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Loyola University’s Apprentice House Press Releases Goodman’s Literary Thriller
October 1, 2020
Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library Hosts Book Launch for Womb: a novel in utero
March 28 at 6:30 p.m., Baltimore
Experience Womb's Interactive Press Release
Explore the Press Kit for Womb: a novel in utero
January 17, 2017
Merge Publishing Announces Delivery Date for
Eric D. Goodman’s Womb: a novel in utero
January 9, 2017
Tracks and Flightless Goose Make the Baltimore Sun
October 23, 2015
Classics, Meet Your New Friend, Atticus
Atticus Books Blog pairs Tracks: A Novel in Stories by Eric D. Goodman with The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
September 17, 2015
MADISON, NJ – We started this press because we were interested in identifying works that merited a long shelf life, a life so long that people would talk about our titles for generations. That’s right, we founded this press with the wildly ambitious goal of finding “underground modern classics” or what we call Atticus Trade Paperback Originals. (And because we reside in a world of make-believe, we get to use oxymorons too.)
The following list provides a side-by-side glance of popular titles that remind us of Atticus books in style, theme, premise, or spirit. Some are contemporary classics, others critically acclaimed. We’re not saying our authors reinvented these classics. We’re just saying that if you like title X, then you should give Atticus title Y a stroll. Chances are you’re going to love it.
Support indie literature! Discover new authors!
September 17, 2015
MADISON, NJ – We started this press because we were interested in identifying works that merited a long shelf life, a life so long that people would talk about our titles for generations. That’s right, we founded this press with the wildly ambitious goal of finding “underground modern classics” or what we call Atticus Trade Paperback Originals. (And because we reside in a world of make-believe, we get to use oxymorons too.)
The following list provides a side-by-side glance of popular titles that remind us of Atticus books in style, theme, premise, or spirit. Some are contemporary classics, others critically acclaimed. We’re not saying our authors reinvented these classics. We’re just saying that if you like title X, then you should give Atticus title Y a stroll. Chances are you’re going to love it.
Support indie literature! Discover new authors!
Check out the Storiad ePress Kit
Tracks Wins Gold Medal for Year’s Best Fiction in Mid-Atlantic
By Writeful on May 7, 2012
The 2012 Independent Publisher Book Awards have been announced. Tracks: A Novel in Stories won the 2012 Gold Medal for Best Fiction in the Mid-Atlantic Region.
"Winning these awards brings well-deserved recognition to novelists who typically fly so unjustly far under the marketplace radar that they need to wear glow-in-the-dark cardigans to get attention," said Dan Cafaro, founder and publisher of Atticus Books. "We indie lit presses take pride in identifying and supporting writers whose inventive works fall through the cracks of commercial houses. The IPPY Awards help us build awareness and establish a bond with librarians, booksellers, bloggers, and readers. We're not publishing formulaic books that we think people will buy in droves. We're publishing compelling books that we think people should read in earnest."
The 2012 IPPY medalists are an elite group. There were more than 5,000 entries.
Tracks: A Novel in Stories is set on a train traveling from Baltimore to Chicago. Readers meet the strangers we encounter every day: a soldier returned from war, a traveling salesman, a computer geek on the run from the mob, a Holocaust survivor, a couple in love, a poet, a hit man. The New York Journal of Books calls Goodman “a born storyteller who weaves his tales of each individual character, and then ties them together to create a finely patterned cloth.” Madison Smart Bell called Tracks “a perfect read,” and Thomas Steinbeck dubbed Goodman “an exciting talent” who takes the craft of short story writing “to the level of art.”
Hop on the train and bring home the gold. Get it on sale, directly from the publisher, at https://atticusbooksonline.com/shop/tracks-a-novel-in-stories.
Hop on the online train at http://www.tracksnovel.com/
Atticus Books Wins Four IPPY Awards
By Atticus Press on May 8, 2012
ATTICUS BOOKS SWEEPS IPPY REGIONAL AWARDS WITH FOUR GOLD MEDAL WINS IN LITERARY FICTION
- Nazareth, North Dakotaby Tommy Zurhellen
- The Snow Whaleby John Minichillo
- The Great Lenoreby J.M. Tohline
- Tracks: A Novel in Storiesby Eric D. Goodman
KENSINGTON, MD — A giant whale. A woman who fakes her death. A retelling of the New Testament. A train journey. Four of this year’s eight Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY) in the U.S. Regional Awards in Fiction were awarded to novels published by Atticus Books.
