Curveball at the Crossroads at Bookstore1 Sarasota Book Fair October 22nd 2022

 

I love book fairs. As much as I love solo book signings, book fairs are better than solo book signings because I have a chance to meet fellow authors and writers. They also attract more people than solo book signings. They are a chance for me to see how other authors peddle their wears. I have learned a lot from fellow authors.

For example, the last few book fairs I have gone to I forgot to bring a mailing list. Mailing lists are important. Especially if I want to build a fanbase. 

This coming weekend, on October 22nd, 2022, I will be headed to Sarasota, Florida for the Bookstore1 Sarasota annual book fair. Bookstore1 is a very cute bookstore tucked in downtown Sarasota. They are around the corner and through the breezeway from a weekend market. I think there will be plenty of foot traffic for the book fair, which of course is a great thing.

Book fairs are also a chance to be outgoing and use my best sales pitch. I am basically carnival barking my book, trying to convince people to buy it instead of any of the other books for sale. But it is not a competition. It is a celebration of local authors and their creations.

But for real, Curveball at the Crossroads was runner-up, Best Book by a Local Author in 2021 for a reason.

The Bookstore1 Sarasota book fair should be a great time. Here is the link for more information:

https://www.sarasotabooks.com/fall2022-local-author-book-fair

Curveball at the Crossroads in the FSView

 

Tallahassee Talent Promoted to the Big Leagues - Kani Schram, FSView, 10/2/2022

Since publishing Curveball at the Crossroads, I have had the honor of some great reviews and write-ups. People have compared me to WP Kinsella, Christopher Moore, and other fantastic authors. It is all very humbling and very special.

But no review has been more special than my most recent in the FSView and Florida Flambeau. The FSView and Florida Flambeau is the campus paper of my alma mater, Florida State University. It is also the newspaper where I got my start twenty years ago. It was the first place I saw my name in print.

For those curious, I have reprinted some of my old FSView articles here under the tag "The FSView Collection". Since the FSView's website doesn't have a good archive, I figure I am not breaking any copyright laws reposting my own stuff.

The FSView has always had a soft spot in my heart. Once the Florida Flambeau, the paper merged with the FSView in the 1990s and became the FSView and Florida Flambeau. The paper has a history of speaking truth to power, taking on the campus powers-that-be on several occasions. Even though I wrote for the Lifestyles section, I always kept the history of the paper in mind, especially if I had the chance to write about less popular groups, clubs, or people.

But to now be written about in the paper? That's awesome.

I want to thank writer Kani Schram. She is a freshman writer for the FSView and even though she is in the beginning of her writing career, she did a great job with the article on me. I was very impressed and I hope to read her work again as she continues to bigger things.

I don't know how many FSView alumni have continued writing. I don't know how many have been written about in the same paper that they got their start. It is an awesome feeling. Among all my reviews, this might be one of my favorite.

Talking to Drinking With Authors

 

In an attempt to promote Curveball at the Crossroads, I have made appearances on several podcasts. On the recommendation of fellow local author Mark Muncy, I contacted the fine folks at Drinking With Authors and we scheduled an online conversation.

About Drinking With Authors:

We always imagine a day when we’re having a drink at our favorite bar, dive, or even eatery and our favorite author comes through the doors. Much to your luck, they sit next to you and conversation ensues! That’s what Drinking With Authors is all about! Join us over drinks to discover the backstory and journey of authors like Tamara Lush, Connie Y Harris, Kenya Wright, Jonathan Maberry, Dan Wells, Jeffe Kennedy, Heather Graham, Melinda M. Snodgrass, and so many more. We interview authors all over the spectrum including those who just started their journey with their debut book and those who have scripted some of our favorite television and Netflix shows! Pour yourself a drink, pull up a seat, and join us as we get to know our favorite authors and gain some inspiration for fellow writers and sheer entertainment for fans!

Listen to my talk with Drinking With Authors here:

Curveball at the Crossroads Audiobook Review

 

I never realized how difficult it is marketing an audiobook. While the audiobook market is in the billions, how do you promote an audiobook? With a physical book, I can show it to people anywhere and they can touch it, feel it, and hopefully buy it. But with an audiobook, there is another level of engagement. They have to play it and find the time to listen to it.

One of the ways I learned to promote the Curveball at the Crossroads audiobook is to submit it to audiobook review websites. A few months ago, I submitted the Curveball at the Crossroads audiobook to AudioFileMagazine.com. They publish dozens of audiobook reviews. I wasn't sure if they were going to review it or not. Lo and behold, last week they sent me an email stating their review was published.

