The Writer's Life 2/21 - Potpourri

So what is to be gleaned from the Republican primary results in South Carolina? Trump is still the man to beat, but I would not say the race is decided. Kudos to Jeb Bush for conducting his campaign with the class  that has been a hallmark of the family. Although I'm glad he has dropped out, I've always believed he's a good person. I just didn't want to see another Bush presidency. Now the question is: To whom will his support, especially the mega-bucks in his coffers, gravitate? In his post primary op-ed piece in today's NY Post, Jonathan Podhoretz claims Trump has an astonishing 60% disapproval rating among Republicans at present. That will be meaningless if he is the nominee. Few Republicans would vote for Hillary or Sanders. With her victory in Nevada, I don't think anything but an indictment will keep Clinton from the nomination. Then again, knowing the Clintons, they would ignore it and fight on.

Here's another item to add to the list of "There's an APP for Everything." An NYU grad student has come up with one that warns a woman's lover when it's that time of the month. It's called ShArk, with an inverted V replacing the A.

Raccoons in NYC? Believe it or not, there were 1581 complaints about them in 2015. One official estimates there are 100 per square mile. I've yet to spot one. They are said to be thriving because there aren't many of their natural predators in the five boroughs to keep their population in check.

I was down to a final copy of A Hitch in Twilight, so I ordered 50 from the publisher, thinking the cost would be under $400, an eventual profit of $100 on the lot. I was shocked when the bill was just short of $465. I'd recently ordered 50 of my latest book, Billionths of a Lifetime, which I self-published. I paid a bit more than $310. At ten bucks a piece that's a profit of $190. Why wouldn't I self-publish the rest of my manuscripts? I think I had two web sales of Hitch last year, a few bucks royalties. At this stage, 80% of my sales occur on the street. If not for Kindles, the percentage would be 95-99%. I haven't seen a dime from the 30 or so web sales of Exchanges. Yes, I'm grateful it was published and happy it is available, but why should I continue to allow so much of the proceeds to go into other people's pockets? I will self-publish my remaining four manuscripts -- unless I receive a large advance from a publisher, and there doesn't seem to be any chance of that happening.

My thanks to lovely young Amanda, who bought Rising Star today in Park Slope. She smelled so nice too. Since it's supposed to be the most literate neighborhood in Brooklyn, I decided to break out two heavy hitters for the first time, works on playwright Bertholt Brecht -- and they both sold! I love when that happens. My thanks to the young woman who bought them, and to all the other kind folks who made purchases.

Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc

Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tinyurl.com/l84h63j

Website: http://vicfortezzaauthor.my-free.website/