Things are brighter after a brief stretch of disappointments. I received a letter from my health care provider. Assuming it was a bill, I pulled out my check book. To my delight, it was reimbursement for overpayment, which made up for revenue the floating book shop lost to bad weather the past two weeks. And I got an email from WheelMan Press, asking me to provide a bio, pic, dedication and blurb for my latest novel, Exchanges. I’m not as excited as I was about my previous books. The reality of paltry sales has dampened my enthusiasm. I have not had a single web sale this month, a period which should be better than most, given the holiday. I have no idea why the fledgling company is taking a chance on my work, although I am grateful. I hope its production costs will be recouped when I buy copies to sell on the street. The novel’s basis is my experiences working data entry in commodity trading. The events will be shocking to the uninitiated, appalling to the easily offended, amusing to alumni. Here’s the blurb I prepared:
Charley LaRocca is ringmaster of two circuses, his family and the Silver Futures pit at his job in the wacky world of commodity trading. Witness a year in his life as he copes with a rebellious teenage daughter, the dog eat dog philosophy at his place of employment, and an obsession with the New York Mets. The year is 1988. “Open Outcry” is the way at the Exchange. The electronic trading that eventually would supplant it is but a pipe dream at which many scoff. What's all the yelling and screaming about? Come inside and see. None of the incidents is exaggerated. Caution: aggressive men under intense pressure do and say regrettable things. Political correctness is out the window. The trading floor was one of the last outposts of speech that was truly free. The novel concentrates on personalities, not trading technique or strategy. It is another chapter in the human comedy.
The other night I watched a Norwegian thriller, Headhunters, courtesy of Netflix. It seems they’re catching up to their neighbors, the Swedes, who have given the world the cinema of Ingmar Bergman and the Stieg Laarsen crime trilogy. The film is based on a novel by Jo Nesbo. It is engrossing and exciting, and the backdrop is fresh. My only quibble is with how neatly everything was tied up at the end. On a scale of five, three-and-one-quarter. It is rated 7.5 of ten at IMDb.
My thanks to the folks who made purchases on this gorgeous day. The illustrated Bible pamphlets are almost all gone.
Visit Vic's sites:
Vic's Third Novel (Print or Kindle): http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
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