He comes out every day. He comes out just like we do. He's just trying to get better.

That's been the biggest one, just since he's a Cardinal pitcher and he's a local guy and actually in the show. He's just a class-act guy. Watching him throw bullpens has been cool, not just for me, since I'm a Cardinal fan, but for the kids.

The choice to open the contest in March wasn't deliberate but, when we considered the timing with Small Press Month, we thought it worked. A small independent bookseller and a small independent publisher joining together to celebrate independent publishing by searching for new voices in fiction — not bad, huh?

Just for the guys to see what it takes to move on, and also that he's a regular guy. It's not like he has any glow around him, he's a regular guy like they are, and he came from the same city.

We've been having pro guys come out left and right. It's been awesome. Since November, we've had at least one or two of them every day.

It is as if the ordinary language we use every day has a hidden set of signals; a kind of secret code.