The Chicken Ranch sells out!

I am informed by people In The Know at History Press that the first printing of Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch has sold out, and that the second printing is now arriving in their warehouse for distribution. That, my friends, is pretty darn cool. I don't want to overstate things, though. History Press (and its parent, Arcadia) specialize in niche, local history, so their initial print runs are not comparable to, say, Random House or St. Martins. Still, based upon their enthusiasm for my book, the first print run was a little larger than what they'd normally order up. So the fact that they've sold out and gone back to press in just a little more than three weeks from the release date is an encouraging sign, no?

My trip to Houston yesterday was encouraging as well. I swung by the Houston Public Media studios shortly after 4 p.m. and had an interesting interview with Michael Hagerty for the "Houston Matters" program. It will probably air in September. Afterwards, I was kicking myself for all the clever and intriguing things I should have said but didn't. Even so, I think it came out pretty well and touched on a few areas not widely discussed about the Chicken Ranch. Plus, Michael promised to crank up the bass filter and make me sound like Barry White.

After grabbing a quick dinner of overpriced Tex-Mex, I headed over to Brazos Bookstore for my signing event. Lydia, the event manager, was funny and on top of things, making the entire experience smooth and enjoyable. The audience was on the smaller side, but they made up for it by being very engaged and curious about all things Chicken Ranch. One gentleman was particularly enthused that I discussed the corrupt DPS officer who set the wheels in motion that finally took down the Chicken Ranch, because he'd heard that story discussed by law enforcement in the past but never seen it documented or confirmed anywhere. One fellow shared with me that he'd visited the place the year prior to its closure. A woman shared that she'd visited the place as well--in college, a couple of male friends drove her out there on a lark, and she was mortified at the time (she thinks it funny now). There was also a photographer from Texas Highways there. Not entirely sure what that was about, but he took a few shots of me talking and we discussed some of the interesting new information my research uncovered regarding the Chicken Ranch. After the talk and signing was finished, Lydia brought out a stack of 20-plus books that were presales, as well as another five or so for stock. I signed them all, and I think everyone went home happy.

Next up is a signing and discussion 5:30 p.m. September 1 at Inferno's Pizza for the Comal A&M Club; a signing 6-10 p.m. at the Fayette County Fair at the Fayette County Record booth; and a signing noon-2:30 p.m. at the MSC Bookstore on the Texas A&M University campus in College Station, prior to the UCLA football game. Should be a great event!

Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse is now available from both Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com. It's also available as an ebook in the following formats: Kindle, Nook, Google Play, iBooks and Kobo.

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