August
2017
I’ve
been away for a couple of days. Busy month. Crazy month. Slightly
off balance, juggling moments, addressing things by the moment
month.
And
another project waiting patiently just off to the side of the
stage, barely behind the curtain, is ready to go…
Conversations
Interviews from The Backpack
March 2003 to March 2017
Earl
Swift, Terry Fator, Keris Stainton, Chris VanDahl, Brigitte Valdez,
Kelly Smith, Brian McCullough, Daryl Wagner, Scott Jordan, Christina
Shaw and Brandon Evans. Plus, both of the “Harry Potter” efforts,
which means more from Keris, plus the thoughts of Terry Hocking
and Denise Alekseev.
That’s
a pretty great run.
What?
Kelly? Kelly Smith? You want to know about Kelly’s name being
on that list, since her interview from the web site was in Time
Just Drifts Away.
Good
memory. And, thanks for noticing. The explanation starts with
a description of the book…
Conversations
is a collection of interviews, with consideration given to some
of the first efforts to ever appear and moving along to the current
day. I list the dates as March of 2003 to March of 2017. With
several interviews from the site being included in Time Just
Drifts Away, the majority of this new effort does come from
the past few years.
One
person immediately took the nod on having two segments included.
Christina Shaw is represented by her original interview and then
the “Catching up with…” segment we did later on.
In
an effort to make things more special, I expanded the concept
of including additional material beyond the contents of the posted
material. I reached out to three people and asked if they would
be willing to answer some new questions exclusively for the book.
Brian
McCullough and Brigitte Valdez are part of that group. Both of
them have special second chapters in the book, covered as “A Second
Visit with…” offerings.
And
then, we have Kelly Smith.
She’s
a good friend, and we stay in contact, usually for the run of
the mill general life stuff. At some point, a casual mention in
one e-mail started us discussing a short segment for the new book.
And the effort got rolling downhill, and picked up speed. She
went way beyond anything I could have hoped, with us developing
a complete new interview.
The
contributions noted here from Brian, Brigitte and Kelly are only
available on the pages of Conversations. That’s it. Super
secret, extra special, exclusive, bonus material.
Conversations
will be released next week, on August 22, 2017.
Life
Won’t Pass Me By
Observations from The Backpack
March 2003 to March 2017
The
new book is now available!
Life
Won’t Pass Me By
Officially,
my eighth book will be released tomorrow, August 8, 2017.
Unofficially…
you can find it now…
Life
Won’t Pass Me By
at CreateSpace
Life
Won’t Pass Me By
at Amazon
Bob’s
Author Page at Amazon
A
collection of forty-four essays, Life Won’t Pass Me By is
a celebration of the Fourteenth Anniversary of the In My Backpack
web site. The material inside is based on postings to the site
between its first days in March of 2003 all the way to March of
2017.
All
of the essays have gone through a bit of editing. A few have undergone
some serious overhauls. A handful are no longer posted at The
‘ville.
Some
of the essays in place: “A round of tomato juice”… “I gat suit
correct”… and “A Cutter”. Tributes and thoughts for Molly and
Gus.
New
essay at the end… shameless self-promotion at the start…
National
Buy Bob’s Book Day
The
Sixth Annual National Buy Bob’s Book Day will be held on August
26, 2017. It’s become a bit of a tradition around here, and I
offer it with the full recognition that a bit of comedy and absurdity
needs to be understood when making such a declaration. Let’s start
with some background…
2012.
I
had just put the finishing touches on Time
Just Drifts Away and was moving from
writing/editing/designing production-based actions into promotional
areas.
Around
the same time, in some quieter moments… searching the web, looking
around Facebook… I began seeing daily announcements. National
Day of this… National Day of that… National Day of whatever… and
then…
National
Raspberry Cream Pie Day.
I
swear. It’s true. National Raspberry Cream Pie Day. (August 1st
for those of you wondering.)
In
August alone, there is a National Day for things such as: ice
cream sandwiches, frozen custard, julienne fries, and underwear.
It’s
not just August. Because frozen custard has a day, I suppose,
we need to allow for the frozen yogurt day that occurs at another
point during the year.
One
of my favorite quirks of the National Day calendar? Scallops…
baked scallops get one National Day of celebration… fried scallops
get another.
