Sat, 10/11, 7:00 PM: Professor Thom's, New York City (signing before Sox-Rays, ALCS Game 2) (more info here)
Tues, 10/21, 5:00 PM: Redbones BBQ, Davis Square, Somerville, MA. (book party by Kate's Mystery Books, reading/signing, on eve of World Series)
Tues, 10/28, 7:00 PM: West Hartford Library (reading/signing)
More details on each appearance as they get closer.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Rocky Mountain High
Nice review in the Rocky Mountain News. "Grade: A." I haven't gotten an A since fifth grade!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
"The New Phonebooks Are Here!"
We have received real-life, actual copies of the book. Well, my mom has--I will see them soon. But she says they look great. She's had this experience plenty of times (though I'm sure it never gets old), but I can't wait to see a finished copy of my own book!
I should probably "act like I've been there before," shouldn't I?
Screw that, I'm psyched!
I should probably "act like I've been there before," shouldn't I?
Screw that, I'm psyched!
Friday, September 26, 2008
Shipping Up To Boston--And To A Bookstore Near You!
Copies of Dirty Water are officially being shipped. Finally! Start bugging your local mom and/or pop about it today....
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
World Series Eve Party
On Tuesday, October 21st, from 5:30 to 7:00, we'll be at Redbones in Davis Square in Somerville, MA for a book party for Dirty Water, hosted by Kate's Mystery Books in Cambridge. It's free. Stop by if you can.
If all goes well, the following night will be Game One of the World Series at Fenway Park.
If all goes well, the following night will be Game One of the World Series at Fenway Park.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Weakly
Our Publisher's Weekly review is here. (In the mystery section, a little over halfway down the page.) I guess PW giveth but taketh away, too. The review starts out good, but ends saying that some parts of our book act like a rain delay in the middle of a Sox-Yanks game. And they don't even mention the fact that a blog runs through the whole book!
Anyway, I guess it's good that they start with the good--if I know people, they only read the first sentence of anything before they go and check their myspace or whatever.
And by the way--I love rain delays! I'm like Brer Rabbit to that reviewer: I was born in a rain delay. If you can't find the beauty in this:
or this:
or this:
or this:
or this:
or this:
...then you've got problems.
[all photos by me]
[Also note PW shows an October 29th pub date--I still don't know the exact date, but it should be earlier than that. Stay tuned.]
Anyway, I guess it's good that they start with the good--if I know people, they only read the first sentence of anything before they go and check their myspace or whatever.
And by the way--I love rain delays! I'm like Brer Rabbit to that reviewer: I was born in a rain delay. If you can't find the beauty in this:
or this:
or this:
or this:
or this:
or this:
...then you've got problems.
[all photos by me]
[Also note PW shows an October 29th pub date--I still don't know the exact date, but it should be earlier than that. Stay tuned.]
Monday, September 1, 2008
Outdoor Blogging
Click here for our great review in the Hartford Courant! (Note: The Courant doesn't let you see old links--try here for the cached version of the review.)
We've had some others recently, which I will post on the right side soon. My girlfriend and I have just moved to Providence, and we won't have internet until Thursday. So right now I'm sitting in the back yard in the dark, since this is the only place I can get a signal on my laptop. It's weird being on the computer and seeing a shadowy figure appear at your feet. I think it was a possum. I'm goin' inside....
We've had some others recently, which I will post on the right side soon. My girlfriend and I have just moved to Providence, and we won't have internet until Thursday. So right now I'm sitting in the back yard in the dark, since this is the only place I can get a signal on my laptop. It's weird being on the computer and seeing a shadowy figure appear at your feet. I think it was a possum. I'm goin' inside....
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
All About the Amalies
Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe figures into the plot of our book. But only now did I find out this about her, from the Extra Bases blog:
Nice!
Benjamin grew up in Newton and has been following the Red Sox since ... well, before she was born. Her mother was in labor and ready to leave for the hospital but her father wondered if he would be OK to wait until Yaz batted in the next inning before they left.
