Rick Bailey > Recent Status Updates

Drop and Add has 8 five-star ratings so far. And some terrific reviews.

"An expert sense of narrative pacing that carries the reader along at top speed, and an impressively precise eye and ear for the details that make a scene and character come alive."

Thanks to the 100 recipients for choosing Drop and Add. And thank you for your reviews.

Drop and Add just got another five star rating. Whoever read and rated it, thanks!

Drop and Add is now available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle format.

Drop and Add now available for purchase on Amazon.
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Coming August 30 in paperback and Kindle.

Getting closer to publication. Go to my website (https://rick-bailey.com/drop-and-add/) to download and read chapter 1, "First Day."

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Getting close to publication. Find and read a sample chapter here:

https://rick-bailey.com/drop-and-add/

Eliot Becker is an adjunct English teacher at a rural college. The work is hard. The pay stinks. For extra money he bags groceries at a local supermarket in the one-stoplight town where he's taken up residence. He's at the age, he and his girlfriend go to a lot of weddings. Eliot, what are you going to do?

Coming in August, a new book. Drop and Add, a novel.

Think Richard Russo, Straight Man, only a new prof rather than an old one, an adjunct at a rural two-year school called Eastern Technical College (yup, ETC). Serious fun.

And Now This: A Memoir in Essays is coming up on its one-month birthday. (Not true, when you consider writing time). It gives me so much pleasure to think of people reading my books. One of the best comments I ever received: "Reading your book made me want to write about my life too."

I just got an invitation to read at an academic conference. The theme is comfort, healing, and hope. And I thought of this essay, "Feet First," from my first book.

I just got invited to speak at an academic conference. The conference theme is "Comfort, Healing, and Hope." My first thought was this essay in my first book:

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Leaving for Italy in a couple weeks, for a six-week stay. My wife and I will be eating around, and I'll be updating my blog with travel tales, tasting notes, and recipes. (Some of the blog posts find their way into my books.) Our goal is to eat local and find cool places. Like La Fornarina in Urbino:

100 copies given away today. Wow! If you weren't one of the 100, I hope you'll consider buying it. I left a university publisher so I could price my books more reasonably. $3.99 is a deal. The book is fast, light, and funny.

If you were one of the 100, I hope you consider posting a few words (or more) to review the book. I look forward to your feedback.

Thanks, everyone!

If you got on the list for the And Now This giveaway, thank you! If you weren't one of the 100, I hope you'll consider reading it. I left a university publisher so I could price my books reasonably. The digital copy of And Now This is $3.99. It's light, fast, and funny.

To the 100 who got the book, I hope you enjoy it. Please post a few words (or more) to review the book. Thanks again.

https://bit.ly/3DA7bc1

Last day to enter the giveaway.

If garbage men are your thing . . . in Italy.

Well, there's other stuff. The book publishes tomorrow. Right now my favorite essay in the collection is about going to JoAnn Fabrics with my wife.

Garbage men, JoAnn Fabric, it's all very profound.

Did I mention that I write about Italy in And Now This: A Memoir in Essays? Tomorrow is the deadline for that book's Giveaway. You have a good chance of getting a free book. Come to Italy with me. DM me and I'll share the recipe for this dish:

See Giveaways! This book is light, fast, and funny. Feb 1 deadline. You will not be sorry.

I'm giving away 100 copies. Feb 1 is the deadline. Currently 400 people signed up. You have a 1 in 4 chance of getting And Now This. It's light, fast, and funny.

See Goodreads Giveaway.

Here's a sample from the essay "No Exit from Guyville"--

Today guys are also gals. The term is gender-neutral. The reverse, in our guy-centric language, is not true. If you say, “There’s another thing I need to tell you gals,” you’re talking to women.

See Goodreads Giveaways to get a free copy. Here's a sample from the essay "No Exit from Guyville"--

Today guys are also gals. The term is gender-neutral. The reverse, in our guy-centric language, is not true. If you say, “There’s another thing I need to tell you gals,” you’re talking to women.

https://bit.ly/3ZyjDCp

So delighted by Thelma Aguilar Gutierrez's comments of The Enjoy Agenda, a collection of essays. She wrote:

"Each chapter is its own little adventure filled with joyful remembrances and funny anecdotes. At times, I didn't feel like I was reading, but rather like I was just having a casual conversation with Rick Bailey and hearing about his different travels.

Food and travel, family and fun in my new collection of essays, And Now This. Consider entering the Goodreads giveaway.

Here's a dish of rice with cabbage I cook because I was LUCKY to marry into an Italian family. It's my mother-in-law's recipe. Read about my Italy experience in And Now This.

It's a Giveaway, Jan 2 - Feb1. And Now This: A Memoir in Essays.

Right now my favorite essay in the book is about whistling and perfect pitch. I woke up at 3:00 a.m. one night and heard my wife whistling in her sleep. (Don't tell her I told you.) Same note. Was it B flat? Was it A? It sounded like the droning note at the beginning of the Beatles' "I Feel Fine." Aaaaaaaaa