Moving day - new RSS feed.

Hey, blog followers.

I'm moving this operation.  If you'd like to keep up, please subscribe to my new RSS feed:

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See you soon.

OWL salutes Karl Marlantes

Did you read Sebastian Junger's review of Karl Marlantes' new Vietnam novel, Matterhorn, in last weekend's New York Times?

If you missed his rave, click here to read it.  I'll wait for you to come back.

Sounds like an amazing book, right?  Thanks to Karl, we now have to cases of his book to send to troops in Afghanistan. 

We've started collecting books for spring so if you're an author or publisher, please get in touch with Operation Warrior Library and let us know if you'd like to be included. 

If you'd like to support the authors who are donating their books, then, y'know, buy their books in the OWL bookstore.  Any proceeds from sales there go to help us ship books over.

COMIC BOOK RESOURCE NEWS!

Enjoy the article about my new Doc Savage series from DC!

Operation Warrior Library gives thanks to these wonderful people...

These audio books, and books, are ready to go to our troops recovering in Germany, and in the field in Afghanistan, as well as their wives and families here at home. They'll begin their journey on Saturday. But it never would have happened had not these wonderful people stepped up to donate. Here's wishing them all, and you, and America's troops, a Happy Thanksgiving!

• Patton Oswalt
• Julia Sweeney
• Alice Sebold
  
• Tess Gerritsen
• Meg Gardiner
• Vince Flynn
• Glenn David Gold
  
• George Mastras
• Jon Guenther
• James Landis
• M. Glenn Taylor
• Guy Fieri
• Mark Stevens
• Karin Slaughter
• Eddie Stack
• Kim Barnes
  
• Alfred Martino for books by Jim Wheeler, Donna Hanover, David Kushner
• Marysue Rucci and Simon & Schuster for books by Dan Brown, Carrie Fisher, Stephen King, Steve Martin, Ted Kennedy, Chelsea Handler, Jeffrey Deaver (also thanks to Jennifer Smith and Sophie Epstein at S&S!)
• Sheial Emerson at Recorded Books for audio books by John Ferling, Margaret Macmillan, Jane Smiley, Ian McEwan, Hunter S. Thompson, Ivan Doig, Lee & Bob Woodruff, James Frey, Jeff Lindsay, Cormac McCarthy, Edward Lengel, Stephen Mitchell, Mark Helprin,
  Doug Fine, Philip Roth, Charles Baxter, Chuck Palahniuk, Andrew Meier, Kris Radish.
• Brilliance Audio for books by Suzanne Brockman, Stephan White, Daniel Siwa, Jayne Anne Krentz.
• Jofie Ferrari-Adler at Grove/Atlantic for books by Bill Heavy, Bob Drury and Tom Clavin, Ed Macy, P.J. O'Rourke, Sam Sheridan, Arkady Babchenko.
• And last but not least, Colonel George Reynolds and his wife, Kate, Major Robert Davis, our good friend Yvette Manessis Corporon.
  

Guy Fieri gives Operation Warrior Library a shout-out (and DVDs!) on Veteran's Day!

Our great friend Yvette at EXTRA told DINERS, DRIVE-INS AND DIVES host Guy Fieri about Operation Warrior Library. Not only is he sending us copies of his latest DVD to send to the troops, but he recorded a great message for them, as well.

You can support OWL contributors like Guy by purchasing copies of their books, CDs and DVDs in the OWL Store.

Thanks, Guy!

And thanks, Yvette!

My MediaBistro BlogTalk Radio interview about Operation Warrior Library

This morning I spent some time being interviewed by Jason Boog of Galleycat and Matt Van Hoven of AgencySpy about Operation Warrior Library.

You can catch the Galleycat post here.

You can catch the AgencySpy post here.

You can actually listen to the interview here.

As a reminder to everyone who wants to help but may not have books or audiobooks to donate - you can support the authors who are donating their books to us by buying copies of their books in the OWL STORE. You'll find all their books there. Proceeds from these sales also help us continue to deliver great books to our troops.