Nice!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Light Tower Power
The light towers have become our "mascot," so here are some shots I took recently at Fenway. Above, the tower from atop the Green Monster. Click to enlarge.Below, me atop the Monster with tower above. (Don't look at this one too long, you'll start thinking about the un-even-ness of nostrils, and you don't wanna do that....)
And finally, a Fenway hawk landing on a tower.
Friday, August 8, 2008
New Review
A new review is in from the great NYC Sox-blogger, Mighty Quinn. Check it out.
All of our online reviews so far are in the column over to the right.... --->
All of our online reviews so far are in the column over to the right.... --->
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Actual Dirty Water
Naturally, I've been doing a lot of web searches on "dirty water" to see when and where our book is getting mentioned. And I have to say, I'm learning a lot about dirty water! (The stuff, not the book/song...)
Did you know that in Baghdad, two-thirds of the raw sewage produced flows untreated into rivers and waterways?
Or that Doheny State Beach in California exceeded maximum allowable levels of indicator bacteria in 55 percent of the samples taken in the past year?
Let's clean the earth's water, people. You can start by ordering TWO copies of Dirty Water, the book--one to read and one to display in your window to warn everyone of the dangers of unclean water supplies...
By the way, thanks to everyone who's pre-ordered already. It amazes me how many we're selling considering it's not even out yet! And even more thanks to people who have promoted it already on your websites.
Did you know that in Baghdad, two-thirds of the raw sewage produced flows untreated into rivers and waterways?
Or that Doheny State Beach in California exceeded maximum allowable levels of indicator bacteria in 55 percent of the samples taken in the past year?
Let's clean the earth's water, people. You can start by ordering TWO copies of Dirty Water, the book--one to read and one to display in your window to warn everyone of the dangers of unclean water supplies...
By the way, thanks to everyone who's pre-ordered already. It amazes me how many we're selling considering it's not even out yet! And even more thanks to people who have promoted it already on your websites.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Events
We are already planning readings, signings, etc. One very special event will be at a Red Sox bar in New York City. Stay tuned for all the details...
Saturday, August 2, 2008
M Words
The Amazon and B&N pages for our book now feature a cover image. While it's not the final version, it's close.....
And to continue on the topic of the last post, another part of the '07 season is history, as Manny has been traded. Despite that my mom and I are huge Manny fans, his part in our book wasn't too big. But, again, our book takes place during the '07 season, not "today." So it's okay. At least that's what I keep telling myself....
And to continue on the topic of the last post, another part of the '07 season is history, as Manny has been traded. Despite that my mom and I are huge Manny fans, his part in our book wasn't too big. But, again, our book takes place during the '07 season, not "today." So it's okay. At least that's what I keep telling myself....
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Ch-ch-ch-changes
It's so weird how things keep happening that go against what we've written in our book, OR that we in effect predicted in our book--but since they happened before the book actually hit shelves, may appear as if we were influenced by them. Does that make sense? I just really want the baseball side of our book to feel authentic. So every time something in the Red Sox world changes, I feel like it takes away from the authenticity. I just have to keep telling myself: Our book is based on (a mythical version of) the 2007 season. But I just fear that people will see something in 2008, having just read our book, and say, "That book was wrong!"
I wish I'd been keeping a list of things that have changed or that happened after we "made" them happen. But here are a few examples:
1. In our book, we had Papi shooting a commercial in Portland. In real life, since then, Papi has both shot a commercial (which was a bit controversial at the time, as people felt he shouldn't have been doing that and that it somehow caused his early-season slump--people are stupid) AND gone to Portland, in this case to play for the minor league team as part of his rehab.
2. In our book, we mention the Red Sox' alternate red jerseys--the "Sunday" jerseys. This season, they have broken them out on a Saturday.
3. Okay, here's one for the book jacket--we have a blurb from Jeff Goldberg of the Hartford Courant. Jeff, along with almost everybody else at the Courant, was forced to leave the paper the other day. So when our book hits shelves, it'll show Jeff working for the Courant, when in reality he'll be somewhere else.
