there are able and willing to notice what I've know for more than a year. The Interim could be my Purple Rain, just without Prince's cool motorcycle or having to be Morris Day's opening act.

The "Fabio" of The Interim

So much thought can go into the 142,671 words inside The Interim. It has two. A writer's words speak well or not so well about them.

But what about the book cover? Go with an extensive design or a famous face. Maybe a face like...this one:


Ah, Fabio. "Hello, 1995 is calling, they want their romance novel cover model back."

Even 11 years removed from his apex in the American Pop Culture Lexicon, we just couldn't afford a photo shoot with Mr. Fabio, so we opted for a different character, hoping to capture his essence, just as he is a rising star himself:



And, no, it's not your friendly author. (Even I have limits of self-promotion).

Meteorologist Ben Hampton is the cover model and his price for modeling was firm but fair. Notice the essence of how he grabs the basketball with authority but also the same softness that a mother holds a newborn with. That's innate skill, untaught. During the 16-hour photo shoot on the day of production, Mr. Hampton was the consummate professional. (Truth: During the three-minute photo shoot, Mr. Hampton was the consummate professional.)

So, if you see Ben around Eau Claire, say 'hello' and tell him that his future just may be in modeling for novels.

Paging Ron Shelton. Wanna Get Back in the Sports Movie Game?

Sometimes you have to just spell it out.

Aim for the top and see if anything comes back.

That's what I'm doing here.

Have you noticed the recent wave of sports-themed movies over the past few years? Many were off true stories (We Are Marshall, Glory Road) and done very well. Sports movies have become mainstream, just not for people like myself, who can rattle off every line from Bull Durham, Tin Cup or White Men Can't Jump.



Oh, wait, what about those three, quite possibly The Holy Trinity of Sports Movies 1987 to 1997? (There are others that could be argued in that realm, such as Blue Chips (1994) or Major League (1989), but I will exclude the lovable Major League because, the entire movie, we knew Cleveland would beat the Yankees. Jerry Maguire (1996) always sticks with me because of the realism of the action, as the NFL gave its blessing, but it was much more along the later lines of For Love of The Game (1999), another movie with top-shelf sports scenes but stuck within a dragging relationship storyline).

Ron Shelton directed those three epics.

What I appreciate is that, in each case, the star isn't always carried off in a glory of victory. Sure, he finds some morsel of satisfaction by the end of the film but it is often seen away from the cheering crowds at a sporting event. I have written both The Interim and Gotcha Down with that angle, where the true solution of a character's conflict is found, say, underneath the bleachers instead of at the 50-yard line or maybe weeks after the last game was played.



Shelton's three sports movies still work, even 10-20 years later. The storylines are simple but the situation is complex. Crash Davis trying to hang on for another 10 days "in The Show" or, in Tin Cup, Roy McAvoy catching fire for the first time in his woeful golf career. The comedy within never washes out the underlying plot or lesson, although I'll admit in White Men Can't Jump, it got so funny, at times, that switching to why Billy was down with Rosie Perez did keep WMCJ from Absolute Movie Immortality.



I'm no Hollywood screenwriter but I hope I always have that passion for churning out realistic sports fiction, based on my years covering it. That's why I appreciate his cinematic contributions. Now come on back, Mr. Shelton, and save the sports movie genre from a sappy ending every time. And if you need a writer to "do the little work", I'm easy to find.

The Mad Dash To Write The Interim

I'll never forget that rainy Saturday in St. Louis.

We were all back visiting my mother. Still just one kid by this point as my wife was just two months pregnant with our second. We were still in Duluth.

I had gone downtown to the Dome The Rams Play In (sorry, this goes back to my sports anchoring days where I refused to say the 'corporate' name of any stadium/dome unless they were giving me a cut of the action) for some convention but, mostly, to look at the fire trucks on display.

As we're taking the light-rail, an entertaining experience if you have a toddler with you, back to her house, I get a phone call.

"Bad news about your station," my wife said. "Something about a merger." A merger in the media business means that people are going to get fired. Especially if those people work at the weaker outlet. Which, as was confirmed four times a year by the good folks at A.C. Nielsen, was where I worked at.

The eleven crazy months then began.

