New York, New York

The Hint Fiction event at McNally Jackson last Wednesday night was a blast. I almost didn't make it in time, though. Let me explain. My wife and I arrived in New York the night before. We stayed at The New Yorker Hotel, which, thankfully, was bedbug free. The view, however, was not ideal.

The next day my wife wanted to visit Ground Zero so downtown we went. There really isn't much to see except a lot of construction and some homeless-looking people trying to sell you pamphlets of 9/11, holding the booklet open to a picture of heavy smoke coming out of the two towers. I can't decide what's worse -- the fact they try to sell that stuff or the fact people actually buy it.

Anyway, the trip wasn't a complete loss. While we were down near the financial district we stumbled across the Amish Mafia's New York headquarters.

Then we went back to the hotel. As you can imagine, parking is horrendous in the city. I'd printed out two coupons before we went for two separate parking garages. You save $20 bucks for 24-hour parking. So in the process of moving my car from one garage to the next, I happened to take a wrong turn and found myself headed for the Lincoln Tunnel. This was around five o'clock, rush hour, and the event at McNally Jackson was supposed to start at seven. So there I am, stuck in traffic, wondering not only how long it's going to take me to go through the tunnel, but how long it's going to take me then to come back and get changed and take the train down to the bookstore. I even called my wife to let her know the situation.

She said, "You're joking."

"No, I'm serious."

"You're right outside the door, aren't you."

"I am completely serious right now. I'm stuck in traffic and about to go through the Lincoln Tunnel."

Luckily, seconds later, I managed to spot a way out of the gridlock and did a (what was no doubt illegal) U-turn and made it back to the hotel with not too much time lost. Then we headed down to McNally Jackson. In the door was this nice big sign.

The contributors who attended were Randall Brown, Frank Byrns, Tara Deal, Bruce Harris, Donora Hillard, Jason Rice, Samuel Rippey, Jess Row, and Kathleen A. Ryan. Even some Norton people came: my editor, Amy Cherry, her assistant, Laura Romain, and my publicist, Jessica Purcell. Pictures are posted at the Hint Fiction Facebook page but I definitely need to include here a picture of my wonderful editor. Amy's e-mail a year and a half ago made all of this possible and I'll be eternally grateful.

The next day my wife and I went down to Fifth Avenue and braved the Veteran's Day Parade to meet up with Jess who took us into the NPR studio. I showed the picture of me in the booth last week, so instead of showing it again here is me and my awesome publicist just outside the studio.

What were we doing at NPR? Well in case you missed it on Twitter or Facebook or even on the radio over the weekend, the one and only Scott Simon invited me on Weekend Edition Saturday to discuss Hint Fiction. It was a great experience, though I must say it was rather nerve-wracking being in the recording booth. I was told to sit in a chair, position my mouth beside the microphone so I wouldn't be talking into the microphone -- which, by the way, picked up everything. Any little movement, swallow, whatever, was amplified in my headphones. Even when I picked up the anthology and grazed my finger over the cover it created a massive scratching noise. So I basically just sat as still as possible and waited until Scott Simon came on the line. He conducted the interview out of their Washington, D.C. studio. It was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity and I'm glad everything worked out as well as can be because later this past Saturday when the feature aired the sales ranking for the anthology skyrocketed on Amazon, so much so that for an hour or two it made it into the top 100.

So this past week? I can't complain.

Gotham Writers' Workshop Hint Fiction Contest Winners

The title of this post says it all. Over 2,200 stories were submitted to the Gotham Writers' Workshop Hint Fiction Contest. Those were narrowed down to 25 and sent to me. I made my picks and sent them back. The first place winner was Sean Johnston of Sachse, Texas for his story "Cabin Fever." Congratulations, Sean! Make sure to check out his story and the other runners-up here. Many thanks to Andre Becker and everyone else at the Gotham Writers' Workshop for hosting the contest, and for everyone who submitted. Have a great weekend.

Hint Fiction At McNally Jackson Tomorrow Night

Just a reminder that I will be presenting the Hint Fiction anthology tomorrow night at McNally Jackson along with contributors Jenn Alandy, Randall Brown, Frank Byrns, Tara Deal, Bruce Harris, Donora Hillard, Jason Rice, Samuel Rippey, Jess Row, and Kathleen A. Ryan. It starts at 7 pm, and I promise this: if more than 100 people attend, I'll perform a rendition of "I'm A Little Teapot" right there in front of everyone. So come out and say hello and support an independent bookstore. Also, the anthology has gotten some more press: The Chronicle of Higher Education has a rather snarky outlook on the book, while the Tucson Citizen gives it a paragraph (scroll down to the midway point), and Associated Content gives the book (and me) a nice shout out.