4. We have Papelbon's wife rocking a baby in our book, thinking about being a mom. Now, she's pregnant.
5. There's one big one. It has to do with the plot, so I can't say what it is. Let's just say something at Fenway that's been constant since I was born has changed, months before our book comes out describing things in what's now the "old" way.
There are a lot more. It seems like every day something changes or something happens and I say, "We thought of that first!" It's like how my mom, in one of her books, gave the president a dog named Buddy. And then Bill Clinton came along with his dog--named Buddy. (Something like that.)
The key is, our book is about the '07 championship Red Sox. So everything will always be accurate to that season--though we moved the schedule around a little to fit the plot. Hey, if you're gonna complain about that, complain about the fact that there never really was a baby found in the clubhouse--again, it's a "mythical" 2007. Players are naturally gonna come and go. The only way we could've kept the players current for all-time would've been to not refer to them by name: "The shortstop said to the right fielder...." And you can see how dumb that would've been...
I wish I'd been keeping a list of things that have changed or that happened after we "made" them happen. But here are a few examples:
1. In our book, we had Papi shooting a commercial in Portland. In real life, since then, Papi has both shot a commercial (which was a bit controversial at the time, as people felt he shouldn't have been doing that and that it somehow caused his early-season slump--people are stupid) AND gone to Portland, in this case to play for the minor league team as part of his rehab.
2. In our book, we mention the Red Sox' alternate red jerseys--the "Sunday" jerseys. This season, they have broken them out on a Saturday.
3. Okay, here's one for the book jacket--we have a blurb from Jeff Goldberg of the Hartford Courant. Jeff, along with almost everybody else at the Courant, was forced to leave the paper the other day. So when our book hits shelves, it'll show Jeff working for the Courant, when in reality he'll be somewhere else.
4. We have Papelbon's wife rocking a baby in our book, thinking about being a mom. Now, she's pregnant.
5. There's one big one. It has to do with the plot, so I can't say what it is. Let's just say something at Fenway that's been constant since I was born has changed, months before our book comes out describing things in what's now the "old" way.
There are a lot more. It seems like every day something changes or something happens and I say, "We thought of that first!" It's like how my mom, in one of her books, gave the president a dog named Buddy. And then Bill Clinton came along with his dog--named Buddy. (Something like that.)
The key is, our book is about the '07 championship Red Sox. So everything will always be accurate to that season--though we moved the schedule around a little to fit the plot. Hey, if you're gonna complain about that, complain about the fact that there never really was a baby found in the clubhouse--again, it's a "mythical" 2007. Players are naturally gonna come and go. The only way we could've kept the players current for all-time would've been to not refer to them by name: "The shortstop said to the right fielder...." And you can see how dumb that would've been...
Monday, July 14, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Update
Book available for pre-order at Barnes & Noble. Click here.
Also, we supposedly got "great reviews" from two major publications. More on those when they're released.
Also, we supposedly got "great reviews" from two major publications. More on those when they're released.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Quote From Stewart O'Nan
"Dirty Water takes us inside the Sox clubhouse and out into the neighborhood around baseball's little green chapel. Having spent far too many hours pacing that pavement, I can verify that Mary-Ann Tirone Smith and Jere Smith know the territory. This one's fun for mystery fans and Sox fans, and even more so if you're both."
--Stewart O'Nan, Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season (written in collaboration with Stephen King)
Thanks, Stewart!
--Stewart O'Nan, Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season (written in collaboration with Stephen King)
Thanks, Stewart!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Another Quote
Melinda Boroson, author, 86 Years: The Legend of the Boston Red Sox on Dirty Water:
"These authors know Boston, they know baseball, and they definitely know the Red Sox. Real-life Red Sox players walk out of the clubhouse and right onto the pages of this murder mystery--along with bloggers, bad guys, and Boston's finest. An essential addition to any true fan's bookshelf."
"These authors know Boston, they know baseball, and they definitely know the Red Sox. Real-life Red Sox players walk out of the clubhouse and right onto the pages of this murder mystery--along with bloggers, bad guys, and Boston's finest. An essential addition to any true fan's bookshelf."
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