I'm proud to announce that I'll be taking part in a reading on Friday, March 13, at 6:30, located at Powell's Bookstore at UIC (1218 S. Halsted). The reading is to help launch Tortoise Books' newest release: The Dark Will End the Dark, by Darrin Doyle (who shares my unhealthy fascination with Bigfoot, so you know he's a good egg). 

In addition to Darrin, I'm humbled to be joining some of my favorite Chicago writers: Ben Tanzer, Joseph Peterson, and Rachel Slotnick. When you're slotted into a lineup that's that strong, you know you have to bring your A-game. So, for what it's worth, I'll be debuting a chapter from my novel in progress, The Prince of Infinite Space, which is a sequel to my first book, The Last Good Halloween. 

I hope to see you all there!

I got a chance to write a review for one of my favorite books of all time: Billy Lynn's Long Half Time Walk, by Ben Fountain. The review, which is kind of a personal take on the book, is now up live at The Oyster Review. 
For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, The Oyster Review is the editorial arm of Oyster Books, which is basically the Netflix of books. 
I've had to chance to look around at their offerings and I have to say they've got an impressive variety of titles to choose from. For those of you who still have someone who's expecting a Christmas gift, you might want to think of giving them a trial membership. 
In the meantime, feel free to check out my essay, which is basically a meditation on the pain of being a fan of the Dallas Cowboys.

I'm excited and honored to be a part of this year's High Plains Book Festival, which takes place in Billings, Montana, from October 23 to 26. If you're in the area, try and stop by for some of the festivities. I'll be appearing in a panel for the first book finalists on Saturday the 25th at 10:00 AM at the Yellowstone Art Museum. 

There are a lot of other great panels scheduled with some pretty awesome writers, so it'll definitely be worth your time. Come on out and help me celebrate the literature of the high plains region.

Starting October 20th, I'll be doing an on-line chat about The Last Good Halloween with the members of The Next Best Book Club, one of the best book clubs on Goodreads. I've seen some of the chats they do on TNBBC and those readers are sharp! I can't wait to field some of their thoughts and questions. 

The chat starts October 20th and lasts all week long. If you're not part of Goodreads yet, you should be. If you're not a member of TNBBC yet, you should be as well. So once you're on Goodreads, and once you're a member of TNBBC, then there's really no reason NOT to join me for the book discussion. All you need to do is go here and start throwing the comments and questions out.

See you soon!

For pretty much as long as I can remember, I dreamed of the day I'd get reviews of my first book. In my youthful imagination they would all be glowing (How could they not be?) telling tale of an instant classic, destined to be read and studied by future generations so they could better understand the intricacies of life and learn the recipe for ultimate happiness. 

Now that I've published my first book, the reviews have started to come in and, while they've been strong, they've fallen somewhat short of my youthful aspirations. (How could they not?) 

But a new review is up on Montana Magazine. And this one is everything I've ever hoped for in a book review. Here's a taste:

"Part Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, Cromley’s book will make you laugh out loud and at the same time think carefully about the fragility of being a teenager."

Some flattering company there, and generous words to boot. So, yes, this blog post is basically just a complete and total brag. But for those rare moments when your dreams perfectly match reality, I think that's exactly what's called for. 

There's been a slow leak of this news for the past week because I'm terrible at keeping secrets. Yes, my publisher and I both got a phone call confirming it, but I've been burned enough by the caprices of the Publishing Gods that I never want to mention something until it's a hundred percent, positively going-to-happen.

But now that the High Plains Book Award's own website has posted it, it's official as it's going to get, so I might as well grab my Mr. Microphone and shout it from the highest mountaintop (which, here in Chicago, is really no more than a knoll):

The Last Good Halloween has been named a finalist in the High Plains Book Award's first book category! 

This is immensely gratifying for a lot of reasons, but mostly because there were many, many points along the way where I never thought this little book with a weird misfit of a narrator would ever see the light of day. So a big, heartfelt thanks to the judges for bestowing this honor on me and my book. 

And I can't wait to participate in the High Plains Book Fest in October!

Finally! Good news for people who can't stand the sound of my voice, yet, inexplicably, still might be interested in finding out what I have to say about literature, writing, teaching, Chicago, and my first novel. 
The good folks at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography have published a transcription of our podcast interview from last month. You can check it out now in their Weekender publication here. It's also got some really cool photography in this week's issue, so do check it out post-haste! 
(p.s. The cool photography does not include the slightly dopey-faced picture of me, but instead the actual good photography after that.)

I'm a little late in posting this to my blog, but spring is here and I'm just finally getting a chance to catch up on a lot of things. In case you feel like you've been deprived of the opportunity to hear me talk about my novel, you can now click on this here link to check out the interview I did with Jason Pettus of the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography, which is a real powerhouse of indie publishing here in Chicago.

The interview was a wide-ranging discussion of life, literature, and Chicago. And I had a lot of fun doing it. So if you've got a few minutes and want to hear me talk a bit more about The Last Good Halloween, or about writing in general, head on over and give it a listen.

I'm pleased to let folks know that a new short story of mine just went live in The Adirondack Review's Spring Issue. (I'm going to assiduously avoid any mention of seasonal ironies here...)
Anyway, when I say short story, I do mean short. This one weighs in at just over 1,100 words. I won't say too much about it here except that I think it's one of the funnier stories I've ever published. And it clearly is the product of reading a lot of reviews of merchandise online. 
If you get a chance, go ahead and check that sucker out. It won't take long and I pretty much guarantee you'll enjoy it.