Sometimes, the coincidence of a thing can leave you smiling. The paperback version of Deep Blood is available as of today (via Amazon here). Also today, the latest issue of The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature is out, with my short story, “Kenny’s Saturday Night Cake Walk,” and part of a recent conversation with the irrepressible Valerie McEwan, editor-in-chief (and artist and writer and storyteller and …) of the Mule. I certainly didn’t plan it this way, but the timing means that you can read the short story as sort of a prologue or preview of Deep Blood.
If you haven’t checked out the Dead Mule yet, do that now right here. If you’re from the South, you’re going to feel like you just came home to a house full of folks talking in the kitchen. If you’re not from the South (try not to be jealous), you’re going to see what the fuss is all about. Even if you don’t read all the quality fiction, poetry and essays, you’ll get a kick (see what I did there? Mule? Kick?) out of the something-of-a-specialty of the Mule: the Southern Legitimacy Statements. And, of course, if you’re looking to discover some new voices of the South, this is the place to do it.
The blog’s been quiet lately because of all the busy work of getting Deep Blood launched,
which turned out to be more than I anticipated. I’ll be doing a Q and A on Goodreads and a radio interview later this month, so stay tuned for more info on that.
I also am trying out (read: struggling to figure out) the Scrivener app for Mac, a writer’s tool that is supposed to organize and help compile all the various notes, research, ideas, etc., a writer usually scrawls down somewhere while writing a novel. I’m not sold on it yet — my current system of total disorganization seems to work better. But that’s another story.
Enjoy the Dead Mule. I did. And while you’re at it, check out the book trailer here, then buy a copy of Deep Blood.
Phillip Thompson 