A New Cover Reveal, a New Release Date and a New Promo Offer for My VIPs!

Please allow me to share the cover of my upcoming book, Smoke and Shadow.

Murder is their business…
In the dark world of espionage, Hamilton Chu and Harrison Trent are secret warriors. Driven by loyalty, excitement, and money, these modern mercenaries travel around the world to spy, sabotage and kill.

But how much of their humanity do they sacrifice with each turn of the knife or pull of the trigger? How can they succeed in missions they can't solve with violence alone?

Smoke and Shadow is an anthology series set in my Crime and Passion Universe. It is an international action thriller in a style similar to La Femme Nikita, Taken and the Bourne Identity.

Smoke and Shadow will be available on Amazon on Tuesday, November 17^th 2015

If you’d like an advance copy in exchange for an honest review, please click here for more details.

If you’d like to take advantage of my $0.99 discount sale for all my other Crime and Passion books, visit my Amazon page before November 1^st.

Have fun and thanks for reading.

G

Smoke and Shadow: Get It First. Get It Free

The members of my VIP mailing list and the community of book reviewers are an important part of modern publishing. Getting noticed by passionate readers can mean the difference between broad popularity and a lonely unnoticed release. I’m planning to launch a new book right before the holidays, so I’d like to reach out to thriller readers like you and offer and advanced copy of my book.

What’s This Book About?

Smoke and Shadow is an anthology series set in my Crime and Passion Universe. It is an international action thriller in a style similar to La Femme Nikita, Taken and the Bourne Identity. Here’s the description I plan to put on the back of the book:

You'll never see them coming...

In the dark world of espionage, Hamilton Chu and Harrison Trent are secret warriors. Driven by loyalty, excitement, and money, these modern mercenaries travel around the world to spy, sabotage and kill.

But how much of their humanity do they sacrifice with each turn of the knife or pull of the trigger? How can they cope with missions they can't solve with violence alone?

If this story sounds like something you might be interested in, then I’d like to give you the e-book before anyone else gets it and without paying any money.

What Do I Want?

I would like to ask you a favor in exchange for the free book. Reviews drive popularity and sales on Amazon, so the more reviews I can get, the more financially successful the book can be. I hope if I give you Smoke and Shadow free upfront, you’ll be nice enough to write me a review when you’re done. It doesn’t have to be a five star review (although those are always nice), it just needs to be what you think.

How Do I Get The Book?

If you want an advanced review copy of Smoke and Shadow in exchange for an Amazon review, please send an email to gamalhennessy@gmail.com before November 20, 2015 and I’ll add you to the list.

And if you want to spend more time in the world of Crime and Passion, sign up for the free RSVP Newsletter. 

Thanks in advance for taking the time to experience my work. I hope you enjoy the story.

Have fun.

Gamal

Please Allow Me to Re-introduce Myself

By Gamal Hennessy

At some point, I invited you to go on a trip.

I promised to take you away from your daily grind and guide you through a world of crime and passion. I offered you a ticket to action, espionage and seduction. I wrote three novels and half a dozen short stories of the best work I could create. You rewarded me with your time and attention.

            Then life got in the way.

            Personal, professional and financial realities cut me off from my fictional journeys. They also prevented me from staying in contact with you since late Spring. I apologize for stopping the trip in such an abrupt fashion, but I’d like to make it up to all of you in two ways.

            First, I’m going to make all the books in the Crime and Passion series available on Amazon for $0.99 each for the next thirty days, including my full length novels:

• Smooth Operator
• A Taste of Honey
• A Touch of Honey

If you haven’t had a chance to sample some of my work yet, I hope you’ll take advantage of this 75% off sale to step into my world.

            Second, I plan to have a series of bi-weekly posts leading up to the release of my next novel in November about the role violence plays in being a writer. I hope these essays lure you back into the world of crime and passion and all the other work I plan to create.

            I know one less email doesn’t make much difference in your busy life, but I also know everyone can use a break from real life once in a while. If you’re willing to keep hearing from me, I’ll try to make the trip worthwhile.

