Updates Archives - Tom Flanagan

Mythmaker Event Photos

We came. We saw. We haunted.

A BIG thank you to everyone who came out to our event at Mythmaker Brewing this past Monday. The event was truly filled with terrifying tales, spooky artwork, live music, and seasonal brews.

I read the prologue from my upcoming novel, The Lav Rats, for the first-time in public and I was thrilled it was so well received. I was also thrilled to be joined by my partners in crime: Patrick Caldwell (Adverse-Art), Kevin Bolin and Scott Beasley (NoCo in Under 5), and Andrew Sturm (guitar player extraordinaire). Kevin and Scott are the best MC’s evah.

A special thank you to Tom Moseman, owner of Mythmaker Brewing, for hosting us and a very special thank you to Erin Waynick, who photographed the event. She is a super talented photographer. Check out a slideshow of some of my favorite shots.

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Updates

Surprise!

I’m excited to announce that The Potato Puff Surprise audiobook is now available on Audible! Who’s the narrator, you ask? Why, it’s me, Tom—Rhode Island accent and all.

I recorded the book at Ngano Press Studios in Severance, Colorado. They were so cool to work with. Seriously. By no means am I a professional voice over actor, but I had such a blast reading Pauly and channeling Joe “Bluesy Ass” Kelly.

The Audible member price is only $4.86 or 1 credit and the regular price is $6.95. Not an Audible member? I highly encourage you to join (I’m a big fan). The book is even Whispersync enabled, which allows you to switch between listening on Audible and reading on your Kindle. I know, pretty cool, right? Give it a listen and let me know what you think.

Updates

Acapulco Turns One!

Acapulco is officially one-year-old. I published the book on July 1st, 2021, and it has been a whirlwind of a year. Thank you so much for the love and support. I couldn’t have done it without you. Seriously. Here are some highlights from the past year:

I had some amazing book events at super cool venues. Here are a few of my favorites:

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by journalist Jon Baker from The Pawtucket Times before my book signing event at The Galway. I have to say, having been a paperboy for The Times, writing a story about a paperboy, then being interviewed by The Times about the book was pretty surreal. The Valley Breeze, another Rhode Island newspaper, also published a great piece about the book.

It’s always fun to be a guest on a podcast and I love talking about the writing process. Here are a few of my favorite appearances:

Thanks to you, Acapulco has a 5-star rating on Amazon and 18 reviews. I’d love some more. If you read the book and enjoyed it, please leave a review.

I hope your 4th of July is filled with burgers, hot dogs, and illegal M80s.

Updates

Fast, Fearless, and Free as the Wind

Ireland was everything I dreamed of and more. Like most of my adventures, it began with turbulence. Wildly violent turbulence. We took off in Denver (there’s a reason they’re called the “Rocky” Mountains) and almost didn’t make it to Chicago due to a severe storm and we were on the fringes of the Atlantic Ocean—30,000 feet above the Porcupine Bank—when I finally contemplated parachuting to safety. We eventually landed in Dublin and I couldn’t wait for the Blarney Stone. I just dropped to my knees and kissed the ground.

Dublin is a vibrant city overflowing with art, literature, and music. We had dinner at The Brazen Head, Ireland’s oldest pub, hung out at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, and visited the Francis Bacon exhibit at the Hugh Lane Gallery. If you’re not familiar with his work, Francis Bacon was an Irish painter who died in 1992. He painted extremely dark portraits. The gallery relocated Bacon’s studio in London to Dublin and transformed the entire studio into an actual exhibit. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

After a couple of days in Dublin, we ventured out and drove across the country. Before we left, I watched a video advising tourists not to drink and drive. I advise visitors from the United States not to drive at all! To say that driving on the left side is foreign is a gross understatement. There are also more roundabouts than you can shake a stick at. Even the roundabouts have roundabouts. Seriously. Not to mention, the roads are woefully narrow and everyone drives fast, fearless, and free as the wind. It was like we were in Chevy Chase’s European Vacation. Remember this scene? It’s not exaggerated for comedic effect.

We somehow survived the woefully narrow roads and gratuitous roundabouts and made it to the west coast of Ireland where we stayed in castles, explored ancient ruins, and even fed wild sheep along the hillside. We visited gorgeous towns like Galway, Killarney, Tralee, and Dingle. Dingle might have been my favorite part of the trip. Slea Head Drive is a stunningly beautiful drive along the coast. We even visited a filming location for Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Dingle also has an amazing pub scene. The pub scene is woven into the fabric of Irish culture and it was such a cool experience to see live music. One band even covered “Dirty Old Town”’ by The Pogues, which made my night. We also hiked the entire length of the Cliffs of Insanity, AKA The Cliffs of Moher. I can cross that off my bucket list. Words simply don’t do the cliffs justice. It was a spiritual experience that I will never forget.

