It Ain't Heavy -- It's My Body

My book of short stories, The Weight of a Body, was released six months ago by Denver's Ghost Road Press.

I've been cheered by the response. My 82-year-old uncle in Denver called late one night last April and said he'd read it cover to cover and was taken by the two post-WWII stories in the mix. One is about a traveling salesman in Wyoming ("Road Kill") and another about three Nisei doctors in downtown Denver circa 1951 ("The Good Doctors"). Not surprising, since my uncle was a traveling salesman during this time -- as was my father. Still, it was high praise from a man who admits his reading material is usually limited to the daily newspaper sports section and National Geographic.

A woman friend in Laramie bought five signed copies for Christmas presents (see special holiday offer below). My son Kevin read it and called from Tucson to ask if he was the young man with a troubled past portrayed in "Go, Ray, Go." I told him it was a composite of him and other 21-year-olds I've known in Cheyenne, a small High Plains city that's tough on its kids. An artist friend stopped me in Safeway and told me my stories were as good as any he's read. "I didn't know you could write like that," he said. Because he's a visual artist, I knew exactly how he painted. Since this was my first published book, he didn't know -- until now -- how I approached short fiction. A local woman who bought the book complimented me on the way I portrayed my women characters. Since I go out of my way to draw characters unlike me, this was high praise.

I've held readings and signings in Cheyenne, Sheridan, Rock Springs, Jackson, and Cheyenne. I'll be reading from my work at the Equality State Book festival Oct. 20 in Casper. I'm on the list of 200-some authors at the Big Book Bash in Denver Nov. 11. I'm working on a reading/signing in December at Laramie's Night Heron Books. I plan to stage a reading in Fort Collins, Colo., where I attended the CSU graduate program in creative writing. I also want to plug my book in Florida, which I refer to as "my other home state." Three of my stories are set there, two in Daytona's mythical neighboring community of Tomoka Beach.

You can find an excerpt here from one of the book's stories. Hope you enjoy it. Any comments are appreciated via my e-mail.

Cheyenne, Wyo., 10/16/06