Had enough of this summer yet?  I have — I can’t stand the heat.  Scratch that — heat is fine; humidity, less so. Of course I live in a city famous for its hot, humid summers.  Seruiously, anybody tells you they love summer never spent summer in NYC.  If you know the Lovin’ Spoonful song of which I name in the title of this post, you have some idea of what it’s like; back of your neck getting dirty and gritty. And sweaty.

The key to surviving summer in the city is to escape it, as frequently as possible.  Last weekend we did just that — Saturday up in Sleepy Hollow, Sunday-Monday down on Long Beach Island, site of the first of the five 1916 shark attacks that inspired JAWS (a fun bit of trivia I took great delight in sharing with everyone).

What does this have to do with Mixtape?

Nothing really, other than to point out that writers are people too.  We need downtime, to relax and recharge (or in my case, read like a guy dying of thirst after being handed a glass of ice water).  Timing-wise this can be a bit of a challenge as I’m also beating the Mixtape drum like Keith Moon, trying to spread the word on the re-solicit (Diamond Code AUG120816).  Good news is it seems to be working; the media it took great effort to corral the first time around has been a little more receptive now that Mixtape is a “real” book.

Case in point: this interview I did with ComicList, who gave Mixtape #1 a five star (or “goggle” if you will) review.  Here you’ll learn a bi more about the book, but also about me; my inspiration, my influences, and so forth.  It was a lot of fun to do, and I’m greatful to ComicList and Brandon Borzelli for supporting the book.

There’ll be more media coming — some interviews, and reviews in advance of Mixtape #2’s release in October.

And then the push on Mixtape #3 begins.

I need a vacation.