"McQueen, an English instructor at Eastern Kentucky University, gives us an entertaining look at some of Kentucky's oddities and oddballs, from the nutty to the notorious." -- Stephen M. Vest, publisher, Kentucky Monthly Magazine.
Welcome to the Official Keven McQueen Website, Home to the one-of-a-kind "Author, Educator, Disturbing Man-Child."
01/19/2010
Keven will sign copies of his upcoming book "The Great Louisville Tornado of
1890" at Carmichael's Bookstore in Louisville on March 27-- the 120th
anniversary of the disaster. Carmichael's Address: 2720 Frankfort Avenue. Phone:
502-896-6950.
Keven will be on a radio talk show in Louisville (WFPL 89.3 FM) from 1:00-2:00
p.m. on Wednesday, January 20. He is scheduled to mostly discuss his
Indiana-based books, especially "Forgotten Tales of Indiana."
Keven will be signing copies of "Forgotten Tales of Indiana" and "Strange Tales
of Crime and Murder in Southern Indiana" at Destinations Booksellers in New
Albany, IN, on January 22, 2010, at 6:00.
Several members of Eastern Kentucky University's Department of English and Theater will sign copies of their books in Walnut Hall in the Keen Johnson building on campus. The event will be held on Thursday, December 3, between 5:00 and 6:30 p.m. Scheduled authors include James Keller, Linda Frost, Derek Nikitas, Salome Nnoromele, Keven McQueen, Charlotte Rich, Mason Smith, Marie Mitchell, Dorothy Sutton, Ordelle Hill, and Young Smith.
Click on the image above to see pictures from this booksigning!
As Professor Farnsworth says on Futurama, Good news, everyone! My two new books have just been released by History Press. Both are full of the familiar darkly comic material and obsessive research, and best of all, both are fully illustrated by my twin brother Kyle. (Whats that you say? You dont believe he really exists? Take my word for it, he does!) Southern Indiana True Crime Stories is a historical true crime book cut from the same cloth as Murder in Old Kentucky and Cruelly Murdered
The other new History Press book, Forgotten Tales of Indiana, contains several elements found in my other books: there are true crime stories as in Murder in Old Kentucky and Cruelly Murdered; accounts of monsters and buried treasure as in Forgotten Tales of Kentucky; ghost stories as in Kentucky Book of the Dead; short biographies of eccentrics as in the Offbeat Kentuckians series; weird little real-life stories and graveyard lore as in Book of the Dead and Forgotten Tales of Kentucky. Depending on your point of view, its either an apotheosis or a self-parody.
You can purchase either book, or both of them--hey, why not get both of them? That's a great idea!--at this Amazon.com link: HERE . You also may have them specially ordered at your local Mom and Pop bookstore.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page for more information on the books!
*NOTICE NEW TIME*
Keven's fans in northern Kentucky can meet him at a book signing at Border's in Crestview Hills, Kenton County, from 2:00 to 4:00 on November 21. The address is 2785 Dixie Highway, Crestview Hills.
SNEAK PREVIEW! Keven's two new books,"Strange Tales of Crime and Murder in Southern Indiana" and "Forgotten Tales of Indiana" are due to be released by History Press around mid-October. Here is an exclusive advance view of the covers!
click on either image to make it bigger
BOO! Something from Keven McQueen that's definitely a TREAT and not a TRICK!
* I will be signing copies of "Forgotten Tales of Kentucky" and "Kentucky Book of the Dead" at Ward Hall, an antebellum mansion in Georgetown, Oct. 29, 8:00-10:30.
* I will be signing copies of "Forgotten Tales of Kentucky" and "Kentucky Book of the Dead" at Barnes and Noble in Lexington on Oct. 31 between 1:00-3:00.
Two new books on the way.... more details soon!
New Link and Blogs!
BOOK RECOMMENDATION FROM OL' KEVVY!
If you like true crime, I must recommend "The Love Pirate and the Bandit's Son" (New York: Union Square Press) by Laura James, to be released in May. Ms. James is a true crime historian and proprietor of the CLEWS true crime website. "Love Pirate" is about the Jazz Age murder of Zeo Zoe Wilkins, whose career of sex and larceny would teach modern celebrities and gold diggers a thing or two. She was heinously murdered in her Kansas City home in 1924, and Ms. James provides a compelling argument that the murderer was none other than Jesse James's son.
History Press, publishers of Keven's books "Kentucky Book of the Dead" and "Forgotten Tales of Kentucky," will be publishing his eighth and ninth books in 2009! One is a still untitled Indiana-based true crime collection and the other will be "Forgotten Tales of Indiana." These will be his first books that are not about Kentucky.
In other news: Keven will have a biographical entry in the 2010 edition of "Whos Who in America." Yes, THE "Whos Who." No, he didnt have to pay a fee to be included.
Keven's biography of the 19th-century journalistic hoaxer Joe Mulhattan has not been published (yet), but Mulhattan's fame is slowly spreading. Some of Keven's Mulhattan research is being quoted on three websites. Check out the following:
My chapter on Live-forever Jones from "Offbeat Kentuckians" has been adapted at the Weird Universe website, one author of which is Chuck Shepherd, the guy behind News of the Weird!
On Halloween, Keven will make a return appearance on WAVE-3 TV in Louisville at 9:30 a.m. to discuss "The Kentucky Book of the Dead" and its follow-up, "Forgotten Tales of Kentucky."
"CRUELLY MURDERED" TO BE RELEASED VERY SOON!
"Cruelly Murdered," the long-waited sequel to "Murder in Old Kentucky,"will be published by the Jesse Stuart Foundation on October 1. Watch this website for links!
EARLY RELEASE FOR "FORGOTTEN TALES OF KENTUCKY!"
"Forgotten Tales of Kentucky," the follow-up to "The Kentucky Book of the Dead," is coming out on September 29, 2008, rather than in 2009 as I had anticipated. See Amazon.com link below!
After writing Offbeat Kentuckians and More Offbeat Kentuckians, I realized
that both books included plenty of chapters about criminals. Why not write a
book that was entirely in the true crime genre, only combined with Kentucky
history? Murder in Old Kentucky
covers slightly over a century's worth of Bluegrass mayhem. The book has
inspired some controversy due to the pro-death penalty views expressed within.
Ghost stories and
tales of the supernatural are a special delight of mine, even though I keep
changing my mind about the existence or nonexistence of such things. Elements
of the same have appeared in all of my previous books, so it was inevitable
that sooner or later they would be the focus of an entire book. The Kentucky Book of the Dead is my
first book to be published outside the state of Kentucky and the fourth to
feature illustrations by my twin brother Kyle. A sequel called Forgotten Tales of Kentucky has already
been written and is slated for a 2009 release
This is the follow-up
to The Kentucky Book of the Dead; in
fact, both books were written at the same time. Hopefully, I will continue to
find strange historical incidents while doing research. (Do you know of any
stories I should look into? E-mail me about them!) There are only a few ghost
stories this time around, because the weird tales in this book are of a more
earthly type.
CRUELLY MURDERED: THE MURDER OF MARY MAGDALENE PITTS AND OTHER KENTUCKY TRUE CRIME STORIES (Ashland, KY: Jesse Stuart Foundation, 2008)
Kentucky history is an inexhaustible gold mine for those who would write in the true crime genre. Cruelly Murdered is the second serving, and I anticipate many more to come.
Page Still Under
Construction. Stay Tuned for Upcoming Books, Tour Dates, artwork from
Kyle McQueen, and other things I may want to share with the world.
Web Design - Rosa E. Garcia-Grimm