Merry Christmas America (Are We Dead Yet?)

A few years back, Xmas in Rome.

 

Yes, I'm writing on Christmas morning, but that's not my choice, it's sort of my duty. A long time ago when I was studying and writing at The Breadloaf Writer's Conference, the novelist Tim O'Brien kindly took me under his wing, personally critiqued a short story of mine which was then called Portrait, and which later became the novel, When Shadows Come (a novel that was orphaned prior to its release from Thomas & Mercer when the editor jumped ship--something that happens a lot over there. But as usual, I digress). 

In the middle of going over the story, sometimes line by line, he with red pencil in hand and trademark Boston Red Sox baseball cap on his head, lit cigarette between his lips, suddenly asked, "Hey you don't happen to have any coke on you?" 

I was sorely disappointed I didn't. 

In any case, when we were through he said...and I'll never forget it..."One day, you're going to be more famous than you are now. You will have fans, and they will expect a lot out of you. They will, in some cases, become more needy than your wives (yes, he used the plural), and you will need to put out for them. That means you will be writing on your birthday, when you are sick with the flu, when you are happy, and when you are depressed. You will be writing ON CHRISTMAS DAY, whether you like it or not." 

So there you have it, readers. It's Christmas and I will spend my day or most of it anyway, working on novel edits. But let me say, Merry Christmas to you all. Some might find that offensive but I'm not woke, and shall forever remain asleep, metaphorically speaking, I guess. 2020 is about to come to an end and let's hope the door slaps it on the ass on the way out. 

I still recall standing inside a bar in Lake Placid last New Years Eve as a blizzard was blowing outside. I had a pool cue in hand, and was watching the wall mounted TV while my GF was beating me at pool. The report about a virus outbreak in China sent a chill down my spine. At that point it was still a small story in the grand scheme of things, but I recall saying half under my breath to said GF, "This is going to be bad. This is going to be very, very bad." And bad it became. 

I'm not fond of the Grateful Dead, and in fact, I hate their music (I prefer old punk rock), but I'm reminded of their song that goes What a Long Strange Trip it's Been. It's raining outside my window. I had planned on skiing today (sorry Tim), but the grass outside my writing studio looks like a putting green. There's hardly any planes in the air and many fewer cars on the road. Carbon emissions are way down. Why isn't it snowing AOC? But again, I digress. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is, it doesn't feel like Christmas. In fact, the whole year doesn't feel like we've progressed, but if anything, regressed into this population of fenced in individuals who are slowly going insane with boredom, loneliness, financial ruin, and despair (BTW, my profound thanks to the US government for pulling through with stimulus for normal everyday folks who will visit the food lines today instead of enjoying a nice Xmas dinner. The US government is broken and you only have yourself to blame...You know precisely who you are. Enjoy your ice cream, Nancy. And Mitch, I hope you're sipping only the best Kentucky bourbon today with a big fat cigar stuffed in your mouth. You both should be drawn and quartered in public...once more, I digress). 

But it almost feels like we've actually succumbed to the disease and simply don't know it yet. Like a person who's suddenly dropped dead and sort of hangs around for a while as a ghost. Or maybe we're all in purgatory. Who knows? But then, election fraud was real, not that anybody cares. The rent is still due, and the price of chicken has doubled if not tripled in just just a few months. These things are reality. 

So than, I can bitch and moan all I want, but on the other hand, I am thankful for my health, my relative youth, my publishers (Yet another notable outfit approached me the other day and said they would love a Zandri novel in their catalogue, God bless them...I remember when I couldn't find a publisher to save my life. Now they come to me in some cases), my family, my kids, my mom, my life (which is blessed in every sense of the word), my God, my travels, my country (as busted up as it is), and what lies in store for the future. It's got to be better than this. My hopes are that very, very soon, all us dead folk will be resurrected. 

