Hi, everyone,

Welcome to my web site, where I post information about some of my writing projects.  Please feel free to check out my Short Stories and the Audio page, which has the audio from the two multi-person readings I did at the Tamale Hut.  I really need to do another of them somewhere.

And a special welcome to everyone I met and spoke with at the Southside Comic Book Show on Saturday, June 20th.  I’ve had a table at that show for several years now, and Stephie and I always have a great time.  It was a nice crowd there, and I hope I picked up a few new readers.

I’ve responded to a call for authors by the Indie Author Book Expo people. and I am hoping I can go to their event on August 21 at the Charleston Carnegie Public Library In Charleston, IL.  It’s a long drive, and Stephie says that she doesn’t want to go, but I think it’d be fun.

I have also applied to two somewhat local libraries for their Authors Fairs.  I hope I’m accepted, and I’ll post details if I am.  And if you know of any other upcoming events in your neighborhood, either at a library or elsewhere, where I can meet readers and coerce some of them to buy my books, please let me know.

As you probably know by now, the Tamale Hut Café in North Riverside, which for the longest time was the center of my writing world, has closed after an impressive 20-year run.  We wish Jaime a long and fun retirement, and we’ll miss all the creative motivation that came out of that place.

The Tamale Hut Café Reading Series ended last June, but fortunately, there’s a new reading series not too far away.  The No Shush Salon has set up shop at the Broadview Public Library, usually on the first Thursday of the month.  I’ve been to several of the events and while it doesn’t yet have the crowds that the THC series had in its heyday, it’s a nice room, J9 is a good host, and it’s an opportunity to get up and read some stories to an appreciative crowd, or just go and hear what your neighbors have been writing.  You can get information and sign up at the Broadview Library web site, or if you are a Facebook fan, they have a presence there as well.  I hope to see you there.

What’s happening with the Tamale Hut Café Writers Group, you ask?  Well, we decided that we wanted to keep going, and we’ve been welcomed into the LaGrange Park Public Library, 555 North La Grange Road., La Grange Park, IL.  They’ve been treating us extremely well so far.  We will continue to meet at 2pm on the second Saturday of the each month, as long as the room is available.  Check our website for more information and please consider attending if you’re interested in spending an afternoon with some really creative people.

If you’re here looking for information of the stories I have available, you’re in the right place. My latest published work (at least available on the web) is Barnstormers Book Two, which you can read about below.  It’s available at Amazon.com in paperback or Kindle.  Details of the other books I have in print are on my Other Books page, and I have some free short stories for you to read on my Short Stories page, including the popular tales of the customers of the Adventure Comics Comics Emporium, and a little piece of fan fiction that I wrote over the COVID summer featuring one of my favorite comedy teams. You can also listen to recordings of my book release events at the Tamale Hut Cafe. Check ’em out here.

I hope to see you all soon.  In the meantime, keep reading.  There’s an awful lot of good stuff out there.

Matt B

Kristina “Kiki” Hansen and Bridget Doyle, undercover ICPO agents, continue their barnstorming tour across the country as they land their red-and-yellow Curtiss Jenny biplane in Chicago, where they have been hired to perform some air stunts over Riverview, a popular amusement park on the north side of the city.

But in 1925, Chicago was a dangerous place, where organized crime ran rampant, and several street gangs with their ruthless leaders fought to control the streets of the city. Add to that the activities of the syndicate run by the mysterious Belgian, and Bridget and Kiki will face more danger than ever before!

The action then moves to St. Louis, where the ladies join the prestigious Marie Meyer Flying Circus, only to again run afoul of the Belgian and his henchmen.Written in the style of the cliffhanger serials that thrilled thousands in the early days of cinema, this volume finds our two intrepid aviatrices facing phony cops and real bullets as they travel across the country in search of adventure.

Barnstormers Book Two is available at Amazon.com in paperback or Kindle.