The first day of my transformed life

February 1 is my son’s birthday.  Details of that exact day are fuzzy, frankly I just don’t remember.  I know he was late.  That seemed to mark a trait that followed him for many years.  His mother and I are early birds so the origin of his habit puzzles us.  Anyway back to my point, “First day of my transformed life.”

Time of blog draft

Around sixteen years of age I delivered newspapers in an apartment complex for a few months.  I’d ride the elevator to the top floor (8^th I think) and use my bag to prop open the elevator door and take the appropriate morning papers and race up and down the hall placing the newspaper in front of each door. And then floor by floor make my way to the ground floor before moving off to another building.  I had four buildings on my route.  I delivered the Newark Star Ledger, NY Times, NY Daily News, Daily Forward and several other foreign language papers if my memory serves me right.  A ledger book with the apartment numbers and paper or papers to be delivered was my guide.

After that I worked in a drug store during high school, while in the local college I worked at a department store and one summer I delivered reconditioned automobile bumpers.  Then three years in the army and a return to college which forced me to take many other part time positions.  I even parked cars in mid-town Manhattan for several years.

And then another 40 years of full time work.  Fast forward to February 1, 2014.

It is now the beginning of the end.  My current position, at my request, is going from full-full time to semi-full time.  What?  I’ve cut back my work load 20%.  I’ve done it not by shortening the work day, but taking 5 days off per month.  Full days.  Most of the time I’ll take two or three days before or after a weekend.  There will be a few times during the year that I will take a solid week off and occasionally there will be a solitary day off, perhaps connected to a weekend or a holiday.  Chunks of time off rather than a little at a time is my plan.  I expect to continue this for at least two years, perhaps more. 

Today is a practice semi-work day.  See Evan early, chat about his dogs and computers, and give him a birthday gift; then off to my casual Saturday writing group.  Write in my journal, edit my book and draft this blog.  This afternoon with Iris and dinner out with the usual crew.

Tomorrow breakfast out and then at my niece’s request photograph her organizing an in-service program so she can use those photos in publicity pieces.

But man’s plans sometimes go awry.  My dream for this time in general is local travel, time with Iris and family, writing, and photographic jaunts.  Finish novel number two and rework my photo web page.  And in the words of Bob Marley, “Be happy.”  Sounds easy.  Only time will tell if this works, but I now have time. 

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Billions Sold - Almost

McDonalds Hamburgers has displayed several variations of “Billions Served” on its signage for many years.  Periodically they change the number from 50 to 100 to 257 to whatever the sign reads now.  Maybe it just says “Billions” served.  Whatever the number or verbiage, it is a tremendous number of things severed.  Was it burgers, fries or people?  Do you care?  “Billions served” just numbs the mind.

Well, I care about the number.  That phrase makes my book sales look puny and insignificant.  Even a million copy bestseller is 100,000 times smaller (check my math) than “billions served.”  I could rationalize and say that I wrote the book for my self-image or as part of some writing therapy or that my agent was on my case to produce something (that’s a lie).  Or just that I had nothing to do at night, since I don’t play poker or care about TV.  But once I got started I enjoyed it too much to stop.  I am not interested in numbers, just a good product.

The end result is that I wrote just one novel, Far from Newark, and have only sold a modest number.  In fact, I may have given away more than I sold.

My hometown of Newark NJ was listed as the un-friendliest city in 2013, it beat out Islamabad.  It really wasn’t that bad when I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s.  I think the survey was taken at Newark Airport, which probably skewed the results towards the negative side.  Current and former residents of Newark are actually quite proud of Newark.  Many famous people were born in Newark: Philip Roth, Aaron Burr, Ed Koch, Whitney Houston, Chris Christie and many others.  Newarkers even have a Facebook page, Newark N.J. Born and Raised !!  And you have to be invited to be a Friend.

The title of my book came from a saying that I had been known to use often when asked, “Where are you from?”  I get that I lot especially with my accent in San Antonio Texas.  My answer is often, “From Newark, far from.”  That phrase or variations of it appear in my book in several places and became the natural title for the book.

I am proud to say that “Far from Newark” has sold dozens.  Take that McDonalds.  Watch for the sequel, “Return.”  It should be out by the end of 2014 and I certainly intend to claim, “More than dozens sold.”   Don’t be surprised when you order my book on-line if you are asked, “Do you want fries with it?”  But for a true Newarker a sausage, pepper and onion sandwich served on an Italian roll would be much better.

Go to Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Smashwords to find my book.

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