A Most Amazing Week...

Happy Easter!

Well, some weeks are definitely better than others, and this one looks to be so stellar I have my fingers crossed it all goes smoothly.

Just three quick plugs and I'll move on to the more TMZ/Perez Hilton type news I know you are all dying to read. (insert smiley face emoticon here)

First, as I been tweeting, blogging, facebooking, etc., Julie Slick's debut CD is available for pre-order right here!




"Pre-order Julie Slick's new album and receive 3 tracks available for download immediately after purchase. Below is a preview of the artwork, tracklisting, and high resolution desktop wallpapers available for download. This is a digipack CD case design with artwork on the inside and on the CD itself, but you won't get to see it unless you order!"

By the way, the special guests listed on the tracks may be incomplete. There may be one or two more surprises...

Secondly, by some huge miracle (or mistake har har), my latest erotic comedy, Bitten to the Core, is still rated #1 in its genre over at Fictionwise. It's also #9 on the best seller list for my publisher. So if you haven't picked it up yet or have purchased it and haven't had the chance to rate it, here's my official plea that you do so ASAP so no one else creeps ahead of me. I do not get to be number one very often, though today I'd probably say I'd win top award for eating the most Easter candy before breakfast...sigh...I really gotta do something about that. But hey hey, I am now an official yoga person - I signed up for eight weeks of lessons so in a perfect world, it will be life-changing and I'll give up that damn sugar forever. Why was it so easy for me to go vegetarian? But wave a freaking piece of cake or candy in front of me and I'm a slobbering fool.

Okay, once again I went off track. Let me get to my third plug.

Dr. Dog's new album, Shame, Shame, comes out this Tuesday, April 6, 2010. You can pick it up on vinyl right here, grab the CD at a record store near you (sob...if any still exist) or at about a million places on line, or of course download it over at iTunes, etc. More on Dr. Dog in a minute.

Because in other news...

On Friday night, I was supposed to see Emerson/Lake at the Keswick Theater but the show was canceled, which freed me up, at least in theory, to see Julie Slick on bass with Calvin Weston and friends at Ortlieb's Jazzhaus. At least that was the plan. I met up with Julie and Eric at Silk City for dinner at 5:30 and it was, as usual, awesome, but Julie informed us that she wasn't going on until the second set, which would be around 12:00AM.

As it turns out, I am clearly too old for midnight concerts. With a neurotic dog back home (his health has improved dramatically but while he was sick, I spent 100% of the day/night with him, and now he has such separation anxiety that he even follows me into the bathroom) and eyes that were already fluttering shut when I was finished dinner, I decided the wisest thing to do was go back home and take a quick catnap so that I'd be fresh for Julie's show. Ortlieb's Jazzhaus is about two miles from my house, Silk City is smack in between.

Well, that was a mistake. And so was "getting comfortable" in my pajama pants while leaving my jeans, with my cell phone in the pocket, in the powder room. I sat on the sofa and watched the Flyers play their most important game of the year (if you aren't a fan, let me just say that if they make the playoffs it will be a miracle) and promptly fall behind 1-0. I decided my watching the game was giving them bad luck, and since I was totally exhausted and not getting any rest on the sofa, I figured I'd just go upstairs and hit the bed for an hour.

Erm...

Needless to say, the next thing that happened was my eyes opened at 6:00 AM the next morning and literally my first words were "OH NO! I MISSED JULIE'S SHOW!"

I felt so terrible and then coming downstairs, retrieving my phone and seeing text messages and listening to a distraught voicemail from Julie, I felt even worse. Not only was she disappointed we weren't at the show, she was counting on us for a ride...don't forget, she had a bass to carry and while she lives not too far from Ortliebs, it was late at night and not exactly cool for a young girl to be walking by herself with an expensive musical instrument. Anyway, she ended up calling a cab and playing the show...she had a blast, made some amazing friends with other musicians she hadn't met before, but the best part was after she was finished, a waitress handed her a note found on a table. Now while this is hardly accurate and would make Julie around 45-50 years old, it is still a very cool thing...but yeah, somewhat hilarious, too:



Anyway, Julie forgave me but I am still beating myself up over it...this getting older stuff is a bitch. But in all fairness, up until recently, I have not slept through the night since December with the dog's illness. It was not until this week that he finally made it through the evening without waking me up for water or to be let out.