            If you’ve got any questions, comments or observations, please let me know. I enjoy hearing from you.

            Have fun.

            Gamal

If you want to spend more time in the world of Crime and Passion, sign up for the free RSVP Newsletter.

Slave Ship: A Book Review

By Gamal Hennessy

I’m developing a science fiction novel about slavery called Humanity’s Fall. The basic concept is Twelve Years a Slave meets Star Trek and follows the ordeal of one woman ripped from her brownstone in Brooklyn and thrust into the belly of a ship to be sold on the other side of the galaxy. The research for this book includes several sources exploring the impact of the Middle Passage including well-known works like Roots and Amistad to more general books like The African Slave Trade and Still I Rise. But as I get ready to write the first draft of Humanity’s Fall, I think the book Slave Ship: A Human History by Marcus Rediker will have the most impact on my story.

Slave Ship looks at the mechanism of African slavery; the ships and men who captured, bought, confined, tortured, killed and sold millions of people over the course of three centuries. It explores in depth the functioning of the ship, examining the vehicle of the Middle Passage from several viewpoints. The slave ship is seen as:

• An investment for speculative European businessmen
• A debt prison for unwary sailors
• A marketplace for Africans selling slaves
• A prison for Africans captured
• A cemetery for slaves and crew killed in the journey
• A factory for the creation of slaves
• A battleground for slave inter slave conflict and collective rebellion
• An incubator for the concept of race
• A communal space for the creation of shared kinship
• A symbol of evil for abolitionists

Rediker breaks down the Middle Passage in stages, showing how ships were commissioned and purchased, how captains and crews were formed, the process of buying people, attempting to simultaneously break their spirit but keep their bodies intact for sale, the successful and unsuccessful attempts to escape, overthrow or commit suicide and the complex social relationships spending months on the ship would create. By drawing a historical and narrative thread from the people most distant from the process (who gained the most wealth) to the people most suffered the most intimate pain and lost the most, Slave Ship makes an argument for the ship itself to be one of the most influential and at the same time most ignored elements of social development in America.

I read this book during the surge in media coverage over unarmed black men being killed in various parts of the country and the groundswell of racism playing out in various levels of society. In light of this reality and against the backdrop of building my own novel, I began to see parallels between our own time and the collective experience of the slave ship. It was easy to see the bankers and billionaires as the distant businessmen, too far removed from the process to have any interest in it beyond their profit. The police became the sailors and reluctant prison guards. The minority communities become the slaves and the incubator, factory, marketplace and communal space of the ship became the spaces we inhabit now, on and offline. The ship came to represent so much of the American experience, it became easy, perhaps clichéd, to imagine America as a slave ship we are all trapped on. Slave Ship will have a lasting impact on me, not just for the inspiration it provides for my work, but in the way I perceive the world I live in.

Have fun.

Gamal

Start Your Summer with Crime and Passion

by Gamal Hennessy

I’m kicking off the Summer of 2015 with a special sale of the entire Crime and Passion catalog. From Friday, May 22^nd to Tuesday, May 26^th all my full-length novels will be on sale in the Amazon Kindle store for just 99 cents.

The Crime and Passion series is adult crime fiction for fans who want to explore the darker side of life. There are three novels in the series so far, but each can be read on its own.

Smooth Operator is Pulp Fiction meets the Usual Suspects on the streets of New York after dark.

A Taste of Honey is Basic Instinct meets Casino Royale in the high society of Argentina.

A Touch of Honey is The Wire with a sadistic love triangle playing out deep in New York nightlife.

All three novels have great reviews and normally cost $3.99 each. You’ll be able to celebrate Memorial Day and save 75% off the cover price.

I hope you enjoy your summer and all the books.

Have fun.
Gamal

Misogyny, Racism and the Moscow Rules

By Gamal Hennessy

“If my intent is to write something useful that people can understand then it's better to write about the way things are instead of what we imagine them to be. Many have imagined the world in ways which don't really exist because how one lives is so far removed from how one ought to live that the person who abandons what one does for what one ought to do, learns frustration rather than clarity.”

