I Lost My Virginity to 7 Women at Once

Now that I have your attention, what I said is almost true.  As my wife and children like to say, my headline would be considered one of my classic "quasi fatte" statements. I learned this term when I read Joe McGinnis's wonderful book (one of my all time favorites) called The Miracle of Castel del Sangro. In the book, McGinnis documented the miraculous story of a lowly Italian soccer team and their historic climb from the bottom to the top of that country's iconic football (soccer to us American idiotas) league. 

McGinnis used the Italian vernacular of quasi fatte (literally translated as "half or almost the truth or fact") to describe the propensity of the Italians he encountered covering the story to embellish the events of the local team's climb in the ranks of Italy's soccer league from has-beens to champions. Italians are born fictionalizers (some might say womanizers, too) and maybe that's why I had so much fun writing my debut thriller novel, IDENTITY: LOST.

I had a chance recently to be invited to appear at my first book club.  I wasn't sure what to expect.  About nine months ago, not long after finding out my novel would be published by Oceanview Publishing, I took the liberty of interrupting a rather beautiful woman reading a rather large book in a restaurant I like to frequent called The Herb Box located in Scottsdale's DC Ranch area. I asked this lady what she was reading, she told me the title (which we've both seem to have forgotten today) and I took the liberty to let her know that I had a novel that would be released in the summer of 2011.

Her name was Cindy and she was quite impressed and asked me for the name of the book. I gave her my card, pitched my story, and she immediately inquired if I'd be interested in talking about my book at her book club after the book's release.  I agreed and this past Sunday I was welcomed by the seven gorgeous members of The Reading Divas Book Club of North Scottsdale.  I really didn't know what to expect when I arrived but Cindy had prepped me well, telling me the gals in the club were voracious readers, all with ravenous appetities for fiction works like mine. Quite luckily for me, they all loved my book.  I had died and gone to book club heaven.

The READING DIVAS (l-r) Judy Breshears, Sheila Vadovicky, Jill Murphey, Alison Prevear, Mary Ferro, Paula Stone and Cindy Quirarte, seated.

Simply and seriously stated, my experience with the Reading Divas came as close as I'll ever come to experiencing my own fantasies of valhalla.  The girls expertly concocted a baseball theme, complete with Cracker Jack coordinated place settings, baseball jerseys and hats, and a Chicago Vienna hotdog menu to boot, complete with poppy seed buns, celery salt, and sport peppers.  These contagious-spirited women knew the most direct way to this man's heart:  baseball, great ballpark food, and making me feel and believe as though I was in the center of my own personal harem of devoted fans.

But don't even think for one minute that I'm trivializing anything or making diminutive in any manner the almost three and one-half hours I thankfully spent with some of the most fascinating people I've ever met. All were accomplished professionals in their own right, covering fields from optometry and Alzheimer's research to uber event planning and real estate marketing. 

But their greatest gift was their frankness about my writing and how it had touched and moved each of them in very intimate and personal ways.  Finding out that my words had the power to bring forth so much emotion from complete strangers is a very special gift received indeed.  I really have nothing to compare it with except maybe the depth of emotion brought forth from the shared intimacy of lovemaking or the experience of witnessing the birth of human life.  It was really that kind of experience.

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that my encounter with them would enrich me so much as a writer; to listen to them share with me how intimately engaged they had become with the characters I had created and how involved they became with their own emotions about the premise of my story and the consequences of your actions was a gift I'll not soon forget.

The Divas each added their autograph to this official Major League baseball and gave it to me as a parting gift.  Little did they know that their gift of gab about my book was a present that will remain with me forever.

Thank you, Reading Divas.  You touched my heart and now have a place in it forever and there's no way to be quasi fatti about something like that.