Update: Poe

Gave a grueling lecture yesterday in support of MODERN POE: VOL. I called: Edgar Allan Poe and the Short Story. It was over the course of four hours and in front of one of the toughest crowds I've ever faced: my hometown's middle school 8th Graders! In all honesty, other than being hoarse today with a slight sore throat, the talk went surprisingly well and I'm very proud at how attentive the kids were and of the intelligent, insightful questions they asked regarding Mr. Poe and the short story process. Yes, there were a couple 'class clowns,' but I even tried to answer their questions thoughtfully and somehow tie it back to Poe - who liked a good laugh himself and was certainly no stranger to humbugs and hoaxes. My gratitude and thanks to the English Department for putting the program together - let's do it again sometime! (I am in fact in talks to return for their Poetry section in a month or two - exciting! Well...for me, maybe not the 8th Graders!)

In other MODERN POE: VOL. I news, I received a short blurb in the Post Bulletin - which is the biggest newspaper in SE Minnesota with the largest circulation around. Unfortunately, the reporter who contacted had me convinced that I would have a lengthy, in-depth article discussing the book - but in the end it was simply a blurb. Doubly unfortunate is the fact that they spelled Mr. Poe's name wrong. If nothing irritates a Poe disciple more it's when someone misspells his name as Edgar ALLEN Poe, and not ALLAN. Triply unfortunate is the fact that they misspelled MY name too. Quadruply unfortunate (is that even a word?) is the fact that they failed to include the link to my e-store.

I guess bad press is better than no press at all right? Well, for the sake of journalistic integrity, here's the link: https://www.createspace.com/3610670