Keven McQueen Stories

Check back often for the latest news and updates!

August 5, 2023: I slightly bungled both the Kindle e-book and print versions of The Offbeat
Kentuckians Collection—not a surprise, considering what a Luddite I am. I neglected to give the
e-book an interactive, searchable Table of Contents. For the paperback, I made the margins too
wide, resulting in a book about a third longer than it needs to be, and I forgot to include page
numbers! The good news is that the e-book is fixed, but once the paperback version is set up,
there is no changing it. If only computers took bribes. Thanks to AI, maybe someday they will. I
hope my mistakes won’t greatly diminish paperback purchasers’ reading pleasure, and I promise
I’ll do better on the e-book I’m working on now or perish in the attempt!

July 31, 2023: Two of my earliest books, Offbeat Kentuckians (2001) and More Offbeat Kentuckians
(2004) have been out of print for a while because—oh, let’s not get into that! But now they are back,
combined into one mighty volume called The Offbeat Kentuckians Collection which features revised and
updated with new information, some with brief introductions and new illustrations by Kyle McQueen.
(Check out his art page, Borderline Artistic, here: https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?
q=borderline%20artistic%20cartoons%20by%20kyle%20mcqueen ) Fifty stories in all, including: Jim
Porter, the Louisville Giant; "King" Solomon, the heroic Lexington gravedigger; Carrie Nation, violent
temperance advocate; John Banvard, creator of the world's largest painting; "Live-Forever" Jones, a
lunatic who thought he was immortal (a favorite among readers); Henry Wooldridge, whose hobby was
collecting statues for his grave; William Goebel, America's only assassinated governor; Reuben Field,
mathematical prodigy (another reader favorite); Tod Browning, director of Dracula; Speedy Atkins,
professional corpse; Edgar Cayce, alleged psychic; David Rice Atchison, supposedly U.S. president for a
day; the Harpe Brothers, frontier serial killers; and plenty more. The two new stories are about Rodes and Beaseman, dirty 19th-century politicians (with an emphasis on dirty) and James Steavens, whose self-
torturing stage act surpasses belief. Two books in one! Available only at Amazon, $9.99 for the Kindle and $20 for the paperback version. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CCYTQHBF

July 19, 2023: Last night’s talk at Lexington Public Library on historic true crime stories from
the city went very well! It went so well I wish I could post a tape of it. I discussed three stories
from 1846 and 1854 which will be in a book I just completed and hope to have published in
2024. The audience had great questions and almost as important, they laughed at all the right
places. One young woman said she liked the “dry humor,” which is music to the ears. (Good
music, that is, not Zamfir or the Doodletown Pipers.) Thanks to David Bryant for arranging
everything!

July 14, 2023: My book Forgotten Tales of Kentucky has a chapter on people who accidentally
found hidden treasure over the years. Here is proof it still happens sometimes!

June 30, 2023: If you like Goodreads, you should check out Shepherd, a site that asks authors to share
lists of "five favorite" books on any and every conceivable topic in every imaginable genre. Over 8,000
authors have been asked to contribute so far, including the Under Assistant Vice Principal of Kentucky
Literature, on the topic "The Best Books on Kentucky Weirdness." See it here, and don't forget to browse
the rest of the site! https://shepherd.com/best-books/kentucky-weirdness

June 25, 2023: Check out the incredible portrait made by the master modern surrealist Julie English Suneson of Soup Brain !

June 17, 2023: YAY-yuss! I will be doing a talk on my upcoming book Creepy Kentucky from Arcadia Publishing / The History Press, and eerie Kentucky stuff in general, at Laurel CountyPublic Library. It will be on October 30—just before Halloween!—at 6:00.

June 22, 2023: Look what a friend saw at the CVS in Richmond, KY: Bizarre Bluegrass from Arcadia Publishing / The History Press! And I also see A History of White Hall by Charles and Lashe Mullins, about White Hall State Historic Site and also published by Arcadia.

June 17, 2023: Yes! I will sign copies of the upcoming Arcadia Publishing / The History Press book Creepy Kentucky and other titles at the Kentucky Book Festival on October 21! It will be held at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington, KY and it lasts from 9 am until 4 pm. Mark it on
your calendars as you would a birthday, anniversary, or important haircut. And don't forget, I will also be at Books by the Banks: Cincinnati Regional Book Festival at Duke Energy
Convention Center on November 18!

June 14, 2023: Photo taken by a friend in a Georgetown, KY, CVS: Kentucky Book of the Dead (Arcadia Publishing / The History Press) is perching in one of the top racks! I wonder if it is outselling the Ted Lasso calendar?