Publisher Susannah Smith of Propertius Press with me and NEWS! (This, of course, is a backward selfie.)

First Copy of NEWS! Arrives

Here is the book as it looks (not reversed).

My eighth book and second novel, NEWS!, arrived yesterday and I'm thrilled. The advance reader copy was hand-delivered by Propertius Press' president Susannah Smith.

This copy, of course, is not the final word. In fact, I spotted a couple of changes that need to be made almost immediately (including the type on the back of the book not being large enough), but the thrill remains in seeing an actual print copy of NEWS! That thrill never gets old and it doesn't diminish.

We still have work to do because marketing is vital in a book's success. Advance sales have already begun with NEWS! and we've made some pre-publication sales already. The release will be official on July 31 (my birthday) when we have a signing at Hollins University in Moody Center's basement Rathskeller. That will be a lovely party and you are all invited. Officially.

Order NEWS! here: 

https://www.propertiuspress.com/our-bookstore/NEWS-by-Dan-Smith-p435663561

 

This is Susan's watercolor version of the old editor paddling.

Sunday on the Pond with Susan

My good friend Susan and I haven't paddling for more than a year and today was the day to fix that. We loaded the kayaks and headed out to Carvins Cove (which is not far from my house) and put into a warm lake with a slight breeze and an overcast sky. Just about perfect weather.

We decided some years ago that this was church for us. On holidays--secular or religious--it is our celebration. This paddle on this cove is our soul-soothing respite and it never fails, even the day when we both nearly got washed away with a sudden storm. We laughed then; we laugh now.

It is a lovely way to celebrate a friendship.

 

(Susan Shot all the photos that look like watercolor paintings. I shot the others.)

 

'Fun Home' Is One of MMT's Very Best

Mill Mountain Theatre's latest offering, "Fun Home," ranks among its most powerful in recent memory. The Tony Award-winning play is adapted from Alison Bechdel's six-year-old graphic novel and runs weekends until July 3 on the Waldron stage at MMT. 

The shows are at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $20 and $15 and can be bought at https://ci.ovationtix.com/36191/production/1078748.

"Fun Home" is part of the theatre's Fringe Series, which produces plays that are more challenging than most of its main stage offerings. "Fun Home," the story of a lesbian daughter and a closeted gay father who dies suddenly as they both face their "queerness," certainly fits that definition.

The show, a celebration of Pride Month, is directed by Katharine Quinn, based on the graphic memoir by Bechdel, played here in the 30-year-old version by New York actress Hayley Palmer. The play looks at Bechdel's relationship with her father as an often-confused child, who adores her dad but is often hurt by his actions, and a college student denying, then realizing she is a lesbian.

The story is Bechdel's look back at the impact her father's hidden gayness and her own latent lesbianism affected both of them, as well as the rest of her family, especially her mother, who had lived with a marriage that was a sham.

Quinn's direction of sparkling material is spot-on and the singing and acting from a relatively large cast (especially for the small Waldron Stage) is extraordinary. The singing voices are uniformly big and powerful--even the voice of the child Alison, played by young Roanoker Riley Whisnant--and the music ranges from celebratory to deep sadness. It is all affecting, powerful and important in the quest for us all to understand each other. Stephanie Berger plays the college-age Alison.

Others in the case include Carlyn Connolly as Mrs. Bechdel, Michael Hunsaker as the big-voiced dad and Alexandra Rivers as Joan, Alison's lover.

This is one of those plays that makes me especially appreciative of the courage so frequently shown by Mill Mountain Theatre in its selection of material. 

(Note: Strong language and sexual references, as well as a relatively tame love scene between Alison and her lover might give some people pause.)

 

This is the cover of the paperback version of NEWS!

NEWS! Out on My Birthday, July 31

My new novel, NEWS!, will be released by publisher Propertius Press on my birthday in a few weeks and I'm excited. 

The novel is based loosely on my coming of age in the newsroom of a mid-sized daily newspaper in a small Southern city (Asheville). It is set in 1969, a time when journalism and the world in general were experiencing dramatic change. NEWS! is a fast read, full of historical events (changed for the sake of the novel) and everyday coverage that a young reporter experienced at that time.

It iwill give you a good idea what journalism was at this crucial juncture.

This is the ebook cover of NEWS!

I give you the two covers for the paperback and ebook version here because I think each is striking and it took a while to come up with the look we wanted.

Those wishing to order NEWS! ahead of the release date may scan the QR code to the left here or go to 

https://www.propertiuspress.com/our-bookstore 

and scan halfway down the list of books available to find mine. 

 

Dan Casey (left) interviewed me about NEWS! at his kitchen table Wednesday.

We have a Release Date for NEWS!

I met with my publisher (Propertius Press' Susannah Smith) yesterday and she determined that my new novel, NEWS!, will have a July 31 release date. That's my birthday and I'm just delighted. What a present! 

Now, I have to set up a release signing on that day (Sunday) and see if we can get all those pre-release orders signed. Pre-release can be ordered at visitourbookstore.com. Paper copies from Propertius are $18.99 with no postage charge, or $7.99 for an ebook. Susannah tells me it's best if you order from Propertius directly (less expensive than retail), or from Barnes & Noble, Apple or Bookshop.org.

Let me also mention that the cover, which I previously wrote about, will be revised because the image came from the internet and we didn't have permission to use it. Our new cover is ours and it will be dynamite. My pal, Stephanie the graphics director, will assure that.

On Thursday of last week, The Roanoke Times' lead columnist wrote a column about NEWS! and I am delighted by his assessment and the coverage. Dan's an old friend, but more important, he is a veteran journalist and if anybody could understand all I was getting at in NEWS!, he could.

This is an exciting time for me. Truly exciting.