Finally, on a non Hint Fiction related note, Aaron Polson is looking to take up where Tangent Online left off. Contact him if you're interested.

My West Coast Trip

People are afraid to merge on freeways in Los Angeles. This is the first thing I hear when I come back to the city. Ben Loory picks me up from LAX and mutters this under his breath as his car drives up the onramp. He says, "People are afraid to merge on freeways in Los Angeles." Wait -- what?

Okay, I'm getting my trip and Less Than Zero mixed up. But anyway, Ben Loory was kind enough to pick me up at LAX from my flight which did not, as I had hoped, have WiFi. From there we ended up at the Chipotle in Pasadena, where we discussed writerly things, then we headed over to Gay Degani's house, where we discussed even more writerly things. Gay lives in a beautiful house with her husband and daughter and her daughter's dog Rodeo.

Gay and her family were kind enough to allow me to spend a few days at their humble abode. That night I went out to dinner with Gay and her husband at a place called Smitty's Grill and we talked about, among other things, books.

The next day Gay and I took a trip down to Irvine for some sight-seeing. Then we drove back to Pasadena and I took a nice nap -- jetlag can be a bitch -- and then got ready for the reading at Vroman's.

If you have never been to Vroman's before and are headed out to the Los Angeles area, make sure to visit. It's one of the biggest and classiest independent bookstores around. The staff, I was told when I arrived, loved the anthology, which is always nice to hear. I met up with the contributors who had come to read and who, I found out, had come from very far away: one from Washington, D.C.; one from Seattle; one from Las Vegas; another from Minneapolis.

The reading went very well. All the contributors did a great job. After the reading, the audience lined up and the contributors signed some books. From left of the table to the right: Jeremy D. Brooks, Gay Degani, Robin Rozanski, Jenn Alandy, Daniel A. Olivas, and Andrea Slye.

I've included more pictures at the Hint Fiction Facebook page, but what's interesting to note is that, according to the events coordinator, we had a pretty big turn out. Which was surprising, she said, because Wednesday nights is when Dancing With the Stars airs. You see, the level of attendance at any reading fluctuates based on whatever is on television that particular night. Lovely, no?

Later a few of us wandered to a bar across the street and continued the party.

And then the next day I flew back and there was still no WiFi on my flight. Which really sucked, because the couple behind me who apparently met via JDate (seriously, they kept talking about the service) wouldn't shut up for one second, and at one point the woman narrated the entire plot of Up in the Air, only when she was done she couldn't remember the title and she and her boyfriend were going back and forth, trying to figure it out, and it was one of those excruciating moments when you know the answer but you don't want to insert yourself in somebody else's conversation because that might make even more conversation....In the end, the pilot made the announcement that electronics could be turned on, and you better believe I threw my headphones on faster than anyone else on the flight.

So, despite the flight back home, my West Coast trip was great. A big thanks to Gay for taking me in and Vroman's for hosting the event and everyone, contributors and readers alike, for coming out to support the anthology.

And thanks to David L. Ulin of the The Los Angeles Times for giving the book a nice notice last Friday.

And thanks to "The Empress" for hosting a Hint Fiction contest at the Washington Post. (She's looking for humorously witty stories in 25 words or fewer, so send something!)

Finally, on a non-Hint Fiction related note, the folks over at Every Day Fiction had some trouble with the site over the weekend, so if you happened to click the link for my story "My Brother's Death Note" and nothing happened, it should work now.

One Down, Three To Go

Well, the very first Hint Fiction event was a success. A small venue but a lot of people came out. A major thanks to Sam and Todd at Aaron's Books for hosting the event and everyone else who attended.

Afterward, the contributors signed many copies. Here they are, from left to right: John Cashman (standing), Frank Byrns (sitting), Noel Sloboda (standing), Minter Krotzer (sitting), David Joseph (sitting), and me (hiding behind someone's shoulder).

My buddy Noah Stoner filmed much of the event, so hopefully if the audio comes through okay, he'll edit a neat little video. Fingers crossed.

Speaking of Noah, he's picking me up bright and early tomorrow morning to drive me to Philadelphia for my flight to Los Angeles, so I need to keep this brief and go get some sleep.

Thanks to Random.org, the grand prize winner of the Ultimate Flash Fiction Package Giveaway is Brad Green. The five runners-up are Jessica Ferguson, Janel Gradowski, xTx, Nancy Medina, and Matthew Weinkam. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Finally, I have a little something over at Three Guys One Book in the their "When We Fell In Love" series, in which I talk about the Hardy Boys and Jurassic Park and Stephen King.

Good night, and I hope to see some of you at Vroman's Wednesday evening.