Upon our return to Duluth, I sent out panic e-mails to everyone I knew in journalism. I looked at newspaper jobs, radio jobs and then I came across an interesting piece of information:

A job with the Wisconsin Badger basketball team, as Director of Basketball Operations.

So, of course, I applied to join Bo Ryan's staff in whatever it was a DBO (as they are called in the business) does.

This comes as no surprise to those who have known me for years, but me chasing pipe dreams involving Badger Basketball was nothing new. During my college years at UW, these three men all agreed, in various years, that I was not Big Ten material. Let's see...that's two that coached in the NBA and one that cultivated a Final Four team in 2000 and is seen as the Vince Lombardi of Basketball in Wisconsin.








I thought about this DBO position with the rule I always had when looking for jobs. Fire it off and forget.

Of course, I never got the job but I discovered the kernel of inspiration for The Interim which, looking back, is the better end of the deal, anyway.

Fast forward four months.

I'm flying back from St. Louis, this time solo, after a very successful piece of my book tour for Gotcha Down. I was blessed to have enjoyed a solid book signing at Barnes & Noble, back in Ladue (St. Louis suburb) where many of my old English teachers showed up, a bit amazed that a mediocre 'B' student could actually become a real writer of fake tales. I was on KMOX-AM 1120, the Sports Voice of America, with host Mike Grimm for a generous hour that seemed like it was only seven minutes. I met up with friends I hadn't seen in ten years.

Somewhere in the flight, we hit a minor pocket of turbulence heading into Duluth. And I come up with The Interim. I thought back to that DBO job that I didn't get and thought about the plane I was on, bouncing through the clouds. Flashes of the Oklahoma State crash in 2001 went through my mind. I started to scribble out a plot. In about thirty minutes, I had an idea of what I wanted to start writing.

A little context here: Each and every day I drove into work at that station in Duluth, I didn't know what was going to happen. I might get fired. I might not. Most of 2004 was a bizarre scene. Co-workers openly looking and talking about jobs in other stations and cities. Others playing Internet poker (for real money), on the clock because, well, what are they going to do...get fired? Without question, the loosest newsroom I've ever worked in.

When I would get home, around 11 p.m., each weeknight, still full of the stress of surviving another day but not knowing what the following day would bring, I'd sit down and type. Furiously. 1,500 words one night, 3,500 the next. No TV. No music. Just a dim light and a laptop. I'd hear my son stirring in his room if I pounded the keys too hard.

This went on for months. Through Thanksgiving. Then Christmas. I actually wrote The Interim in "real-time". If you go through the book and see the chapters set in December or January, I wrote them at the time. It even got to the point where, if Wisconsin State was playing on a Wednesday night game, I'd write that night. This may sound like a silly ritual, but it did give me some definition amid what I was going through at work.

By January, we all knew the station was going down. Could be days. Could be weeks. The Interim passed 90,000 words, then 100,000, then 120,000. I was still writing The Interim and I was still employed...I might actually win the race to finish The Interim before I would meet the guillotine.

March 8, 2005.

Everyone in the newsroom terminated.

Except for me and three others.

Yet after that day (known as Black Tuesday for those of us who lived it), even though I survived the cuts, I didn't have the stomach to keep writing. It was as if the heart, the soul of The Interim had been cut out.

Nine days after Black Tuesday, I found out that I just might be able to come "home" to Eau Claire.

I didn't pick up finishing The Interim's final 20-30 pages until early October, 2005. By then, all of the stress of 2004 had faded away. Took a long weekend to finish the first draft of The Interim that October, mostly just recapturing the tone of the previous 300 pages.

Part of writing fiction, at least for me, is that you have to be in the middle of some emotional extreme (anger, anxiety, frustration, family illness, pain, etc.) to produce really telling, memorable, exciting-may-I-read-another-page prose. As stress-packed as those last eleven months were in Duluth, I gotta say, I'm proud to have The Interim as the result.

I hope you get the chance to check it out.

Rockford Shout Out

First, a shout out to the Rockford (IL) Register Star for mentioning the release of The Interim in today's on-line edition.

Rockford and I have always had a funny existence.

When I was in college at Madison, I would zoom through the eastern edge of the Greater Rockford Metro Area, on my way back to Missouri. It can be a mind-numbing drive once you are south of Rockford. The 119 miles from Rockford to Bloomington-Normal test the patience and durability of both man and machine. So Rockford was the "last stop" before the rolling hills and dark roads of I-39 through Northern Illinois. Just bring 40 cents and 15 cents for the tolls.

