Welcome to SneezingCow.com

(This is a pinned post summarizing the SneezingCow basics…scroll down for newer posts.)

Mike’s latest book (Forty Acres Deep) (indie booksellers scroll down to lower left for wholesale info). All the other books (including Population 485) and CDs and DVDs and whatnots.

The Voice Mail page. (This is the weekly podcast — for free samples, click on the episodes without the miniature padlocks.)

Mike’s ability to spin his 20+ books and wide range of life experiences into humorous and heartfelt live presentations have put him in great demand as a public speaker. In addition to his one-man theater shows, Mike has delivered entertaining keynote addresses at conferences for software companies, hospitals and health care organizations, fire and EMS providers, farming and agricultural groups, national and regional utility cooperatives, business and economic development entities, governmental agencies, mental health organizations, dental hygienists, faith-based organizations, logging conventions, book festivals, MFA programs, libraries, and countless others. If you’re interested in retaining Mike for your event, please contact his booking agent here.

The mailing list signup (explained very specifically). We hope you’ll consider joining; it’s old-fashioned but way more loyal than social media. It’s also the best and most direct way to know when Mike’s got something new or is performing near you.

Upcoming live events.

When I was but a teenager, I became godfather to a little baby named Amy. When I started writing books about my own daughters, I changed their names for privacy reasons, but chose “Amy” as my elder daughter’s pen name in honor of my goddaughter.

Now the original Amy needs help. I am often asked to share requests for donations and support of all sorts, and simply can’t honor each one while remaining evenhanded and fair to all. But in this case it is my honored duty as godfather to help spread the word. Amy has faced lifelong difficulties with grace and good humor I could only hope to emulate should I be faced with even a fraction of what she has–and is–facing. If you are able, here is the information.

Some of you may recall a brief piece I wrote about falling short as a godparent, in which I shared my all-time favorite Amy story:

When she was a toddler, Amy Lynn gave me a crayon drawing of an apple tree, executed in the standard style: brown trunk, green leaves, red apples, spiky yellow sun in a blue sky. It contained one visual anomaly: a tiny, very carefully inscribed square, done in pencil. I was in nursing school and had just completed a 300-level child psychology course, so I immediately homed in on the anomalous square as a subliminal message of perhaps dire import. At the first opportunity I sat down with Amy Lynn and asked her to tell me about the drawing, and she did—in the sunniest of terms. Then, when the time was right, I pointed to the square, and as gently as I could, asked, “And what is this?”

She looked at me quizzically for a moment, and then, as if addressing the dimmest of all godfathers, said, “It’s a square.”

Again, here is the link to Amy’s current story.

In this live performance Michael Perry describes how his first date was in a hearse with the girl next door and a guy named Bullwinkle. Filmed live at The Stoughton Opera House. For more info on booking Mike see https://sneezingcow.com/book-mike/. For all his books and merchandise, visit https://sneezingcow.com/store/.

Howdy folks:

This episode is free to all subscribers, and random. Did a lil’ soliloquy up there in the garage and decided to share it. You can watch the episode here.

Thank you. All of you.

Mike

Random oddities of the midlist touring author life: You look up from a taxi leaving La Guardia Airport in NYC, spot an odd-looking hotel and realize, “Hey, I slept there once! 2017-ish. Last night of the Montaigne in Barn Boots tour.” And a week ago it was some hotel in Beloit.

From a reader:

I just wanted to thank you for writing Forty Acres Deep. I have not experienced all of Harold’s struggles, but I do know how it feels to cry when the cows leave or to love farming but sometimes feel that it is a losing battle. For a small book it made me think and feel quite a bit. I saw on your website that you had some reservations in writing this book, so I thought I should give my sincere appreciation for whatever it is worth. I hope the wind is always at your back, unless you are spreading manure…