Here's a photo Eric just took of our little senior citizen:



Julie came over yesterday, went Farmers Market shopping with her Dad, and we had an incredible dinner of chargrilled leeks, asparagus, baby eggplants, and little red potatoes.



She also decided to throw an impromptu Easter barbecue herself today, and Julie, being an internationally renowned chef and hostess, is in her element and in great spirits...if I weren't having an awesome dinner here today with the dog, I'd head over to her place myself. And if...sob...all her guests weren't 25 years old or thereabouts. Gah! I really have to get over this "Wah I'm not young anymore" nonsense. I'm gonna just blame hormones and as of this minute, I am going back to looking at life with joy and renewed appreciation. Because I have one hell of a lot to be happy about.

So while Julie was here yesterday, we firmed up our plans for Tuesday. What is Tuesday, you ask? Well, in case you missed all of my other posts and billboards around cyberworld, Eric will be appearing on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, playing with Dr. Dog!

Hey, there's a chance you can be at the Fallon show, too. Enter your name for a spot on the "band bench" right here!

But you know, being Eric's mom and all, we get the VIP treatment so just for the hell of it....okay, really, because I am one proud Mama, here's our official Fallon instruction letter, though of course I've blanked out some stuff so that no one from NBC gets angry at me:

"Robin Slick and Julie Slick have been placed on our special guest list for the studio audience for “LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON”. Please follow the instructions below and remember that a large number of guests will arrive to fill the studio in a brief space of time – therefore, please do not be impatient if there is a delay.

You and your guests should arrive at the GE Building, located at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, between 49th and 50th Streets, amid Fifth and Sixth Avenues. Upon arrival, please... see the NBC Guest Relations Representative who will be holding your tickets. Please be aware no one under the age of seventeen will be allowed into the studio. Those expecting their age to be in question should bring proper identification.

DOORS CLOSE AT 4:15 pm.
(We Suggest ARRIVING No Later Than 4:00 pm)
The taping will take approximately two hours
************************************
NO CAMERAS OR RECORDING DEVICES PERMITTED IN THE STUDIO"

After the Fallon taping, we have to race across town to the Apple Store in Soho because...

"Dr. Dog - Guest - Apple Store SoHo - New York
06.Apr - 06.Apr
07.00 pm - 08.00 pm
Apple Store SoHo - New York - New York

To Read Dr. Dog's Wikipedia Profile, Click Below:
Wiki/Dr. Dog

About the event:
Untouched by modern tastes and content to exist on its own terms, "Shame, Shame," the sixth album from Philly rockers Dr. Dog, is a record destined to claim its place as a timeless achievement. Check out Dr. Dog at this special live performance and hear tracks from the new album, which is due for release April 6.

Location: 103 Prince Street
New York City, NY 10012
(212) 226-3126
Fee: No
Pre-Register: No"

And then, the best part of the evening (well, not really - every part of this day freaking rules!), the after party at one of the coolest hotels in New York City...and we even get to spend the night, which is even more fortuitous for Julie and me because Julie has a gig in Brooklyn the next day. Again, I don't know if I'm allowed to share details about the party (but oh please let the Roots be there and please let me not say anything embarrassing to Questo)...but let me just show you a few pics...

A sample pic of the hotel rooms:



Where we'll be partying:



Now Eric also told me that they'll be in New York for a couple of days doing press and interviews/radio spots, but I don't have that info yet...he's due over here later today, maybe he'll be able to spill, maybe not...so you know the drill, I'll come back here and edit if I find out anything new.

But in the meantime, what I do know is that Dr. Dog is in fact the XPN free at noon NPR concert this Friday, April 9...alas, I will be out of the country and will miss it, but here's the details because it appears, much to my shock, they haven't "sold out" yet..i.e., meaning, there's still room to get your name on the list if you RSVP...here's the link!

And if you are nowhere near Philadelphia or can't attend the show, it will be broadcast live. If there is a direct link, I'll put it up Friday morning (provided I have internet service where I'm going), but for now, this link will surely take you there one way or the other: WXPN...you'll even see "Free at Noon" on the front page with my favorite press photo of Eric Slick and Dr. Dog.

