forgot keys to office, forgot to renew parking pass. bringing a negative attitude to work.

Two bits of news to share today, after a bit of a lull in posting that can be blamed in equal measure on the following:

1) I’m dog-sitting a 125 puppy whose introduction to the ecosystem of my house has upset the balance of pretty much everything, particularly when it comes to my two senior dogs who are about as crotchety as possible

2) I’m fighting through another draft of a novel, hoping to finish before the end of summer, and that’s pretty all-consuming

3) I don’t have that many interesting bloggy things to say, most of the time, I don’t think.

Anyway, the news is that the book has been reviewed in the Charleston, SC Post and Courier, which says, among other nice things, “It’s a funny, wonderfully written memoir that is must-read for any sports fan.”

Also, I’ll be doing another reading, this one at The Dive on Passyunk Ave. in Philly, on September 24 (beginning, I believe, at 7 PM).  It’s part of the Toiling in Obscurity reading series, which features local authors and promises to be a good time, loaded with great readers, alcohol, and probably some profanity.  Depending on the status of the novel at that time, it may be my first public reading from that book.  Hopefully.

Two more events have been scheduled for the coming months.  If you still haven’t had the chance to pick of your copy of Bury Me in My Jersey– or you just want to get your copy signed– be sure to check out the events page for full info.

The highlights:

On August 4, I will be at Starters Pub on Rt. 378 in Bethlehem, PA, signing and selling books for Eagles fans who are at Training Camp.  I’ll be in the bar from 10-1:30, while the Eagles are on their break between practices.  The bar is only 5 minutes away from the practice fields, and it’s the best place to eat/drink/relax while you wait for the 2 PM practices, so be sure to stop by.

On October 2, I will be a featured author at the Collingswood Book Festival, which is the largest outdoor book Festival in the area (as far as I know).

On October 9, I will be at the Barrington Harvest Festival in Barrington, NJ.  Come for the books, stay for the delicious barbecued foods.

On November 10, I’ll be reading at my alma mater, La Salle University.

All further details can be found by clicking the events tab above, or just clicking here now.

From the time I was about eight years old until I was 18, my morning routine was the same: eat a bowl of sugary cereal (or, if I was stuck with Cheerios, add heaping mounds of sugar to it, so that there was a viscous sludge of sugar at the bottom of the bowl when I was done [in hindsight, this sounds awful]), and read the Inquirer sports page.  Every day, the first article I looked for was Bill Lyon’s.

Even when I was young and didn’t know much about writing or reading, I knew he was the best sports writer in town.  He could take a nondescript baseball game in May and elevate it to the level of poetry.  He wasn’t interested in crazy knee-jerk reactions.  He seemed to understand something more deeply about the games than other writers; specifically, he seemed to understand that they were games, and as well as he wrote about them, he didn’t take himself too seriously, the way so many others in the sports world do.

I fell out of the habit of reading him when I got to college and didn’t get the newspaper anymore.  And like many people, I’ve drifted away from reading the newspaper over the past five years.  But still, when I visited my parents, I checked the sports section to see if Bill Lyon had written anything.  He’s been semi-retired since 2005, so I haven’t read him much since then.

All of which makes it more exciting to link to his thoughtful and interesting review of my book, which ran in the Sunday Inquirer, and not even in the sports section.  It’s been two days since I’ve read it, and I still can’t get over the fact that he even read it, let alone that he liked it. And he even likes my wife:

McAllister is Philly through and through, a sandwich-shop veteran who graduated from La Salle University and the much-esteemed Iowa Writers Workshop. Now he is a lecturer in the English department at Temple University. It is a 10-minute drive to the Eagles’ stadium from where he lives in New Jersey, with two dogs and one wife, and the more said about LauraBeth the better.

She is, he tells us, the sort of person who stops to refold all the sweaters someone else has knocked down. She is gone at dawn and not back until 8 in the evening, caring for children with congenital heart defects. She is also able to smooth off – well, some – of her husband’s rough edges. Wisely, he has dedicated this book to her.

Father’s Day isn’t always a great day anymore, but this past Sunday was a good one.

I always hoped the first column about me on Huffington Post would be written by Alec Baldwin, but I suppose I’ll settle for Tommy Lawlor.

