When I woke up at my hotel the next morning, I could hear the rain smashing against the window like a group of angry wood- peckers pecking at a tree. My eyes were still closed, and I imagined the massive storm going on outside. My head felt like a heavy bowling ball hitting all the pins at once.
Fuck you, whiskey: you and your delicious taste; you and your beautiful color. Fuck you. Afraid of the pain, I didn’t dare open my eyes—not yet. I decided to fall back asleep.
When I woke. . .
It was a Saturday morning in mid-March, and I was on a bench in Golden Gate Park absorbing the sun and people watching. I’d always found it relaxing to observe life and movement around me. Sometimes I even wrote about what I’d seen.
Cigarette fumes slowly floated in front of my eyes, the sunlight breaking the smoke into parts like a magical laser. It was a beautiful sight—smelly, but beautiful.
The water in the lake was shining, like a mirror reflecting the image of the world: a . . .
I could feel the blood pressure in my veins; it dropped a notch after the dinging sound. The fasten seat belt sign went off, and the plane was now cruising at thirty-five thousand feet toward my new life.
I could barely wait to get there and meet the people already on the inside, the ones who’d made it. I was on my way to a new life in the rapidly growing tech industry, which was shaping the world after its own agenda. By working at the most powerful tech company in the world, SHOW, I w. . .
Hello glorious The Punch Escrow backers!
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Dear friends and followers,
It’s been a very long time since my last update. My apologies for that. On the book front, we’re now in developmental edits ... basically arguing with an editor over just how much of the novel needs to be rewritten from the ground up. A couple of chapters are going to be juggled around, but I should probably not say too much beyond that. We’re at a point where Change is an unchanging fact of life.
For most of the past year as well, I’ve been buried neck-deep in writing something else: "The Hero Unmasked!", a CYOA-style game for Choice Of Games.
It’s a superhero story, as you might have guessed, and very different from "Murder at the Veterans’ Club". The game was just released on Steam, Apple, and Android last Thursday, and I’ve pretty much spent the past couple of days grinning madly as the reviews roll in.
Is there anything else of note? Yes.
Landon Crutcher, author of "Monkey Business", has begun his campaign for "Black Cloud". I remember enjoying "Monkey Business", and I expect "Black Cloud" to be an even better outing. Crutcher’s writing this time about something he knows intimately from his work, and that always adds a certain special something. Like James Herriot writing about veterinary practice.
Ryan Smith has decided to publish his novel, "Goodbye, Angel", via Amazon instead. I’ve purchased it and read it, and I’ve found it an engrossing and enjoyable read, especially if you love the "hard-boiled" detective genre. I’ve recommended this before, and I continue to say ... Highly Recommended.
Until next time, being aware that "next time" could be A Long Time Off ... have fun, and keep reading.
Good morning and Happy Anniversary to Women Like Us, because today is one year since Pub Day!
Here’s a look back at me holding the book for the very first time. I still pick it up, leaf through it and find it amazing that it actually exists.
A lot happened around this little book in the past year. Here are a few of my favorite things.
It made it into the top 100 of its top sub-genre on Amazon (still pushing to get it into the top 10, though).
Some nice folks did interviews with me about the book. Here’s a couple, in case ya missed them.
http://www.theindieview.com/2017/05/11/indieview-with-jason-pomerance-author-of-women-like-us/
http://renderositymagazine.com/the-art-of-story-interview-with-author-jason-pomerance-cms-759
Also, the book made The Malibu Times!! This may not seem like a big deal, but we lived in Malibu for a short while, and First Point Malibu is still a favorite surf spot, so it just makes me smile. Here it is--
http://www.malibutimes.com/malibu_life/people/article_0dea1256-283f-11e6-b17a-8bda111c1653.html
We’ve given away many signed copies on Goodreads (a favorite thing to do...in fact one is going on now so go over to Goodreads so check it out) and given some away to our nearby free Local Libraries too.
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The push to the thousand mark in print and ebook sales is getting slowly closer. That was always a sort of goal on this book but, you know, if we go well into the thousands that’s good too. Don’t stop spreading the word, people! Sales happen when marketing happens but reviews are still so vitally important. If you’ve read and not reviewed, please leave a few words on Amazon (remember I still donate 10% of my royalties to the Beagle Freedom Project so helping with sales helps free more beagles). Remember you don’t have to say anything more than "Great book" (or "Crappy Book" works but we prefer great). Here’s the Amazon link--
Meanwhile, the biggest recent news is that an audio version of the book is in production right now!! It’s being narrated by a wonderful voiceover actor, Yolande Clark. I’ve heard the first 15 minutes and it’s amazing. The audible version should be available around September. Stay tuned.
Finally, just to demonstrate how it’s not all sunshine and daffodils, in doing some research for this post I came across this really not nice review on some blog...ouch!!
https://www.reynoldsreviews.com/single-post/2016/12/18/Women-Like-Us
You gotta take the good with the bad, huh?
Thanks all for the support. Seriously. And Happy One Year Since Pub Day Women Like Us!
Michael Ostrowski
liked an update for Not Afraid of the Fall: 114 days through 38 cities in 15 countries.
