Tuesday, May 11, 2010
NOIR @ BAR 3 & SUSPENSE NIGHT will soon be here.
Mark June 2nd & 3rd on your calender because their are two events in the St. Louis area for mystery fans that you won't want to miss. Suspense Night at the St. Louis County Library is on June 2nd this year. As always, in attendence will be St. Louis's own Scott Phillips and N.Y's Reed Farrel Coleman, along with Coleman's friend Gabriel Cohen (also from N.Y.). Scott Phillips is the author of "Ice Harvest" and Reed Farrel Coleman is the author of the Moe Prager mystery series. Gabriel Cohen is the author of "Red Hook" and "Graving Dock". The authors will participate in a Q & A session and will do a short reading before concluding the evening with a booksigning. This is always one of St. Louis County Libraries most popular & attended events.
The following evening will be the 3rd Noir @ The Bar, which is hosted by Scott Phillips and Jed Ayers. The date is set for June 3rd, at the Delmar Lounge at 8 p.m., and guests will include the husband & wife tandem of Pinckney Benedict and Laura Benedict. Pinckney has a new book coming out entitled "Miracle Boy & Other Stories" & Laura is the author of two novels, "Isabella Moon" and "Calling Mr. Lonely Hearts". I guarentee you a good time.
One Voice - Everybody Needs Jesus
I have always been a big fan of southern gospel music. One trio that I followed for years was Ivan Parker, Kirk Talley and Anthony Berger. But recently I came across a new song entitled, "EVERYBODY NEEDS JESUS", by a new trio called "ONE VOICE" that just blew me away. It has been racing up the gospel charts ever since. The really cool thing is "One Voice" member Bryan Cowling, is a HS classmate of mine & a lifelong friend. I couldn't be happier for Bryan. He is a really good man & has a terrific voice and passion for Christ. It just proves that occasionally good things do happen to good people. Congrats Bryan !
Dont' Miss "DOG BLOOD" release on June 8th !!
I just wanted to give everyone a heads up on the much anticipated follow up to David Moody's "Hater". "Dog Blood" will be released on June 8th here in the U.S.
I've got a great suggestion, stop by your local independent book store on the 8th of June, buy a copy, then head out to the cinema to catch Daniel Woodrells "Winters Bone" on the big screen. Then head home and stay up late reading "Dog Blood" into the wee hours of the night. Now.. that's a quality night out!
ACE ATKINS hits St. Louis on May15th w/ INFAMOUS
A great opportunity for Midwest Mystery fans on Saturday May 15, when Oxford, Ms.'s, Ace Atkins, comes to town to sign his terrific new novel,"INFAMOUS". Ace will be signing his new novel, at Big Sleep Books on Euclid in the Central West End. Helen Simpson's store is worth a trip all by itself. Atkins in the author of the Nick Travers blues/mystery series, as well as several gripping stand alones, such as "White Shadow", "Wicked City", "Devils Garden". "Infamous" is highly enjoyable and is the tale of 1930's gangsters George "Machine Gun" Kelly and his his wife Kit. Ace is also a former football player for the Auburn Tigers and an all around nice guy. It has been confirmed now that Ace will be signing from 1 pm to 3 pm at Big Sleep on May 15th. Enjoy !
Woodrell's "Winters Bone" to hit theatres June 8th
The most highly awaited film of the summer for many is Daniel Woodrell's "Winters Bone". The film won the Grand Jury Prize at the prestigous Sundance Film Festival. The film features 19 year old Jennifer Lawrence, in the role of Ree Dolly, in what I believe will be her breakout film. The film hits the bigscreen on June 8th. Put it on your calender now.
Tom Russell to play Nashville, June 17th w/ Gretchen Peters
If your as big a fan of Tom Russell as I am, you'll be glad to hear Tom is returning to the Midwest, on June 17th to play in Nashville, Tn., at 3rd and Lindsley at 8 p.m., along with the super talented Gretchen Peters. This will also be as close as Tom will get in 2010. You wont want to miss this show, and it will be a nice time to return to Nashville and help out all those wonderful people who are trying to recover after the recent floods. I can't wait to see if Tom will play "Jimmie Martin" on this trip. My guess is no, out of sensitivity to the recent flooding, but you never know. As far as I know, the show is still scheduled to go on & I'll keep you posted if theirs any changes.
Where Does Time Go ?
It seems like just yesterday that I was in H.S. and attending Cardinals games with my parents to see a friend of my parents, Tito Landrum, play for the Cardinals. We would often spend the weekend in St. Louis, at Tito & Theresa Landrum's apartment, along with their 2 daughters Julie & Melissa. The girls were about the same age as my granddaughter's are now ( 5 & 6 ). I lugged those two girls all over the place back then. So.. it was funny when I recently ran into ex-Cardinal's pitcher Ricky Horton at a FCA banquet and found out that Tito's youngest daughter Julie had just gotten married. It had been several years since I had seen Julie and it was a shock when I ran across the picture posted at the top of this story of Julie with her new husband,the Boston Celtic's, Paul Pierce. What a beautiful young lady...where did the time go. Congrats to Julie & Paul.