Day One

Well, this is Day One for the Windy City Author's Blog. First thanks must go to Nicole Daines Gibeaut who has not removed her boot from my butt since she first decided three months ago that it was imperative I have a blog. Of course when it came to actually creating the damn thing she was out to lunch with Steven Spielberg or someone and absolutely no help. I love her anyway.

You can thank the great novelist and screenplay writer Ryne Douglas Pearson for giving me the title "Windy City Author." He hung the monniker on me and I love it; it's also in keeping with my love for Chicago. Oh, I like 'Frisco, NY, Boston, Philly and Atlanta, and many other wonderful towns -- and I also love the country life too -- but the older I get the more I appreciate my hometown. It's a world class city made up of wonderful neighborhoods situated on one the most beautiful bodies of water in America. It's an in-your-face town with a big heart and a warm smile and the best damn food in the world. Chicagoans have their squabbles and some are legendary but they never let a grudge get in the way of an emergency. Chicagoans are culturally diverse and come in all colors, religions, nationalities and various other stripes and persuasions. Chicago could teach the rest of the nation a thing or two about the true meaning of the American Spirit.

My new novel, January Moon, celebrates a lot of what is so wonderful about Chicago, perhaps most of all its many fabulous restaurants. Good food is a passion of mine and so I think it might be great fun to occassionally blog about a few of my favorite Chicago restaurants.  Maybe I'll throw in some of my own favorite recipes. Lou Santucci ('Tooch), Del Carter's heroic and sometimes comical partner in January Moon, is Italian and I share his love for Italian cooking. I'm thinking he should maybe write a cookbook -- you know, just to give him a break from fighting bad guys. What do you think?  Maybe I can get some of his killer recipes and post them here.

Oh, and then's there's Greek and Mexican and Chinese and Tai and Polish and German and Good Ol' Soul Food... Yeah, I think this blog will introduce you to some of the best of the best in those cuisines, as well.

But right off the bat I have to tell you don't even think you know pizza or hot dogs if you're not from Chicago. It just ain't so. Stick with me and you'll learn... I'll explain it down the road.

This blog is primarily going to be about the trials and tribulations of writing books, discussions about and adventures in self-publishing, and I want to also use it as a friendly place for other writers to come and talk about their books and their lives and their frustrations and joys. I'll post book reviews and links to other blogs and, of course, discuss my perspective on a number of things. From time to time my posts may wander off into political commentary and/or history. I'm a historian and I just can't help it.

So even if you don't think of yourself as a writer and never want to write a book but you love to read books and talk about them, and like to follow me and my running political commentaries, well then ya'all, c'mon over. Feel free to write me about that last movie you saw, the great book you're reading, or share with me a neat recipe or a new restaurant you want to recommend.

If you've read January Moon you might get a kick out of the interviews I'm going to post with Del and Jess and Wiley and Eliot. Wolf might even have something to say. If you have any questions for any of my friends in the book just ask away.

And by all means if you come across something that you think is newsworthy, especially if it pertains to any of the hot button contemporary issues I incorporate in my books, by all means please contact me, ok? I really rely so much on my friends to help me with my research. I can't keep up with all the issues I need to follow so if you'd like to serve as my eyes and ears I will be most grateful.  More on that later... 

I'm not going to subscribe to any formula or attempt to maintain a rigid focus.  We will wander where we will wander, OK? This blog needs a lot of work; I know that. I'm not techno-savvy so bear with me. I hope that over the next few days, weeks, and months you'll see it become more sophisticated with links and widgets and gadgets and billydoos of all kinds... podcasts, videos, and whatchamacallems.

We're only going to have one rule and that's mutual respect.  Shouldn't be a problem, right? 

Didn't think so!