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Really smart book clubs are such great things. This one was last night at a classic New Suffolk house, with me talking about The Ruins. Everyone had read it. Lots and lots of great discussion back and forth. The book business comes down to really one thing: word of mouth. We tell stories because they keep us going. @inkwellmgmt @burtonsbooks @bnriverheadny @mysterywritersofamerica

A few announcements:

The deadline to enter the PORCHLIGHT Prize in Poetry is coming up fast, May 31. More info at readporchlight.com

The new edition of PORCHLIGHT is out now, including poetry by Gene Hyde, Carol Parris Krauss, and E.J. Wade; short stories by Tracy Barrett & Alison Bertolini, Brian Longacre, Christie Harper, Dwight Hinson, Ken Teutsch, and Eli Allen; novella by Steve Wick, second monthly installment.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support.

#southernliterature #southernwriters #literarysouth #literarymagazine #readporchlight

Porchlight: A Journal of Southern Literature, has published on its site the second installment of my novella, Mr. Wilson. Go the site, and click on 'read' on the upper left to find the story. Please keep up with it as installments come out. This novella imagines a Black, Georgia-born man, Jimmy Wilson, who spent his life in farm labor camps on eastern Long Island, making the trek to southern Georgia, an area that has haunted his entire life. @inkwellmgmt @newyorkermag @theatlantic @suffolktimes @atlantajournalconstitution

Porchlight: A Journal of Southern Literature, has printed the first installment of my novella, Mr. Wilson. Here is the link: https://www.readporchlight.com/read/fiction-by-steve-wick/ @porchlight_southernlit @inkwellmgmt

Thanks to Nick Grasso and Newsday for a story on our efforts to turn the book 'All That Remains' into an opera! The stories of the labor camp in Cutchogue and the southern-born men and women who lived there must be preserved. And what a better way to do that than an opera. In the story, Tanya Birl, the opera's director, says these stories are "universal...and a search for who you are." The opera will be previewed next July on the historical ground at Sylvester Manor on Shelter Island. @newsday @suffolktimes @ritesofspringmusic @the_northforker @cnsflibrary

For those North Fork readers familiar with the book 'All That Remains,' which is about the men and women who lived in the farm labor camp on Depot Lane in Cutchogue before it was destroyed by fire, the news is that Paolo Bartolani's Rites of Spring Musical Festival is raising funds to turn the stories of these southern-born Black men and women into an opera. A director has been brought in, along with a Librettist and a Composer. This week's East End Beacon has a terrific write-up on the effort. Next July, at the historic Sylvester Manor on Shelter Island, the creative team will debut their work so far. The opera will help preserve the stories of the farm workers, their lives in the South and what became of them after the fire, in one of the most historic settings on the East End. At one time, Sylvester Manor was the most northern slave plantation in the Americas. Thank you Beth Young and the East End Beacon. @eastendbeacon @suffolktimes @newsday @nytimes @27east @theexpressmagazine @the_northforker

A friend pointed out that the online issue of Popular Mechanics, dated March 4, has a story with the headline: "one of America's greatest mysteries might be ready for a reexamination." The story speaks of "new evidence" that could upend "what we know about the Charles Lindbergh baby kidnapping and murder." A new review of the trial, conviction and execution of Bruno Hauptmann, for a crime he didn't commit, is more than overdue and - so far - is opposed by authorities in New Jersey, where he was tried and executed. Readers of my novel, The Ruins, know how Long Island police chief Paul Beirne learns who is behind the death of the child. Truth will one day win out, and the person behind the death of the child will be known. Hauptmann's execution was a great travesty. @pegasus_books @inkwellmgmt

Some very good news: The Ruins has been submitted by Pegasus Books for an Edgar Award for Best First Novel! The award is given by the Mystery Writers of America, the most prestigious writer's organization devoted to the mystery/crime genre. Thank you Pegasus! And thank you to all the readers of this first novel. @pegasus_books @inkwellmgmt @bnriverheadny @burtonsbooks @lindenhurst_library @mysterywritersofamerica

Thank you Julie Howard at the Ocean City NJ library for inviting me to speak about my novel The Ruins. The talk and questions were great. @pegasus_books @inkwellmgmt

Sullaluna Bistro in the West Village was the site Thursday night of Pegasus Books 20th anniversary party. As one person described it, the event was an old school NYC publishing party, with book agents, editors, and writers all together. The talk was all books. I was honored to be there as Pegasus published my first novel, The Ruins. It was a great night to be in the West Village with a very talented group of people. Congratulations Pegasus! @pegasus_books @inkwellmgmt

I want to thank Ellie and the staff at Barnes and Noble in riverhead to sign copies of my crime novel, The Ruins. This is my second book signing there. And what a great store.#bnriverheadny #pegasusbooks

Wow! what a great night at #lindenhurstlibrary where a great audience of several dozen people came to talk about The Ruins, a novel set in Lindenhurst in the 1950s and based on an actual murder that took place there in 1954. All seats were filled for this 7 pm event, with the library supplying 35 copies of the novel and those who came bringing more than two dozen additional copies, which I signed. The Village of Lindenhurst is ground zero for the story told in The Ruins, and those who came last night wanted to talk about it. An enthusiastic crowd, a great community library. Thank you Kara Thomas of the library staff for setting this up. I'd love to come back. One theme of those who spoke: as a community, Lindenhurst needs to come to terms with its history. Perhaps a work of fiction can tell the truth better than anything else. #lindenhurstlibrary #pegasusbooks