Tim Wendel

Thanks to everyone who made the launch for ESCAPE FROM CASTRO'S CUBA such a success.

A tip of the cap to ONE MORE PAGE BOOKS in northern Virginia, BOOKS & BOOKS in the Miami area and those who bought the novel in book, ebook or audible form.

The sequel to CASTRO'S CURVEBALL has been out for almost eight weeks now and one of the high-water marks was this virtual conversation with Saul Wisnia, who did Luis Tiant's autobiography, SON OF HAVANA -- https://bit.ly/3uhMefj.

Perhaps the most intriguing questions I received at such gatherings was, Will there be a third novel featuring the intrepid Billy Bryan? To be honest, I hadn't planned on one, but it's got me to thinking. Let me know where you'd like the onetime catcher to head next? As my friend Jane Leavy said in endorsing ESCAPE, "In Billy Bryan, Tim Wendel has created the perfect baseball man."

Indeed, Billy is a fun guy to write about. 

Copies are shipping from Nebraska Press and Amazon, where Audible and Kindle editons can be found, too.

And here's a recent column about Cuba, politics and baseball that I wrote for USA Today -- https://bit.ly/3jSXwSL

That can tie you over until your copy arrives.

Just finished the audiobook version for 'Escape from Castro's Cuba.'

The new novel will drop March 2 from Nebraska Press, with blurbs from Daniel Silva, Jane Leavy and former big-league pitcher Luis Tiant.

We're in the process of scheduling virtual events with such outstanding independent bookstores as One More Page in Arlington, Virginia, and Books & Books in Miami.

More news soon.

What to do during the pandemic? Hunker down in the home studio and narrate some more audiobooks, right?

The latest is my novella HABANA LIBRE, which came out with CityLit Press a few years ago. The story of an odd couple -- a young sailor and a showgirl -- who dare to escape by sea from Havana and it can now be found on all audiobook outlets. Good fun to narrate a novella that Holly Goodard Jones said is told with "tender complexity and rich detail."

It's also an appetizer to my new novel, ESCAPE FROM CASTRO'S CUBA, which is also set in Havana. A sequel to CASTRO'S CURVEBALL, it will be out this spring from Bison Books.

More on that soon. In the meantime, enjoy the HL audiobook.

I've been trying to stay sane during COVID-19 by spending more time in the recording studio, which is actually a closet in our three-bedroom apartment. 

The audiobook for RED RAIN, a thriller about the Japanese fire balloons in WWII, just went up on Audible. Thanks to my sister, Amy, for doing the great cover.

Also, I had fun narrating BUFFALO, HOME OF THE BRAVES,  which is about the star-crossed basketball team I used to cheer on when I was a kid. 

Pete Weber, the voice of the Nashville Predators, pitched in by reading that book's foreword by team announcer Van Miller. More about that soon as it should post on Audible in the next few weeks. It's already up on Google, Apple and other outlets.

During such surreal times, I returned to the studio and finished the GOING FOR THE GOLD audiobook for Audible. This was my first book and details the U.S. Olympic hockey team at Lake Placid. Fun and a little strange to relive those days.

In addition, ESCAPE FROM CASTRO'S CUBA, the sequel to CASTRO'S CURVEBALL, my first novel, is in process at University of Nebraska. This will be a Spring 2021 release, so stayed tune.

I've been in the studio doing the audiobook for DOWN TO THE LAST PITCH. It's now available on Audible. Please check it out.

I'm currently in the midst of the GOING FOR THE GOLD audiobook. Yep, that's the story of the 1980 Olympic hockey team, which was my first book.

The goal is to have it out for the 40th anniversary this February.

Stay tuned.

I'll be returning to the Bay Area to discuss my award-winning memoir CANCER CROSSINGS: A BROTHER, HIS DOCTORS AND THE QUEST FOR A CURE TO CHILDHOOD LEUKEMIA.

On Wednesday, August 7, I'll be speaking at the San Francisco Public Library, 100 Larkin Street. We'll begin at 6:30 p.m. and I'll be showing vintage photographs from this epic period in medical history.

Below is the trailer for the SUMMER OF '68 documentary. It's currently storyboarded as a five-part series and I think you'll agree that it rocks. Pardon Denny McLain's F-bombs, but he's rapidly becoming the Shelby Foote of this project.

Right now we're looking for a few folks with money who would like to be excutive producers and help us make this a reality.

Here's the link --  https://www.dropbox.com/s/ip1glvc4pdv2617/1968SizzleFinal.mp4?dl=0

Doing the audiobook for CANCER CROSSINGS has opened up new doors. Other voices have already done SUMMER OF '68 and CASTRO'S CURVEBALL and others, but it looking through my contracts I found that I still hold the rights to HABANA LIBRE, RED RAIN and BUFFALO, HOME OF THE BRAVES. With the latter, we have also located many of the interviews I did with Bob McAdoo, Jack Ramsay, Randy Smith and others. 

I'll be returning to the recording studio later this year, so let me know if you have a favorite, one you'd love to hear the story in audio