So why won't I be at the XPN show on Friday? Because on Thursday night, I'm flying to the wilds of Canada on a secret mission with, as I've already told you, three of the best women writers in North America. We all have families and a lot of extraneous stuff in our lives and we decided that the only way to really finish or at least come close to completing our respective current novels in progress, is to "get away". Again, I'd love to spill identities here but I'm not sure how the others will feel about that, especially our hostess, who is so freaking brilliant she's already sold her books to Hollywood, a movie based on her debut novel is already in production, and so she's invited us to her new vacation cottage in the woods outside of Toronto for three days of writing bliss. And of course great food and alcohol. I can't even imagine the four of us together for three days...I know it's our plan to write, write, write but we're really going to have to come up with a schedule and stick to it or I just know what's going to happen...we're going to talk, talk, talk instead.

Hey, with these ladies, that would not be a bad thing at all, but we all have books calling out to us "Finish me....finish me..." and this is really the perfect opportunity.

In a not so great stroke of luck for me, Eric and Dr. Dog will be playing Toronto on April 14, and I'm flying home April 11. Normally I would have hung out a few days longer because I absolutely adore that city and made a lot of friends there when I toured with the Adrian Belew Power Trio last fall, but because of the dog's health and separation anxiety, I'm nervous enough about going away for three days as it is...especially in light of the fact that I will also be out of town Tuesday through Wednesday with the Dr. Dog festivities. Gary is actually taking off from work on Friday to take care of him and then go to the Dr. Dog free at noon. But if you are in the Toronto area and reading this...and I know there are a bunch of you...do yourself a favor and pick up some Dr. Dog tickets for April 14. It's the first night of their huge Spring tour so it will be a blast. They're playing at Lee's Palace.

So that's about it for now...Eric just popped in the door hoping for a surprise visit from the Easter Bunny and ha ha, guess what, the Easter Bunny did in fact visit and he's busy now trying to break my record for chocolate consumption today.

He's headed to Julie's party after that...and again, if I manage to get any more dirt, I'll be back.

Later,
xo

Julie Slick...as you've never heard her before

Good evening!

I am pleased to announce that Julie Slick's debut CD is now available for pre-order. Click on the link for further details and to have a look at her special guests!



Along with the pre-order comes three free downloads...and some very special artwork.

If you can't get enough of Ms. Julie, she'll be appearing tonight at Ortlieb's Jazzhaus...here's the official blurb:

THE RETURN OF MADCOW, APRIL 2 AT ORTLIEBS JAZZHAUS, 847 3RD & POPLAR,DION PACI GUITAR, BRIAN MARSELLA, KEYS, TOM SPIKER, BASS & G.CALVIN WEST ON DRUMS WITH SPECIAL GUESTS JOHN SWANA-TRUMPET, JULIE SLICK, BASS...SUPPORTING ACT DAN WHITLEY ,$10...,DOOR'S AT 8;00 --,215-922-1035.

Naturally I'll report back tomorrow with not only new about the show but woo hoo, exciting arisings occurring next week!

Now do yourselves a huge favor and order Julie's CD. You won't regret doing so...it's freaking brilliant.

Later,
xo

Ladies and Gentlemen: Ms. Julie Slick on the bass guitar

Oh man, how I love me some undiscovered You Tube.

When I inadvertently found the film clip of John Wetton and my son performing Starless this afternoon (I could not figure out how to embed it here but it is on my Facebook page so friend me if you haven't already), I decided to go hunting through You Tube to see if there was anything else I missed.

Did I ever!

Here is 17 year old Julie Slick and 16 year old Eric Slick performing in Germany at the 2003 Zappanale Festival.



You'll have to excuse me. I'm a little teary eyed right now.

Later,
xo

Odds and Sods for Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Good morning!

So if you live vicariously through Julie and Eric Slick like I do or are simply normal people and just friends/fans, you've probably already seen this very cool video from their New York City debut at the Cake Shop of their band with Robbie "Seahag" Mangano, a/k/a Paper Cat, but you know as President of their fan club, I have to post it here, too.



Yeah, that rocked. And more is on the horizon...stay tuned.

It's nice to have Eric home a couple of days, at least in theory -- he's swamped with rehearsals, other projects, and whatever this might be:



And just another reminder that Julie has a jazz gig this Friday night at Ortlieb's Jazzhaus in Philadelphia with Calvin Weston ...details over at jambase.

Next week is going to be crazy altogether with the release of the new Dr. Dog album. The band has all kinds of press, radio, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and some other really cool stuff TBA lined up, and then they leave for tour and I won't see Eric again until a brief couple of days in mid-May...then he takes off for Berlin, Paris, London, Amsterdam, Barcelona...what a freaking life!

Hey, you can listen to the entire album prior to its April 6 release, over at NPR. Brilliant! Here's the link.

