I finally found out the names of the elderly Russian hand-holding couple - Natalia and Benedict, who have donated so many books in their own language to the floating book shop, five more today, two of which were bought by Mikhail aka Mr. Almost, who always says things could be better. Spasibo, folks. The forecast in the NY Post said rain. It couldn't have been more wrong. It was gorgeous and people were in a good mood. The day got off to a flying start when I immediately sold a family Bible to a young woman, who did not haggle, which I appreciated. It was a steal as it was. Soon Tyra, a junior high teacher who lives a floor below me, approached. I
immediately asked if she were playing hookey. She called it a "Mental
Heath Day" and we both laughed. Alan must be finishing the books he buys from me in days. Lately, he's sworn off thrillers and asked for "real" novels. Unfortunately, his financial situation won't allow him to buy any of mine. I suggested Three Comrades by Erich Maria Remarque, who of course wrote the classic All Quiet on the Western Front. Susan stopped by and had trouble picking among four novels, all of them rather obscure. She chose one and asked me to hold the others, which I will do, as she has been one of my most faithful customers. I received two donations, one a number of best sellers, the other about 20 Harlequins, which I will keep in the trunk of my car until someone asks for them specifically. Marie dropped off the DVDs, The Cooler (2004) and You've Got Mail (1998), I'd loaned her and said how much she'd enjoyed them. They are now for sale. She chuckled about all the people who stopped to greet me. She said she will soon purchase Killing. I will be very interested in the opinion of such a nice lady of the visceral exercise the novel is. Bob Rubenstein, author of Ghost Runners and The White Bridge, pulled his car up to the bus stop and immediately began complaining about a family squabble, the exclusion of some members from a wedding. He is also very disappointed with the publishers at All Things That Matter Press, which has published my story collection, A Hitch in Twilight, as well as Bob's two books. A year or so ago he suggested that they offer audio books. They since have, but it is at the discretion of the producers of the tapes. Neither his or mine have been selected. He sent them an angry email saying he will pull his books when the contract expires, and they fired off a reply citing that his sales did not justify such pomposity. I don't imagine Hitch will be renewed when the time comes. Although it is by far the most popular of my books, its web sales are pathetic. There's no arguing with the bottom line. ATTMP has the right to do whatever it wants. I'm grateful to the publishers, Phil and Deb Harris, for having provided me an opportunity to sell 128 copies of the collection. And if they said they were discontinuing it tomorrow, I'd order another batch and thank them for having taken the chance on it. I believe in the free market, and they should not carry books out of charity.
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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