The four gold medal recipients represent the eclectic combination of high-quality, genre-busting literary fiction published by the new press, which released its first book in October 2010. All four award-winning books are also the debut novels of their respective authors.
“Winning these awards brings well-deserved recognition to novelists who typically fly so unjustly far under the marketplace radar that they need to wear glow-in-the-dark cardigans to get attention,” said Dan Cafaro, founder and publisher of Atticus Books. “We indie lit presses take pride in identifying and supporting writers whose inventive works fall through the cracks of commercial houses. The IPPY Awards help us build awareness and establish a bond with librarians, booksellers, bloggers, and readers. We’re not publishing formulaic books that we think people will buy in droves. We’re publishing compelling books that we think people should read in earnest.”
Tommy Zurhellen’s Nazareth, North Dakota is a quirky, dirt-kicking ride through the 1980s North Dakota Badlands and a modern take on the story of the young messiah. Publishers Weekly said, “Zurhellen’s masterful dialogue often makes for gripping scenes that sustain these characters for decades.” The sequel, Apostle Islands, is forthcoming from Atticus Books in September.
John Minichillo’s The Snow Whale, a satire that examines identity, race, and our connection to nature within the bones of Herman Melville’s classic novel, Moby-Dick, follows mild-mannered suburban office worker John Jacobs’ journey on an Alaskan whale hunt adventure among the Inuit. The Los Angeles Times said, “Many serious issues are pretty much trampled here, but the result is wry, dry, pure hilarity all around.”
A ravishing, deceptive young British woman on Nantucket Island who orchestrates her death is at the heart of J M Tohline’s The Great Lenore, and takes its inspiration from two American classics: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Edgar Allen Poe’s poem “The Raven.” Small Press Reviews said Tohline’s novel is a “page-turner that introduces the literary world to an author with a clear and profound appreciation for the American literary canon.”
In Eric D. Goodman’s Tracks, a novel in stories set on a train traveling from Baltimore to Chicago, readers meet the strangers we encounter every day: a soldier returned from war, a traveling salesman, a computer geek, a Holocaust survivor, a couple in love, a poet, a hit man. The New York Journal of Books calls Goodman “a born storyteller who weaves his tales of each individual character, and then ties them together to create a finely patterned cloth.”
Atticus Books isn’t new to the IPPY Award. In 2011, a Gold Medal for Best Fiction from the U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region was awarded to Alex Kudera’s Fight For Your Long Day, a satire about how one survives—or doesn’t—as an adjunct university professor.
The IPPY Awards are given annually to all members of the independent publishing industry, and are intended to bring increased recognition to the thousands of exemplary independent titles published each year.
The 2012 IPPY Award winners are an elite group, with 372 medalists chosen from 5,203 total entries including 3,741 national category entries, 1,072 regional category entries, and 390 E-book category entries. IPPY medalists represent 44 U.S. states plus Washington, D.C., seven Canadian provinces, and 10 countries overseas.
Atticus Books is a publishing house based in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC that specializes in literary fiction. Atticus is run by founder and publisher Dan Cafaro and assistant editor Libby O’Neill. Visit us on the web at http://www.AtticusBooksOnline.com.
Contact: Lacey N. Dunham, Publicist
laceyd@atticusbooks.net / 301.525.8729
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2012 Independent Publisher Book Awards Results 16th Annual Awards to be Celebrated in New York on June 4th
By Independent Publisher on May 4, 2012
Mid-Atlantic – Best Regional Fiction
Gold: Tracks: A Novel in Stories, by Eric D. Goodman (Atticus Books)
Silver: After the Fog, by Kathleen Shoop (CreateSpace)
Bronze: The MineFields, by Steven C. Eisner (When Words Count Press)
Eric D. Goodman’s Debut Novel Travels Through the Heart of Baltimore
By Atticus Press on September 8, 2011
KENSINGTON, MD — John Waters might be Baltimore’s most famous resident and “The Wire” may serve well as a seedy introduction to outsiders, but Baltimore was noteworthy long before “Hairspray” and David Simon. Creative types have used Baltimore’s rich literary history and colorful characters in their work for years. Now local writer Eric D. Goodman gives the city’s homes and haunts a moment in the spotlight. From Fell’s Point to Federal Hill, Tracks re-discovers the heart of Baltimore’s diverse neighborhoods and include local sites like the Red Brick Station, the playground atop Federal Hill, Hotel Monaco, Baltimore’s Holocaust Memorial and the American Visionary Art Museum that give the novel a realistic and regional feel.