Niccolo Machiavelli: The Prince

During the Cold War, Russia was the most dangerous place to be an American spy. The men and women who survived this dangerous and brutal environment followed a set of concepts called the Moscow Rules. These weren’t official guidelines. For years they were never written down. The rules were simple, easy to remember and essential if you didn’t want to end up dead in the street with a bullet in your back.

In the 21^st Century, America has proven itself to be a dangerous and brutal environment for women and minorities. Look at the police brutality caught on tape (See Thoughts on Police Brutality). Consider the institutionalized misogyny of the NFL (See My Sixteen Game Ban on the NFL), Uber and the legal system when it comes to rape. Spend a moment thinking about all the hate groups, militias and interpersonal conflict in the United States and you might see parallels between Cold War Moscow and present day Ferguson (See Writing While the World Burns). 

Perhaps it is time for us to adopt the Moscow Rules for our own use. Maybe evolution is based on survival and survival is based on adaptation to circumstances. If you don’t know who to trust and you can’t rely on institutions or violence to protect you, then maybe you need a different approach.

Since there is no official set of Moscow Rules, I’m going to suggest my own. These are based on different versions of the Cold War ideas. I’ve simply modified them for the world we live in now.

• Assume nothing. (Help may never come)
• Pay attention. (You can’t avoid what you don’t know about)
• You are never completely alone. (Threats can come from anywhere)
• Everyone is potentially under opposition control. (I’ll let you define “opposition” for yourself)
• Go with the flow, blend in. (If they don’t see you, they probably won’t get you)
• Always give yourself a way out (of a conversation, altercation or attack)
• Vary your pattern. (if they know where you are, you’re an easier target)
• If it feels wrong, it is wrong. (Don’t ignore your instincts)
• Maintain a natural pace. (Too fast or too slow draws too much attention)
• Lull them into a sense of inactivity. (If they define you as a threat or an opportunity, they will attack)
• Build in opportunity, but use it sparingly. (Pick your shots and your battles)
• Don't harass the opposition. (Attack from a position of strength, not weakness)
• There is no limit to a human being's ability to rationalize their actions. (Being “right” won’t protect you)
• Keep your options open. (especially when it comes to getting away)
• Technology will always let you down. (Rely on your wits and your skills, not your stuff)
• Once is an accident. Twice is coincidence. Three times is an enemy action.  (Understand the patterns of human behavior)
• Don't attract attention (Even by being too careful or prepared)

I’m not suggesting we need to be spies in our own country or personal lives. I’m not saying this is the right way for people to live. On a certain level, adopting these concepts as part of your daily routine involves a change in perspective. You might begin to see yourself as isolated and oppressed by your own society. Seeing life this way can create emotional and mental damage over time. But I’m not writing this in response to the way life should be. I’m looking at the world around me and writing about the way our society is now.

If you feel the institutions and systems you live in will protect you, then you have no need for the Moscow Rules. If you are willing to risk a bit of alienation to avoid being shot dead in the street, consider the Moscow Rules. They might help you adapt to the dangers and brutality of your environment.

If you hope the institutions and systems you live in will protect you, give you justice or make you whole again after you’ve been violated, good luck. Just remember; hope is not a plan and the news is full of people who didn’t have a plan.

Have fun.

G

The Final Chapter of My Free Halloween Fiction

This is the third and final installment of my free Halloween flash fiction. I hope you enjoyed the ride.

You can read Part 1 here.

Part 2 is here.

And remember, you can get my latest novel A Taste of Honey for free next Monday and Tuesday only (that’s November 3^rd and 4^th).

Happy Halloween

G

The Shadow Dancer

Part Three: Revelation

I broke both his elbows before he took his first step. He wanted to retreat, to understand what happened, but I moved faster than his thoughts. I ducked down and punched him in the side of the knee with enough force to guarantee he would never walk again. He dropped to his other knee. His face tried to form a scream, but I moved faster than his voice. I stood over him, straightened my fingers into a spear and plunged my hand into his gaping mouth.

