Counting Down to Publication--Thanks, Kids

June 14, 2011 seemed very far off when Oceanview Publishing told me they wanted to publish my debut novel, IDENTITY: LOST. That was back in March 2010 and their publication date of June 2011 seemed like ten years away.  How would I be able to wait that long?

Bucolic Burnham Park, Chicago, Illinois
and scene of the crime in Identity: Lost.

Well the day has almost arrived as I prepare to start my book tour to promote the release of my thriller novel.  The first stop on the tour will be at two great bookstores in California--pages, A Bookstore (Manhattan Beach) and Diesel Bookstores (Brentwood).  Both store owners have been very gracious in allowing me to promote and sell my book in their respective independent bookstores.

You may not know it but a lot of indie bookstores are struggling, like many other small businesses today.  Competition from "big box" stores is part of the problem but the economy and online giants like Amazon have also taken a chunk out of the hides of some of the fragile mom and pop stores.  Although I am having two signings with Barnes and Noble (one in Kierland Commons in Scottsdale, AZ; the other in downtown Chicago at the B&N--DePaul Bookstore), I have made a definite attempt to promote my book at independent stores.

The perfect world for an author, I suppose, is that all different types of stores compete on equal ground together, each carving out their respective niche in their local neighborhood.  Either way, having the opportunity to meet people in person at the local bookstore or library is extremely exciting for me.  Frankly, it’s nothing short of a dream come true.

My three girls...Irish-Italian beauties.

Driving me to the fulfillment of this dream I'd be remiss if I didn't thank my children. Each of them in their own way has motivated me to follow my dream toward publication.  I think they were also excited (more thankful) that their dad had found an outlet in which to create and one in which to use his vivid imagination, since hundreds of times they have told me I take much too long to tell a simple story and am prone to embellish it whenever possible.

The author (l) with # 1 son.

We laughed uncontrollably years ago when I shared with them a book entitled The Miracle of Castel di Sangro by one of my favorite writers, Joe McGinnis. In the book, McGinnis retold the story of the miracle soccer team from Italy that progressed from the lowest rung of the indomitable national Italian football league to its miraculous journey to the top.  The ever-entertaining Irishman McGinnis shared with readers Italians’ propensity (I call it a fondness) for practicing the art of quasi fatti – literally translated as “half-truths” or “almost the truth.”

Once my kids heard this Italian phrase they had an “aha” moment, realizing for the first time that it’s in their father’s DNA to make things up, creating a challenge for them the listener to figure out what the real story might be in his storytelling techniques.  They believed I had found a perfect outlet—the writing of fiction—for my own propensity in unknowingly practicing the fine art of quasi fatti, obviously an inherited character trait deeply entwined in my DNA.

So, I hope they're happy that their old dad found an outlet for his "almost the truth" style of storytelling.  I share with you very soon the result—IDENTITY: LOST.  Available in hardcover and Kindle, June 14 from Oceanview Publishing. Cover by Foster Covers.

IDENTITY: LOST, available wherever fine books are sold, June 14, 2011.