I check my online book sale stats at Amazon every Saturday morning. They are usually pathetic. I hadn’t had one in more than a month. There has been a dramatic change. My latest novel,
Exchanges, is ranked 60th in overall Kindle sales, by far my highest level ever. None of the print copies of my books is ranked better than five millionth at present. It seems employees of the Commodity Exchange, former and current, are buying. They’ve come through for one of their own as they had so many times in the past. And the new book seems to have had a trickle down effect on the Kindle sales of my others. The rankings of
Killing and
A Hitch in Twilight have zoomed. In this case, it was only one copy each. I wonder if I'm being overly optimistic about
Exchanges. Maybe the ranking reflects only five to ten sales. Regardless, I am humbled and grateful. Although I worked there for nearly 25 years and made many friends, I always considered myself an outsider, a fish out water. For the first six or seven years of my tenure, I hated it. It became infinitely more tolerable when handheld devices were introduced and the reporting staff was able to enter trades without having to clap like mad to attract the podium’s attention - unless a problem occurred. The job was suddenly much less annoying. I never grew to like it but I appreciated it. I suppose time also leavened my feelings. I came to respect the traders, who dealt with risk every day. They were a rare breed. The first draft of the novel was completed circa 1990, during the period I hated the job. I believe I did not allow that to prejudice me. I think my portrait of that often harsh world is objective and accurate, and hope no one interprets it as revenge. My only real concern is how one particular co-worker, who wasn't living right at the time, will react to his portrayal. He has since reformed and is doing well. Of course, I changed all the names.
When “open outcry” was finally supplanted by electronic trading, many of the traders found themselves fish out of water. 85% have had to move on to other employment. Many are miffed about having lost their lucrative positions, which is understandable. I doubt I would have submitted the novel for publication if the Exchange was operating as it once was and I was still employed there or even if I‘d moved on. “You don’t bite the hand that feeds you,” as the saying goes. On Halloween it will be six years since I’d gotten the boot. The Exchange is now a very different place, a much tighter ship. “Open Outcry” is now but 15% of the market, confined almost exclusively to the options markets. There is no need for shouting in the futures pits, which are almost deserted. It was a fascinating time, a perfect place for a writer interested in the behavior of humans. For that education I will always be grateful.
Enough about me. Here's an Italian-American everyone can admire:
This is Joey Falcone, profiled in today's NY Post. Six-six, he is the first baseman and cleanup man for Columbia University. At 26, he is the oldest player in Division One. His late start is due to the three tours of duty he served, two in Iraq, one in Afghanistan. He is hitting .307 and has five homers and 26 RBI. He was born in Atlanta and went to high school in Louisiana. His dad is former major league pitcher Pete Falcone, who was 70-90 for the Mets, Braves, Cards and Giants from '75-'84. His son obviously inherited his skills from his dad, who was a great hitter at our alma mater, Lafayette High School - in Brooklyn, not Louisiana. These days the elder Falcone is a chef in the Cajun state.
I had a great day on the street as well. I had a donation of seven non-fiction books from a survivalist/conspiracy buff who occasionally smells as if he's been drinking. I sold three of those, one on 9/11, one that had Jon Stewart on the cover, and a satirical spoof of the 20th century by Onion Press. I also sold two DVDs to a dude who was openly smoking a joint, and wearing a black T-shirt that had a silver skull emblazoned on it. My thanks to those gentlemen and the other kind folks who made purchases today.
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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