Introducing Operation Warrior Library author, Jon Guenther's new novel

Jon Guenther's been a supporter of OWL almost since it began. As a veteran himself, he knows how far a good book can go in helping a soldier pass some time. Now, as we're trying to come up with audiobooks for wounded soldiers in Germany, Jon has stepped up again to offer us some audio productions of his Mack Bolan and Stony Man series. These pulp adventures are going to be just what the doctor ordered and we can't wait to deliver them.

Jon has a new novel out, SOUL RUNNER, and it sounds like a great thriller:

The year is 1988. As a former Hasidic Jew raised in the Bronx, Dr. Bram Aronsfeld is no stranger to trouble.

Now the secret organization known as ARK is sending him into Communist-controlled Romania to rescue the beautiful Ileana Tarus, a Christian Gypsy woman who possesses information vital to ARK's intelligence operations. Spearheading the subjugation of her people is the evil Drago Profis, a despot backed by the current regime.

When Bram realizes it's not just Ileana but her whole village that need rescuing, the two will embark on a perilous adventure from which only their foolhardy courage and Almighty God can save them all!

How a horseman and uShip helped us deliver 500 books to the Troops

Meet Dave Rice. He's the one on the left. Why the introduction?

Well, thanks to a bunch of generous authors (see the previous post) Operation Warrior Library suddenly had another 500 books to deliver to troops in Afghanistan. Now, the first part of that journey begins when with us delivering the books from OWL central in New Jersey to Major Davis at Fort McPherson outside of Atlanta. Not an easy trip for us to make.

That's where my favorite company, uShip, comes in. They connect people with things that need hauling with truckers looking to haul. They can hanlde full loads, or in our case, partial loads. Now, what makes this company truly cool, is that they have a charity option. When you click that, wonderful people offer to haul for next to nothing. Dave turned out to be the right guy in the right place at the right time - which turned out to be a parking lot outside of Cherry Hill, NJ.

And Dave brought company. He helps deliver rescued horses from lives of abuse. The horse he was delivering had been sold by a woman as a yearling and she came across him on the Internets and rescued him. So Dave was bringing the horse home. While we transferred the boxes to the horse trailer, a retired mounted police officer joined us to chat horses. He keeps a picture of his horse in his wallet right next to photos of his family. It was obvious that the "horse smell," as he put it, made him very, very happy.

You can find out a bit more about Dave at his website. His daughter has also been involved with turning one of their rescued horses into a dressage horse in a film called, Dartagnan is the Champion.

So, Dave got the books delivered. I was just informed yesterday that the books are heading to the 278th Heavy Brigade Combat Team (HBCT) of the TN Army National Guard. And new books for the next shipment are already coming. Which means that if Dave is in the area, I hope to get to have him help out again. If not, I'll be posting again on uShip, and looking forward to meeting another very cool American.

DISPATCH :: New books for Operation Warrior Library

We're putting together a new shipment of several hundred books. I'll be thanking each author in separate posts to come, but I wanted to get their names out there now while I read their books.

You can find these books, and support these authors, in the Operation Warrior Library Store.

• Stephan Talty, EMPIRE OF BLUE WATER
• Susan Gregg Gilmore, LOOKING FOR SALVATION AT THE DAIRY QUEEN
• Chris Grabenstein, TILT A WHIRL
• Stefanie Pintoff, IN THE SHADOW OF GOTHAM
• Armin A. Brott, THE MILITARY FATHER: A HANDS-ON GUIDE FOR DEPLOYED DADS
• Nick Katsoris, GROWING UP WITH LOUKOUMI
• Kevin Smith, SHOOTIN' THE SH*T WITH KEVIN SMITH
  

DISPATCH :: Operation Warrior Library thanks Lily Burana

Lily Burana attracted a lot of attention earlier this year with the release of her memoir, I LOVE A MAN IN UNIFORM. Which is cool because she's cool. And it's not just because she's a (not a spoiler alert) former stripper-turned-writer.

It's because she's a good writer. Her new memoir is a funny and honest look at marriage.

