Baltimore author Justin Sirois has been called "one of Baltimore's most important authors."  Huffington Post acclaimed him as one of the eight top indie fiction and poetry writers of the day.  And The Rumpus has said of him that he "can write a lovely sentence."

  

So Say the Waiters "is a Baltimore story through and through," says the Baltimroe Sun.  It's three books and they have nothing to do with servers at restaurants, as many erroneously assume.  The first two books are out, the third follows soon, and the series comes complete with a faux-app.  Each book has at least five sections - making it perfect for television's episodic format (hint, hint).  And guess what.  It  has been optioned for television, or possibly film.  That's gotta be exciting!  

 

Justin's written several other novels.  His first, Falcons on the Floor, is the story of two young men in the Iraqi town of Fallujah trying to escape the ravages of what we Americans call Iraq War.  Hardly the first to do that, BUT this one has a twist: Justin wrote it with the help of Iraqi refugee Haneen Alshujairy, who was there at that time.  One reviewer said it has "a ruthless emotional power."  There's also MLKNG SCKLS (go ahead, try to pronounce that), a collection of short stores, along with many others, including poetry, such as his Cat Hole collections.  

 

Whether you're a Baltimore local or just a book lover, you'll want to catch this broadcast.