That must have been so horrible for his friends to watch. I’m sure they want to help, but how could their minds deal with what they saw? How could their bodies approach something so bizarre? One boy started to cry. The other peed on himself and screamed like a newborn child. But I didn’t blame them. I had my arm buried elbow deep into the big man’s mouth. They were just making the noise that he couldn’t make for himself.

I saw tragedy in my victim’s eyes. I witnessed his horror, his pain and his sanity crumbling at my feet. I held my arm in place for a moment, letting him flail around with his useless arms and scrape the ground with his broken leg. The smell of his emptied bowels overpowered the whiskey and smoke in the alley. My hand reached down so deep that I felt his heartbeat pumping with suicidal speed near my fingertips. I wanted to feel it burst in my hand. I wanted the ripe fruit of his life to drip through my fingers. But he didn’t deserve that. He deserved to live with the madness that came with this moment.

So I snatched my arm out of his mouth with a sticky wet slither.  Then I turned my back on them and walked away. Another scream echoed between the walls as the big man crumbled onto the pavement of broken glass and used condoms. The muffled dubstep might have drowned out their shrieking, but I’m not sure. I danced into the shadows before anyone else showed up.

Now I’m writing this to try and understand what I am and what I’m doing here. I’m not worried about revealing whatever dark secret defines me. I’m writing this journal by hand so no one will ever find it. If someone does get it, they won’t ever read it and even if they do, no one will ever believe it. This is my story. I’m writing it for me.

I might be dead. I might be alive, but whatever I am, at least I’m not drowning in feces anymore and the only thing eating away at me now are the questions of my existence and the secrets trapped inside me.

Free Halloween Fiction: The Shadow Dancer Part 2

Yesterday I announced two free gifts I’m giving away for Halloween.

First, my novel A Taste of Honey will be available for FREE next Monday and Tuesday (November 3^rd and 4^th)

I also wrote a piece of flash fiction horror just in time for Halloween. This is Part 2. If you want to read Part 1, you can find it here. The last part will go up tomorrow.

Enjoy…

The Shadow Dancer

Part 2: Confusion

I stumbled out of the shadows and into a dark grimy alley littered with broken glass and used condoms. The sky was a dark shroud above me, without a moon or stars to offer light. Muffled dubstep throbbed from the other side of one wall and the smell of decadence that led me here clung to everything in the narrow passage. I stood silent in the most beautiful place I’d ever seen.

Three unfortunate boys found me standing there, paralyzed by my new freedom. I’m sure they were in their late twenties, affluent, arrogant and privileged. Their eyes glazed over with liquor and drugs. Their bodies overflowed with lust and their faces revealed the frustration of a hundred recent rejections. They circled me like hyena, unsure about which one of them should make the first move.

I felt so sorry for them. I wanted to save them from me.

But I didn’t know the language of compassion on that first night. My voice was still raw from the razors. I tried to say something to calm them down as I held up my grubby hands to warn them, but all I could come up with was,

“If you fucking touch me, I’m going to shove my hand right down your god damn throat.”

They laughed. 

Why? 

Didn’t they see the clumps of vomit in my hair? How could they not notice my half eaten stomach dangling down by my knees? Did my shredded tongue cut my warning into sounds they couldn’t understand? If those poor boys saw anything, they didn’t pay attention. Two of them just watched as the big one called me a bitch and lunged at me with rape on his mind.

I felt so sorry for him.

Two Halloween Treats Just for You

I’ve decided to kick off the holiday season by giving you two free gifts for Halloween.

First, my novel A Taste of Honey will be available for FREE next Monday and Tuesday (November 3^rd and 4^th)

I also wrote a piece of flash fiction horror just in time for Halloween. This is Part 1. The other two parts will go up later this week.

Don’t say I never gave you anything.

