TRACKS PodCast Available on NPR Website

Last Friday, author Eric D. Goodman read from TRACKS, his novel in stories, on National Public Radio. The reading, which aired on WYPR’s The Signal, was broadcast at noon and again at 7 p.m. on May 11.

A PodCast of “The Stein” is now available on WYPR’s website.

“The Stein” is an abridged version of “A Good Beer Needs a Good Stein” from TRACKS, a novel in stories.

WYPR describes the story as "a tale about marriage, growing old, and some lessons to be learned on the subject of give-and-take." They describe author Eric D. Goodman as "a regular on the Baltimore literary scene."

The reading was enjoyed by about 20,000 regular listeners. Why not join them?

Here’s a direct link to the PodCast for easy listening.

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/national/local-national-587318.mp3

If you like what you hear, Eric is not only available for future readings from TRACKS, but he's also looking for an agent or publisher for the novel in stories. You can contact Eric at edgewriter@gmail.com.

TRACKS Polished and Ready for Agent

TRACKS, a novel in stories, is in search of a literary agent.

TRACKS takes place on a train traveling from Baltimore to Chicago. Each story is told from the perspective of a passenger on the train.

Although the stories stand alone, they become stronger when linked together. A secondary character in one story becomes the main character in another. Some stories offer new insights on others. The stories look at the decisions each character faces and how those decisions, as well as each character's interactions with the other passengers, alter the path ahead and cast past experiences and choices in a new light.

TRACKS is similar in nature to Joan Silber's National Book Award finalist Ideas of Heaven: a ring of stories.

TRACKS has garnered promising feedback from a professional workshop and a number of serious readers. It was a semi finalist in the Simon and Schuster - Gather sponsored First Chapters Writing Competition -- one of the top 20 out of 2,675 novel entries.

Excerpts from TRACKS have been published, featured at The Baltimore Book Festival, read on National Public Radio, and have won awards. These excertps have been enjoyed by thousands of readers and listeners.

After a year of revisions, and a good bit of success, TRACKS is polished and ready to submit to literary agents and publishers.

Contact author Eric D. Goodman to learn more about TRACKS and to request the manuscript. Just email him at edgewriter@gmail.com.

Thank you for your interest! And please come back for more news along the tracks.

TRACKS Reading on NPR Tomorrow

TRACKS author Eric D. Goodman will join National Public Radio's Aaron Henkin on The Signal tomorrow.

Tune in to Baltimore’s NPR station -- WYPR, 88.1 FM -- tomorrow. Eric will read an excerpt from TRACKS, a novel in stories.

The program will air at noon and again at 7 p.m. on May 11, 2007.

To learn more -- about The Signal and the reading -- visit The Signal’s website.

http://www.signalradio.org/

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Eric D. Goodman is a full-time writer and editor. His work has appeared in local, national, and international publications, including a story in the current issue of The Baltimore Review. Eric is the author to TRACKS, a novel in stories. Hear Eric read an excerpt from TRACKS on NPR this Friday, May 11. Just tune in to Baltimore's WYPR, 88.1 FM at noon or 7 p.m. for the weekly broadcasts of The Signal. You can also meet Eric at the CityLit Festival this weekend.

The Train as a Character

As many fiction writers -- and readers -- know, the setting of a story can sometimes be the most essential part. In fact, the time, place, tone, and feel of a work is often crucial. A good example of this is TRACKS, a novel in stories.

TRACKS takes place on the Amtrak’s Cardinal line, traveling from Baltimore to Chicago. In some ways, the train itself is the most important character of the novel, linking the stories like passenger cars.

Each stand-alone story in the novel is that of a passenger on the train. Without the train, the stories would fall apart and there would be no engine to haul them along.

It’s true that the train plays a more vital role in some stories than others. In some stories featured in TRACKS, one could even forget for pages at a time that the main character is on a train, a majority of the action taking place in flashbacks and future visions. Many regular train travelers will tell you, after all, that sometimes a train ride can conjure up memories or dreams that take you out of the present moment.

For other stories in TRACKS, the action and climax actually take place on the moving train.

The cities linked by this train ride -- Baltimore and Chicago -- are also important to some of the characters. Some stories could not exist without being anchored in Baltimore’s inner harbor or without the lure of the windy city’s Millennium Park.

Even the cadence of the writing in TRACKS matches that of a train, a steady rhythm intended to pull the reader along. In fact, TRACKS would make great train reading. If you travel by train, perhaps this is the book to bring along.