Narrator Torian Brackett gives star treatment to each character in this story of a faustian bargain. Seventeen-year-old JaMark Reliford is poised for big league baseball--until he blows out his arm. After leaving home, depressed, drinking, and smoking, he meets a tall man in a zoot suit. The tempting voice that Brackett gives the devil entices JaMark with promises of baseball glory in return for his soul. Soon he meets Betsy, the love of his life--and another standout performance by Brackett--and moves to the Major League. But these successes are marred by his heartbreaking worry about the future of his soul, coupled with terrifying visits from the devil. Audio is a must for the subtle humor that shines through JaMark's anxiety. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2022]

I agree. Torian did an amazing job, although the review failed to mention my favorite part - Torian's spectacular job as the play-by-play radio announcer.

Hopefully this is the start of the audiobook taking off in sales. Or at least the start of other reviews. I hope other enjoy the Curveball at the Crossroads audiobook as much as I do.

For those who haven't heard, he is a preview of Torian Brackett's narration of Curveball at the Crossroads.

Curveball at the Crossroads Review by Guy Who Reviews Sports Books

 

Book reviewers are busy. There are a lot of books published and a lot of books to be read. On this site, I think I have reviewed maybe a dozen or two. I can't imagine hosting a website dedicated to regularly reviewing books. But thankfully, some people have better dedication to reading and writing than I do.

Lance Smith is one of those people. Lance is a sports book reader who writes for his aptly named website The Guy Who Reviews Sports Books. Very early on in my marketing process, I sent Lance a copy of Curveball at the Crossroads. As you can see in the image, it is the first edition, which was no available as of November 2021. But that is the version Lance had and that Lance eventually read.

I emailed Lance several times, typically once every few months, to see where Curveball at the Crossroads was in his to-be-read pile. Every avid reader has a to-be-read pile. Finally in August, Lance emailed me to say he was starting the book. A few weeks later, he emailed me to say he enjoyed the read and that the review was published on his site.

A very good rating is worth the wait.

Lance had a lot of great things to say about Curveball at the Crossroads. For example,

This story was an enjoyable read for a few reasons. One is that Lortz developed his characters well, especially JaMark, his love Betsy, JaMark’s Uncle Rufus and Inga, the old woman who Uncle Rufus said was the only one who could help JaMark.  All of them are people with whom the reader can relate, even if the reader was never a major league pitcher, an awesome Southern cook or someone who had trouble staying out of jail.

Click here to check out Lance's write-up about Curveball at the Crossroads.

And if you haven't picked up at copy yet, here is the Bookshop.org link: CURVEBALL AT THE CROSSROADS. 

Google called me a genius

 

I am not going to argue with Google. If Google says I am a genius, then I must be. The internet doesn't lie.

Curveball at the Crossroads Review in NINE: Baseball Journal

 

A new review of Curveball at the Crossroads was published in NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture, printed by the University of Nebraska Press.

Check it out here:

Curveball at the Crossroads by Michael Lortz (review)

Always great to be compared to WP Kinsella and Field of Dreams.

 

Reviewed by:
Grace Morrison 

Michael Lortz. Curveball at the Crossroads. Winter Park, FL: Legacy Book Publishing, 2021. 266 pp. Paperback, $19.91.

Most scholars of baseball literature agree that serious adult fiction, books with more complex characters and story arcs than found in the early twentieth-century “Baseball Joe” books by Lester Chadwick, began in 1952 with Bernard Malamud’s The Natural. By the end of that decade Mark Harris had published three of his four Henry Wiggen novels, including Bang the Drum Slowly. While some authors wrote the occasional baseball novel, it was not until Canadian writer W. P. Kinsella published Shoeless Joe in 1982 that an author became a preeminent writer of baseball fiction. More recently, writers like David James Duncan (The Brothers K) and Chad Harbach (The Art of Fielding) have released baseball novels to great acclaim, but neither has continued in the genre. Now, however, Michael Lortz’s debut novel provides readers with a new name in baseball fiction: JaMark Reliford.

Reliford’s name is known far and wide for his pitching streak. He plans to get out of his podunkville hometown of Rosedale, Mississippi, by way of baseball. JaMark is starry eyed with fame as opponents step up to the plate in fear, and his fans are always cheering.