Enjoy…

The Shadow Dancer

Part 1: Torment

by Gamal Hennessy

I choked on a thousand razor blades as calloused and clawed hands held me down on a bed of glass.

I drowned in boiling stew made up of vomit and feces.

I lay helpless on a bed of spikes, watching my organs ripped out and devoured by insatiable cannibals.

I was raped from the inside out, violated by a fetus or a virus so hurtful that his come spat molten lava through my body and out from my eyes when he was done with me.

And then my torment repeated from the beginning, with a dozen hands holding me down and forcing razors into my mouth.

Was I in Hell? How do I know? Organized religion uses the ideas of eternal damnation to maintain power over their flocks. Hell represents the punishment that awaits the sinner after death. But I didn’t die. I crossed over into the shadows trying to save my husband. What sin did I commit? Is it a sin to fight for love in the face of Darkness? And how could my lover open a passage to eternal damnation in the first place? How could I escape something that’s supposed to be forever? Based on what I’ve read since my Release, my suffering sounds more similar to the traditional Chinese versions of Hell than the Christian, but I’m not Chinese and my suffering wasn’t nearly as poetic as their descriptions.

How did I escape? I seized a fleeting moment of opportunity. I think someone else paved the way and opened the door. Maybe a lot of some ones tore down the walls that oppressed us. Who knows? I never saw anyone else during my torment beyond my faceless cannibals. All I know is at some point my reality tilted and I caught a whiff of cheap whiskey and stale cigarettes. My cannibals abandoned me, so I slithered, crawled and ran towards the scent, not knowing or caring where it led me.  Considering where I was, what could possibly have been worse?

The Way of the Knife: A Book Review

by Gamal Hennessy

9/11 had a ripple effect the world is still dealing with. Universal surveillance, endless cycles of war and the erosion of civil liberties are all by products of the attack on the World Trade Center. The Way of the Knife focuses on the way, waging war and declaring war have changed for America in the 21st Century. The book goes over familiar ground in great detail, but it is ultimately unsatisfying.

The central premise of the book revolves around the military developing increase spying capability while the intelligence community devoted more of it’s time to killing than spying. The book explores the high level infighting between the Pentagon and Langley for control of the War on Terror. It’s a catalog of greed, bickering, turf battles, mismanagement and failed opportunities. Way of the Knife reveals many of the political and financial gains made by Washington elites in the name of national security.

I hoped this book would focus more on the experience of spies and soldiers on the ground in places like Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan. I had little interest in the back room deals made at the White House or the juvenile temper tantrums of our highest officials. Way of the Knife is enlightening and educational, but it gives too much attention to men and women who deserve condemnation and not more fame for their manipulations

The Touch of Honey Beta Reader Request

I'm currently looking for beta readers for my third novel, A Touch of Honey.

If you're not familiar with the beta reading process, don't worry. Beta readers are like a focus group for books. They help the publisher predict audience reaction to a story by getting feedback from a small segment of the market (See On Using and Being a Beta Reader)

A Touch of Honey is a sequel to my last novel, A Taste of Honey. It continues the story of the spy Nikki Sirene as she tries to survive in a world of crime and passion.

If you enjoy adult crime thrillers, consider this premise:

In seduction, control is surrender and surrender is control…

Nikki Sirene uses her sexual charms to manipulate men and steal their secrets. She lives in constant fear because the man who used to love her is now trying to kill her.

Desperate for protection, she agrees to a relationship of mutual exploitation with a mysterious spy named Warren Baker. He agrees to protect her from her enemies if she agrees to help take down a sex slave operation in New York.

Entering into this world of depravity and pain pushes Nikki to the edge of sanity. Can she escape with her freedom and her life, or will she become just another human trafficking statistic?

If you're interested in being a beta reader for A Taste of Honey, please send an e-mail to gamalhennessy@gmail.com and I'll put you on the list.

Have fun.
G

Who Watches the Watchers (Thoughts on the American Police Brutality)

The current strained relationship between police forces and some communities could be the result of military surplus weapons and training flowing from the War on Terror to local precincts (See Bill Maher: Police State).

