Hooray! A week from tomorrow we kick off the 5th annual Prairie Gate Literary Festival, this year featuring amazing poet Vandana Khanna, creative nonfiction writer John Hildebrand, science fiction and fantasy writer Emma Bull, literary translator Ebba Segerberg, and triple threat (young adult writer, nonfiction writer, and literary agent) Eric Smith. Lots of free readings open to the public. If you’re in MN or nearby, think about making the drive out to Morris, and while you’re here you can grab a best-in-the-state grilled cheese at Don’s Cafe! Everything you need to know here.

Who doesn’t love free books?

Sign up HERE for the Goodreads Giveaway for Charmed Particles.

You can win one of 5 advance reader copies. Open Oct. 5–Oct. 26.

This fall, thanks to a grant from the Morris Area Arts Boosters, I’ll be a visiting writer in Ms. Knochenmus’s Creative Writing class at Morris Area High School. Great first day with these students! So looking forward to next month!

https://twitter.com/msknochenmus/status/647113842875482112

Thrilled to have a poem in the new anthology Stone, River, Sky: An Anthology of Georgia Poems out now from Negative Capability Press. Thanks to the editors for including “Savannah” in such good company! Likely the only time I’ll share pages with a former president!

Hey gang, I’m putting together a playlist for an upcoming Largehearted Boy piece on Charmed Particles (one of my longtime writer dreams come true!) and to play before/after my upcoming launch events. Who’s got suggestions for me? Hit me with your best songs re: physics, suburbia, Mary Kay ladies, local politics, gentlemen explorers, encyclopedias, cultural assimilation, novelty convenience foods, living history facilities, and/or the kind of music baby genius high school girls would have been into circa 1989.

Here’s what I’ve got so far:

• “Particle Man,” They Might Be Giants
• “Pleasant Valley Sunday,” the Monkeys
• “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want,” the Smiths
• “I Envy the Photons,” the Lesser Birds of Paradise
• “Atomic Power,” Uncle Tupelo
• “Supercollider,” Radiohead

I can’t wait to see what you guys suggest!

Newcity‘s Fall Lit Preview is out today: A huge thank you to Christine Sneed for the kind words about Charmed Particles (“a brainy, witty page-turner”) and for letting me rub elbows with such an accomplished crew! New books by Lauren Groff, Joe Meno, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Floyd Skloot—so much good stuff to read this fall!

Got to meet my editor, Michelle Dotter, and publicist, Sheryl Johnston, for the first time in person last night! So great to thank these amazing women for all of their work championing Charmed Particles and bringing this book into the world!

Advanced Reader Copies showed up today! Thank you, thank you Eleanor Jackson, Michelle Dotter, Guy Intoci, Gina Frangello, Dzanc Books, Dan Wickett, Steven Gillis, Rhonda Hughes, Meaghan Corwin, and Sheryl Johnston for making this dream come true. And gratitude always to Mona Susan Power and Peter Ho Davies for their early blurbs and votes of confidence!