I’ve been away from the keyboard for a variety of reasons:
1) I attended ThrillerFest in New York City July 11-14 and had the opportunity to hear wisdom from many great writers. Pictures are a few. The HWA’s own W.D. Gagliani was on one panel, as was Nate Kenyon (“Diablo: The Order”). I had the opportunity to see the Terra Cotta soldiers at the Discovery Center on W. 44th Street and, as a special treat, I got to wait in LaGuardia airport from 6 p.m. until almost midnight (the plane was supposed to leave at 8 p.m.)
ThrillerFest in NYC in July.
Joseph Finder, author of “Paranoia,” “Company Man,” et. al.
Lady Liberty has a small wardrobe malfunction n Times Square.
- Jon Land, author of the Caitlin Strong series.
Grand Central Terminal, right next to the Hyatt where Thrillerfest was held.
2) Upon our return, we spent some time at the beach with Scott, Jessica, Ava & Elise.
Ava & Elise with Grandpa at the 31st St. Beach in Chicago.
3) Then, of course, there was my birthday. We dined at Nellicoat, which used to be a different restaurant on Randolph, but is now very fancy. 
Nellicoat, the fancy restaurant on Randolph Street where we dined on my birthday with son Scott and daughter-in-law Jessica.
4) July 28, Saturday: Chicago and the Doobie Brothers at Northerly Isle Pavilion (birthday celebration).
Northerly Isle Pavilion, July 28th, 2012: Chicago and the Doobie Brothers.
The Doobie Brothers appeared with Chicago this year (7/29/2012).
Chicago skyline at dusk.
5) Last, but certainly not least, I’ve been putting the finishing touches on “Hellfire & Damnation II,” which went “live” as an E-book on July 28th. It’s a truly entertaining book, with illustrations for each story and a great cover from Vincent Chong of the UK, plus a Fro the Author section explaining the inspiration for the stories. There will be a 5-day period when the book on Amazon Kindle will be free, but that has yet to be determined. Stay tuned for the exact dates, which will probably be near Halloween.
“Hellfire & Damnation II” available now in paperback from Amazon and Barnes & Noble and in Kindle E-book from Amazon. Stay tuned for free download dates, which will be somewhere near Halloween.
6) Lollapalooza has been ongoing in Chicago all weekend. I’ve been listening to the groups from my balcony, except when a very bad storm caused authorities to evacuate the park. The last band that got to play its set as originally scheduled was “Moon Taxi” from Nashville, friends of my daughter’s. At about 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, the high winds and rain swept in. However, the concert continued after a brief period of time, allowing the Red Hot Chili Peppers to perform, at least. On Sunday, Florence & the Machine and Jack White played and they sounded great.
- Lollapalooza, August 3-5.