The Babcock Podcast is Complete

It's all there at podiobooks.com or at iTunes. The cost? It's free!

I made a promotional teaser. It's two minutes long, if you'd like to hear what the podcast is all about:

Listen to a two minute introduction to the Babcock podcast.

If you're more of a reader than a listener, or if you want to read along while listening, you can download an e-book of Babcock using this link to Smashwords, which offers e-books in all the possible formats for every type of e-reader, or as a pdf readable on your computer. They'll charge you $3.99 for the download, which seems pretty reasonable to me (or you can get a free sample).

“Full of humor, hope, and bravery. Richly drawn, fast paced, enticing, and downright witty. . . Sure to be a hit."—School Library Journal.

Reading at Sullivan's Pub

The next open mic reading at Sullivan's Pub in La Honda will take place on Wednesday, September 30 starting around 6:30. Meanwhile, Jane Sullivan has given me some photos she took of the last reading, all taken inside the pub, which remind me that it's time to reiterate some of the standing rules of Lit Night. First of all, we ask that you check your weapons at the door.

If you don't, be advised that Jane is packing heat.

We follow the rules here. I don't know why La Honda gets such a wild reputation...

You can see all the photos at this link.

Babcock is now an ebook

I'm back from vacation and catching up. First of all, the ebook of Babcock is now available from Smashwords.com and can be downloaded at this link. Meanwhile, the podcast of Babcock continues. There are now 8 episodes available.

The ebooks of Clear Heart and Boone Barnaby are surprisingly popular with members of the US military serving in Iraq, Korea, Afghanistan, and Germany. I'm gratified. I hope they like Babcock, too. And if you should happen to be in the armed forces, by the way, I make these ebooks available at no cost to members of the military. Send me an email for details.

I'm a criminal in Italy

While on vacation in New York, I became a criminal in Italy. An Italian prosecutor named Giuliano Mignini has charged me with defamation, which is a criminal, not a civil, charge in Italy and which is prosecuted by the state without any expense to Mignini - though potentially great expense to myself. My offense? I called him a bully. His response, bringing the power of the state against a small fry such as myself, only serves to prove my point.

Here's how it came about: I sent an email to a friend in Italy who is a journalist. I was commenting on the Amanda Knox case. He published my comments (with my permission). This is what I said:

"The Meredith Kercher murder is one of those mirrors that reflects the prejudices of whoever is looking into it. There is no physical evidence and no credible motive, and yet an egotistical prosecutor is blaming Amanda Knox anyway. In the USA, this would only happen if she were black. Perhaps partying American college kids are so hated in Italy that Amanda will be treated as blacks are treated in the USA, and she will be convicted not because of the evidence but because of general resentment of shallow rich Americans. Personally, from what I've read I don't like Amanda Knox. She sounds spoiled, naive, and shallow. But that's not a crime. I loathe the prosecutor, who has a counterpart in every city in the USA - a preening, intellectually dishonest bully who cares more about making newspaper headlines than in serving justice. It's the same all over the world. Power and prejudice are the enemies of justice."

Next thing I know, I'm being contacted by CBS news asking me to comment on the fact that I'm being sued by this nutcase of a prosecutor.

I'm safe in the USA. Bottom line is, I probably will never be able to set foot in Italy again. Which is a damn shame. I love that land, I love those people. I made some good friends over there.

By the way, I regret the way I characterized Amanda Knox. The more I learn about her, the more I see her as simply a naive college kid caught in a bad place. I imagine she's growing up fast.