Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Save the Date for Chicago Blues...

by Libby Hellmann



When: Friday, October 12, 5- 8 PM
Where: Legends (Buddy Guy's Blues Club)
8th and Wabash
Chicago


Forgive my enthusiasm, but I just got back from Bleak House Books in Madison, Wisconsin, where I was able to hold in my hands the first few copies of hot-off-the-presses CHICAGO BLUES. What a rush!

For those of you who are new to the blog, or might have forgotten, CHICAGO BLUES is an anthology of 21 dark crime fiction stories that I edited. It will be released next month, both in hard cover and trade.

Everyone in The Outfit has a story in the anthology. In addition there are stories by Stuart Kaminsky, an old Chicago boy …. Max Allan Collins, whose protagonist, Nate Heller, prowled Chicago streets sixty years ago…. and Kris Nelscott, who wrote her very first Smokey Dalton short story for us. Joe Konrath wrote a new Jack Daniels story, Deb Brod waxes eloquent about the Cubs… and there are stories from Michael Black, Sam Reaves, David Walker, Mary Welk, Sam Hill, Brian Pinkerton, Steve Mandel, Jack Fredrickson, and Ron Levitsky. Rick Kogan, the dean of Chicago neighborhoods, wrote the introduction.

Happily, we’ve been getting nice reviews:

"...This impressive volume has soul, grit, and plenty of high notes…” Publishers Weekly

“Twenty-one excellent reasons to stay out of the Windy City…” Kirkus

A monument in words to this funky, mysterious and eternal American city… a fine collection.”
Luis Alberto Urrea, The Hummingbird’s Daughter

Gritty, excellent.. has (our) highest recommendation!” Midwest Book Review

“An impressive group of stories… an amazing group of authors…” Crimespree Magazine


So we intend to celebrate, and you are invited to join us. If you’re in the Chicago area, you like crime fiction, and you want to meet some of the CHICAGO BLUES authors, come to the launch party:

When: Friday, October 12, 5- 8 PM
Where: Legends (Buddy Guy's Blues Club)
8th and Wabash
Chicago


If you can't make it to Legends, click here to find out where else we’ll be.

Btw, we’ve produced a special DVD that will be distributed with the hard cover collectors’ edition. It includes interviews with 15 of the authors about their stories and why they write about Chicago. To request a copy, e mail Bleak House.

Finally, if you’re into video trailers, check this out.

We now return you to your normal programming...

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Finally! I can't make it to anything before January thanks to my bank's merger, but I'm definitely ready for some great Chicago stories :o) The DVD sounds fantastic as well. Any chance of some collector's editions making it to Amazon, B&N or Love Is Murder?

Libby Hellmann said...

Maryann... I'll try to find out. I would think definitely at LIM... but I'm not sure about the others.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Libby! I'll check too.

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