"Happy Bus" now available as a free eBook for iPhone, Sony Reader and more.

I'm proud to announce that I've made "Taking the Happy Bus on Home," a short story from my collection The Love Book, available as a free eBook for the iPhone, Sony Reader, Kindle and a just about every other device on the planet.

For iPhone users you will need the Stanza app (which is free). Get it here as an app for the iPhone or here as a desktop app.

Once you have the app installed on your iPhone, open it up. Then:
1. Select "Online Catalog"
2. Select "Original Books & Stories (new authors from Feedbooks.com)"
3. Click the magnifying glass icon in the upper right, search for "happy bus" and select the story once it comes up.
4. Click the download button

If you would prefer to download it to your desktop or use it on any other device, you can do so via these links:
ePub | Mobipocket/Kindle | PDF | Sony Reader | iLiad| Custom PDF

I've been playing around with Lexcylce's Stanza application for the iPhone over the past few months and have to say it is pretty damn impressive. Sure, there are nitpicks: you can't just drag and drop books on to the phone from you desktop. But for the most part, the interface is easy to use, the files download fast, and the people at Lexcyle have done a great job of partnering with publishers to make plenty of content available for portable devices.

I actually used Feedbooks to upload the story, which then automatically reformats it for all the devices. Kudos to them for also creating a great platform that allows authors (especially indepedent ones like myself) to get their stories out to the people.

"Taking the Happy Bus On Home" goes reality

My short story "Taking the Happy Bus on Home" is starting to look more and more like a nonfiction piece.



When I wrote the story "Taking the Happy Bus on Home" for The Love Book, I was for the most part commenting on how people spend their lives (or rather not live them to the fullest). But I couldn't help setting the story in a slight-future where the average human life span has increased thanks to medical science. The conundrum as I saw it was not that medical science delays the aging process -- it doesn't no matter how many botox injections you pump into an actresses forehead or pacemakers you put in a stockbroker's heart -- but rather puts off death. The body continues to deteriorate and medical science keeps propping it up. I was being sarcastic with the idea of "supercentenarians" -- an entire retirement community that had to be bused, carted, and carried around. But this article in today's New York Times asks the same questions I did in "Taking the Happy Bus on Home."

What's really hilarious is that my sarcastic take on the issue could never match the absurdity of the Times piece

The Love Book Release Party Recap

It was a hell of a time on March 22nd. A nice crowd of people and the rest of the Blacksmiths For Literary Progress joined me at Freebird Books in Brooklyn to officially celebrate the release of my new short story collection, The Love Book. We drank beers, huddled around with friends old and new, and made with the prose like circus performers. We even had a nice sunset coming through the front windows as we read (check the photo). It felt fantabulous to be back at Freebird Books, where we always feel at home and the readings have never failed turn out great. Many thanks to Rachel and Peter for making it all happen. And of course it made me proud to do the gig with my fellow Blacksmiths — Brian Cogan, Tim Hall, and Mike Faloon — as it was the first time we could all be in the same room in over a year-and-a-half. If you were there, I thank you for making the trek out and supporting The Love Book.

And for those of you who missed it, here is a video of me reading an excerpt from "Taking the Happy Bus on Home," the last story in the collection (and apparently the hands down favorite amongst fans). Also below, are a few pics from the evening. Enjoy.