It could be the result of the gradual expansion of police powers and a siege mentality in policing dating back to the American Revolution. (See Rise of the Warrior Cop).

Perhaps this occupying force mentality has always been present in our society and is only on the top of our minds now because the wider proliferation of personal video gives us weekly examples of minority and poor Americans being attacked and sometimes killed by police officers or even neighborhood watch members. (See NYC Official Wants Police to Wear Cameras After Chokehold Death).

It’s probably a combination of these factors and many others, but I think the most important thing to look at when thinking about or dealing with the police revolves around understanding their day to day motivation.

The articles I’ve seen about the killings in New York and Missouri frame the issue as racial, economic or social. (See FBI Steps In Amid Unrest After Police Kill Missouri Youth) I think all these things come into play, but why a person does what he does is based less on his socio-political position and more on his mental and emotional motivations. I’ve never been in the police department, but I don’t think it takes twenty years on the force to understand the things he care about:

A police officer wants to protect*:

1. His life
2. His partner’s life
3. His family’s future
4. His income
5. His pension
6. His career and/or promotion
7. His reputation with other police
8. His relationship to his superiors
9. The relationship of his precinct to the others
10. The relationship of his precinct to City Hall
11. His relationship to the media and the court of public opinion

Please note: aiding the members of the community like you or me may or may not fit on this list. If it does, I doubt it will be higher than any of the things I’ve mentioned. I think this is accurate not because police are evil, but because police are human and every human in a society is motivated by self interest. If you or I decided to be a cop for whatever reason, this list would seem completely reasonable.

When you add the constant threat of sudden violence that comes with being a police officer, and increased access to military weapons and training to the list of motivations above, you create a situation where any actual or perceived threat to an officer or his motivations could result in a lethal force altercation.

To reiterate, I don’t believe all cops are evil. I don’t believe all cops are good. I believe all cops are human and are driven by what they perceive to be their best interests in stressful situations. Putting every police officer on camera for every civilian interaction can be effective because it impacts most of the officer’s motivations. But footage can be manipulated and evidence is not a guarantee of anyone being punished for a crime. Cameras treat the symptom, but they do not alter the underlying factors of behavior.

I’m not, nor do I plan to be engaged in any violent or criminal activity. Having said that, I limit my interactions with police to the same level as the characters in my writing. I avoid them when possible and do my best to avoid or disengage from any situation where police might become involved. If that isn’t possible I try to remove myself from the situation as soon as possible without making things worse (See 10 Rules for Dealing with Police)

Struggles between police and the people they protect is not a new phenomenon. In the first century AD, a Roman poet coined the phrase Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? or who watches the watchers? Through the magic of YouTube and Iphones we can all watch them, but until we can understand and change their motivations, is there anything we can do to stop them?

Have fun.

Gamal

*Yes, I realize there are female police officers. Yes, I made a specific choice to single out men. I’m sure you can figure out why.

My First Public Reading (Writing as a Spectator Sport)

By Gamal Hennessy

Writers have to use every method they can think of to create interest for their work. Most of our efforts focus on social media and internet channels, because in theory they provide the best results for the lowest cost. The bulk of my advertising also takes place online, but last week I had the chance to try something different that other writers might want to consider. All it takes are friends, liquor and a considerable lack of stage fright.

Falling in My Lap

In my first writing venture, I created articles and interviews about New York nightlife for a site called New York Nights. This allowed me to meet and drink with a lot of amazing and interesting people. I met singers, bartenders, owners and hedonists of all types. I maintained those relationships as my work expanded from nonfiction to fiction. Last month, I got an invitation from one of those connections to perform my work in public.

A beautiful woman named Jess Domain had a series of shows at a bar in Manhattan’s Theater District. She had enough of a following to do all the shows on her own, but as an artist, she wanted to try something different. She knew I have a novel coming out, so she asked me if I would be willing to read a chapter from the new book during her set. As a general rule, I avoiding saying no to beautiful women, so I agreed and tried to figure out a way to maximize this opportunity.