Goodman, a writer and frequent guest on WYPR, says he originally “thought I was just writing a few unrelated stories. But they all happened to involve trains. I’ve lived in Baltimore for more than ten years. I wanted to set Tracks in real places that people could recognize or visit. The train, however, is the most important setting—a character itself.”
The release party for Tracks, which is published by the Maryland-based independent press Atticus Books, is on September 27 at Max’s Taphouse, featured in Goodman’s book. “Max’s Taphouse is Baltimore’s best beer bar,” Goodman explained. “Besides, one of the stories… is called ‘A Good Beer Needs a Good Stein.’ A book with a story title like that belongs in a good beer pub.”
Goodman also will be making two appearances in September: He performs a reading at the Janice Holt and Henry Giles House in Knifley, Kentucky on Saturday (Sept. 17) and next Sunday (September 25) he will be at the Baltimore Book Festival discussing linked stories with Susi Wyss (The Civilized World) from 3 to 4 p.m. on the CityLit Stage in Mount Vernon, Md.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Eric D. Goodman’s work has appeared in The Baltimore Review, The Potomac, Grub Street, The Arabesques Review, and New Lines from the Old Line State: An Anthology of Maryland Writers, among others. Eric is the author of Flightless Goose, a storybook for children. Tracks is his first novel.
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‘Tracks’ Arrives at the Station June 30: An Interview with the Author
By Atticus Press on June 27th, 2011
We’ve all been there: stuck on the train, plane or bus, with nothing to do but stare at the strangers around us and imagine their recent heartbreaks, past fame, sordid histories and innermost dreams. Eric D. Goodman, however, has gone the extra mile when it comes to this imaginatively-invasive kind of people watching in his new novel, Tracks: A Novel in Stories. Following an array of passengers on a train from Baltimore to Chicago, this ideal summer read takes us into the mind of each, confirming all our suspicions that everyone else’s life is more interesting than our own. With the novel’s June 30 release date rapidly approaching, we’re sharing our tete-a-tete with the author himself, who shares everything from his original inspiration to John Waters’ plans for the movie (we can dream, can’t we?) Atticus Books: Rumor has it that Tracks is the new Polar Express for adults. Our publishing house made up this rumor just now to drum up further interest. Would you care to corroborate with us on this marketing ploy? What other shifty publicity stunts do you have planned for the launch of your debut novel?
Eric D. Goodman: Sure, I’m on board with that angle if we can make it work. I hear there’s another rumor that if John Steinbeck and Flannery O’Connor’s lovechild had written the Great American Novel and set it on a train traveling from Baltimore to Chicago, it would be just like Tracks. But that one may be a little far-fetched.
Honestly, I would love it if I could just focus on the creative writing side of things. When it comes to work, I’m happiest when I’m actually writing or pacing the floor working out plot lines and character motivations. But if I want Tracks to be noticed by potential readers, I realize that I have to take off the conductor’s hat and put on the public affairs hat. (Some readers of my blogs and Facebook page may have noticed that it’s a big hat.)
The Baltimore Sun’s book blog actually asked me to write a piece about e-marketing a book in today’s market. And I’m guest blogging, writing about writing and trains and writing on trains. I’m doing what I can to take any “news” item—a blurb from an author, a review, a reading event—and promote it with my blogs and on Facebook and Twitter. The Conductor, a fictional character from Tracks, has his own Facebook account. And there’s a Tracks Lounge Car on Facebook.
I’ll be reading from Tracks on The Signal, on Baltimore’s NPR station, 88.1 FM. It airs the day after Tracks comes out, at noon and 7 p.m. Then I’m interviewing on NPR’s morning show. And I have a number of readings at bookstores, festivals, and events set up, and more to come.
The better question may be “what are you NOT doing to market Tracks.” And I have an answer for that. I’d love to get Amtrak on board (since Tracks does take place on an Amtrak train) and do a whistle-stop book tour. And Oprah. She lived in Baltimore and moved to Chicago for a career (not unlike one of the characters in Tracks.) So Oprah, if you’re reading this, please call me.
