Have a little sample under the counter

I've just posted the first three chapters of my new serial, "Hooch," at www.teachup.com, together with Christopher Baldwin's illustrations. The story is set in Northern New York, somewhat to the east of where I grew up but exactly where I lived from 1987 to '93 and where my own boys went to high school. It's about a young boy in the days of Prohibition when the border, and the tangle of small, local roads below it, invited locals to become involved in rumrunning and people like Legs Diamond occasionally came up for a visit.

The story will be carried in newspapers throughout New York state this spring as part of their outreach to schools. I'm currently working on the teaching guide, and there will be an essay contest. This is the sixth year the New York Newspaper Publishers Association has sponsored the program and the third time I've written the serial.

Fun stuff to write, and even more fun when I start hearing from the kids. Come have a look!