Book Launch on Feb. 24

Kirk Curnutt, chair of the English department at Troy University’s Montgomery Campus, will be celebrating the release of his current novel, Breathing Out the Ghost, with a reading and signing sponsored by the book’s publisher, River City Publishing.

The event will take place on Sunday, Feb. 24, from 4 to 7 p.m. at El Rey Burrito Lounge, located in the Old Cloverdale district next to the Capri Theater at 1031 E. Fairview.

Breathing Out the Ghost is a literary thriller about two parents who come to envy each other’s ability to cope with the grief of losing children.

The novel was the December 2007 book club selection at ForeWord Magazine, the leading trade publication of the independent publishing industry.

Murder Creek signing in Brewton Feb. 21

Joe Formichella and Suzanne Hudson will appear at the Brewton Civic Center on Douglas Ave. (Hwy. 31) to discuss and sign copies of Joe's Murder Creek and Suzanne's 2003 novel In a Temple of Trees.

The Brewton Standard is all a-flutter about the event. They'll be running stories in tomorrow's and Sunday's paper about the signing.

Murder Creek Message Boards

The publication of Joe Formichella's Murder Creek: The "Unfortunate Incident" of Annie Jean Barnes has recently re-opened the door of controversy that Suzanne Hudson's In a Temple of Trees burst through in 2003.

After realizing that folks in the small town where Murder Creek and ...Temple... are both set had been using the online guest book of the local newspaper to discuss Formichella's book, we decided to give people a real forum for debate.

Please visit the Murder Creek Message Boards to discuss the book.

Pardon our progress...

The River City Publishing website may be down for a few hours on 13 Feb. as we do all sorts of cyber-based moving and housecleaning and such.

This is done in preparation for a new and greatly improved site - full of interactive features and a streamlined contact and purchase process.

I'll be blogging more about that later.

Right now I want to welcome one of our authors, Joe Formichella, on board the blog. Joe is a very busy man - a sort of writing machine, it seems - with one book just published with us, Murder Creek, and another in the pipeline.

Staying Ahead of the Posse: The Ben Jobe Story will be published in late March or early April, and promises to capture a lot of attention from the world of athletics - especially from the NCAA, about which Ben Jobe tells his truth without mercy.

On becoming a blogger

Morning folks. This is usually the time of day I covet the most -- the time when I get the bulk of my writing done. I will admit that, being something of a political junkie, I can't help but be a little distracted by the primary results, the campaigns, etc. Usually, I'd be wrapping up a few hours worth of work on whatever project I'm engaged with at the moment -- and there's always at least a couple I'm juggling -- and trying to morph into a responsible wage-earner. Some days it's easier than others. But as I say, today, Washington Journal, on C-SPAN is playing in the background. I know, I know, shame on me, shame on me. Can't help it. The stuff fascinates me. I can't decide if it's because this is really the raw, unscripted opinions of American citizens, or if it's just a glorified, electronic version of "sound-off" (hoping, of course, for the former). It's a guilty pleasure, to be sure. Problem is, I'm about thirty pages shy of finishing the next book, Principal Axes of the Heart, and I really need to finish it up before we get geared up pimping Murder Creek. Somebody spank me.

Murder Creek has been blogged

Michael Thomson over at the Alabama Confidential blog has discovered, to his seeming delight, Joe Formichella's Murder Creek: The "Unfortunate Incident" of Annie Jean Barnes.

http://alabamaconfidential.blogspot.com/2008/02/shocking-non-fiction-book-about-brewton.html

We appreciate the mention - and hope Murder Creek will bring to light many harsh realities often swept under the rug in Smalltown, USA.

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