For
a variety of reasons… not the least of which involved dreaming
up attempts at some out-of-the-box attention-grabbing possibilities
for a newly released book… Time Just Drifts Away and
National Days of celebration and Raspberry Cream Pie were all
swirling around in my thoughts, and they managed to come together
in quite a light bulb moment.
National
Buy Bob’s Book Day.
Why
not?
As
I said a moment ago… comedy and absurdity. The general concept
is filled with silliness, and I welcome that. I am not by any
stretch of the imagination presenting such a day of celebration
with no intent of humor or whimsy.
And
yet…
I
do need to point out that there is a bit of seriousness involved.
I
really do hope that you’ll take a moment to look around the Writing
& Books section of the web site… my
author page at Amazon… and some of my social
media pages.
I
would be thrilled and grateful to learn that you purchased one
of my releases… referred some people you know to check out my
work… became a regular visitor.
I
am organizing National Buy Bob’s Book Day to have some fun and
goof around… and I do it because it is important to me.
And
so… again… I thank you. For your patience, understanding, and
attention… and also for your comments, suggestions, and support.
Six
years later this month… and hopefully more to come.
Today’s
new essay is… “South
and north along the East Coast –
Bob and Terry on Tour
2016 – Best
of South Carolina”
That’s
right… brand new travel piece… with more to come.
Back
on Monday.
With
a run of material involving books coming up, today I’m going to
stick with some basics…
A
Parkside View
This
month’s issue is out. Released. Distributed.
Did
you get your copy?
August
featured a new essay—“The Big Sky”—along with a classic—“I gat
suit correct”—on its pages. The classic was the updated version
that appears in Life
Won’t Pass Me By.
Also
inside this month’s issue was coverage of the two book releases
this month (Life Won’t Pass Me By and Conversations),
along with a few details about upcoming appearances.
If
you aren’t receiving A Parkside View each month, SIGN
UP! Send along an e-mail. Go to one of our pages
on social media and send us a message. We’ll get in touch with
you, set things up, and make sure each edition is headed your
way.
Local
Friends for Local Business
I
Scream You Scream
The
August challenge runs for the full month, and it most definitely
looks at ice cream for the theme.
Go
just about any place across the country, and you’ll find seasonal
stands open for business during the summer months. They offer
some of the freshest local produce you’ll ever be able to find.
They serve up incredible regional dishes such as terrific seafood.
And… yeah… ice cream.
Cones
and sundaes and shakes… chocolate covered and crunchy coatings
and sprinkles… family and friends… there is just about nothing
finer on a warm summer evening. Pretty much perfection, and the
stuff at the heart of some very special memories.
From
August 1st all the way to August 31st, Local Friends is looking
for those incredible places serving the best ice cream. It might
be that great place only open a few months each year. Maybe it’s
a spot open all year.
Once
we get the Christmas episode, Doctor
Who
will begin prepping for the new season. But…
don’t go expecting it right away. Looks like late 2018.
An
arrest has been made, but it comes with the warning that no convictions
are yet in place. Why the disclaimer? Sit down, this is a good
one: A
woman was arrested at a Walmart in North Carolina.
She was attempting to return some merchandise. That same merchandise
had allegedly been stolen from that very store.
The
Middle is preparing
to say goodbye.
Today
is a crazy day… leading off a crazy month. So I just want to pass
along a few quick things for now, and we can hit more details
as the month moves along…
First
–
A
Parkside View
The
new issue is ready, and has begun making the rounds. With a new
essay—“The Big Sky”—debuting exclusively in the August edition
of A Parkside View.
If
you’ve already signed up to receive it, awesome. Enjoy!
If
you haven’t signed up to receive it… well… why not? Send us an
e-mail (or a message on social media pages) and we’ll get everything
set up.
Second
–
Life
Won’t Pass Me By and Conversations
-
Coming
out on August 8th and 22nd respectively, the new books.
Third
–
Local
Friends for Local Business
The
August challenge is I Scream You Scream.
And
yes… it is a month-long effort to enjoy some ice cream.
Between
August 1st and 31st, head on out and pick up a delicious treat.
Fourth
–
National
Buy Bob’s Book Day
You
may be familiar with the fun… the event that began with the realization
that if raspberry cream pie gets a day, my books can have one
as well. On August 26, 2017, we are celebrating the Sixth Annual
National Buy Bob’s Book Day.
I
want to get things set up and moving for August, so that’s it
for today. I know additional details for all of these subjects
(and much, much more) will be coming in the next few days. I’ll
be back tomorrow.
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