Eric D. Goodman's Blog, page 14

Cruising the Rhine River

I've just finished writing a series of travel stories about our adventures in Portugal back in April, and the first submissions have been made with one of them already accepted (coming soon).

Now it's time to collect some new experiences. So we're off for a cruise along the Rhine River! Our voyage begins in Basal, Switzerland. We'll be stopping in about 9 places along the way in Switzerland, Germany, France, and the Netherlands.

Consider this week's travel pictures teasers for more travel stories to come!

Where would you go if you could cruise along any river in the world?

The Emotion in an Eye

My short story, “The Tiger’s Eye,” was recently published in the online literary journal, Brief Wilderness.

“The Tiger’s Eye” is an excerpt from my novel, Setting the Family Free.

“There were memories lodged in the corners of Ketchum’s mind that he’d rather not bring to light. He’d served as a marine in two wars. Did time in Iraq, then in Afghanistan. He’d killed men. People he’d known as friends had fallen at his side. Ketchum had seen terrible things. But he’d never experienced anything quite like this.”

So begins the story of a man on the hunt for an escaped tiger in the suburban woods.

Read the story in Brief Wilderness.

https://briefwilderness.com/2021/10/0...

Wrecks and Ruins was featured in the TBR [to be read] series!

A new interview about Wrecks and Ruins was published in the TBR [to be read] series!

Wrecks and Ruins is a novel about how relationships are built and how they evolve or dissolve over time. The main character, Stu, believes that romantic love is like the cycle of a cicada: a few months of excited buzz followed by monotonous silence. The book is an anti-love story that corrects itself when Stu connects his broken things to his collection of broken relationships.

Learn more about the book, its characters, and what served as an inspiration by reading the full interview at the link below:

http://www.workinprogressinprogress.c...

Travel is Back in Port

One of the most difficult parts of the pandemic has been not being able to travel. It’s not difficult for a writer like myself to warm up to the idea of being a hermit, staying in my cave and writing. But we missed our regular travels. Aside from a visit to family in Arizona, we’ve been home for the better part of three years.

That changed for us in April. For spring break, we ventured into the world again with our first trip abroad—to Portugal!

We thought Portugal would be a relatively stress-free reentry since we have been there before. We spent most of our time in Lisbon, where we stayed last time. We also explored Porto, Coimbra, Cascais, and Sintra.

Climbing the hilly cobblestone streets of Alfama, Porto, and Coimbra; exploring castles, palaces, and cathedrals; enjoying port wine and ginjinha, seafood and egg custards; talking to locals in cafes and family restaurants and fado bars: there was so much to see, do, and experience in Portugal. It was delicious.

In other words: expect some travel stories on the horizon.

While you’re waiting, here are a few other places we’ve been.

http://www.tracksnovel.com/travel.html

Toby Devens on Wrecks and Ruins: “Thought-provoking … captivating read”

“The buzz about Eric D. Goodman’s latest novel is loud and laudatory. Synchronizing the cycles of the cicadas with evolving stages of romantic love, its premise is original, characters are entertaining, and theme is thought-provoking. Wrecks and Ruins is a captivating read!”

—Toby Devens, author of Barefoot Beach and Happy Any Day Now

Tom Glenn on Wrecks and Ruins: “A good novel always confronts the reader with a moral question.”

“A good novel always confronts the reader with a moral question. That’s what Wrecks and Ruins Does. This is a buddy novel that offers four different models of how a man should decide about mating. Should he marry young or wait until middle age? Or should he just play the field? Goodman doesn’t answer the question for you. He gives all the evidence and lets you decide.”

—Tom Glenn, author of Last of the Annamese and Coming to Terms

B. Morrison on Wrecks and Ruins: “Probes the way identity is formed and its fluidity”

“As a young man, seeing that everything breaks eventually, Stuart decides to live life every day, hanging out with his friends, playing the field. Yet whenever the cicadas sing again, he must reevaluate his decision. In this engaging story of a man navigating the currents of his life, Goodman probes the way identity is formed and its fluidity.”

—B. Morrison, author of Innocent: Confessions of a Welfare Mother and Terrarium: Poems

Timmy Reed on Wrecks and Ruins: “Cleverly pieced together”

“Wrecks and Ruins captures the mirrored life-cycle of a romance and a plague of insects the way they deserve to be depicted, as humans and bugs. Goodman's writing on relationships is cleverly pieced together and connects to our recent brood. Dig it up.”

—Timmy Reed, author of Kill Me Now and Tell God I Don’t Exist

New Book Trailer for Wrecks and Ruins

Wrecks and Ruins has a new book trailer! Check out the short video to get a feel for what the new novel is all about, and to find out why other writers and readers are buzzing about the new novel.

Complete with sound effects, music, and video images representing the novel, this short video may be just what you need to put you in the reader’s seat.

https://youtu.be/VLnLPGs8HJs

Sally Whitney on Wrecks and Ruins: “Entertaining and enlightening”

“Great novels inspire readers to see things in a different way. After reading Wrecks and Ruins, I will never see shards of glass, twisted bumpers, raw relationships, or tattered souls in the same way again. Stu’s quest to make sense of the pieces of life is entertaining and enlightening. With a cast of sympathetically human characters, it spins its way to a wholly satisfying conclusion.”

—Sally Whitney, author of
When Enemies Offend Thee and Surface and Shadow