AB: The shifting point of view in Tracks gives readers the refreshing ability to see characters both as they see themselves and as others on the train (often complete strangers) see them. What prompted you to write with such a wide array of perspectives?
EG: For as long as I can remember, I’ve been intrigued by the idea of multiple perspectives. I’d watch a movie or read a book and imagine how it would be different if told from the other guy’s point of view—or the point of view of a minor character. I’m also interested by the idea that every person, no matter how seemingly insignificant, has a story to tell. The guy who gets pulled off a motorcycle and thrown aside by the hero or villain and you never see again … that person has always interested me. What story he has to share at the dinner table or neighborhood bar. Where was he headed before the main characters took over his bike? What’s he going to do now?
So with Tracks, I thought it would be interesting to see these passengers on the train from multiple perspectives. And, appropriately, sometimes in very short sentences or passages. Some of the characters really are simply the guy who got pulled off the motorcycle—in one story. Then in another, that same character is the star and you see there is so much more to him than what another character perceives. How much thought do most people give to the person next to them on a train in the supermarket line? And yet, they all have as much complex emotion and activity going on as anyone else.
Also, I find it interesting that one person can be so many things, and sometimes these roles are the “whole picture” for some of the people in their lives. For example, a woman may be a powerful executive to her staff, just a woman in a pants suit to the cashier who sees her every day at the supermarket, “our little girl” to her parents, “the girl of my dreams” to someone sharing a drink with her, and mommy to her kid. One person with so many roles in isolated places.
AB: In many of the stories, we see a passenger observe and reflect on a stranger, constructing elaborate stories for someone he or she has never met. Is there a universal need to place people in narratives and, if so, where do you think it comes from? Did this tendency play any role in your inspiration for the book?
EG: I don’t think that every person is a people-watcher, but there certainly are a lot of us. Maybe I’m interested in people because I’m a writer, or maybe it’s the other way around. If I’m at an airport, in a mall, or anywhere there are a lot of strangers, I find myself imagining lives for them. You see a man and you wonder: is he going home to his wife and three kids; is he divorced and going home to watch youtube with a beer and TV dinner; is he going to watch a game with his buddies or read a book with the cat on his lap? It’s sort of a game. And the truth is, for those who play it, you’re probably never right. That woman I mentioned earlier, with all of those various roles? She’s so multi-faceted; how could you possibly peg a person without getting to know them? With fiction, you can get to know them—or versions of them—on your own. So yes, I think the tendency to create stories for people you don’t know, or imaginary people, did play a role in writing this sort of book.
AB: You didn’t really write this book on a train, did you? Didn’t you make other passengers uncomfortable by closely observing their actions and dreaming up their imaginary lives? Were you ever escorted off a train by the conductor for inappropriate eye contact? What are your writing habits when you’re not stalking strangers?
EG: No, I wrote it in my home office. In fact, I recently realized that (coincidentally) every first draft of a novel I’ve written has been at the same desk (although in several different locations). A simple pine desk that belonged to my father. I’ve been writing on that desk ever since he gave it to me back in the mid 1980s. In fact, I used it before that, when it was still his.
So I didn’t write Tracks on the tracks, but I did take the Cardinal line from Baltimore to Chicago after I’d written a couple drafts, just to make sure I didn’t have any major mistakes in the details. No, I didn’t actually approach people and ask, “are you a hit man?” or “you’re trying to make it big again, aren’t you?” I did talk to some of the conductors, told them I was working on a novel set on the train, and asked for a tour—which they were happy to provide.
My writing habits? I know a lot of writers say sit down and force yourself to write every day. When it comes to fiction, that approach doesn’t work for me. I like to submerge myself in my writing, so I tend to work better in long spurts. I do write something almost every day (non-fiction, PR, blogs) so I stay in practice. But when it comes to fiction, I may go months without writing anything more than notes or passages. Then, I’ll dive in and for a few weeks or months I eat, breathe, and live the book. During those periods I’m writing 10-15 hours a day. When I read or watch a movie or documentary, it is somehow related to the book I’m writing. I’ll write an entire first draft that way, put it aside, and a year or so later write an entire second draft that way, and so on. So I may only write fiction “full time” for a few months out of the year, but during that time, I’m in all the way.
