Commentary from the author
/Feb. 13, 2025.
Well, much has happened over the past year and I haven’t done much in the way of posting to my blog. Here’s the latest:
‘Bam!
Make that Bam! Bam!
I was hit this week with two simultaneous blows:
1. Facebook kicked me off. Couldn't figure out why. No way to tell. But they put me back on today without bothering to tell me.
2. My coop publisher, which helped me through publication of my most recent novel, "Chandelle," told me they were unlikely to help me this go-around. So I dumped them.
It's interesting that the coop, called Maine Authors Publishing, alerted me ahead of time — that is, before the folks there had access to the manuscript — they were unlikely to publish it.
Their concerns were related to the subject matter of my new book, "Soledad." It deals with the plight of those incarcerated for crimes they didn't commit. In a short note to MAP I noted that a disproportionate number of the incarcerated innocents were Black and Brown.
My story in "Soledad" revolves around the efforts of a respected White educator who is convicted unjustly for a crime he didn't commit and is incarcerated. Because of his talents and experience as an educator he is asked to launch an in-prison educational program. The warden observes that recidivism is high in large part because when freed, former prisoners can't get a job and so end back in jail. Two of the principal reasons for this are the fact that employers are reluctant to hire ex-cons, and then there is the lack of work skills and basic necessities such as satisfactory language abilities — in English.
The coop didn't like that a White educator was "rescuing" (their words, not mine) imprisoned Latinos. Also, something about sexual assault and self-harm by a minor. (The educator is in prison after falsely convicted of statutory rape.)
So, here I am, penniless and on the streets, literarily speaking. I'm going to publish through Amazon, which I've done before, but I'm looking for an editor/IT type to help me. My knowledge in this regard has fled, inadequacies are obvious to me.
But here's the bright side: Publishing through MAP cost me about $5,000 for "Chandelle." Amazon costs basically nothing, so I have a few bucks to use for that editor/IP guru.
Any candidates?
Feb. 1, 2024
My new website has been spiffied up, created and launched, again, by Dr. Glenn Seki, IT guy extraordinaire and my long-time good friend dating back to USC days.
My hope is to comment from time to time as the launching of my new novel, “Chandelle,” progresses. My previous novels were self-published and were issued with zero marketing. Chandelle is published under the auspices of the cooperative Maine Authors Publishing umbrella. I’ll have some support from the good folks there.
Feb. 5, 2024
Looking back over my site I took a minute to reread “TV Tots,” my short story. A confession: it’s a true story, short of. My late, great departed pal Mike Dormer and our friend Lee Teacher created a tv show that became the number one daytime show in Los Angeles. “Shrimpenstein” aired on KHJ-TV, a station owned by NY-based RKO General. As in my story, the suits came and dictated changes. Things got heated. I didn’t describe in the story what really happened next. The suits, Mike and Lee took a break. Mike seethed. Stood at the urinal in the men’s room. A suit came and positioned himself at the next slot. Mike quickly turned and peed on the suit. “Shrimpenstein” was canceled.
Mike was always strong about justice.
Feb. 9, 2024
Spent much of the morning trying to revise the flyer that will be used to publicize my novel Chandelle as it goes out to my millions of admiring fans. The good folks at Maine Authors Publishing, who are supposedly handling the marketing of my book, have gone dark. Oh, well.
Meantime, I’ve reached out to good buddy Glenn Seki to see if I can make a fix on my iPhone signatures. He, I know, will get back to me with a fix.
Also meantime, I’m looking ahead to my next novel, now labeled as “Soledad.” I’ve been writing it off and on for about two years. Will plunge back into it as soon as I can get the marketing of Chandelle under control. I envision writing most mornings on Soledad, then fussing about in the afternoon on marketing. I imagine most of that marketing will consist of giving talks or signing books hither and yon, at libraries and bookstores in Maine and Marblehead.
December 1, 2024.
I shall write in this blog soon, for I have much to say. My latest novel, Soledad, is nearing completion. Drafts are being read by reviewers whose criticism I value. Or maybe will resent, if too harsh. Stand by.