But after a career-ending shoulder injury, JaMark leaves home without a purpose. He wanders along a path in solitude and drinks his way to a literal and proverbial crossroad in rural Mississippi. In his hopelessness an ominous figure approaches him and offers a tantalizing bargain. The figure offers guaranteed fame and success if JaMark will sign over his soul. JaMark, in his inebriated state, must choose what he values most. He soon discovers this decision will define the rest of his life. [End Page 141]

Curveball at the Crossroads is a quick read that blends a familiar Faustian story arc with sports fiction. Detailed accounts of JaMark’s games and stats will transport baseball fans to the scene, but all readers will be compelled by first-time author Michael Lortz’s character-driven plot. Lortz uses dramatic stakes for his characters and a dry sense of humor to keep the reader entertained. He pays close attention to developing his characters, with adjectives and other descriptors woven within each moment of dialogue. The brief chapters and simple language keep the story moving toward the final swing. This page-turner adds a supernatural aspect to the idea of flash-in-the-pan athletes and keeps the reader wanting to know more.

True to baseball fiction in the style of Kinsella, Lortz juxtaposes a detailed and realistic account of a baseball player’s life with magical realism to accentuate the similarities between the concept of baseball and the nature of life. Lortz reveals the humanity of JaMark and the characters surrounding him through conflicting decisions of loyalty, religion, morality, family, and love. As JaMark uses unnatural means to get back on track, he compromises everything he loves and values outside of sports, as many athletes do. Despite the struggle the story is ultimately about a young man who must reconcile with his past for the sake of his future in hopes of a second chance.

Copyright © 2022 University of Nebraska Press

Curveball at the Crossroads at Tiger Dust in Tampa, Florida

 

A few weeks ago, I met with the owners of a fun, quirky, little store in the Seminole Heights neighborhood of Tampa called Tiger Dust. Tiger Dust is an oddities and antiques store that specializes in the unusual. Included in their cornucopia of curious collectibles is an amazing library of hard to find and rare reads.

Including copies of Curveball at the Crossroads. It always great when local businesses want to partner with local creatives to put out good products. Especially when my book fits their library's description to a tee.

"You'll find vintage horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and occult books in our library. We also have a case with cool old books about Satan and his hilarious antics!"

My book isn't the only local book that Tiger Dust sells. Local author and entrepreneur Josh Ginsberg also sells his books Secret Tampa Bay: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful and Obscure and Tampa Bay Scavenger at Tiger Dust.

On the last Thursday of every month, Tiger Dust invites all their local vendors to hang out in the store and talk about their products. The last Thursday in July was my first event. Besides Josh and I, there was also a local jewelry maker visiting. It was an awesome vibe.

So visit Tiger Dust at 4222 N. FLORIDA AVE. TAMPA, pick up a copy of Curveball at the Crossroads, and tell them I sent you!

Another great review for Curveball at the Crossroads

 

As a self-published author with only one novel to my credit (for now), I always appreciate kind words from readers. Every reader is valuable. But kind words from those who have published, or those with a background in writing, warms my heart even more. Not that I need acceptance, but their reviews let me know that I did the right thing by putting my book out to the public. It lends assurance that what I felt when I wrote Curveball at the Crossroads is felt by others who have served the common reader.

So I was particularly happy to read a new lengthy review of my debut novel by longtime Tampa area sports writer and editor Bob D'Angelo. After I saw that Bob wrote reviews and posted them on the Facebook Baseball Books group, I connected with him and sent him a copy of Curveball at the Crossroads for his perusal. I am very glad to read he enjoyed it.

The devil is in the details ... - Bob D'Angelo's Books and Blogs

One of the things I really liked about Bob's review was that he compared Curveball at the Crossroads to the book turned play, "Damn Yankees". I need to watch "Damn Yankees" and read the book it is based on, The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant. I had heard of it prior to writing Curveball at the Crossroads, but didn't know the plot or it's similarity to Curveball at the Crossroads. But as Bob writes, although they have similar backstories, how the tale is executed is vastly different.

I really enjoyed Bob's review. If you are interested in Curveball at the Crossroads, please do check it out.

Reading The Man Makes You Work on YouTube

For the last few months, I have been creating short videos in which I read pieces from my book The Man Makes You Work. I post these videos both on my TikTok page and on YouTube, where they are considered Shorts.

At 15 seconds each, these are perfect bit-sized commercials for The Man Makes You Work. They also provide me over 510 opportunities to mention The Man Makes You Work on social media.

So I have decided to post a few of these videos here on occasion. Here is the first one I did back in February. 

These are super fun to make and are quick easy content. Expect more of them here.

And if it gets deleted or shut down, blame The Man.