Ten years ago as I was starting out, I tried like you wouldn't believe to land a job at one of the three TV stations in Rockford. There were no openings for sports or news reporters but my first, legitimate, post-internship offer was from one of the stations in Rockford, to be a news photographer, three months after I graduated from Wisconsin.

Of course, being the financial genius that I was at 22, I turned it down and moved to Topeka...for a quarter less an hour. Since then, I've had friends work in Rockford media and I'm always happy to steer young journalists there because it is a town that can make you grow up in a hurry.

My "nod" to Rockford in The Interim centers on Wilson Harrison, a Machesney Park HS graduate and a talented freshman at my fictional Wisconsin State, along with the main "plot turn", the plane crash, occuring just east of Rockford.

As I've discovered, you write what you know and I do know Rockford...at least downtown, State Street, where the TV stations are located and how much the tollbooths are charging when I'm rolling through.

The Interim Available At Borders in Eau Claire

Just a note that The Interim is now available at Borders in Eau Claire, 4030 Commonwealth. Cover price is $14.95.

The good people at Borders have a long history of backing local authors, which I sincerely appreciate as my '04 tour stop with Gotcha Down, as we lived in Duluth then, was very well-attended and the staff could not have been nicer.

If you need to stop by and pick up that Harry Potter book, also look for The Interim, as well as some of the other Western Wisconsin authors.

Fixing Games...Unthinkable? Hmmm.

It's Friday morning and I'm in traffic, ready to drop off my son at one of his summer programs (this one apparently produces crafts that are made of glue and sparkly things that stick to car seats).

I hear on ESPN Radio that the FBI is investigating Tim Donaghy, an NBA referee who is alleged to have bet on numerous games that he worked. Unthinkable in some circles. How could this happen?

Two days later, the storm and stench hovers over the NBA, even as a flashy quarterback with mediocre stats is facing a PR disaster over dog fighting. A favorite columnist, Bill Simmons of ESPN, even wrote today: "you could hear the cacophony of frustrated screenwriters pounding their desks in disgust. The Tim Donaghy scandal doubled as the easiest movie pitch ever."

Actually, I had that pitch three years ago. Sort of.



Just swap out the NBA for Big Ten football, a referee for a cash-strapped assistant coach and you, essentially, have the same story, my debut novel, Gotcha Down. And if any Hollywood screenwriters or producers stumble upon this website, they are always welcome to inquire about purchasing the rights to turn Gotcha Down into a motion picture. They can change the names, the sports, team colors, the stakes, just as long as Patrick Swayze has a key role somewhere, whether as an acid-tongue laden coach or a rough, yet thoughtful, tavern bouncer in rural Missouri.

The Initial Post

Greetings to all who have found this site.

Yes. Another blog. Just what the world needs.

No. You probably won't find anything terribly controversial here but, if you're checking for that, I appreciate it as well.

Chances are, if you landed here, you came from my website, http://www.chrisearlbooks.com/. The publicity for my second novel, The Interim, is just whipping up as I try to get the proper eyeballs to check out The Interim and see if it will land in the proper hands.

I'm targeting everyday readers, as you may be one, but also libraries, both public and high schools, throughout the Midwest, where my novels are generally set. I heard this plenty in 2004, during the release of my debut novel Gotcha Down, that librarians are looking for fresh fiction that encourages high school students, especially males, to sit down and crack open a book. As one that tries to write in a "PG-13" style, I humbly offer up both Gotcha Down (2004) and The Interim (2007) for those audiences.

So what is this blog for? Promoting my book. There. I said it. This may become nothing more than shameless self-promotion. But, if you're fighting for press in 2007, you've got to use an '07 model vehicle to get there.

As for me, personally, I'm just another dad in Wisconsin, with a minivan and two little kids. I'm fortunate, no, make that blessed to treasure where I work and even the people I work with (very, very rare in the broadcasting business). Does that make my life boring? Maybe it does, to some. But it can make for some thrilling fiction.

It's great to be back in Eau Claire. We've been back for just over two years and I'm always appreciative for how friendly the people here are to us. Thank you.

More later. Much more later.