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NEWS AND EVENTS
Appearances both as Bob McCrillis and as Purple Crow
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Bucks County Book Festival Writers' Market (Bob McCrillis)
SEPTEMBER 30, 2023
11:00 a.m. -- 2:00 p.m.
James Lorah House, 132 Main Street, Doylestown, PA
https://www.bucksbookfest.org/
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Collingswood Book Festival (Purple Crow Publications)
OCTOBER 7, 2023
10:00 a.m. -- 4:00 p.m.
Haddon Ave, Collingswood, NJ
https://www.collingswoodbookfestival.com/
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Doylestown Library Local Authors Fair (Bob McCrillis)
NOVEMBER 4, 2023
12:30 p.m. -- 3:00 p.m.
150 South Pine Street, Doylestown, PA
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NEWS:
8/25/2023 Smothered Fires, my new Civil War era romance (as F.E. Howard) is available on Amazon
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10/22/2022 My short story "Motel Oklahoma" was awarded first prize in the annual Bucks County Short Fiction Contest.
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Which line stood out from all the others in the book?
"Taking risks to find your place in life is key to growing up — or not growing up."
This is an amazing story of boyhood innocence lost in the process of coming of age. The story chronicles the rather mundane life of a boy named Patrick Meecham, growing up in New Hampshire, as he navigates the treacherous waters preceding manhood.
Praise for Puckerbrush
The author skillfully divides the story into three main sections to parallel the stages a boy goes through in his journey toward becoming a man. In the stage of “Awareness,” 12-year-old Patrick takes his first step toward manhood when hunting with his father and uncle, he kills his first deer. I was struck by the ritualism involved in this event when his uncle wiped some blood from the deer on Patrick’s face, as though the very act of killing is inherent in the DNA of men.
“Inspiration” comes in the form of discovering a treasure chest in his grandmother’s attic that reveals forbidden secrets from her past and gains him insight into her true identity and his family’s heritage.
“Reality” hits the reader hard and fast as Patrick struggles with physical and mental war wounds from his traumatic experiences of fighting in Vietnam. Trying to come to terms with the horrors he endured during his service, he returns home an angry and hardened man.
For the most part, a riveting read to the bitter end!