"That smoky snout stuck with me. At first the gesture of dancing into the fire seems reckless, even ignorant.
But who among us hasn’t had our trial by fire? And who among us, for that matter, hasn’t sometimes chosen to walk right into the heat of desperate action because there is no other way?"....
"Along with a lot of other people around here, I’ve grown old waiting for the renaissance of Flint. Maybe that’s why I felt slightly dizzy the first time I walked into Blackstone’s.
It is intensely discombobulating to be in a place that has the look and feel of an actual city hangout with a bit of flair (despite the loud Muzak), the kind of place a lot of people enjoy in other cities every day of their lives, and to admit how much I’ve missed it. As usual, in Flint , our desperation is raw and hard to hide. We just want something to work. As a friend of mine said the other day, “this is a town of broken people” and so if Flint really is getting better, it’s going to take awhile before we believe it and give up our bleak, self-fulfilling prophecies."
Click on Events for past appearances, with photos!
::: NEWS UPDATES :::
Six Minutes in New York:
Jan Speaks Out on Peace Corps Tonga, Night Blind, and Indie Publishing.
Night Blind: Top Ten Finalist in Literary Fiction, ForeWord Magazine "Book of the Year" Awards for 2006 books from independent and small presses.
Night Blind is the saga of a ragtag bunch of Peace Corps volunteers grappling with a murder in the remote and eccentric Kingdom of Tonga. For more, click here...
Night Blind is available at Barnes and Noble Booksellers in Flint (Genesee Valley Mall) and Torrance (Del Amo Mall).
