AM Radio

Hey, just a quick note to let you know that I'll be doing a live interview on the Frank Truatt Morning Show, WTBQ-AM, on Friday, July 29 at 7:05 AM EDT (that's 6:05 AM for my Chicago friends out there). The interview, I'm told, will last about 10 minutes. Even if you don't live in WTBQ's coverage area (which includes parts of New York and New Jersey), you can still tune in to the station's live Web broadcast. So be sure to set your alarm clocks that morning and listen in. Hopefully I'm capable of putting a complete sentence together at that early hour.

Pre-order Lost in the Ivy

Be the first on your block to get a copy of Randy's debut novel, Lost in the Ivy. Online pre-orders of the book now can be made through the publisher's Web site. Here's the direct link to the book. Note that you can send an electronic postcard from that link recommending the book to others. Also, if you like the book, be sure to write a review of it. It's your words that can make the difference now.

Update on Thursday, June 23, 2005 at 09:33AM by Randy Richardson

Thank you to Bill G. for pointing out that the "direct link" to the pre-order page was dead. It's been fixed. If you have any problems ordering the book, please let me know.

Publication Release Date

If you are a loyal reader of this blog and jumped here from my Home Base and also have a good eye for detail, you may have noticed that something has changed on the entry page for the first time in a couple of months. No longer does it read Lost in the Ivy (Coming this summer). Now it reads Lost in the Ivy (Coming August 15, 2005).

Yes, the answer to the question that I am asked more often than any other can now be answered: my debut novel will be available on August 15, 2005.

In the coming days and weeks there will be more information provided on where you will be able to find me and my book. But for right now it's nice to just inform you that my book goes to the printer a week from today and will be out in two months. (In reality, it likely will be available before the official release date, but that gets overly complicated and I don't want to confuse anyone.)

Since my book is set against the backdrop of Chicago's storied Wrigley Field and follows a Cubs theme, I'd hoped that the official release date would have some meaningful connection to an important day in Cubs history. It does not. The best I could find was this tidbit, courtesy of www.todayinbaseballhistory.com: 08/15/1964 - Mayor Daley declares "Ernie Banks Day" in Chicago and 26,000 fans cheer the Cubs' slugger. Banks then goes hitless as Pittsburgh wins 5-4.

I suppose it is appropriate that Banks went hitless and the Cubs lost the game on a tribute day for Mr. Cub.

Book 'Em Literacy Event

A couple weeks ago I was contacted by e-mail through my Web site by Mark Kearney, a police officer from Waynesboro, VA. Now you might wonder, and reasonably so, why would a police officer from Waynesboro, VA be contacting little ol', law-abiding me?

Turns out I was wanted, not for an old speeding ticket but for my upcoming book, Lost in the Ivy. You see, last year Waynesboro started something great. It's called Book 'Em, a one-of-a-kind book fair. I'll let Mark explain it to you, as he did in this e-mail invitation:

Hello Mr. Richardson, I am Officer Mark Kearney of the Waynesboro Police Department in Waynesboro, Virginia. I am writing to invite you to the 2nd Annual Book ‘Em literacy event. Book ‘Em takes place on October 22 and 23, 2005 right here in Waynesboro. Book ‘Em is a unique book event in that we are probably the only Police Department in the entire world hosting a book fair where the goal is to highlight the connection between illiteracy/poor reading skills and crime rates. We have also started up several literacy programs and we hope to spread these to law enforcement agencies around the world.

Our website is www.bookemfoundation.org . I encourage you to take a look at the site to get an idea what we are doing. We’d love to have you attend, if you schedule permits.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about Book ‘Em or what we are trying to do.

Take care,

Mark

Officer Mark Kearney

Crime Prevention Officer

Waynesboro Police Department

Mark had even used his investigative skills to locate me. Apparently he had read about my book on another Web site and was intrigued enough to Google me. Fortunately he found me.

Over the last two weeks I mulled over the pros and cons of taking Mark up on his invitation. Waynesboro is not an easy place to get to. It's nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, about 90 minutes from Richmond, or about two and a half hours from Washington, D.C. The cost in terms of airfare, hotel and car would all be coming directly out of my pocket. I contacted my publicist and asked her if she knew any authors who went to last year's inaugural Book 'Em. She said she did. She thought it was a wonderful event and wished there were more like them. So when I found that I could get a round-trip ticket to D.C. for $160, I knew this was an opportunity I could not pass up. How often do you get an invitation like the one I got from Mark? And how often do you get a chance to do something like this that's for a truly great cause?

This is probably the one and only time that being booked by a police officer is a good thing. For further details, check my Appearances page. 

Update on Wednesday, June 1, 2005 at 11:25AM by Randy Richardson

Here's Officer Mark's response to this Journal entry:

Hey Randy,

Wow, I’m honored as to what you put on your website. Our goal, over time, is to spread the Book 'Em event around the country and the world as well as spreading the various literacy programs to every law enforcement agency in the world. With you putting this on your site, it will help us. Thank you so much.

Radio Interview

If you check out my Appearances link on the sidebar, you'll note a new addition -- my first scheduled radio interview. This is for a weekly show called "Writers, Authors,'n More", hosted by Megan Willingham, on Internet radio station AdviceRadio.com. The interview, which will last at least a half hour, will be taped on Wednesday, September 21, 5 PM PDT/ 8 PM EDT. That's 7 PM for my Chicago friends out there. Folks, this is your opportunity to get a good chuckle, all at my expense. Public speaking is not my best quality, so I'm looking at this down the road with more than a morsel of trepidation. If you'd like to participate in my public humiliation, I'm told that you can call in during the program at this number: 800-405-6425.

 

By the way, I expect to be posting at least a couple more appearances in the coming days. So, as always, stay tuned.