A MERMAID DROWNS IN THE MIDNIGHT LOUNGE: Coming Soon to a Virtual Bookstore Near You!

I am in the final phase of preparing the manuscript of my latest novel, A MERMAID DROWNS IN THE MIDNIGHT LOUNGE, for upload to Lulu, and then it will be available there as well as Amazon and other retail outlets, not sure which just yet. I wasn't going to go the self-publishing route, but then I figured I've wasted enough time in my life and so-called career awaiting mainstream affirmation - since these online options are now available to authors, as well as artists who work in other media, I might as well take advantage of it. The upside is I get full creative and promotional control of my product, and nobody "gets" an idiosyncratic piece like this one more than its author. I also know how to market it. The book's already been mentioned in a major article and interview with me (by Angela Woodall) that initially appeared in the Oakland Tribune and its fellow Bay Area Newsgroup publications like the San Jose Mercury News; then it was reprinted a couple of weeks later in the Alameda Journal and later syndicated by American Chronicle and even NPR! I also have the freedom to design the book. At left is the cover, pre-publication. This stunning image, entitled "Mermaid," is by Canadian photographic artist Mike Lewis, from whom I've bought the rights to use the piece for this purpose. I had been unofficially using it as the icon for the "Mermaid" Facebook fan page but when I decided to go with Lulu, I thought this image so perfectly suited the tone and mood of the book, I had to track down its creator and request permission to make it the official cover image. I was very happy when Mike agreed to the proposition. I can't even imagine another image that would better illustrate what I describe on the back cover as  " a lushly lurid, exotically exploitative, sensationally sensual pulp-noir potpourri where star-crossed lovers, sea sirens, monster men, gangsters, porno filmmakers, jazz standards, and an Elvis-spawned zombie apocalypse all intermingle across several parallel dimensions in time and space."

Stay tuned for purchasing information...cheers.