And next week will also be awesome for me. I am assuming I'm getting a guest pass to the Fallon show...man, I hope so...I haven't had a good chance to embarrass myself publicly in ages and I'm running out of stories. We can't have that! At the end of the week, I take off for the wilds of Canada for a weekend writing retreat with, as I mentioned before, three of the best women writers in North America. I'd tell you who they are but I'll wait to get their permission and will report back with a blog post after it happens.

Hey, thanks to everyone who purchased my latest book, Bitten to the Core, over at Fictionwise this weekend. I had to take a screenshot of this, because I doubt it will last very long, but my book is currently the highest rated in its genre!



Sadly, the book is no longer at a reduced price unless you sign up as a Fictionwise club member (an excellent idea, actually) but you can preferrably buy it directly from my publisher right here in both paperback and e-book format.

Erm, if you did buy the book from Fictionwise over the weekend, please don't forget to rate it. I admit it- I like watching that blue tower of "Great!" grow taller.

Oh, this just in: My publisher now has a free iPhone app - grab it here!

I am going to be doing a reading of sorts in late April - more on that in a future post. When I say "of sorts", it means I'm not going to read directly from one of my books or stories, I'm going to relate the material like a stand-up comic at a very informal competition...but if I manage to win, it will be on You Tube so in a perfect world, you'll get to see the results. Unless I get someone to film it anyway, but whenever I make those kind of plans, they either fall through or I hate looking at/listening to myself so much I can't bring myself to post the video. Because really, I am always both startled and horrified at the woman on film. I'm nineteen years old and sexy gorgeous - who the hell is that old broad and why does her voice sound like that when she doesn't even smoke cigarettes?

Oy. Middle age is a bitch, but I highly recommend it as an alternative to death. Though sometimes when I get out of bed in the morning, I'm not sure if I'm still alive or not.

And on that note...

Later,
xo

Tonight: The Debut of Paper Cat in New York City

Good morning!

Just a couple of quick reminders...

If you are anywhere near New York City, please do not miss the debut NYC performance of Paper Cat at the Cake Shop tonight and here's some additional info and directions as provided by New York Time Out. I am very happy to tell you that this show is brought to you by Creaked Records which is, of course, more than a little exciting but beyond my saying that, I know nothing. (said in my best Sergeant Schultz voice...you know, from Hogan's Heroes?)

Hey, I'm sure you've seen the Paper Cat jam at Julie's studio already, but what the hell, you can never have too much of a good thing:



Also, another reminder about the benefit for Cheri Jiosne today at Asbury Lanes and you can find all the relevant information here.

Finally, as I told you in my last post, Bitten to the Core can be had in digital format for as little as $3.00 over at Fictionwise throughout the weekend, and I could not help but notice that all of my books...well, all books published by Phaze, are also on sale for that low, low price so if you haven't had a chance to ever read a true erotic comedy or want to see just how sick my mind works, you can pick up the entire Three Days in New York City trilogy (Three Days, Another Bite of the Apple, and Bitten to the Core) for as little as $9.00. Here's the link to my author page and again, please do not forgot to rate the book when you are finished reading!

*****

I hate to do this, but I have to end this post now because I have so many secrets I can't blab I may implode. All I can tell you is, watch this space over the coming days and weeks. Major news is on the way.

Later,
xo

Some friendly reminders

Hey hey:

It's pretty quiet on the home front today but if anything stellar occurs, I'll let you know. In the meantime, just a couple of quick reminders:



Tonight:

Julie Slick, Andre Cholmondeley in Andre's band, Hidden Agenda, opening for the Great White Caps, at the Fun House in Bethlehem, PA. Show starts at 10:30!

Me: My new erotic "cougar" comedy, Bitten to the Core, is not only available in paperback right here, but if you want the digital, ebook, or Kindle edition (Are they all the same? What do I know..), they are having a huge sale over at Fictionwise and you can purchase it through the weekend for as little as $3.00!

And if you do decide to pick up the e-book at Fictionwise, can you do me a favor and rate it? There's a little button which appears on your "bookshelf" which allows you a few options but of course I'd appreciate "Great! I loved it!"

Ha - just kidding, but not about rating the book and not about that option, either. You'll see...

Alrighty, that's my update for now but I may be back.

Later,
xo

Odds and Sods for Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Good afternoon!

ETA: Stellar Dr. Dog review in Wired!

ETA #2: Ditto - Nashville Scene!