She's also cool because she donated four boxes of her book to Operation Warrior Library. Because of the nature of her subject matter, we decided to disperse these a little differently this time. Half of the books went to Afghanistan. The other half has been turned over to the Family Readiness Groups (really the wives groups) to distribute to their members.

You can support Lily by purchasing her book. Remember, any purchase you make in the Operation Warrior Library store goes to helping us continue to deliver great books to our troops.

Thanks, Lily!

Want to see the new paperback cover?

Thought so.

Here it is. The paperback of JACK LONDON IN PARADISE drops on October 20, 2009.

Just in time for some early holiday shopping.

Of course, purists may still want the original hardcover.

Spread the word.

DISPATCH :: LITERARY THREADS, or why Nathaniel and Wesley look so good.

This is a post that's been a long time coming and it has to begin with a public apology to two wonderful ladies, Sherri and Amanda. Together they are partners in Literary Threads, a designer T-shirt company specializing in, you guessed it, book themes. My family and I met them in Jacksonville at the Book Festival and they were so friendly and their shirts were very cool. That's a combination of their mother's good genes and shirts from Literary Threads.

So why the apology?

Because we met Sherri and Amanda all the way back in March. Here it is the end of July and I'm just getting around to publicly thanking them. They make great shirts for kids, adults, and everyone in between. Trust me, I've seen a lot of book-themed clothes in my travels. These are the best.

Visit them on the web at literarythreads.com. You can even find them on Facebook by searching for, you guessed it, Literary Threads. In case you were thinking of getting the book lover in your life a kindle, get them one of these instead.

DISPATCH :: Operation Warrior Library thanks Chris Ryan

There's a great passage in Neal Stephenson's SNOW CRASH where the protagonist realizes that even if he spends the next ten years living in a Shaolin Temple in China training to kill every single day that he will never be the bad-ass that another character naturally is.

You will never be the bad-ass that Chris Ryan is. The man is an SAS Gulf War Veteran who had to escape on foot through Iraq into Syria after a mission got hit hard by Murphy's Law. After telling that story in THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY: MY SAS MISSION BEHIND ENEMY LINES, Chris turned to fiction. And if you have any problems with that, take it up with Chris.

ULTIMATE WEAPON is a big hit in England and deserves to be here as well. Taking place during the current Iraq war, the book is terrifically entertaining as well as pertinent.


Thanks to Chris, we've been able to ship four boxes of ULTIMATE WEAPON to troops serving in Afghanistan. You can support Chris by picking up a copy of his book. Remember, any purchases made in the OWL STORE go to continuing to help us deliver great books to our troops.

DISPATCH :: Operation Warrior Library thanks Valerie Malmont

Hey, wait a minute, you might be saying to yourself. Is that some kind of strange coincidence? I know. I know. You can't make this stuff up:

It's really eerie how both my mom and I used the word DEATH in the titles of our first books.

Didn't know moms was a writer? Well, now you do. That's right. While the paper that would eventually become my first print run was still a tree swaying gracefully in some peaceful, undisturbed Canadian forest, my mother was busy creating the very popular Tori Miracle series of cozy mysteries. The character of the region of Pennsylvania that she and my dad found in the 70's reminded her of the English countryside she adored in Agatha Christie 's work. You can find her whole series in the OWL STORE but you should start with DEATH PAYS THE ROSE RENT.

Thanks Mom, for the books for the troops. Remember, the proceeds from any purchase you make on the site goes to helping us continue to send great books to our troops.

DISPATCH :: Operation Warrior Library salutes Jon Guenther

Jon Guenther's a really great guy who introduced himself to me soon after I published THE CHINATOWN DEATH CLOUD PERIL. He's been writing the continuing adventures of Don Pendleton's THE EXECUTIONER series - one of the last real pulp lines out there.

As a former soldier, Jon was only too happy to be able to donate some copies of HOSTILE ODDS and HARD PASSAGE. I can't imagine that these are going to be anything less than hugely popular with our troops in Afghanistan.

You can support Jon for making his donation by buying a copy of his book. Remember, any purchase you make in the Operation Warrior Library Store goes to helping us continue to deliver great books to our troops.

Thanks Jon!

