??A torrid tale of angst set in a surreal little town a bit like Petaluma.? That’s how the rather breathless review of my novel, The Late Projectionist, opened in the Bohemian a decade ago this month. The novel itself opened more abstractly: “Clamor, racket, fracas, din…” and now, thanks to Amazon’s digital Kindle platform and its corresponding iPhone app, I’ve got not just the first line, but the whole damn book in my coat pocket (as with the rest of my digital life). Though, I’ve long enjoyed instant access to my films via the iPhone’s YouTube app, I must say there’s something quaint and, well, novel, about having my own book in my phone (and I can guarantee it’s a better read than the average “phonebook.” Bah-dum-bump).

This “corrected text” second edition of The Late Projectionist was first republished last year and has been released for the Kindle platform on the 10th anniversary of its initial publication in June of 1999.

Here’s the jacket copy: Chris F. is an aspiring screenwriter whose ambitions bridle against his pathetic, small town life ? the scene of his yet-to-be-written “motion picture version” of his life. Annoyed by his chronic egoism, his barista girlfriend laces his coffee with what’s later revealed to be psychoactive dishwater. The result is Chris F. develops psychic abilities and a deeper grudge for his hometown and its inhabitants, whose thoughts he hears. How his?new-found powers draw him into an antiquarian book caper with his wannabe filmmaker pals is the stuff of that first novels are made of, but suffice it say, such shenanigans could lead to true love and redemption, or the destruction of all he knows. Likely both.

Get the Kindle version of The Late Projectionist. Here’s the complimentary Kindle app for iPhone (launches iTunes). As always, The Late Projectionist is available in paperback.

And yes, I’m writing another one…