I'm getting a late start today...sorry...the dog still gets me up at 3AM every night though that's a hell of a lot better than every single hour like it was last month and the vet did say the medicine takes 4-6 weeks to fully kick in. But hurrah, Monty continues to improve and look better every day.

So as you know, my son, the fabulous drummer Eric Slick, has been on tour the past couple of weeks and he just played a bunch of gigs and parties at South by Southwest this weekend. I didn't have to dig too deep on the internet to find reviews and photos...man, they are everywhere! And it is still completely surreal to me that in less than two weeks, I'll be able to see him on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Fear not, I'll be posting huge billboards around the internet that day.

Here's a Dr. Dog SXSW poster I found online, created by a rather amazing artist named Nate Twombly and you should click on that link to see more of his work because he's GOOD!



So on Thursday, March 18, Dr. Dog played the Convention Center at SXSW, and here's a kind of blurry pic from the stage but woo hoo, I also have a You Tube from that gig and it's pretty damn decent....





This photo pretty much says it all...these guys are loving life, aren't they? But I think someone in the band must have bubble envy....



The next day they played a party sponsored by Filter Magazine:













On Saturday, they played at Rachael Ray's party. Look, there she is!



Here's the menu served at her party - erm, by the way, Eric is no longer a vegetarian. But Julie and I are gonna double team him when he comes home in an effort to get him back on our team. Nah, I'm just kidding. I've learned by experience that people do not want to be converted which is why I seldom argue politics or religion (unless you favorably mention the names of Fox News, Glenn Dreck or Scara Phallus and then I do indeed go nuts and never speak to you again):



If the menu whetted your appetite, here's a photo of the food itself:



Performing right before Dr. Dog was Andrew WK, and oh look, he made friends with Eric:



When Dr. Dog took the stage, all of Twitter groaned that the sound system was terrible but they were still great nevertheless:



Heh - here's Rachael rocking out at her party...I'm thinking there's a strong resemblance to Elaine dancing in that famous Seinfeld episode:



"Once, there was a time I was in an Austin alley with Dr. Dog, as they oogled their photospread in the magazine"



Post-SXSW - Eric back on tour in Houston with Lithuania and Hop Along and chililng post-show:



I was kind of disorganized collecting links to reviews, blogs, newspaper articles, etc. because THERE WERE SO MANY! So rather than cut and paste them all here, I'll just give you the links and you can click and read at your own leisure/discretion:

All About Jazz

American Songwriter Magazine

Spy Magazine

Sarahenity Now!

Way Left of the Dial

Teen Vogue

The Panic Manual (More thorough review apparently to follow - I'll update if it pops up)

Entertainment Weekly

Gah, there's so much more...I give up - just google Dr. Dog and SXSW and you'll find more stuff than you'll know what to do with. It's just so freaking awesome.

So while Eric is on tour, I've been hanging out a lot with daughter Julie Slick, helping her make decisions on her debut CD...i.e., the artwork, release date, and best of all, listening to completed tracks. Oh how I wish I could blab who some of the contributors are, but I will say this: Julie is indeed the Crimson Queen. Or Princess...I know she's my princess, anyway. She came over here and worked her usual dinner magic on Sunday - we chargrilled vegetables and she made a blood orange dipping sauce that was so damn fine, I'm gonna give you the recipe as emailed to me by the Princess herself:

"Preheat the oven to 400. Cut off the tip of the head of garlic, so that the cloves are exposed but the head remains together. Cut away a piece of aluminum foil that will wrap around the entire head, and place the garlic in the center. Drizzle some olive oil over the top, sprinkle with salt, and wrap it up. Add it the oven and bake for 30-45 minutes, or until the cloves are deeply golden and softened completely. Let cool.

Meanwhile, in a glass measuring cup, I added: the juice of 4 blood oranges, plus enough grapefruit juice to make 2 cups of liquid. I poured this into a small saucepan, and added 1/2 cup wine, 1 small shallot (minced), and scant 1/4 cup sugar (can be omitted, but the resulting sauce will have a more bitter bite). Bring the sauce up to a boil over medium heat, then reduce to low and simmer until the sauce is reduced to about 2/3 cup. Remove from heat, and pour into a food processor or blender. Add 1 tsp mustard, a few tablespoons of white wine vinegar. a handful flat leaf parsley, a handful of basil, and squeeze cooled roasted garlic cloves into the processor/blender, and pulse until well combined. With the machine running on low, add about 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (or really, as much as you'd like - depending how thick and deliciously fattening you would like the vinaigrette to be). Season with salt and freshly cracked pepper, and serve."

