March 17, 2010 – Maria and I went to Brooklyn yesterday to celebrate the publication of “90 per cent of the game is half mental,” by my daughter Emma Span, shown above with her best friend Katherine, who flew in from London to come to the book party, which was in a basement of a trendy Park Slope bar. It’s a long and strange trip from Washington County to Brooklyn, but I am loving it there and it is a great place to take pictures, for sure. I was the book party’s official photographer.
Emma has a lot of wonderful people who love her, and it was a great experience to see her celebrate years of hard work and a funny and poignant book with her friends, editors, fellow writers and bloggers, family and agent. Could not make a father happier or prouder.
She drew a large crowd and sold out of copies of her book. I told her I forgave her for saying she wished Joe Torre was her father (and glad it didn’t happen) and also pointed out that before her, everybody felt sorry for my editors at Random House (just kidding).
Emma is starting out on her book and she is coming upstate to do some joint appearances with me and Pearl, the gorgeous Yellow Lab who used to live on Bedlam Farm but who became, after years of pestering and pleading, Emma’s companion and writing dog. Em and I will be at the Red Fox Bookstore in Glens Falls at 7 p.m. Friday, March 26. She is bringing Pearl. She will read from and talk about her book – which is a book about baseball and life in New York – I call it a cross between Red Smith and O’Henry, and I will offer a sneak preview of my new novel, “Rose In A Storm” out in October. (Holt has just announced that my first children’s book, “Meet The Dogs of Bedlam Farm” will be out at the beginning of 2011.)
On May 8, Emma and I will appear at Northshire Books. On April 10, we will both be appearing at the first New York State Book Festival in Albany, N.Y.
Em and I will also talk about the process of book and other writing, if anyone is interested. Should be a fun night in a wonderful bookstore. Note: Bedlam Farm notecards for Spring – flowers, chickens, and eggs are being printed and sold at Redux Gallery in Dorset, Vt.