Release of KENT STATE pushed back to September

The release of KENT STATE: FOUR DEAD IN OHIO has been pushed back from April 4 until September 8, 2020. 

This was a difficult decision, since I very much wanted the book to be published in conjunction with the 50th commemoration of the Kent State Shootings on May 4. The coronavirus and unfolding events, obviously, have torched those plans. Abrams Books decided it would be better to wait, in the hope this crisis will ease over the summer, and the country can return to a semblance of normality. I completely agree. In fact, I pushed for this.

This is an important story, one I don’t want overlooked during the necessary fixation on the pandemic and its effects. I’m very proud of this book. The story of the four students who were cut down is deeply important to me. The issues that KENT STATE raises have no expiration date. In fact, it could well be it’s more relevant than ever in September. 

Be safe, everyone. I’ll see you in the Fall.

Locked out of Facebook. Again.

For the 10,000-plus of you who follow me on my Facebook feed, yeah, I've been locked out again. This is, if memory serves, the third time this has happened in the past 5 years or so. The latest, I suspect, is Facebook's admitted "glitch" in their A.I. rooting out Russian bots that are spreading fake news about coronavirus. Sorry, Uncle Putin, I've failed you!

Hopefully, this is resolved soon. Or maybe it won't be. I've been focusing more on Twitter, since my last lock out, and this may be the thing that prods me to abandon Facebook completely. I was planning to after the Kent State launch and tour anyways, but... hahaha... well, what difference does that make now?

My Twitter is HERE

Book tour update

Yeah, the book tour above is looking like a smoldering ruin. If you follow me on Twitter and Facebook, you already know the first three events are canceled. The big NYC launch ain't happening. The gallery show at the Society of Illustrators will still be hung, God bless em, but with the city on lockdown, who will come? I was particularly looking forward to the opening of that show. It's a huge honor and a real career validation. It'll hang until mid-June. Maybe this will have blown over by then. Yeah, I know. Wishful thinking, probably.

All the libraries are currently closed, it's anyone's guess for how long, and the state universities have shuttered campuses for the remainder of the semester, so those events are likely finished, although I haven't gotten final word yet. This is only a technicality.

I hold out slim hope for some of the fests later in the Spring, but that is probably just wishful thinking, too. I'm not optimistic about Comic Con either.

As of right now, there will be no book launch. Kent State will be released on April 7 and the online stores will start selling it then. Brick-and-mortar stores? Who knows if they'll even be open by then. 

I'm not looking for sympathy here. It is what it is. Every author with a Spring book is facing this same challenge. 

I'm hoping to set up an online signing service. My favorite indie bookstore here in Cleveland will take orders from anywhere, I'll personalize the copies and add a title page sketch, and the books will be shipped out. So people who want a signed book will be able to get one. Unless, of course, the post office shuts down, too. Groan. So stay tuned for details on that.

I'm now re-focusing on the Fall. Jesus Christ, I hope this thing has passed by then. A second leg to the tour above was already in the works. Some of the cancelled events will be rescheduled then, if possible. I fear the fests and cons that are cancelled will remain so. 

Stay safe everyone. Hopefully, I see you somewhere down the road.