If you are a meat or seafood eater, this would also be perfect for that as well. I cannot begin to tell you how insanely delicious it is and since blood oranges are in season right now...go for it!

Oh yeah, not to be another annoying self-promoter, just another reminder that my latest book, Bitten to the Core is now available in paperback.



Again, you can purchase it directly from my publisher right here. I know I promised a live stream release party months ago but now that Julie is around to help me, I'm gonna see if we can't make that happen. Perhaps we can do it in conjunction with the release of her CD...the two of us together, sharing some wine...a bizarre and twisted version of the Home Shopping Network. Hey, I think it's an idea with legs!

While I'm busy self-promoting, I'd better remind you of the following upcoming gigs which all involve Julie and Eric one way or the other.

Let's start with Mr. Eric Slick.

Tonight, March 24, Eric will be playing with Lithuania and Hop Along at The Bishop in Bloomington, Indiana.

Tomorrow night, March 25, they'll be at Blue Arrow Records in Cleveland, Ohio.

Friday night, March 26, they'll be at the Neville Co-op in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Saturday night, March 27, they wrap up their tour at the The Terrordome but I'll get back to you on that one because I read something in our local paper that the Terrordome may have shut down.

Julie is busy, too.

Friday night, March 26, she plays with Andre Cholmondeley in Andre's band, Hidden Agenda, opening for the Great White Caps, at the Fun House in Bethlehem, PA.

Sunday night, March 28, ah, together at last, Julie Slick and Eric Slick with Robbie "Seahag" Mangano on guitar, a/k/a Paper Cat at their debut New York City show at the Cake Shop on the lower east side.

Friday night, April 2, Julie will be doing a jazz gig at Ortlieb's Jazzhaus with Calvin Weston and here how it's being advertised:

"THE REAL RETURN OF MAD COW, w/ DION PACI, GUITAR; BRIAN MARSELLA, KEYS, TOM SPIKER, BASS & G.CALVIN WESTON, DRUMS, WITH SPECIAL GUEST JOHN SWANA,TRUMPET. & BASSIST JULIE SLICK
DOORS AT 8:00, $10"

While I'm thinking about it, let me give you the rest of the Hidden Agenda tour again, though yeah, Julie is only with them Friday night but I think you'll be very happy when you see who is with Andre the rest of the time:

MARCH 2010 Tourlette with hidden agenda
trio playing a few covers, improv and music by andré cholmondeley
DRUMS: bob ramos, jon braun(thu/25th)
BASS: antar goodwin, julie slick(fri/26th)
GUITAR: andré

24 WED NJ New Brunswick COURT TAVERN (with Stretch*)
25 THU PA Plains JAZZ CAFE' (with Stretch*)
26 FRI PA Bethlehem FUNHOUSE (with Great White Caps)
27 SAT TBA
28 SUN NJ Asbury Park A BENEFIT FOR CHERI JIOSNE
ASBURY LANES (Cheri Jiosne Benefit #2)
With Silent Auction
Music By:
The Ribeye Brothers
hidden agenda, DubProof, Mike Haleta Laptop, Alan Gowa, Out Like Lambs & others
Healthy Snacks by Laura Dardi

*STRETCH.....the legendary jazz/rock/funk/fusion trio.
original lineup of Dave LaRue, Glenn Alexander and Bill Elder.

Also, very important, here is the info for Cheri Jiosne's benefit on Sunday at Asbury Lanes:

~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunday MAR 28th

A BENEFIT FOR CHERI JIOSNE

Musicians, Artists, Friends come together to help Cheri in her battle against breast cancer...

*Please come and support her in her brave battle!!

Here are some of the great friends that have come together to celebrate Cheri and help her with her cause..

Ribeye Bros
Michael Haleta
hidden agenda
great white caps
DubProof
Alan Gowa & Andre' duo
Tommy & Abby Anton
Alice Balzarini
and more!!!!

*There will be a silent auction, special vegan menu, baked goodies, bowling, drinks, and great, great music all day long..

Doors at 4pm
Bands start at 5pm
$10 suggested donation at the door
$15 for all the you can bowl
all ages
21 and up to have afternoon

So Sunday should be an awesome day. You can attend the benefit for Cheri at Asbury Lanes and then shoot under the Holland tunnel to New York City - less than an hour away - to catch the Paper Cat show in NYC.

