Well, I believe I have my commenting issue resolved, so it's time to start posting again as normal. Um, not that I have a normal posting schedule. But you know what I mean.

I've really wanted to write a few words about the Montana Festival of the Book I was fortunate enough to attend last week. Lots of fun.

Saturday morning got off to an interesting start; as I wandered around the bookstore set up in the hotel lobby, I noticed a tall fellow walking around in red shoes and thought to myself, Hey, I recognize those shoes. So, I walked up and introduced myself to Garrison Keillor, who was in town to do "The Prairie Home Companion." He was a bit standoff-ish at first, until he figured out, I think, that I wasn't about to accost him for an autograph/photograph/any other kind of graph.

He kept browsing books on the tables, saying, "I didn't know they were doing this." And so, in an odd moment, I found myself giving a 30-second elevator pitch about the Montana Festival of the Book to Garrison Keillor, talking about the Library of Congress, the Montana Committee for the Humanities, the long Montana literary tradition, and so on. I'm not sure if Garrison was moved by my spiel, but he did pick up at least a half-dozen books to purchase.

Mine was not one of them.

Saturday morning, I had the good fortune to meet Jess Walter, and go to his reading of his new novel "The Zero." Last year, he made quite a stir with the Edgar-winning "Citizen Vince," and after hearing him read from "The Zero," I had to get the book. I'm in the middle of it now, and loving it; strong, strong writing. Very evocative. Great noir voice.

Saturday afternoon, I did a reading with Scott Frost (who read from his Edgar-nominated debut novel, "Run the Risk") and RoseMarie London (a friend who has a rather marvelous collection of short stories called "The Search for An Inappropriate Man"). I believe the reading was recorded by Montana Public Radio/Yellowstone Public Radio, so if anyone hears it on the air, let me know. Anyway, it was a lot of fun--great to talk to Scott, who was a writer on "Twin Peaks." I was also under the impression he had written for "The X-Files," but he informed me his involvment with that series was limited. But still.

Immediately after our reading, I wandered over to hear C.J. Box read with James Lee Burke. C.J. read from his forthcoming standalone thriller "Blue Heaven," and it sounded great--classic C.J. Box. A great opening for the book.

Then, James Lee Burke stepped up to the microphone. The night before, when I went to dinner with C.J. Box (what a guy), I told him I was really looking forward to hearing JLB. "You ever heard him read before?" he asked me. "Nope," I replied. "Well," he said, "here's the way it will work: Burke will start to read, and he will sound great. Pretty soon, he'll get to a part he finds amusing, and he'll crack himself up a bit, and the whole audience will laugh with him, and he'll totally have 'em at that point."

Well. Burke started to read, and he sounded great. Pretty soon, he came to a part he found amusing, and he cracked himself up a bit, and the whole audience laughed with him, and he totally had them at that point. For, sheesh, 45 minutes he had them. Seriously. James Lee Burke read for 45 minutes straight (a forthcoming short story from Esquire magazine), and by the time he stopped, you could tell people wanted more.

Oh, and I met JLB, as well. Got a nice autographed copy of "Pegasus Descending," and he shook my hand to congratulate me on the publication of my novel.

So I suppose I can say, in an oblique way, that I've been praised by James Lee Burke.