AB: How important is geography (particularly that of Baltimore) to the story? Is it significant that all of your characters are in a sort of geographical limbo when we meet them?
EG: Baltimore plays a big role in the book. I wanted the scenes to be set in real places that people would recognize in Baltimore, Chicago, and on the train. Because the departure point of the train and book are Baltimore, most of the characters are from there, so Tracks is very much a Baltimore book. It can be seen as regional fiction.
At the same time, I think the stories in Tracks are universal. If you know Baltimore or Chicago or the train, you’ll recognize the settings. If you’re not, you’ll still get the feelings and situations in the book. I think the train setting—being virtually unset—helps with that universal feeling. It also underlines (excuse the wordplay) the idea that all of the characters are on a journey internally, faced with decisions that may alter their path ahead and cast past decisions in a new light. The train, being in transition, is a perfect setting for the stories of people considering changes in their lives.
AB: To add to the unsubstantiated Hollywood rumors, we hear that filmmaker John Waters has expressed an interest in directing a movie based on Tracks as long as the characters all dress in drag. How far would you go to option the rights to your book? Has Amtrak come calling?
EG: I love a good adaptation of a book as much as any moviegoer. I’ve always thought, however, that it’s a good idea to give the movie version a different name and perhaps subtitle it “inspired by the novel by so and so.” Because the movie and the book are seldom the same. I think a movie like Adaptation was a good example of the movie version being something different than the book, but both worked well.
Movie buff friends and I have talked about the idea of Tracks as a film or mini-series. There are so many different kinds of stories in Tracks, and a movie script would probably only use a fourth of them, so I think the script and which stories were adapted would have to depend on the director. It could be several different movies.
If John Waters ends up directing, will it be called The Divine Train or Drag Tracks? And how likely would it be to become a Broadway musical?
AB: While the stories and their vantage points vary, each passenger struggles with the possibility of personal change or switching tracks, so to speak (pun inevitable). Could you talk about this theme?
EG: In most good stories, there has to be something at stake. For Tracks, I wanted the conflicts to be the sort that most readers could relate to. Yet I wanted to emphasize that smaller conflicts can be huge when it’s your conflict. So each character in Tracks is not only on this shared journey by train, but also an emotional or internal journey. And the paths ahead are not as clear as a line of railroad track.
AB: Given the variety of personalities and backgrounds in your characters, readers are likely to find one or two with whom they identify most closely and in whom they see some of themselves. Is there such a character for you?
EG: It’s hard to say. There isn’t any one character in the book I can point to and say, that’s me. They’re all fictional. But there’s a bit of me in every story and every character, emotionally. I care about all of these characters and situations, which is why I wrote about them. But the connection can be as simple as an overheard conversation that made me dream up a situation, or a scene from a book or movie that inspired me to conjure up my own variation.
AB: Were there specific storylines you enjoyed writing more so than others? On the flip side, were there any that you found yourself dreading and avoiding?
EG: For me, a story usually begins with an idea, then characters, then the plot. But when the idea comes, sometimes I have no clue what story will express it. For example, “Freedom” is the one “war story” of the book. The seed of the story was really the idea that people tend to become like those around them. But as the characters and story developed, it became a war story and probably the most political story of the book.
I don’t really have a most or least favorite story in Tracks. But I’d say the easiest to write was probably “A Good Beer Needs a Good Stein.” It was a fun story to write, and the dialogue just jumped onto the page. The most difficult story to write may have been “She’s Gone,” because I was writing about a grown man with a mental impairment and I wanted to treat him with dignity and respect, but also show him as others saw him and as he saw himself. I wanted to be honest about his actions, but careful not to offend any readers. So I had heavy hands as I wrote and rewrote those pages.
AB: Are you working on a new book? We see potential in threading “people watching” narratives at airport terminals, car rental agencies, and doctor’s offices nationwide. What do you think? Will your next novel-in-stories be called Air Traffic, perhaps?
EG: There is some potential there! In all honesty, I do love the novel-in stories format and would love to do another one. I think the novel-in-stories is great because you have the best of both worlds: stand-alone stories and a larger narrative. I’d like to do another. But the book I’m finishing up now, Womb, is strictly a novel. I started to say “a more traditional novel,” but there’s not much traditional about it. Womb is narrated by a child who hasn’t been born yet. My agent and I are discussing the revisions now and I plan to have a manuscript ready later this year. Unless John Waters wants me to adapt Tracks for his film. Then I might have to hop back on the train for awhile.
