To say it was a busy winter is an understatement. In the course of working on The Brooklyn Wars, I’ve uncovered all kinds of material and met all sorts of people I never knew existed, giving me tons of new leads that will make for a richer, more interesting book. (The backstory of how Bushwick got to where it was before the fires and looting of the 1977 blackout, in particular, is threatening to demand its own chapter.)
And if you’re thinking this is me leading up to saying the book isn’t going to be ready by April as originally planned, you catch on quick: It’s going to be a better book, but also a later one. Not too much later, I’m hoping — the entire first half should be ready to go out to editorial readers in a couple of weeks, at least if the Bushwick section stops clamoring for more pages — but later. Let’s all pencil in September as a realistic street date, and I’ll provide further updates as we get closer.
In the meantime, I should get started asking you where you want your books and other goodies sent, once they’re ready to go out the door. (Everyone who ordered the bonus zine will be happy to know that I just unearthed my saddle-stitch stapler from the depths of the hall closet.) Expect a survey to arrive shortly from Kickstarter, and please answer ASAP so I don’t have to chase you down this summer when I’m otherwise occupied with fixing stray typos.
Finally, if you want to get a preview of some of the topics that will be discussed in The Brooklyn Wars, you can watch the video of my appearance at Brooklyn Independent Media’s January 28 panel on gentrification, “Brooklyn For Sale,” alongside several folks who will likely be putting in appearances in the book as well. The question of what’s happening to Brooklyn and the people who live in it appears to be having a bit of a moment right now — heck, even SNL did a typically ham-fisted attempt at goofing on it (though they couldn’t be bothered to actually film in Bushwick, going to upper Manhattan instead) — which has me doubly eager to get The Brooklyn Wars completed ASAP so it can join the conversation.
And really finally, if you know anyone who’d be interested in news on the book but didn’t get in on the Kickstarter, please direct them to brooklynwars.com, where they can sign up for email updates of their very own.
Okay, back to writing now. Talk more soon.