The Boss, The Raccoon, The Submarine

Last night's event at The Mysterious Bookshop started with Bruce, and ended with Bruce. Poe Boy picked me up around 2:30, and we shot up the NJ Turnpike, listening to Loose Ends, a Springsteen bootleg. (Poe Boy's mini van is, like, bootleg central; somewhere in there, I'm sure, is Brian Wilson's original Smile along with the master tapes of "She Loves You.") Just before the Holland Tunnel, I realized that I didn't have Dave White's number on me, so I did what any self-respecting resident of the 21st century would do: texted a Twitter message saying, "Dave White! Call your mentor." Sure enough, Dave called three minutes later. I told him to get his ass out of Jersey, and meet us at the Raccoon Lodge. The three of us knocked back a few Pilsner Urquells (me, for Dutch Courage; I'm not sure what Dave's excuse was) and admired the animal body parts hanging from the walls. Lady Weinman joined us toward the end, and then we headed across the street for the event proper...

... which flew by as fast as a second wedding. Seriously. One minute I was making small talk with friends, then the next I was asked to speak, and then I signed books, and then hung out a bit, and then it was time to close the store. The turnout was fantastic--the best in a long, long time. Among the pals o' Secret Dead Blog gathered (in no particular order): Jason "The Mark" Pinter, Jeff Wong, Axel Alonso, Michael "Grenade Launcher" Homler, Hector DeJean, Glenn Gray, Poe Boy's daughter Pam, Mike "Rescued by Nerds" Collins, Lord and Lady McQuigan, Ron Geraci, Ashlea Halpern, Jamie "The Coup" Malanowski, Bonnie and Joe from the much-missed Black Orchid, and a bunch of other cool folks who I didn't recognize (and which is always a pleasant surprise).

Afterward, a bunch of us decided to skip the Raccoon Lodge--which only seemed to have a pot of hot dogs on the menu--and hit an Irish joint around the corner for some brews and grub. It was only then that I remembered that I'd brought my camera, so I took a few snaps of folks gathered at the table (which I'll post later). Someone at the table made an off-color reference to a submarine (which I won't repeat here). And then it was over in a flash, and the next thing I knew, Poe Boy was hurling us back down the Jersey turnpike, Darkness on the Edge of Town blasting.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by, hung out, and picked up a Severance. And huge thanks to Ian, Hillary, Otto and the gang at The Mysterious Bookshop, who were fantastic hosts. If you live anywhere near NYC, and want a signed copy of Severance, go to these guys. Then stay, and browse, and drool at the awesomeness gathered on the shelves around you.

Today: headed out in a few hours to hit Wizard World Philly. I'm on a Marvel panel at 1, and will be at the Marvel booth at 3:30, so stop by and say hi if you're around. I'll try to Twitter an update while I'm there.

And then on Sunday: Noir at the Bar!

(Photo above snapped at the Raccoon Lodge. As if you couldn't guess.)