I’m typically itching to get back home by the end of a trip, but not this time. Ireland is such a magical place and if you haven’t been, I hope you get to visit someday. Here are a few of my favorite shots.

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Updates

Totally 80’s

I recently visited Totally 80s Pizza in Fort Collins. The place is chock-full with memorabilia from the 1980s. There are vintage arcade games, autographed photos, and even a Han Solo frozen in Carbonite. Oh, and the pizza was pretty tasty too. Here are a few photos.

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I immediately thought about the scene in Acapulco when Simon and his friends have a sleepover party on the last day of school, get a pizza, and rent a movie. Sure, we have Grubhub and Netflix today, but that almost feels like cheating. There was something rewarding about visiting a video rental store, perusing the aisles, and finally selecting a movie. Am I wrong? Do I sound like an old curmudgeon? Contact me and let me know.

Updates

Take On Me

I’m Tom and I’m a music nerd.

Music has had a significant impact on my life and I always try to weave it into the fabric of my stories. It was the backdrop in The Potato Puff Surprise and it’s certainly sprinkled throughout Acapulco. I’m writing my third book and music will practically be a character in the story. I can’t wait to share more information with you. Stay tuned!

Anyway, there is a scene in The Potato Puff Surprise when my friends and I (way back in the 1980s) spend the day at an amusement park and “Take on Me” by A-ha is swirling around the Musik Express. Ultimately, I couldn’t convince my friend to get on the dizzying ride with me. However, it was fun to include “Take on Me” in the scene. And let’s be honest, it’s a quintessential ‘80s song.

The song went through various iterations and recordings before it became the cultural phenomenon it is today. I just recently discovered that A-ha appeared on MTV Unplugged in 2017 and performed a stripped-down version of the song. And despite the version also being on the Deadpool 2 soundtrack, I had never heard it before.

It’s a stunningly beautiful version of the song without the gratuitous synthesizers that made the ‘80s, well, the ‘80s. I hope you enjoy it.

Updates

‘Tis the Season

‘Tis the Season for book giving. Do you have a friend or family member that would enjoy Acapulco or The Potato Puff Surprise? Grab a copy—they make great Christmas gifts.

Colorado Friends: I’ll be joining my good friend and illustrator, Patrick Caldwell, at Wolverine Farm for its Little Zurich Maker’s Market. The Wolverine is a non-profit literary and arts organization located in Old Town and a super cool spot. I’ll be selling and signing copies of my books and Patrick will be selling some of his most popular prints. Swing by, grab a beer, and check out the local vendors. You can learn more here.

Updates

Ginger and Baker Event Photos

I was invited to do a book reading this past Tuesday for the FoCo In Under Five live podcast. It was a super cool event held at Ginger and Baker in Old Town, Fort Collins. There was a plethora of charcuterie, dad jokes, live music, storytelling, and other shenanigans.

FoCo In Under Five is hosted by my friends Kevin Bolin and Scott Beasley who will be bringing a new iteration of their show (now NoCo in Under 5) to terrestrial airwaves in 2022 on KRFC 88.9. Local artist, Patrick Caldwell, who designed the covers for both Acapulco and The Potato Puff Surprise was also a guest.

A BIG thank you to everyone who came out for the event and a special thanks to Brian Martinez who produced and photographed the event. Brian is a super talented photographer and video producer that I have the pleasure of working with every day. Check out a slideshow of some of my favorite shots.

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Updates

Want to Learn More About Acapulco?

My friend Clark Harris is a big fan of Acapulco. He wanted to take a deeper dive into the story and pick my brain about the writing process. Just a little background, Clark is the co-founder of LoLo, a cool gifting company that works exclusively with local, independently owned businesses. This is not a shameless plug. It’s a great service, check them out.

We tackled a bunch of items including character development, pacing, plot, setting, and of course, the dreaded smoke monster. There is no fancy production—we literally just jumped on Zoom and hit record.

Hope you enjoy!

Updates

Happy Halloween!

It’s been a fun month sharing scary movies and music. I’m pretty sure I have the coolest friends evah.

I have a special treat for you this Saturday. My uber-talented team at The Group produces an original Halloween movie every year and this year was our biggest undertaking to date. It’s always fun writing scary scripts and even more fun seeing them come to life on screens big and small.

We film the movies in the office after work in just a few hours. It’s essentially our version of the 48 Hour Film Festival. We went in a different direction this year and I’m just so proud of the team’s performance. Without further ado, I give you The Elevator.

Happy Halloween!