DISPATCH :: Operation Warrior Library salutes Tiffany Baker

The worst cliche in blogging is the writer who has to start their latest post with an apology for not writing in such a long time. It's about as lazy as a journalist starting a comeback story by pointing out how wrong Fitzgerald was when he wrote that there are no second acts in American lives. And that's the grown-up equivalent of a school-kid starting out a report with a definition from a dictionary.

But I have been awfully busy. You can check all my twitter updates, if you don't believe me. Those thing don't just write themselves.

(BTW: twitter.com/pmalmont )

So since the next shipment of books for troops in Afghanistan are already starting to pile up in the garage, I thought I'd quickly round out the people from the last shipment that I haven't posted about yet.

First up, THE LITTLE GIANT OF ABERDEEN COUNTY by Tiffany Baker. I've been looking forward to reading this since I first heard about it earlier this year. I'm in the middle of reading it now and it really is wonderful. Check it out.

Thanks to Tiffany, her book is now being read by troops overseas. You can support Tiffany by buying her book. Remember, the proceeds from any book you purchase in the OWL store goes to keeping the books going.

Who knew Michael Jackson was a Jack London fan

Though probably not in the most positive way.

TMZ is reporting that poor MJ used to use the name Jack London as an alias to buy drugs.

I wonder why he chose that name?

DISPATCH :: Operation Warrior Library salutes Glen David Gold

Eight years.

That's how long it took Mr. Gold to create SUNNYSIDE, the follow up to CARTER BEATS THE DEVIL which is still a must-read.

It was worth the wait. Taking place as America enters WWI and takes center stage upon the world, the book is a wondrous mix of larger-than-life characters, romance, war, dreams and the things that frustrate them. It's always a stunning tribute to the creative process. Glen takes us inside the mind of Charlie Chaplin at work - giving us a glimpse into genius.

It's an amazing book full of humor and sorrow and life. Glen's on tour right now, so catch him if you can. He writes like Fred Astaire dances - he makes it look effortless, graceful, and fun.

Hope we don't have to wait another 8 years.

Thanks to Glen, we have four boxes of books shipping to troops in Afghanistan. You can support Glen by buying copies of SUNNYSIDE. Remember, any purchase you make in the OWL Store also helps us cover the costs of Operation Warrior Library.

DISPATCH :: The Vacation Read: Ricky Gervais, Matthew Robinson, Glen David Gold and Paul Malmont

Drew McWeeny over at motion-captured asked some of the people he knows to help cover his blog while he's on vacation. He asked us all the question, what's your favorite summer movie.

Somehow my answer ended up in the same post with Ricky Gervais. Sorry, Mr. Gervais.

Read on.

DISPATCH :: Operation Warrior Library salutes Charles Bock

Every once in awhile you read a book that just crawls into your DNA where it will stay for the rest of your life. So it was with BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN by Charles Bock. I hesitated reading it at first because its topic involves a child that goes missing, and as a parent, I already have that fear deeply ingrained in me and didn't know if I wanted to actually, y'know, face the fear writ on the page. But, in the hands of someone as skillfully righteous as Bock, the disappearance becomes something far more than a plot device, but the opportunity for an artist to explore and describe aworld in which we are living, but most of us are not, hopefully, living in.

It's been reviewed extensively and most of the reviews are right in that this is a major book by a major new artist. Bock has written a book that examines just how easily America can break a fragile soul. His journalistic skill is as enviable as his audacious technique - he can pull a narrative apart and put it together again in amazing ways. Not that I feel that I have to always draw things back to Jack London, but in THE PEOPLE OF THE ABYSS, London disappeared into the London underworld of 1902 and came out with a book full of the outrage at the way a society systematically destroys the spirit of an underclass. BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN is a fitting literary successor over a hundred years later. It's obvious Charles has spent much time out amidst the people he's writing about. Get this book. It will stay with you.

Thanks to Charles, we have delivered a box of signed copies of BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN to troops in Afghanistan. You can support Charles by buying his book. Remember, any purchase you make in the OWL store goes to helping us get more great books to our troops.