Man, I hope I remembered everything. Now you know Eric probably has gigs set up all next week once he's back in Philadelphia but I'm not going to worry about that now - I'll post them on Monday if applicable along with hopefully reviews, photos, and You Tubes of all the respective shows this weekend.

But for now, man, I'm beat and I have a novel to work on. In the next few days, I'm going to test out my query on you. A query is what you send an agent to see if they are interested in reading your novel toward possible representation toward possible sale with a mainstream publishing house. So far, I've managed without an agent but this is my first truly mainstream book, ever, so I'm gonna give it a shot. Basically you have to sum up your entire novel in a couple of sentences that will cause the agent to gasp and say, "Wow, how brilliant! I must write to Robin immediately and ask her to send me this book at once!"

Ha ha, oh, I'm kidding. I've been writing a long time now and have been there, done that. The real reason I want to post the query is so that you guys will know what I'm writing about and maybe give you a tease or taste of an excerpt. Hey, why not? You've been sticking with me so far...

Oh yeah, in other writer news, in two weeks I'm off on a top-secret mission with three of the best writers in North America. Oh, the stories I will have for you then!

Maybe.

Or maybe I won't be able to tell you anything. What happens on that mission may stay on that mission.

Alrighty, then. I'm obviously rambling and need to take a break before delving back into the novel.

It's been fun, though.

Later,
xo

Bitten to the Core: Available in paperback!

ETA: "Dr. Dog played at Harvest of Hope Fest March 12, 2010. This is an interview with Scott McMicken of the band, concert footage and a fan commentary. This was shot and edited by Andrew Ford for The Gainesville Sun."

And there's lots of Eric Slick drum footage.



Good morning, good morning!

So while Eric Slick is down in Austin, TX at South by Southwest and Julie Slick works on her debut solo CD, their mother has some news of her own.

Bitten to the Core is now available in paperback! Hurrah!



It's available directly from my publisher right here and I'll be providing links for other retailers after I am awake. Actually, they may not be there yet. I'll let you know when but to be honest, everyone benefits when you buy directly from an independent publisher or an indie bookseller. Thanks!

More later,

xo

Stormy Monday

Where is the sun and what have they done with it?

I know I like a good storm as much as anyone but this is ridiculous. Three days non-stop? Blech. Oh well, I'm not really complaining. Hopefully today will be another day of productive writing.



Hey, my strange little flash fiction story is up at Short, Fast, and Deadly - click and scroll down and marvel at how my weird brain works sometimes...

In other news, Eric Slick, on tour with Lithuania and Hop Along, continues to work his way across the country where he'll meet up with Dr. Dog for a bunch of shows/parties at South by Southwest. One thing you can say about Eric, he adapts very easily from five star hotels to this:



Haha - I stole that photo off of Twitter where Lithuania's guitarist, Dom, had posted it as "Man Love" but trust me, it's not; it's vintage Eric who can sleep standing up in a typhoon but at least has a van in which to crash this time. By the way, nice headband, Eric.

Erm...the above is not exactly a great segue for my next comment, but here's a couple shots and short clip from the show, which was at a punk gay bar in Asheville called Cookie LaRue's and because our good friend Andre Cholmondeley lives nearby, he was kind enough to attend and be my personal photographer/videotographer:







And here's one of Eric playing bass with Hop Along:



Anyway, tonight they'll be playing at Wonderroot in Atlanta which is a community arts center...then tomorrow night they are down in Tallahassee, Florida at the Far Side and man, between Cookie LaRue's, Wonderroot, and Far Side, those are some interesting links, huh. Here's another.

Julie came over for dinner last night and damn I wish we took photos. Gary made homemade vegan creamy tomato soup with fresh basil, flaky biscuits topped with Earth balance (soy butter substitute which, and I am a food freak, you cannot tell is not the real thing) mixed with honey and cracked black pepper (think it sounds weird? It's insanely delicious!), and a lovely salad of arugula, red lettuce, artichokes, imported olives, and toasted pea pods. For dessert there was vegan ice cream - we actually have truffle and mint chocolate chip and it's made with coconut milk, hence why it's vegan, and again, it's better than most premium ice creams out there.

Julie's in a great head - she played me some more new songs from her upcoming CD and they are BRILLIANT. Even better news, yesterday she got an email from a superb keyboard player who appeared on a Grammy nominated composition with (and written by) one of the world's premier guitarists, and now said keyboardist has signed on to contribute, too. She's currently also working on the cover artwork with her webmaster/graphic artist...this is going to be major and we're all really excited for her.

