Completing my first novel and deciding to independently publish has been a hugely satisfying endeavor. I even wrote an essay about it on Medium.
Though fiction, it is still a personal story based on a lot of people and places who have come and gone in my many years in bars, restaurants, theaters and film sets.
There is a link below to get your copy from Amazon today!
"I wasn't even going to tell this story, but Violet had to go and write a whole book about all of us before getting herself killed."
So begins the story of Jerry Smith who came to New York years ago to break into show business. In Violet's book; Never Touch the Waitress, Jerry was a server at a Times Square restaurant, with a film script under option. He had fallen for the elusive Violet, a hard-drinking actress struggling with the daily reminders that she may never see her dreams realized.
Then Kelly Ripley showed up.
Kelly Ripley - who left Luigi’s for Broadway two years before. But the show has closed and she is now faced with the unthinkable – going from Broadway back to Luigi’s.
As that fateful year rushes past, Jerry and Kelly try to ignore the growing attraction between them as well as Violet's increasingly self-destructive behavior.
Back in the present, time has almost run out for Jerry who we find bartending and drifting from one high-end cocktail lounge to the next. As Jerry contemplates editing Violet's novel, he has his own stories to tell about Violet, Kelly, and what life had in store for all of them.