Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Home Again!

The Underground Literary America tour was a blast but I'm happy to be home again. The tour ended on a high note in Pittsburgh at Joseph-Beth Booksellers. Lots of family and friends joined us there, and the store even had a nice poster about the event made up for us. It was great to read with Karen Lillis, and, of course, with Crazy Carl. In fact, since Carl and I spent a week driving from tourstop to tourstop, I had the pleasure of getting a Crazy Carl show everyday in the car as well. He's a great guy and a fantastic writer. Read Fat On The Vine. It'll knock you out! So thanks to everybody who helped with the tour and everyone who attended a reading!
P.S./ We kept seeing stuff about this Harry Potter guy in every city we went to . . . anybody know who he is?

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Underground Literary America Tour Update

Crazy Carl and I are back in Ohio tonight. Last night we read at Quimby's in Chicago. It's a great bookstore but the neighborhood it's in has become significantly yuppied out since the last time I read there four years ago (I almost had to drive to Gary, Indiana just to find a parking space). It was great to read with Grant Schreiber of Judas Goat Quarterly, and to see some friendly faces in the audience including fellow Underground Literary Alliance member Adam Hardin. Carl was convinced a character from his novel had sent her aunt to spy on him, and I think a gang of suspected hecklers slipped out the back once Crazy Carl offered them beer and I put on the Mexican wrestling mask and passed out Emus postcards (Indiana apparently makes us paranoid). We had a great time reading and then shopping, and hit the road, stopping in at the Horseshoe casino for dinner. The blackjack table wouldn't let us bet books so we hit the road again. We originally wanted to stay in Iowa, but someone put a spell on us and we ended up driving up I-94 into Michigan fruitlessly looking for a hotel room. We finally found one just as dawn broke over Lansing. We enjoyed watching profanity and profundity on the end of Text Me TV and were first in line for the continental breakfast, but we probably would have gotten more sleep had we just continued on to our publisher's house and slept in the front yard until they came out to fetch us along with the morning newspaper. When we did arrive at Jeff's, we had a delightful visit exploring the woods, swimming, and meeting his family and friends. We even chucked spears for fun. Possibly the coolest house I've ever been in. After a spot of afternoon tea, we drove back to Ohio, the state so friendly it says "Hi" in the middle (Michigan also says "Hi" in the middle if you're keeping track at home). Once home we were greeted by my wonderful wife and we enjoyed the rest of our day off. Tomorrow we finish the tour in Pittsburgh at Joseph-Beth Books!

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Crazy Carl Dispatch From Cleveland!

And now, an Underground Literary America reading tour report from Crazy Carl, author of Fat On The Vine:
"reflections by crazycarl: BALMERE: anarchists/feminists won't trade panties for books, PHILLY: 'germ' bathroom: etiquette meets the devil, NYC: big handsome says to get a 'smoothie' at 'juice generation', CLEVELAND: 117th street is the place to be...."
Off to Chicago!

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Tour Update From Philadelphia

Hello from the City of Brotherly Love!
The Underground Literary America Tour is going well. Last night, Crazy Carl Robinson and I read with Sean Stewart at Red Emma's in Baltimore. It was a lot of fun! We also snuck in a visit to Atomic Books, and overall enjoyed our visit to "Balmer".
We're currently in Philadelphia. We had a great reading at GERM Books with fellow Underground Literary Alliance members Eric "Jellyboy the Clown" Broomfield, Frank Walsh, and King Wenclas. All of the readers were accompanied musically by the very talented David Talento, and David Williams was a very gracious host for the event. We've also had some nice press and audience responses so far so thanks to all the journalists and reading attendees!
Tomorrow we head to New York City and Freebird Books. More info on the tour can be found at www.wredfright.com
Cheers!
Wred Fright

Monday, July 16, 2007

Underground Literary America Reading Tour!

I will be reading from The Pornographic Flabbergasted Emus ( http://www.wredfright.com/pfe.html ), and Crazy Carl Robinson will be reading from his great novel Fat On The Vine on the Underground Literary America tour! All the shows are free!
Tuesday, July 17, 7 p.m.: Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse (800 St. Paul, Baltimore, Maryland 21202) with Sean Stewart of Thoughtworm.
Wednesday, July 18, 7 p.m.: Germ Books (2005 Frankford Ave., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19125) with Frank Walsh, King Wenclas, and Eric "Jellyboy the Clown" Broomfield of the Underground Literary Alliance, and David Talento.
Thursday, July 19, 7 p.m.: Freebird Books and Goods (123 Columbia St., Brooklyn/New York City, New York 11231) with Mike Faloon of Go Metric.
Friday, July 20, 9 p.m.: bela dubby (13321 Madison Ave., Lakewood/Cleveland, Ohio 44107) with The Balomai Brothers and The Dad Of Rock.
Saturday, July 21, 7 p.m.: Quimby's Bookstore (1854 W. North Ave., Chicago, Illinois 60622) with Grant Schreiber of Judas Goat Quarterly.
Monday, July 23, 7 p.m.: Joseph-Beth Booksellers (SouthSide Works, 2705 East Carson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15203) with Karen Lillis, author of the new novel The Second Elizabeth.
If we're in your neck of the woods, please come on out and say howdy! If we aren't near you then you can still join in some tour silliness as we'll likely be keeping some audio tour diaries on the Underground Literary Alliance website ( http://www.literaryrevolution.com ), and if we're lucky enough to get Internet access on the road, maybe some blog postings too here and at Crazy Carl's blog.
www.wredfright.com
www.ulapress.com