Let the Contest and Countdown Begin
We’ve turned the page of the calendar to Tracks Month! Tracks, a novel in stories, is being released by Atticus Books on June 30—let the countdown to Tracks Day begin!
Atticus Books wants to send two lucky readers a free copy of Tracks hot off the press! There are five easy ways to enter the contest. You can enter as many times as you’d like during the month of June, and each entry will increase your chances of winning one of the free books.
Two lucky winners will receive a free copy of Tracks, hot off the press—postage included for winners within the United States. In the case of a winner outside the United States, you can select the eBook version or pay the postage for your free printed book.
What are you waiting for? Remember that you can enter as often as you like during the month of June—so enter early and enter often!
Let the Tracks Contest and Countdown begin!
Atticus Books wants to send two lucky readers a free copy of Tracks hot off the press! There are five easy ways to enter the contest. You can enter as many times as you’d like during the month of June, and each entry will increase your chances of winning one of the free books.
- Share Tracks on Facebook. Write a post and share the link to www.TracksNovel.com, or repost / share one of my Tracks-related posts (like this one). Be creative!
- Share Tracks on Twitter. Tweet all about Tracks and include a link to www.TracksNovel.com. Condense your wit to 180 characters!
- Share Tracks with your contacts. Send an email blast to your list of friends and colleagues about Tracks and be sure to include the www.TracksNovel.com link.
- “Like” the Lounge at http://www.facebook.com/#%21/pages/Tracks-the-lounge-car/182330691789512
- “Friend” Franklin, the Conductor, at www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001923080723
Two lucky winners will receive a free copy of Tracks, hot off the press—postage included for winners within the United States. In the case of a winner outside the United States, you can select the eBook version or pay the postage for your free printed book.
What are you waiting for? Remember that you can enter as often as you like during the month of June—so enter early and enter often!
Let the Tracks Contest and Countdown begin!
‘Tracks’ Set to Arrive in the Summer of 2011
By Atticus Press on January 12th, 2011
Atticus Elated to Ride the Rails with Goodman and His Debut Novel
KENSINGTON, MD — Eric D. Goodman has spent years on the road, reading stories and winning praise from scores of listeners. The long-time Baltimore resident is a versatile writer with a successful weblog, Writeful, a children’s book, Flightless Goose, and a great knack for performing public readings of his works. He now has found a place to lay his Tracks, his first novel in stories.
Independent press Atticus Books, a Maryland-based publishing house, is thrilled to announce that Goodman’s debut novel, Tracks—described by one reviewer as a “Tarantino-style ‘Love Actually’ meets literary fiction”—will be among its highly anticipated 2011 summer releases.
“Eric has a natural gift of being a fine storyteller who knows how to speak volumes in short spurts,” says Dan Cafaro, founding publisher of Atticus Books. “He understands that as a novelist, you don’t always have to run a marathon to go the distance. Sometimes a series of sprints will get you to the finish line, too.”
Tracks takes place on an Amtrak train traveling from Baltimore to Chicago. Each story is told from the perspective of a passenger on the train. They are the strangers we meet every day: a soldier, a salesman, a former mobster, a Holocaust survivor, couples in love, a woman who has lost her parents, a writer, a hit man. These and other characters fill the train with emotion and complexity.
In Tracks, Goodman has interweaved stories and connects his readers to the characters by bringing them to life, not only through his fluid, engaging writing, but in the delivery of his vibrant, animated readings. Described by WYPR as “a regular on the Baltimore literary scene,” Goodman frequently reads his fiction in venues all over the area such as the Baltimore Book Festival, the Baltimore Authors Showcase, the Patterson Theater, XandO, Ukazoo, Cyclops, the Festival of Trees, the CityLit Festival, and the Watermark Gallery.
From nefarious goings-on in a Fells Point row house to prestigious partying on Federal Hill, Goodman’s Baltimore is immediately recognizable and real.
