Help CTJ Strike While the Iron is Hot!

Hi All,

A lot is going on. If you’re able to help me spread the news, please do.

Sam Phillips

Today, the first part of my interview with singer-songwriter Sam Phillips is out via IMAGE Journal‘s “Good Letters” blog. Click here to read it.

In addition to album after album that I own and adore, Sam has written songs for television (Gilmore Girls, Bunheads), played a mute terrorist in Die Hard with a Vengeance opposite Mr. Bruce Willis, appeared in Wim Wenders’ film The End of Violence as herself, wrote a song with R. E. M., and pioneered her own business model for selling music with 2009′s The Long Play. So she’s kind of a big deal.

The second part runs tomorrow. But Sam and I talked for so long that she gave me double the word count I needed for the pieces I wrote. So I am publishing half of the overflow on my site each day. The link for the first piece is located at the bottom of the article. Enjoy the excess!

What can you do?

Click the link above, scroll to the bottom, and punch one of those buttons: Share on Facebook, Twitter, etc. to get the word out. Then, go and pre-order Sam’s new record, Push Any Button, and the song “Things I Shouldn’t Have Told You” will be yours to download immediately.

PRESS for Nightmarriage

If you live in Lawrence, Kansas, you might have seen me on the cover of the A&E section of the Lawrence Journal-World yesterday, and also in a column in the A&E section of The Kansas City Star.

If you have not read either of those pieces, the LJ World piece is currently the headliner at Lawrence.com: http://www.lawrence.com/news/2013/jul/28/nightmarriage-its-funnier-you-think/

The KC Star piece is here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/07/25/4367185/readorama-small-moments-turn-into.html

But even more awesome, this week’s book signing at Signs of Life books here in Lawrence was in my church’s newsletter! Two-thirds of the church is sealed off right now as a hazardous zone due to mold problems (though they luckily found no signs of black mold!), and people with acetylene torches and lasers and depth charges (at least in my imagination) are resolving the problem as quickly as they can. Somehow, next to terrifying pictures of the work being done to fix this spore-ridden plague, the church had room for Nightmarriage! Thanks, guys!

What can you do?

Come to the book signing! It’s Saturday, August 3rd, from 1-3 p.m. at Signs of Life on Massachusetts St. here in Lawrence.

If you want to do more, I still have some of the flyers Stacey Lamb, Master Artist at Hallmark, produced for the event. I already hung them downtown once, and some of them have already been taken down. Still other parts of town still have not seen the posters a first time. If you are interested in hanging them, please email me.

The Complete Sentences Podcast

This week, I record a session with Rocky K. for his Complete Sentences Podcast in St. Louis, Missouri. The podcast began following me awhile back, and I contacted them, only to find out that Rocky & Co. are based literally down the street from my old apartment in Manchester—both terrifying and terrific, if you ask me.

The Rainbow Connection

Oh yeah, and there’s a color edition of Nightmarriage available now, though it costs $34.99. I am totally not even kidding. Buy it here.

Thanks for reading, folks—and most of all, thanks for helping me live the dream!

“Chad Thomas Johnston is an author, sonuva’ preacha’ man, PhD-dropout, singer/songwriter, music producer/sonic reducer, daydreaming doodler, gorilla/guerilla publicist, cinemaddict, & pop-culture obsessive. He is represented by Seattle, WA-based literary agent Jenée Arthur, who is currently shopping his debut manuscript to major publishing houses.

Follow Him on Twitter: @Saint_Upid