And, this one blew me away altogether -- she's talking about doing some solo touring. Yep, you read that right. Once the CD comes out, she's going to hit the road. How freaking cool is that?

Julie also played me a new song off the upcoming Cheers Elephant CD she is producing and it's one of those tunes you love immediately on the first listen. That band is just so damn good, and finally, they are hitting the road as well. They will be touring the end of this month, and how insane is this, when Julie, Eric, and Robbie, a/k/a Paper Cat play in New York on March 28, Cheers Elephant have a gig either right next door or right across the street, I forget what she told me. But they didn't plan it that way and how freaky! Here's the current tour schedule for Cheers Elephant, and I can't help but notice when I went to their MySpace page that my all-tiime favorite song of theirs, Here We Are, has almost 20,000 hits. Go click and listen!

Mar 24 2010 9:00P
Johnny Brenda’s Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mar 25 2010 8:00P
Hewitt Union @ SUNY Oswego *FREE!* Oswego, New York
Mar 26 2010 8:00P
The Nines Ithaca, New York
Mar 27 2010 10:00P
Wildflower Cafe Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Mar 28 2010 8:00P
Piano’s Lower East Side, New York
Apr 16 2010 8:00P
The Note West Chester, Pennsylvania
May 21 2010 9:00P
The Khyber Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jul 24 2010 3:00P
Harborfest Oswego, New York
Jul 25 2010 1:00P
Harborfest Oswego, New York

Anyway, I know I say this a lot and it doesn't happen, but if I hear from Eric and I get any good stories or find anything on the web after I post this, I'll be back to add and edit. But for now, my novel-in-progress awaits and I'm all fired up to write.

Later,
xo

"Rain" O'er Me

Hi there!

I know I'm odd, but there's nothing I love more than a really rainy Saturday morning. While everyone else in Philadelphia is probably sleeping in, I'm up and about loving the dark solitude.



Even the dog is sleeping in - he's out cold upstairs in my bed. You have no idea what a good thing this is. Up until he started his medication on Monday, he literally was awake every hour on the hour. He woke up once at 5:30 to be let out, and then went right back upstairs. Alas, once I'm awake, I'm awake, but like I said, I am not complaining.

Especially since my run of good fortune continues. I came down to another acceptance letter today for another new story. That's three in one week in case anyone is counting. Hurrah! I'm back!

"Robin,

Thanks for the submission to Stymie Magazine...the imagery and tone were right in our wheelhouse. That said, Stymie would like to include the story in our Autumn/Winter '10 issue. If that is amenable to you please respond with brief writer's bio as you'd like to see it in the publication (or if the one you sent with your submission is sufficient, please let us know).

Thanks,

Erik Smetana, founding editor
Stymie Magazine"

I just sent them the story yesterday! I'm sure other writers reading this will know what I'm talking about when I say there is nothing like the validation you feel from a quick, positive response. I'm flying right now.

Speaking of flying, I'm guessing that's what Eric Slick is doing at the moment - he's on his way to Richmond, Virginia, to kick off his tour with Hop Along/Lithuania...links in the "Ohm" post below. I haven't spoken to him yet, but I read a tweet he posted last night which broke my heart:

"so incredibly bummed, our harvest of hope show was rained out after 5 songs. sorry everybody."

Oh man...all the way to Florida and unable to finish the show. Bummer. But on the plus side, look what Questo of the Roots tweeted last night, and retweets were posted all over the universe:

"@questlove
Dr Dog. Dr Dog Dr Dog!"

I was tempted to tweet back "That's my son on drums!" but I figure I'm gonna save that tweet for April 6 when he's on the Jimmy Fallon Show cos' Questo always tweets about the music while they are taping...unless of course I'm in the audience while they're taping and miss it (hint hint).

And I also found a photo on line from a press conference the band did prior to the show last night...



In other awesome news, Lithuania has released their first single, and you can listen to it right here and yep, that's Eric assisting Dom on vocals. You can catch them tonight at the Dull House in Richmond, Virginia...I've tried to find the exact address but struck out...if anyone reads this and knows where it is, please stick it in comments and I'll edit this post.

Okay, I am going to make the most of this dark, rainy solitude and work on my novel some more.

If anything pops up, I'll be back.

Later,
xo