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Earlier this year I had the honor to appear on Brent Weber’s Fox 25 morning show to plug my book Big Easy.  Brent is an affable and intelligent man, and put me instantly at ease.  I realized that he is talented but didn’t know that he is also an accomplished actor until I received this recent email:

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There is a new review of Just East of Eden on the website Bookpleasures.com.  There is also and interview with Eric Wilder on the website.  Please check it out.

http://www.bookpleasures.com/Lore2/idx/0/3072/article/Just_East_of_Eden_Tales_From_The_Blog.html

http://www.bookpleasures.com/Lore2/idx/0/3074/article/A_Conversation_With_Eric_Wilder_Author_of_Just_East_of_Eden_Tales_From_The_Blog.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Edmond, OK (Gondwana Press) October 19, 2007 -- Gondwana Press LLC announces the release of Eric Wilder’s newest book Just East of Eden.  What do chicken sacrifices, oil wells and black panthers have in common?  They are all storylines from Wilder’s prolific imagination that are highlighted in his latest outing.

Just East of Eden is a hybrid page-turner based on the author’s popular story blog by the same name.  Wilder transports his readers on a rapid-fire journey between misty waterfalls in the Ouachita Mountains, steamy brothels in Vietnam, and a setting sunset amid filigree ironwork in the heart of the French Quarter - the ultimate destination located somewhere between reality and your wildest fantasy.

Author of Big Easy, a murder mystery set in post-Katrina New Orleans, Wilder has also penned Murder Etouffee, Prairie Sunset and A Gathering of Diamonds.  Heather Froeschl of Quilldipper.com says, “The natural course of events is to take the blog and publish parts of it for those who still like to feel the pages turn beneath their fingers and breathe the scent of ink and paper. Eric Wilder has done this with his newest book, “Just East of Eden,” and I am delighted.”

About author

Native of Louisiana, Eric Wilder now lives and writes in Edmond, Oklahoma.  The author of seven other books, he is also a geologist and noted energy expert.

About Gondwana Press

Founded in 2006, Gondwana Press LLC is a regional publisher seeking to expand the bounds of both knowledge and entertainment.

Here is an interesting graph showing the rapid increases we’ve seen in the price of crude oil this year.

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Even more interesting news.  Stay tuned!

Oil strikes all-time high of $89 - Yahoo! News

Good Grief! Boone was right.

Bloomberg.com: Energy

Here are two pics of a freshly-pulled drill bit that had just penetrated the Tulip Creek Sand in McClain County, Oklahoma.

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Crude oil prices traded at their highest level ever today on the New York Mercantile Exchange, briefly reaching $84.05/barrel.  Prices closed at $83.90/barrel, also the highest closing ever.  Tightening supplies and increasing demand were cited as the reasons for the record setting day.

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While it is true that the eighties oil bust adversely affected every oil hub in the United States, Oklahoma City maintains a unique position in the episode because it was the location of the infamous Penn Square Bank debacle.

Penn Square Bank occupied a stand-alone building in the parking lot of the Penn Square Mall, still located in the northwest corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Northwest Expressway.  During the go go days of the last oil boom, officers of this bank began making oil and gas loans, then selling the paper to eager upstream banks like Continental Illinois.  The problem was, many of these loans were secured by little more than a “lick and a promise.”

One story that has circulated for years now involves an oil company that borrowed millions of dollars to purchase drilling rigs.  Auditors, attempting to account for the bank’s collateral after the company went bust, learned that Rig 13 (I don’t know if this is the actual number) was really a Lear Jet.  Clients, supposedly with little or know oil experience, could get a million dollar loan with only a signature and the promise of drilling a few oil wells.

Many nouveau operators purchased jet planes, helicopters, luxury vehicles and lavish offices and lifestyles with the seed money they borrowed from Penn Square Bank, and then parlayed into millions more with money raised from largely unsophisticated investors.  It is safe to say that most of these investors had little more than a “lick or a promise” of ever seeing any return from their investment.

While drilling a well in western Oklahoma, one company encountered a large pocket of natural gas.  The well blew out and the gas ignited in a huge burst of flame.  Instead of worrying about the raging fire and its ensuing consequences, the company chartered a commercial jet and flew a planeload of investors and various company people to the blowout site.  There they had tents erected, catered barbecue and beer, and a band to entertain everyone at an elaborate blowout party, ostensibly to raise even more money. 

Elaborate parties were the norm during the last oil boom.  Christmas parties hosted by operators and service companies boasted hundreds of guests, all enjoying free food, drink and entertainment.  I attended one oil company party where Mel Tillis and the Oakridge Boys were flown in by jet helicopter to entertain for an hour or so.  One of the Penn Square loan officers was there, dressed in an Alpine costume complete with hat, shorts and lederhosen.  The party took place on a farm near Edmond, the cars and party-goers so thick that they blocked the adjacent county road for hours.

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If you needed to locate someone in the oil business during the last oil boom, the first place to look was the Depot in the Concourse of downtown Oklahoma City.  Everyone in the oil patch knew about the Depot, by far the most notorious restaurant in town.  Far more than just a restaurant, the Depot was every bit the old west saloon featured in every western ever filmed.

The Depot was a sprawling restaurant at the base of the escalator in the 101 Park Avenue Building.  Even deeper than the Concourse, the Depot resided at the bottom of a flight of stairs.  The Depot was, in fact, the sunken living room of the Concourse.  No matter what time of the day or night, the club was always packed.

A person entering the Depot would first encounter a well lit hallway, on a constant elevation with the Concourse, that led to several restaurant offices and bathrooms.  Beyond the hallway lay a darkened nether world replete with loud voices, laughter and music.  The first person a visitor was likely to encounter was a scantily clad waitress sporting a big welcoming smile.

It's a fact that there are many gorgeous women in Oklahoma City and the Depot waitresses were no exception.  They were always happy, or seemed so, because the service company salesmen that frequented the club all had endless expense accounts.  The Depot was always filled with oil company personnel being plied with food, drink and other things (cocaine, pot, women, under the table bribes) to induce them to use their particular service instead of the salesman holding court at the next table.

A big, circular bar fronted the rectangular shaped room.  The entire place was dimly lit, and some of the back booths barely visible.  The term bat cave comes to mind and the trysts that often went on in these darkened recesses are legend.

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