Publishing Portal--January 9, 2024

The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.

*Happy Birthday!

=Eckhartz Press author Jeanne Bellezzo celebrated her birthday yesterday (January 8). Her book Rantings of a Bitter Childless Woman came out in 2016. I did a Q&A with her when it was released.  That's Eckhartz Press co-publisher Dave Stern with her at her Chicago book signing.

*Shoeless Joe

=This is a big month for our recently published book about the Shoeless Joe trial. That trial took place exactly 100 years ago this month, and until we published the transcript last year, it had been out of the public eye for nearly a century. Learn more about it here.

*The Loop Files

=I’ve been blown away by the great reviews of my latest book The Loop Files. This may be my favorite one. Thanks so much, Christopher Sutter.

=The publicity tour continued last week with an appearance on The Average Joe podcast. I'll post a link when I get it.

=I'll be out and about for another book signing on January 21st. Really looking forward to this one. I'll be at the Chicagoland Record show from 10am--2pm. 

*Leaving Glory for Greatness

=Lou Macaluso will be signing and selling his Eckhartz Press book Leaving Glory for Greatness at the Thornton Distillery Book Fair, 400 E. Margaret Street, Thornton, IL on February 4th from Noon to 5pm. Mark it on your calendar now.

*Surviving Sue

=Author Vicki Atkinson is now part of the CWA Speaker's Bureau. To find out what her presentation is all about, click here.

=She is also appearing at a virtual event. Register here. Details below.

*Righteous Might

=In 2020 Eckhartz Press published the debut novel of Keith Conrad, Righteous Might. It's a science fiction exploration of the Pearl Harbor attack. Well, Keith has a new audio project to share, Dimension of the Lost. Here's the description.

    Pop culture over the past twenty years or so is riddled with stories about pioneering scientists visiting new worlds. In the 1990’s there was Sliders, there was also Stargate SG-1 with a different planet every week. In this week’s story "Dimension of the Lost," three scientists visit three different dimensions. Two of them have life-changing experiences, while the third ends up solving a mystery that has haunted humanity for generations.

*Doin the Cruise

 =This week in 2018, West Suburban Living reviewed Mitch Michael's book.

=Rod Stewart is celebrating a birthday this week. You may not realize that Doin The Cruise author Mitch Michaels played a key role in Rod's song "Maggie Mae" becoming a big hit. He tells that story in the book. (That's Mitch in the middle of the pic below)

*We Have Company

 =Bobby Skafish's 2016 Eckhartz Press book We Have Company: Four Decades of Rock and Roll Encounters is a rock and roll lover's dream. Bobby has met and interviewed them all. Two of them have birthdays this week; the late David Bowie and Dave Matthews. Their stories (and these photos) are in the book.

*Behind the Glass

 =Randy Merkin's 2021 book Behind the Glass: Stories from a Sports Radio Producer is the sports equivalent of Bobby's book. For instance, three Hall of Famers who were born this week in history, Bruce Sutter, Bart Starr and Dick Enberg, are featured.

*Monkey in the Middle

 =Dobie Maxwell's gripping personal story about a bank robbery was reviewed this week in 2017. Dobie's book remains one of our best sellers. 

 *Records Truly Is My Middle Name

 =John Records Landecker's book was a finalist for CWA Book of the Year in 2013. When John was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2017, we re-released the book with additional stories and photos. Among the new photos...this one of John and his daughter Amy with the richest man in the world (at the time), who happens to be celebrating a birthday this week.

*Back in the DDR

 =My latest novel came out for Christmas of 2022. This week in 2023 (that was already a year ago?) I made my first book club appearance. Excellent snacks, if I recall correctly.

*The Balding Handbook

 =We sold out of the book, but before it went out of print, The Balding Handbook helped countless balding souls. Eleven years ago this week author David Stern was on Mancow's television show talking about it.

*The Living Wills

=12 years ago this week, Rick and Brendan discuss the tricky collaboration that led to the first Eckhartz Press book, The Living Wills.

 *Truffle Hunt

=Eckhartz Press author Brent Peterson is now a podcasting star...

Eckhartz Everyday

 *On this day in 2016, Eckhartz Press author Jeanne Bellezzo was in town to promote the release of her book Rantings of a Bitter Childless Woman. 

Eckhartz Everyday

 Our book Rantings of a Bitter Childless Woman came out on this day in 2016. So what can readers expect from this book by Jeanne Bellezzo? It's better to show than to tell. Here's an excerpt...

Remember when we took long car trips as kids and amused ourselves for hours on end by playing The Alphabet Game? You know, where you had to point out an object starting with each consecutive letter of the alphabet before your bratty sister could? And if you both spotted the same object simultaneously, you fought about it, thus passing another 15 to 20 minutes of the trip until your dad finally warned you not to make him stop this car and turn around right now?

Life was so simple then.

Now, kids on long car trips (defined as 10 minutes or more) have a plethora of entertainment options we couldn’t even imagine. DVD players. Cell phones. Nintendo DS. Online shopping. Mobile investing. Personally, I think it would have been the coolest thing in the world to have movies in the back of our old Wrangler and then fight with my sister about what to watch.

But apparently, it isn’t enough for today’s short-attention-span generation. Barely an hour into an 8-hour family roadtrip to Arizona, my friend’s six-year-old son turned off the DVD player, tossed his DS impatiently into his pile of books, and announced, “I’m bored.”

A few months ago, my boyfriend and I volunteered to watch his twin niece and nephew while mom and dad went to a baseball game with friends from out of town. They dropped the kids off early on Sunday morning. (For us, any time before 8 a.m. on Sunday is early. Thank God for coffee.)

We spent the next few hours playing games with them (side note: if you’re ever having issues waking up, a few games of Jenga will resolve them immediately). We watched cartoons. They chased the cats around. We took them to lunch (the kids, not the cats). We took them to a movie, stopping first to get something to drink at the grocery store, and while we were there we bought them each a doughnut. Yes, they just had lunch, but as the fun aunt and uncle we are required by law to overdose them on sugar. And they’re both thin little Energizer bunnies, so we weren’t particularly concerned about childhood obesity.

As they wolfed down their fried sugary goodness, one mentioned that it was the second doughnut she’d had. I asked, “Today?” She replied, “No, ever. Mom doesn’t let us have doughnuts.” Awesome. This will be our little secret, right?

So after games, cartoons, lunch, clandestine doughnuts, and a movie, we returned home and made a beeline for the couch, exhausted. (Ok, the adults were exhausted. Seriously parents, how do you do it?)

At which point one of the twins asked, “Can we do something fun now?”

Yes. Go outside and play The Alphabet Game. Twice.