Today, you can get my brand new release, CHASE BAKER AND THE ARK OF GOD for special intro price. You can also get my brand new big 4.8 star thriller, THE GIRL WHO WASN'T THERE there also for a special holiday price. Last but never least, THE EMBALMER, the pilot novel in the Steve Jobs PI series is just 0.99 since it's a Bargain Booksy promo for 24 hours. 

It's Christmas morning so no doubt you'll want to fill up that new Kindle eReader you just unwrapped. 

A very Merry Xmas to you all, and a Happy and prosperous New Year. 

WWW.VINZANDRI.COM

 

  

   

Remember Not to Write for Free (Pay the Writer!)

Interestingly enough, I have been flat out the past three months. I've been working for an "influencer" firm out in LA that has been feeding me steady work in the form of blogs. It feels good to be blogging professionally again, rather than adding content to a meat grinder like Medium or any number of sites where they don't really pay the writer. That's the kind of thing that truly pisses me off. If only writers wouldn't be so willing to work for free, we wouldn't have this problem. In the meantime I'm finishing up two novels, plus blogging at the Vox (I pay myself in beer). 

While we're on the same topic, the twice annual book royalty statement time is coming up. I know it's been a rough year for publishers, but I'm working with at least three publishers right now, one of them a major (they pay once per month so they're good), but I'll be interested to see the numbers. For my indie stuff, I've had one of the best years in ages. Probably because people are stuck at home and looking for some good, if not cheap entertainment. But we'll see what's been working and what hasn't been working when the statements come through. I'm pretty sure, I earned out my advance for The Girl Who Wasn't There, but then that wasn't a huge advance. So we'll see. 

In the meantime, I'm waiting for a little snow up here in Upstate New York. Come Friday, I'm going skiing come hell or high water. If I can't fish, I feel the need to ski. 

Hope everyone is staying safe and getting ready for the holidays. Don't forget, you can grab a first signed editions of The Girl Who Wasn't There at The Mysterious Bookshop. They'll be happy to drop it in the mail for you. Also, it's a great time to pre-order my biggest psychological thriller since The Remains, Paradox Lake. Look for it in May. Also look for the new Chase Baker, Chase Baker and the Lost Ark of God, in a week or so. Late next month, the brand new edition of Moonlight Falls will be issues by Down & Out Books. Can't wait for that one, plus the reissue of all the Thriller and Shamus Award winning Dick Moonlight PI Thrillers. 

Tomorrow will mark the 9th year since my dad's sudden passing. Funny how time flies. He wouldn't recognize the world we live in now. I'm not sure he'd want to be living in it either. Who knows. 

Pay the writer! Miss you too Harlan!!!!

WWW,VINZANDRI.COM

 

Gaining Strength During Severe Pandemic

 

I've always been a weight lifter and a cross trainer. But it seems like over the past few months I've been really hitting the weights hard. With the gyms being shut down, I turned my living room into a full free weight gym, complete with a flat/incline bench, squat rack, dead lift station, dumbbell rack, and even a boxing/heavy bag station. 

And I've been making some gains to be sure, even at my ripe old age of 56. At the same time, I recorded a few YouTube videos displaying my efforts (my grunts and groans) to share with you also. Here's three of them: 

 

 

 

By the way: some of you might be wondering where my website, www.vincentzandri.com ran off to. Turns out the domain host went belly up and some Asian outfit snatched up my address and now want thousands from me to get it back. I don't negotiate with intellectual property thieves. 

Instead I'm using this as an opportunity to build a new website (long overdue), and changing my domain to the much easier to spell, www.vinzandri.com...It's still a WIP but it will be live, hopefully, by the end of the month or sooner. 

In the meantime, don't forget to check out my new Thriller (which debuted at No. 2 at Barnes & Noble and stayed in the top ten for weeks), The Girl Who Wasn't There. It's presently enjoying a 4.2 rating on Goodreads, which is pretty incredible. Look for the hardcover debut on October 13.

Get Zandri Thrillers HERE