Cliff Divers

It's a long way down but I'm jumping back in.

The Japanese have a saying-- you're never done building your house. The same goes for a book evidently.

I had hoped that whatever editing and rewriting remained would wait for a book deal but what happened yesterday has made me rethink it. The editor I referred to in last Friday's post (1/8), returned my email and invited me to call him asap as his wife was about to go into labor. I looked at the clock and saw I had thirty minutes before my session with the LA Jerk Kings was scheduled.

He answered the phone and was warm and personable. Over a full thirty minutes, we talked about the book--he reiterated how much he enjoyed it, how rare it was for him to finish a manuscript and not offer a deal--and how I might improve it by increasing the emotional impact. This, he felt, was all that was missing. 

He had me take him through the various incarnations, three drafts, and how each differed from the preceding. He wondered if I had it in me to have another go at this point. I answered that I had nearly all my chips in the middle of the table and had little choice but go all in. He is a golfer himself and I offered to take him to Rancho should he make it to LA.

His attention feels like fuel and I'm going to need some to complete the task ahead.

But first I have to jump.

Rub Of The Green by Brock Walsh will, with a little luck, appear in bookstores soon.

Contact brockwalsh@gmail.com or

Faint Praise Indeed

Part of the game of catching a publisher's attention is having your notable friends pen a blurb, some pithy praise, that might tip the scales and have them give your manuscript a peek. Beverley asked me to see who would agree to do so and Roger Director, my dear friend and author, graciously came through. Eddie Merrins, author and golf pro, did as well. 

Having worked as a composer for the CBS network, I decided to call in a few favors and get to David Feherty, the famously irreverent announcer for CBS Sports. Ron Scalera, a VP at CBS who has been a friend for years, agreed to act as a go-between, and within a week he called me to say that Feherty, after initially declining, had consented to send me a quote.

Ron warned me that whatever I might receive would be unusual and he wasn't wrong.

It read:

This book is soft, and very absorbent. Ideal for the bathroom.
Brock Walsh is like a blind man in a dark room, looking for a

black cat............. that isn't there.

 

David Feherty

Akin to the famous quote attributed to German composer, Max Reger--  "I am sitting in the smallest room in my house. Your review is before me. Soon, it will be behind me", it's pretty clear what Feherty was recommending readers should do with my writing. Beverley saw no point in including it and I couldn't disagree.

On a journey that takes years to complete, you're going to encounter all sorts of people and an equally wide range of assistance. Some of it isn't worth much and is better discarded.

I hope to live long enough to return DF's favor,

Rub Of The Green by Brock Walsh will, with a little luck, appear in bookstores soon.

Contact brockwalsh@gmail.com or
Beverley Slopen slopenagency@gmail.com