Book Fair Season

For those of you who do not know, my latest book, The Red Light Districts of Tucson, 1870 - 1918. came out February 19th. It is available from your local book dealer or you can order a signed copy from me here.

Anyway, now it is book fair season. Last month I was in Tombstone and Tucson, in two days, I am headed to Prescott Valley. Over the next few months, I will be visiting Show Low, Scottsdale, Albuquerque, and a couple other places. I am basically booked through October at this point. I am even presenting at Women Who Write the West. Too blame for this is Janelle Molony, alias The Hottie Historian, who wrote the forward to Red Light Districts. This woman markets like nobody's business. She has a couple books of her own - Birds Gone Wild and Emigrant Tales of the Platte River Raids, which I highly recommend. She is a dedicated historian, a thorough researcher, and very good writer.

In other news, my next book, Homicide in the Arizona Territory, is with McFarland, and will likely be published later this year. I am also nearly finished with the Louis Eytinge manuscript, and submitting a proposal to McFarland next week. Unfortunately, I will have to travel to Ohio (not high on my bucket list of places to visit) to procure Eytinge's prison photos, reformatory photo, and insane asylum record. Due to budget cuts, the Ohio History Connection archive is not taking rout-of-state requests for certain portions of their collection, including prison records. I am a little concerned about the Eytinge manuscript, as it includes and afterword, where I discuss the alleged murder of John Leicht, and I want to include the short stories Eytinge wrote in an addendum. These will push the word count well over the word limit McFarland usually imposes (about 90,000 words). However, I think these additions are integral to Eytinge's story. His story "Jack Gilbert, Peter Man" was turned into a screenplay, and was made into the silent film "Man Under Cover" by the legendary director Todd Browning.

When I write a history, it is my intention to make it the last word on the subject, unless new documentation comes to light. Take my book The Bisbee Massacre for example. Unless someone finds a treasure trove of letters written by one of the perpetrators to a family member, there is really nothing more that can be added to my narrative. Like Ms. Molony, I do my best to be as thorough as possible. I have done the same thing with the Eytinge story, and I feel this Afterword and Addendum are absolutely necessary to the tale I am telling. I apologise for not being more consistent with this blog, but thank you for reading it. I will do better.

Regards, David