Clinton, South Carolina, Sunday, September 3, 2017, 3:34 p.m.

I’ve drawn no conclusions from the past few days. They’ve been good experiences, I guess. Character building. Not altogether good. Not altogether bad. Clouds with silver linings still glistening.

Greer clobbered Clinton, 41-0, in the local home opener. Chapman clobbered Laurens, 61-24, on its home field. One week earlier, Laurens had defeated Clinton, 24-18, leaving both with positive feelings heading into week two. Now it’s back to “we just gotta get better” talk for both head coaches. I never sleep well after a hectic night of high school football coverage. Come home. Process photos. Go through the stats. Listen to what the coach had to say. Cobble together a story. Still keyed up. Watch an old movie, preferably one that makes me sleepy.

I had a book signing in Spartanburg at a wonderful place, the Hub City Bookshop. It wasn’t particularly successful. I hoped a few people would drop by on the way to the Furman-Wofford football game. They didn’t. I played a couple songs I’d written on guitar. I talked a little about each of my eight works of fiction. I think that’s right. One collection of short stories. The Audacity of Dope (2011). The Intangibles (2013). Crazy of Natural Causes (2015). Forgive Us Our Trespasses (2016). Cowboys Come Home (2016). Lightning in a Bottle (2017). Life Gets Complicated (2017).

Yep. Eight. Seven novels and one collection (Longer Songs, 2016). I’m glad I brought a couple copies of each along. I sold one copy of The Audacity of Dope and one of The Intangibles. I read one passage of Lightning in a Bottle and two of the brand-new one, Life Gets Complicated. I believe most of the people there enjoyed my little show. I sang two songs that mention stock car racing, “Martinsville” and “There You Are.” Before it started at 3, I also sang a couple others, “Your Independence Day” and “Bills to Pay.”

There wasn’t any sound, so I guess I can’t call it a sound check.

The former sports editor at the Gaston Gazette, the newspaper where I worked for 16-1/2 years, stopped by and bought a book. Gabe Whisnant now works at the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, where I wrote about NASCAR for 3-1/2 years before I moved to the Gazette.

The big surprise was the almost-random, coincidental appearance of one Tommy Tomlinson, whose work I have enjoyed for many years. He and his wife were passing through town and somehow discovered either Hub City Bookshop or that I was there. The Tomlinsons bumped into a onetime newspaper colleague of his, and it was a tiny reunion of once and current ink-stained wretches.

Not as many ink stains these days. It’s not like the old days when I’d steer clear of white caps because they always developed smudges on the right front of bills because that’s where my thumb and index fingers met when I put them on and took them off and tipped them.

I’ve always enjoyed tipping a cap.

Meanwhile, while I was spending all the day’s profits on a nice meal, the Paladins were playing Wofford across town. I left Clinton prepared. I wore long khakis because I was signing books. I wore a light shirt because I might go to a ballgame. If there had been someone who called me, or texted me, or posted, or tweeted “hey, I’ll see you at the game,” or even, “are you going to the game?” I probably would have spent the day’s profits over at Wofford College, but they didn’t, and I didn’t, and, since Furman lost in painful fashion, 24-23, on a two-point conversion that went awry, I guess I made the right move. I’m afraid that, every time I go back to Furman these days, I feel more removed, more remote, and less relevant, which is exactly as it’s supposed to be for someone who is 37 years out of college and too poor at the moment to give money.

I do root like hell for them, though.

The Hub City Bookshop, 186 West Main Street, Spartanburg, is much more than just a place to buy books. If you are so inclined, however, to buy one or two while you’re there, copies of Lightning in a Bottle and Life Gets Complicated are available with my modest signature on the title pages.

 

 

If you’d like me to mail you a signed copy of Life Gets Complicated, or any of my other novels, you can find my address and instructions at montedutton.com. (montedutton.com/blog/merchandise). Or, just drop me a line and you can pay through PayPal.

I’ve written seven novels and a collection of short stories. I’ve also written a number of books about sports, mostly about NASCAR. You can find most of them here.

The Kindle versions of my books, where available, can be found above. Links below are to print editions.

Lightning in a Bottle is the story of Barrie Jarman, the hope of stock car racing’s future. Barrie, a 18-year-old from Spartanburg, South Carolina, is both typical of his generation and a throwback to the sport’s glory days.

Life Gets Complicated follows Barrie Jarman as he moves up to FASCAR’s premier series. He and Angela Hughston face discrimination for their interracial love affair, and Barrie has to surmount unexpected obstacles that test his resolve.

Cowboys Come Home is a modern western. Two World War II heroes come home from the Pacific to Texas.

I’ve written a crime novel about the corrosive effects of patronage and the rise and fall of a powerful politician and his dysfunctional family, Forgive Us Our Trespasses.

I’ve written about what happens to a football coach when he loses everything, Crazy of Natural Causes. It’s a fable of life’s absurdity.

I’ve written a tale of the Sixties in the South, centered on school integration and a high school football team, The Intangibles.

I’ve written a rollicking yarn about the feds trying to track down and manipulate a national hero who just happens to be a pot-smoking songwriter, The Audacity of Dope.

I’ve written a collection of 11 short stories, all derived from songs I wrote, Longer Songs.

Signed copies of Lightning in a Bottle are on sale at Emma Jane’s (see ad above). Signed copies of all my fiction are also on sale at L&L Office Supply in uptown Clinton, South Carolina.

Follow me on Twitter @montedutton, @hmdutton (about writing), and/or @wastedpilgrim (more opinionated and irreverent). I’m on Facebook (Monte.Dutton), Instagram (TUG50), and Google-Plus (MonteDuttonWriter).

Write me at hutdut@duttonm@bellsouth.net or “message” me through social media.