Last time I appeared at The Happy Bookseller things didn't go so happily. A women's group was meeting there that night and one of the first things one of their members said was, "I don't like British authors." No generalizations there, of course. Being British and an author to boot, I felt a little alienated. But everything turned out okay and I sold some copies of my cat thriller The Kitty Killer Cult.

On Friday, August 29th I'll be braving the bookstore again to sign copies of Undead on Arrival. This will be in parallel with the shop's Happy Cafe slot, where people come to eat, drink and hopefully check out a book or two.

The Happy Bookseller is at 4525 Forest Dr., Columbia, South Carolina 29206. I'll be there from 1 to 2 p.m. For more info call (803) 782-2665.

I’ll be signing copies of my latest novel Undead on Arrival at Books-a-Million West Ashley today (March 15th) from noon to 3 p.m.

Books-a-Million doesn’t publicize its events, unless the author’s megafamous. I even had to make my own poster for them. So I’d appreciate any support you can give. Nip in and say hello on your way to the mall.

Books-a-Million is at 832 Orleans Rd., just off Sam Rittenberg Blvd in Charleston, SC. For further information, call the manager’s spendthrift ass on (843) 556-9232.

The author and a zombie friend at an Undead on Arrival signing.

MR. SEBASTIAN AND THE NEGR0 MAGICIAN. By Daniel Wallace. Published by Doubleday. 260 pages. $21.95.

Mr. Sebastian has a similar style to Daniel Wallace’s earlier books, Big Fish, The Watermelon King and Ray in Reverse, but it’s less satisfying. It lacks the element that kept those previous yarns from unraveling; the sense that there’s a whole universe of fanciful stories out there just hinted at by the NC author.

That’s not to say that there isn’t plenty of fancy in this book. There are plenty of stories, too, as the life of Henry Wells (the Negro Magician) is documented or mythologized by a vivid parade of characters.

Wells has fallen on hard times and he’s lost his magic touch. Where once he was able to conjure gold dust and doves from thin, he now has trouble with the simplest card tricks. As we learn through the split narratives, Wells has lived a doomed life, crushed by the Great Depression, soldiering through World War II and living by his wits as a street scoundrel in the intervening years.

Mr. Sebastian has mesmerizing moments but it ultimately seems slim – as if something has vanished from the text. In his urge to write what he describes as his first fully-formed novel, Wallace has dumped his usual, loose anything’s-possible writing voice. This novel would be adequate if the rest of the writer’s oeuvre wasn’t such a hard act to follow.

Thanks to everyone who came!

- Nick

Above & below: My son, Sam, keeps me company during today's

book signing at Barnes & Noble.

I feel like I've been hibernating recently, staying at home, watching bad movies and behaving like a lazy git.

Now the warm weather's back it's time for me to get out and about again... or at least drag myself to the local bookstore.

I'll be doing the first ever bookstore signing for "Undead on Arrival" at Barnes & Noble West Ashley, 1812 Sam Rittenburg Blvd, Charleston this Saturday January 12th at 2 p.m.

If you get the chance, please drop in and say hi!

Here's a blog post from Charleston City Paper's Arts & Entertainment editor, John Stoehr back in December '07 (sounds like a long time ago, doesn't it?):

"Be sure to check out Nick Smith’s review of an old-school screen printing show at 52.5. The exhibit, set among racks of CDs and punk ‘zines, runs through Dec. 31. And while you’re at it, Mr. Nick has a new novel out called Undead on Arrival.

"The official launch party was earlier this month at The Black Cart. He’ll do a book signing and reading on Jan. 12 at 2 p.m. Barnes & Noble, 1812 Sam Rittenberg Blvd. Smith, evidently a lover of Felis silvestris catus, is also the author Milk Treading and The Kitty Killer Cult. For more information, call the bookstore at (843) 556-8979 or go to http://arts.ccpblogs.com/2007/12/19/journal-screen-printing-101-and-mr-nick/www.bn.com."

Got a nice mention in Charleston's Post & Courier today. You can read the article right here.

http://arts.ccpblogs.com/2007/12/19/journal-screen-printing-101-and-mr-nick/

Amazon Delivers

Yesterday I finally got a copy of Undead on Arrival from Amazon, weeks after my Mum and months after my publicist.

I'm over the euphoria of receiving my author's copies of the book, received around the same time. Now comes the tough part - juggling work on the next book with letting people know about this one, and doing other work that actually pays the bills.

I emailed a bunch of people, telling them I had a new book out. This is always a risky task because some of my acquaintances take exception to being emailed out of the blue, no matter how polite I am about it.