“On one hand, Eric’s created a straight-forward collection of first-person narratives that works superbly on its own, as a group of standalone pieces,” Cafaro says. “On the other [hand], his stories become even more powerful by his seamlessly linking and intersecting these lives on a passenger train. Through this authentic technique, he paints a rich tapestry of vignettes: a cross-cultural, boundary-breaking snapshot of everyday, yet colorful people on an imagery-filled, life-changing journey.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Eric D. Goodman is an American writer of literary fiction, commercial fiction, childrens’ literature, and non-fiction. He writes a weekly “Lit Bit” column for Gather and a “Literary Life” column for Coloquio.
Goodman’s “Cicadas” leads off the Maryland Writers’ Association’s first book, New Lines from the Old Line State: An Anthology of Maryland Writers. You can hear Eric read “Cicadas” here, as featured on The Signal broadcast by National Public Radio (NPR).
You also can listen here to Eric reading “A Good Beer Needs a Good Stein” from Tracks, also featured on NPR’s The Signal.
Railroad Tracks photo source: Miles Skorpen
Link directly to the Atticus press release here.
http://atticusbooksonline.com/anticipated-arrival-of-tracks-set-for-summer-2011/
By Atticus Press on January 12th, 2011
Atticus Elated to Ride the Rails with Goodman and His Debut Novel
KENSINGTON, MD — Eric D. Goodman has spent years on the road, reading stories and winning praise from scores of listeners. The long-time Baltimore resident is a versatile writer with a successful weblog, Writeful, a children’s book, Flightless Goose, and a great knack for performing public readings of his works. He now has found a place to lay his Tracks, his first novel in stories.
Independent press Atticus Books, a Maryland-based publishing house, is thrilled to announce that Goodman’s debut novel, Tracks—described by one reviewer as a “Tarantino-style ‘Love Actually’ meets literary fiction”—will be among its highly anticipated 2011 summer releases.
“Eric has a natural gift of being a fine storyteller who knows how to speak volumes in short spurts,” says Dan Cafaro, founding publisher of Atticus Books. “He understands that as a novelist, you don’t always have to run a marathon to go the distance. Sometimes a series of sprints will get you to the finish line, too.”
Tracks takes place on an Amtrak train traveling from Baltimore to Chicago. Each story is told from the perspective of a passenger on the train. They are the strangers we meet every day: a soldier, a salesman, a former mobster, a Holocaust survivor, couples in love, a woman who has lost her parents, a writer, a hit man. These and other characters fill the train with emotion and complexity.
In Tracks, Goodman has interweaved stories and connects his readers to the characters by bringing them to life, not only through his fluid, engaging writing, but in the delivery of his vibrant, animated readings. Described by WYPR as “a regular on the Baltimore literary scene,” Goodman frequently reads his fiction in venues all over the area such as the Baltimore Book Festival, the Baltimore Authors Showcase, the Patterson Theater, XandO, Ukazoo, Cyclops, the Festival of Trees, the CityLit Festival, and the Watermark Gallery.
From nefarious goings-on in a Fells Point row house to prestigious partying on Federal Hill, Goodman’s Baltimore is immediately recognizable and real.
“On one hand, Eric’s created a straight-forward collection of first-person narratives that works superbly on its own, as a group of standalone pieces,” Cafaro says. “On the other [hand], his stories become even more powerful by his seamlessly linking and intersecting these lives on a passenger train. Through this authentic technique, he paints a rich tapestry of vignettes: a cross-cultural, boundary-breaking snapshot of everyday, yet colorful people on an imagery-filled, life-changing journey.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Eric D. Goodman is an American writer of literary fiction, commercial fiction, childrens’ literature, and non-fiction. He writes a weekly “Lit Bit” column for Gather and a “Literary Life” column for Coloquio.
Goodman’s “Cicadas” leads off the Maryland Writers’ Association’s first book, New Lines from the Old Line State: An Anthology of Maryland Writers. You can hear Eric read “Cicadas” here, as featured on The Signal broadcast by National Public Radio (NPR).
You also can listen here to Eric reading “A Good Beer Needs a Good Stein” from Tracks, also featured on NPR’s The Signal.
Railroad Tracks photo source: Miles Skorpen
Link directly to the Atticus press release here.
http://atticusbooksonline.com/anticipated-arrival-of-tracks-set-for-summer-2011/
Tracks was a semi-finalist in the First Chapters Writing Competition, sponsored by Simon & Schuster, Borders, and Gather.