Side note: I once met Arianna Huffington, while working as a college intern (for ABC) at the Republican National Convention in 2000.  I had to work the teleprompter for her because a) some Austrian tech had stormed off site due to a financial dispute, b) I had already broken a laminating machine and a fax machine, so I wasn’t allowed in the ABC trailer anymore, and c) I was standing nearby with nothing to do when the show was about to start live.

No, I did not break the teleprompter.  I did reasonably well, in fact.  My knob-turning skills are unparalleled).

I’d like to think she and I developed a special connection that day.

Anyway, this is all prelude.  Tommy Lawlor wrote a nice piece about Bury Me in My Jersey on Huffington Post today.  Go check it out.

One of the main characters in the book is Philadelphia itself. Tom gives you a feel for the city. You learn what it means to be from a particular area and what it means to go to a particular school. Most importantly, Tom is able to give you an idea what it means to be a Philadelphian, whether good, bad, or just plain odd. One thing I can guarantee is that you’ll want to go get a cheesesteak (or two) as you read the book.

….

You don’t need to be an Eagles fan to enjoy Bury Me in My Jersey. Heck, I’m not even sure you need to be a football fan. You’ll like many of the people in the book, especially Tom’s father and LauraBeth (Tom’s girlfriend turned fiancé turned wife). I think people around addicted sports fans like Tom and me would enjoy the book and gain some sense of understanding in why we are the way we are.

I hate having to write a title for every post– it’s impossible to write a good one every time.

Anyway, today’s edition of the South Jersey Courier post includes a profile on me and BMIMJ. A sample:

He found his own agent in Katherine Boyle, founder of Veritas Literary Agency in San Francisco, an agency which rejects 98 percent of the queries that come in unsolicited. Like others, Veritas prefers referrals.

Not only did Boyle respond in short order, she accepted McAllister as a client on the strength of the memoir whose title says it all. McAllister’s submission jumped off the page, Boyle said in an interview.

“We often reject something after two sentences. But I loved the voice. The writing was exceptional, compelling and moving. He expressed such passion about both the Eagles and the city and that came through in the book,” she said.

Prior to reading the memoir, Boyle knew nothing about Philadelphia or the football team that breaks the city’s heart time and again. “Now I’m an Eagles fan,” she said.

Just a reminder, there are only two more book-signing events scheduled before Father’s Day, and I likely won’t be doing another reading/signing until late summer, so if you’re looking for a signed copy, come out to Chester County Books (West Chester) on 6/16 at 7 PM or Doylestown Bookshop (Doylestown) on 6/18 at 7:30 PM.

If you can’t make either, but want a signed copy, the Center City Borders has about 25 signed copies in stock (at least as of Wednesday.  Hopefully there are much fewer remaining n0w).

The excellent Eagles blog (do other NFL teams have so many great blogs covering them? It seems like Eagles fans are pretty lucky in that regard) Bleeding Green Nation, in addition to offering a few kinds words about the book, are running an essay contest to give away a free copy of it.  So if you can’t spare the $15 to order it from Amazon or Barnes & Noble, or you want another copy to give as a gift, or you just like winning contests, please go check it out and send them your entry.  Once you’re there, stick around a while and enjoy their in-depth Eagles coverage.

Some contest details:

In the event that you don’t have $15 to spare, I’ve gotten a copy of the book to give away…. but you’re going to have to work for it. In the spirit of the book, I want you to write about your greatest experience as an Eagles fan. It can be a particular game, a moment with family, it can be a tradition… anything as long as it’s got a connection to the Eagles. Write it over in the fanposts, we’ll pick the top 5 or so, and put them up for a vote to see who the community thinks is best. Winner gets a copy of the book.

The folks over at the great literary journal Hobart have just published their online issue, which includes a roundtable discussion between first-time authors, and they were kind enough to include me.  It’s an interesting look at the publishing process from the eyes of a lot of newcomers, and also it’ll expose you to a bunch of young authors who are doing great work (well, I can’t personally vouch for all of them, but some of them, definitely, and I trust Hobart’s judgment).  Give it a read.  And while you’re there, be sure to check the rest of their issue.