2012-366 Day 235 – Book Launch

So last night was the latest chapter (heh) in heading down to Diesel Bookstore in Brentwood to attend the launch of Gregg Hurwitz’s latest book, The Survivor. It has pretty much become a yearly tradition for us (Dang, Gregg, how do you write so fast?), and is always a lot of fun. Our only problem is that, as Gregg has gotten more popular, Diesel has remained the same size (which wasn’t very big to begin with, about the size of our condo and with some of the bookshelves obviously not being moveable). I was slightly chilly in the parking lot right before we went in, but that sensation went away very quickly with everyone in an enclosed space.

Jess and I hid behind one of the shelves to ensure we had some room.

After bringing Gregg a Kindle to sign last time, I’ve decided to make it a point to bring him something unusual to sign at his book launches. This time I selected his first DC comics issue, Penguin: Pain and Prejudice number one.

With the TV and movie projects I hear he has in the works, I wouldn’t be surprised if next year I’m bringing him a DVD to sign.

I will say that watching Gregg’s rise has been awesome and while I can’t say I’ve been there from the beginning (hey, his first book came out when I was 19 and reading books for, you know, school), I’ve greatly enjoyed reading everything since The Crime Writer (I have almost all of the previous books, just haven’t got to reading them yet), and have particularly appreciated how he gets better with every book. I’m five chapters into The Survivor and can already tell that it’s going to be at least as good as the last one (You’re Next), if not better (don’t want to get too fanboy-ish yet).

For a random connection (our wives work together, to which I will add that Delinah is as awesome as he is, just in a different field. Congrats Doctor!), I must say that getting introduced to such a great author right as he is ascending to his peak has been a fantastic treat. Speaking of treats, and I have so far buried the lead here, did I mention that he currently is writing for one of the Batman comic books? Well, okay, I mentioned the Penguin earlier, but that was a mini-series. He’s writing in the Bat-Universe proper now. Brings a tear to me eye. ::sniff:: (No, I don’t know where the brogue came from.)

So, short story made way long, Jess and I had a great time last night, aided and abetted by the usual suspect “James” (who I, like Jess initially when she gave him the “James” nickname, continually forget that his real name is Brian . . . you know what, I’ll let Jess tell that story sometime), and I highly recommend that you come out next time. In the meantime, you can go read his books (particularly if you like Suspense and Action – capitalized to show that they are genres and not just descriptors, of course), and I recommend following my path and start with The Crime Writer and work your way to the present, then go back for the Rackley (character) books that came before. I’ll meet you there after I finish the current one.

Weight: 229 Loss: 11 lbs – Running Yearly Mileage: 258.1 miles
Fitocracy Level: 25 ID: disciplev1