New Novel in Works

I'm working on a new novel: tentative title is Best Served Cold. It's about a couple of homeless guys who attempt an elaborate revenge on a hedge fund manager who purposely tripped one of them in a coffee shop.

As you would expect if you have read my stuff before, things come off the tracks in bizarre and wondrous ways. There is a Colombian drug cartel, a task force of bent cops, a reality TV show featuring the divorcees of South Beach, a Colombian assassin who loves romance novels, and a self-styled witch from Trinidad and Tobago. Explained in the process: a more hopeful solution to homelessness, how reality TV leaves its viewers stewing in their own depravity, why it's a bad idea to see too many women at the same time, and how to practice detachment and self-denial in the midst of plenty. Think of it as a kind of modern take on the Book of Job without all those long-winded and judgmental friends . . . and maybe a few more vulgarities 'cause, you know, profanity is my second language.

I decided to use NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) to jump start productivity, and two weeks in, I've already accumulated over 43 thousand words, some of which are pretty funny, or at least it seems so to me. With a little luck the first draft should be finished mid-December. Another month should do for edits and proof-reading and yield a clean beta-test version. Anyone interested in being a beta reader, let me know here in the comments, or via e-mail and I'll put you on the list.

I imagine every author uses beta readers a little differently, so here is an of what I'd be looking for. I provide you with an e-pub or mobi file of the book. (I may be able to do other formats, including hard print. We'll see.) You read the book and send me feedback about what you liked, what didn't work for you, what you might like to see added or deleted or rearranged or whatever. It's kind of like a focus group.

I use your comments and suggestions to do the final rewrite and then publish. You get a free signed copy of the finished work, and if you give me something that saves my authorly ass from embarrasment or poverty, I'll even mention you in the forward. That's as good a deal as I can make.

The aim is to make the book as engaging and entertaining as possible for my readers, enabling me to sell a lot of books and ultimately to buy the Cadillac I covet. Thanks for your interest in my work.

Day 48 - Joblessness, Homelessness, and Other Scary Prospects

          Today I redid my résumé and boiler-plated a couple of cover letters. I checked the job boards and updated my profiles yet again. The last time I went looking for work I used Career Builder and Monster. I still have accounts set up on both those sites. I added a new one called Indeed that somehow combines listings from multiple boards including Career Builder and Monster into one super board. This seems like the way to go to me. The more they do to make finding a job easy, the more I’m going to like it. I did a search to see what’s available. I limited the search to jobs that contain the words controller, CFO, and accounting. I further limited it to jobs paying over $100,000 annually. No sense taking a cut—at least I hope not. Who knows how bad the economy is really going to get? Still it’s early in the game to be lowering my expectations. Last year I made over $132,000 including a nice bonus. I need to do that well again to maintain my lifestyle—not that my lifestyle is very lavish.

I’ve got a huge amount of credit card debt, and just making the monthly minimums has kept me from accumulating any appreciable net worth for the last 20 years. It’s a sad tale, best saved for another time. I don’t like to talk about it or think about it. It’s depressing as hell—especially if you consider I have paid Bank of America something like $180,000 in interest over that period of time, and have nothing to show for it. 


(If you find yourself in a like situation, you may want to consider visiting Dave Ramsey's Web Site and taking advantage of the many resources he has available to help you get your financial life back in order.)

          
          The search yielded about 7 jobs worth looking at. None of them were stellar. That was kind of troubling, but even more problematic—the less than stellar jobs all wanted an MBA and/or an active CPA. I’ve only got a Bachelor’s degree, and I let my certification lapse. I shouldn’t have done that, but it’s too late now. I applied to the two best jobs, hoping that ‘former’ CPA and 30 years experience will make up for the short credentials.

I have to say this didn’t leave a very good taste in my mouth. Hopefully what I saw today was an anomaly. The last time I was looking, the job listings ran hot and cold in spurts. I’m still just testing the waters. Monday I have to get after this job search. I’ve only got 3 months of severance left. I still hope to book two incomes for a while, but if I don’t have a job by the end of January I’m going to have to move. At the current amount I’m paying for rent and utilities I’ll last about 6 weeks. Then I’m in a cardboard box under a bridge somewhere. I’m not ready for homelessness. That’s a scary damn prospect.