The Best Laid Plans

I decided that this public reading could help me in two distinct ways. First, I could drag a ton of books to the show and sell them after my reading. Once people got a taste of my craft, they’d line up to buy a copy of their own, right? Second, I could have the reading recorded for YouTube and then post it as a trailer to help bolster sales online. If a public reading could get people in the bar to buy the book, then the same thing would work as a video, right? Based on these optimistic theories, I scrambled to get things in place for my moment in the spotlight.

The idea of selling books at the event fell apart quickly. The date of my reading was two weeks before the scheduled release of A Taste of Honey and I didn’t have copies available yet. Of course, because I needed results quickly, the entire post production process fell apart . My normally reliable cover designer vanished for Spring Break. My interior formatting with CreateSpace hit a snag that still hasn’t been resolved. There was no time to get any books printed, so I resigned myself to the consolation prize of asking people to join the mailing list if they wanted more information about the book.

The video recording went better. Another friend of mine in the TV production business went above and beyond to help me. He got two professional video cameras and set them up on either side of the stage. He showed up an hour early to coordinate with the event manager and the sound engineer to make sure everything worked. Then he recorded the whole show, switching back and forth from his fixed camera to the mobile one to generate the B roll (which from what I understand is TV talk for secondary footage). I haven’t seen the edited footage yet, but whatever comes out is going to be better than anything I could have recorded on my phone.

Riding the Rollercoaster

I don’t have a problem with speaking in public. I turned down an invitation to get my masters in speech writing because I decided to go to law school (not the best choice in hindsight, but that’s another story). But even natural public speaker needs to practice before they go on stage, so I spent the week reading, recording and re-reading the first chapter of my book to make it feel natural when I read it in front of people.

I didn’t realize about this process would drag me through an intellectual rollercoaster. On Monday I went through a dry run and thought I sounded fine. On Tuesday I decided a few words needed to be changed to make the text flow better. On Wednesday I thought I should re-write the first chapter completely. On Thursday I kept tripping over myself trying to edit the book out loud as I read it. On Friday I thought the whole thing would be a disaster. When Monday came back around, I came to peace with my words. I just wanted to get the thing over with so I wouldn’t have to read the same damn chapter over and over again.

Under the Spotlight

The reading itself turned out to be anticlimactic. The ripple effects had a more profound impact.

When I got there, I didn’t know if the bar would be packed or empty. I announced the event on social media, but every event in New York competes with hundreds of others every night. I didn’t know how many people would actually show up. A handful of my friends sat with me at my table and maybe two dozen other drinkers sat in attendance. When Jess called me up on stage, there was just enough life in the room to make things feel real.

For the most part, my rendition of chapter one went well. Another group celebrating a surprise birthday party in the back room threw in a few outbursts to keep me on my toes. The lights on a performance stage (even a small one) will instantly reduce anyone to a sweaty mess, but I kept my composure and my cool during the reading. People responded well to both the reading and my semi-spontaneous jokes. I didn’t stand close enough to the microphone and I might have tripped up on the last word, but the performance ended as more of a success than a failure.  

The special part happened after the reading ended. A pair of random strangers came up to me asking to be on the mailing list. Jess wanted me to read at more mixed media shows because we got such a good response. My friends came up to me at the bar to tell me how proud they were of me because I wrote a book. Other friends who couldn’t make it echoed the same sentiments in text messages and FB posts. Rain fell on New York City when I left the bar and I appreciated that because it prevented anyone from seeing if I might have been crying. (I can’t confirm or deny actual tears. Let’s just say I appreciated all the positive reaction)

Aftermath

I don’t think I’m going to sell any more copies of my book because I did a public reading. I am happy that I got the chance to do it and I would definitely do it again. Like many aspects of independent publishing, the benefits of reading your work in public affect you in ways that can’t be measured by your bank account.

Have you read your work in public?

If you haven’t would you be willing to do it?

Let me know in the comments.

Have fun.
Gamal