848

Yesterday I had the pleasure of sitting down with Donna Seaman, Chicago book-critic, to talk about The Cradle for WBEZ's program 848. You can listen to the whole thing right here.

Center for Fiction First Novel Prize

Great news today from out east: The Cradle's been nominated for The Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize, formerly known as the John Sargent Sr. First Novel Prize. The announcement comes in November; the other nominees are Phillipp Meyer, Paul Harding, Yiyun Lin, and John Pipkin.

New York: see you in Novemeber.

Courtney Hunt Set To Adapt and Direct The Cradle

Goodbye summer, hello movie deal. Courtney Hunt, writer/director of last year's totally badass Frozen River, has teamed up with producer Gail Mutrux to adapt The Cradle into a feature-length film. Honestly, I'm not sure there's an American filmmaker more suited to the task. (At least in my untrained eyes?) The film will be financed by Indian Paintbrush, the production company behind Wes Anderson's last two movies.

My wife and I watched Frozen River about a month before The Cradle came out, and I'd be lying if I said the thought of a certain, uh, aesthetic compatibility didn't cross my mind. Then, just a whim. Now, actual. I loved the sensibility, warmth, and faux-simplicity at the core of her first movie, so I'll look forward to seeing what happens with this one.

Last week I flew out to Boston to meet up with The Dollar Store traveling band of hillbillies for the last 20% of their expansive summer tour, which had already been going on for about 10 days. When I arrived at the Brookline Booksmith, I joined Zach Dodson, Blake Butler, Mary Hamilton, Jac Jemc, Amelia Gray, and Aaron Burch for the reading, then accompanied this crew, minus Blake, to Albany and Ann Arbor for the return to Chicago. Others, others, and others have done a better job describing the experience, I think, so I will just say I had great fun, met many new excellent young writers along the way, and actually uttered the sentence, "I have to dance," when an MJ song came on.  You have to go on the road to find that kind of earnest desire. 

Thanks, FP and Dollar Store.  I’m sorry to everyone I hit with the stick.

Everyone in the Loop Knows Him

Indie Writer Emerges from Walden Pond

Cleveland and Other Distractions

Ah, the dangers of the summertime, when it becomes more and more difficult to click things on the internet and log into accounts. But it's been far too long since I've posted an update on the very easygoing Round 2 of readings for The Cradle. I spent the first three days of this week in Cleveland, hosted by the inimitable Cuyahoga County Public Library, literally the best library system in the country, and jumped all around, from dinner to webcast to radio to reading. All in all, a lovely three days.

This month also marks the release of THE2NDHAND's 32nd broadsheet, a story about a felon, set in Kaukana, Wisconsin. While the story does contain a dramatic arc, the whole point, really, was to give myself a platform from which to attempt a description of Kaukana's smell--a goal since I was a small child, and the holy grail of Wisconsin Literature.

And finally, I will again be venturing out toward the eastern lands next week, when I join the traveling band of merry, probably stinky featherproof writers for the final leg of their Great American Dollar Store Super-Tour. I know not what I will find when I meet up with them in Boston, on July 14th, nor do I know what will come of our Albany (July 15th) and Ann Arbor (July 16th) events. If you live in one of these cities, however, I demand your presence. Look at these beautiful people, for God's sake.

Reading in West Bend

Business Meeting, Buffalo Joe's

Sun-Times Profile

With all the hubub of the quarter coming to a close in the last weeks, I completely forgot to post about this profile in the Sun-Times. Mary Houlihan and I had a nice long talk about Wisconsin, folk music, and literature.

Since I know you've been feeling as though you don't know me well enough, I'd like you to take this opportunity to find out more.