Rob Hart's Blog, page 15

COVER REVEAL

“Most cities are nouns; New York’s a verb.” —John F. Kennedy, quoted in Native’s Guide to New York

Coming in June from Polis Books.

Path to Publication 3.1: Second Time’s the Charm!

Negotiations are complete. Contract is signed and in the mail. Nobody died. I’d call that a win.

Column is up at LitReactor. Read it here. 

Reading at Noir at the Bar this Sunday

I’m reading this Sunday at Noir at the Bar! It’s taking place at Shade in the West Village!

I still don’t know what the hell I’m going to read. So this will either be a lot of fun or a horrible mess.

Come on by! 241 Sullivan Street, 6 p.m.

Also reading: 

Russel D. McLean
Hilary Davidson
Scott Adlerberg
Laura K. Curtis
Dave White
Alison Glasgow
Josh Bazell
Clare Toohey
Gregg Rossi

Here’s the page on Facebook where you can RSVP, which if you have Facebook, you should do that. 

Path to Publication 3.0: I Have A Book Deal Again!

My Path to Publication column is back at LitReactor!

Come find out how much it sucks to lose a book deal and how nice it is to be back in business.

I have a book deal again!

I’m thrilled to announce that—after my publisher abruptly shut down and dropped me last month—my books have found a new home: Polis Books.

Jason Pinter, the head of Polis, is a smart, passionate guy, and it’s great to be with a publisher that’s at the vanguard of the industry.

Here’s the official announcement from Publishers Marketplace:

Rob Hart’s debut novel NEW YORKED, about self-described “blunt instrument” Ash McKenna who wakes up to find that the woman he loves has been murdered, and must cut through the city’s underworld to find her killer while confronting his own family history of violence, along with a sequel, CITY OF ROSE, to Jason Pinter at Polis Books by Bree Ogden at D4EO Literary Agency.

Major props to my agent, Bree. She is a rockstar superhero.

It sucks losing a book deal. Here’s a thing you worked your whole life to achieve, and then you actually achieve it, and then it gets taken from you. It’s depressing on a level that’s hard to put into words. Luckily I had the support of an amazing community of writers and readers who reached out with a kind word, or the offer of a drink, or just a ‘like’ on Facebook. Every little bit helped, and it kept the days from being as dark as they could have been.

Now, though, it’s back into the light. Time to put the gears of war back into motion.

Look for New Yorked in print and digital in Summer 2015, with City of Rose to follow in Fall/Winter.

New Thuglit!

There’s a new issue of Thuglit out in the wild, and I got a story in this thing.

It’s about a taco truck. It’s the fastest story acceptance I ever got; I read it at a Noir at the Bar in NYC and before I even left the mic Todd Robinson called dibs on it for the next issue.

Get it here.

Books & Booze

Here is a video of me reading my story, “Confessions of a Taco Truck Owner,” at the Books & Booze event in Louisville earlier this month.

Check out their YouTube channel to see all the readers! Seriously, everyone killed it. I don’t know if I did. I’m not watching this. The idea of watching myself read? Horrifying.

Noir at the Bar Boston, this Sunday

Do you live in or around Boston?

Then come to this thing.

Do you know someone who lives in or around Boston?

Tell them about this.

I’m going to read a story about a heroic writer who is trying not to cry about the loss of his book deal and the only way to cheer him up is to attend the reading that he is driving to Boston for. It may or may not be inspired by true events.

Sunday, June 29 at 6:00pm

The Pour House in Boston, Massachusetts

Here’s the line-up, and it’s killer:

Todd Robinson

Dana Cameron

Rob Hart

Chris Irvin

Bracken MacLeod

Chris F. Holm

Jen Conley

Dave Zeltserman

Paul Tremblay

Toni L.P. Kelner

If you’re on the Facey-book, you can RSVP here.

Damn it

It’s official: Exhibit A is shutting down, so my two book deal just turned into a no book deal. You all showed a lot of love and support these past few months, and I am blown away by how many people wanted to read something I wrote. Thank you, truly. I’m not up to talking right now, so if you reach out and don’t hear back, please don’t think me ungrateful. It took years to write and sell this book, and I was six months out from publication, and I just don’t have words for how low I feel right now. I’m going to keep my head down for a bit. Thanks for understanding.

New story in All Due Respect

I’ve got a new short story in the latest issue of All Due Respect!

“No Good Way Around” was inspired by a trip I took to Baltimore with Todd Robinson, editor of Thuglit and author of the excellent The Hard Bounce.

Spoiler alert: Someone ends up with a ball gag in his mouth. I’ll leave it to you to sort the fact from fiction.

I like this story a lot, and I’m thrilled that have landed in All Due Respect. They’re putting out great work—just look at the lineup in this thing: Jake Hinkson, Angel Luis Colón, Jen Conley, Jessica Adams, Patti Abbott, Chris Leek, Mike McCrary, Alec Cizak. Killer.

Get it in paperback or eBook. Buy multiple copies. Give ‘em to your friends.