I saw my brother and his family over New Years Eve and came to the realization that I might just have something in common with comedian Richard Pryor. Though the realization developed over a period of months it really hit home December 31, 2012.
When I arrived at my brother's abode the first thing my niece decided to do was to take a flying leap into the air thus forcing me to catch her. It was sweet actually. But when I put her down and she ran into the other room I heard her say to her cousin that, "Uncle Nick is funny. He will play anything!"
We then played a game called Bounce House where I lift her into the air repeatedly, a detriment to my 30 year old back. This usually goes on from about ten minutes to eternity as I lift, she laughs, and says, "Again!"
It is a routine. In the span of twenty minutes we will:
Color
Play with the hamster
Bounce House
Karate fight (I have to lose every time)
Play Jail or Time Out (she locks me in a room or puts me in a corner)
Chase (run in circles around the kitchen)
Piggy Back Ride
So here we are on the way to the restaurant. I am not going to lie, something really makes me happy to take the abuse:
It might be the smile she gets...
I mean how can you say "No," to someone who wears shoes like this?
Brother, I shall return these plastic princess slippers to you tonight at dinner.
Despite her cherub cheeks and bright eyes it does dawn on me that Richard Pryor and myself are really blood brothers in this type of arrangement as I am sure many men all over the globe are when it comes to the whims of children. I will leave you now with a video of my life as an Uncle:
When I first put out For Nothing, my debut novel, I was pretty sure that no one would read it outside of my close friends and a few family members. I was even more sure that some of my friends and family would buy it and never read it, but I could always say I had become a part of the literary world.
If I put out my novel, I thought, at least I would have a small place in the world that I loved so much, where imagination is king and the only limitation is the extent of ones creativity. So I wrote a novel, put it out, and was fully expecting to never surpass 100 copies sold. And it may have been that way if e-readers and indie supporters weren't able to connect with authors they way they can now in the age of social media and ever expanding networks.
I sold roughly 2,700 copies from May of 2011 until the end of 2012. I put out a second book Buffalo Soldiers, and this year have eclipsed 4,500 sold of For Nothing this year plus another 3,000 sold for Buffalo Soldiers. The yearly total is 7,500 books sold this year and over 10,000 sold since May of 2011. Needless to say, each month feels like a dream.
I really am appreciative of each person who has picked up my novels and given them a go. Even though I keep the pricing down, I understand the time commitment that goes into reading a book and that has value added to the cost I put on my printed ideas. After all, time is money.
So thank you.
The third installment of An Upstate New York Mafia Tale is due out in April and I couldn't be more excited about the direction the story is taking. We have the familiar faces from the first two novels coming together again, albeit with a greater focus on fan favorites Rafael Rontego and Alex Vaughn. I heard the gripes from my die hard fans that Buffalo Soldiers deviated from their favorite characters a bit too much (a necessary evil to set up book three) and have brought you back to the characters you have grown to love...or hate.
So I will leave you with this very brief passage from book three, Ashes to Ashes (unedited of course, so don't be a grammar hater):
Excerpt from Ashes to Ashes:
The lights dimmed in and out as a pale and solitary bulb swung above him in taunting circles, casting shadows across the room that elongated and then disappeared like spooked apparitions. A jolt of pain traveled up his spine and tried to claw its way out of the back of his jerking eyeballs. He tried to focus on something, anything, but only the cinder-block walls greeted him, and always with the black shadows that reached out for him, beckoning to him, pulling him towards their inescapable bosom.
There was another stab of pain into his side that reverberated the length of him, dragging its teeth across his lowest rib bone. Knuckles clenched down on the metal table upon which his body lay splayed across and his eyes rolled towards the cool and wet steel. His hands were slick with his own blood and his legs twitched with the pain, kicking out spasmodically as if trying to assault the ghosts that peeled his skin apart. Sucking in air as fast as he could, he tried to calm himself, but just when he thought he might conquer the agony, he felt another wave of it grate across his weakened body. His stomach convulsed and he nearly sat straight up with the shock.
“Ivan,” he yelled. He felt his veins tighten around his neck, threatening to strangle the shout from his throat. His voice sounded fair away but he could hear it echo in the small chamber. One of the ghosts appeared in front of him then, no more than a foot before his face, distorted and ugly.
“Shut up Rafael,” the ghost said. His hiss sounded like a whisper. “Do you want the police to storm this place?” A clammy palm seized him by the forehead and pushed him back onto the table, the place of his torture.
I hope everyone had a wonderful NYE and they were able to usher out the old year with a bang. I had a great time hanging out with several groups of people who were kind enough to invite me to their celebrations. The night started with a low-key dinner with my brother and his family where we discussed everything from politics, to moving to England, to my business and his business and then drank a bottle of wine between us.
Wet (Whet?) the whistle
After that bottle of wine I had a delicious Filet Mignon topped with a Gorgonzola butter sauce.
Delicious
From there it was a house party with more food and drink.
According to rumor there was also pizza and cookies and monkey bread
Eventually they got me to wear a hat, before the wheels really fell off on the night's festivities and I retired for about two hours near a lovely fire pit to text important people in my life that I was wishing I could have around me as the ball dropped.
The hat and a tasty adult beverage
Then after a flurry of phone calls at midnight to wish in the New Year with blessings etc, things started to move fast and the night degenerated into a haze of shots and jubilation. We were all thankful that no apocalypse took us and we were able to see the ball drop once more.
It all went well and I woke up happy to have this amazing breakfast ready for me to begin the rehabilitation process:
Powdered sugar, butter, and syrup: Just what the doctor ordered
I hope everyone had a great night and an easy recovery today. I am excited about 2013. I have a feeling that 2013 will see many massive changes that have implications for many many many years to come.
.JPG)
.JPG)
