Book Release Party!

BOOK #3 is Here!!!

Click here to buy!

Run Way

Book One has reached a personal milestone for me as it reached the 14,000 high mark out of 300,000, putting it in the top 5%. I may not get rich off of this but on an artist  level I've never been more happy and appreciate all of the buyers who took a chance with my novel. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy putting it in your hands and really, seriously thank you!

Book Three has now moved from the jet way to the runway and is in the next to last editing phase. If all goes according to plan and I can smooth out a couple of rough spots in time, I might be able to have it ready for a late Summer release. Just in time for the Summer books. With this, I will have four books out, including Mary and I the Real Story of Miss Mary Mack. In all honesty, this is my next to top favorite book in the series as you get to see what Erin is like when she comes back from Europe and tries to start her life all over again and avoid the old problems. She doesn't have to worry about being homeless or working at a shitty restaurant job and can focus more on her social problems. The book also introduces two of my favorite characters: Pam, and Allen who serve as her conscience.Allen is sort of based on me and Pam o an old friend of mine that worked at an art supply store.  This is a rejected drawing of Pam I did. I thought she looked too  glam. I wanted her to look more average . Someone you can drink a beer with.

So I went with this version, instead where she looks more like a friend who would drink a beer with you while farting unapologetically.

TIME LINE

Book three is entering the next to last editing phase. I'm trying to have it out by Summer at the earliest.  This book takes place almost 4 mounts after Erin leaves Neopolitan to go to Europe. I like to get obsessive about character details. I can tell you where the bathroom is in every house they go into or even where every single character  with a speaking role, works. I even lay out time-lines to keep things in order to make sure nobody says: "But how did they get from point A to B and they never even met?"

Here's the time line up to book 3, including Erin's second trip over seas:  I  book 3 she mets two new friends; Allen and Pam. Allen is lovely based on me and pam is based on a girl I used to works with at an art supply store who until this day, was one of my favorite people. They help to give two new perspective to Erin's decisions. Allen, the male poet of view and Pam, the voice of uncensored truth. Chris is a bit of a wild card and Erin isn't sure where she stands with her. Danielle, Marie's daughter gets mentioned in book 3 but doesn't make an appearance until book 4.



1971
Her friend Allen is born. Her friend Pam is born

1977
Erin Patricia Pierce born: March 15^th 1977 New YorkMom is 25 (real age)Grows up in New Jersey

1978 Her French friend, Marie Callier (21) gives birth to DanielleLashell born, April 21

1986 Pam (16) gets sent to rehab center, runs away and spends summer on the streets of Neo.

1992 Parents divorce. Mother moved to Neo in 1992 when Erin was 15. Erin goes wild.Loses virginity to Steven Burgess.  

1993 Erin gets arrested for vandalism. Moves to Neo 1993 (16)Allen and Xiene : start dating in 1993 in Atlanta

1994 Pam starts classes at the Academy.

1995 Erin (18) Graduates from South Neopolitan High school in 1995 Meets Peter, Mimi and Pat

1996 Dating Peter, sells Jewelry on the street to get cash to travel around Europe, skate board, Oi bar, punk days (good times)Allen and Xiene. September, 1996 Move to Neo October Xiene changes name to  Chris, gets a job at F Word! magazine. Glory days.Danielle 18, pregnant with Ivan.

1997 Allen and Chris go to Paris in  February for a photo shoot. In Paris Takes Allen Allen starts at Van Go’s art supplies while taking computer classes at Academy. Becomes friends with Salome and Monroe.Meets Pam at school.March: Chris takes Allen to Etoile for his birthday. Things are starting to get tense.April- Chris and Allen's downward spiral

Thursday, May 15^th, 1997,  3pm Peter flakes out on trip to Europe Erin is (20)May15-June12th first trip to Europe:Erin meets Salome, Bob and Larry.Manchester May 16^th-May 21, Kenneth Lucas, London, May 21-May 24th Paris May 25^th-June 4rd, Ivan born. Erin talks Marie into reconciliation. Prague,June 5^th-June 12^thChris  reveals a devastating secret to Allen in July.Erin starts work at F.J.Pizza. AugustDecember..Allen and Chris break up.Allen moves in with Monroe in River Valley (suburban, commuting hell), Chris moves in with a guy from work.

Book 1 
1998
Erin is 21Takes place from March 15^thMay:  Pam graduates. Her roommate moves away. Allen moves in with Pam so he can live in the city and be closer to school.Late July 1998 Erin moves in with Mary Jo.Book 2 Erin is still 21Takes place from September-Mid November 1998Chris dates guy she moved in with. They date (5 months) until a house party in June 1998. Breakup because he lost control due to jealousy and drugs, set the kitchen on fire and put a toaster through the window.  Gets her fired at F Word! and now she does freelance.Nov 28, 1998—Feb 12, 1999
Second trip to Europe: Newark - Nov 25-27^{th 1998}28^th Manchester meet with with Pat and Mimi. 30^th Trained it to  London, Dec 1^st - Dec 5^th over and up to Amsterdam Dec 6^th-Dec14th, where my friends Paul and Suzette moved to. Down to Antwerp Dec 16^th—Dec 20th Paris  (Christmas dinner and New Years with Marie and her friends )Dec 21-Jan2nd again, over and down to Florence Jan 3^rd-Jan 5th where Lisa Anne and her so called ‘plutonic friend’ Tony were staying, down to this little town called Siena Jan 5^th-Jan 10th and then back to Paris for the remainder. Jan 11^th- Feb 12th
Book 3 Starts

I told you I was obsessive.

Erin's Paris part 1

In book 4, Erin gets to return to Paris. I went into a lot of heavy detail which may or may not make it pass the editor. Just in case, I decided to share what my reference was for where she stays whenever she runs away,  (even though, in book 4 it's not her fault). So presenting Erin's Paris, part 1.

Soly Hucking Fhit!

Just got a letter from Barnes and Noble saying they're going to distribute the first book on their network! I'm so happy. I feel like high fiving a thousand angels, or doing tequila shots with the devil, either one, it's all good. The first book is available to any book stores for distribution but I have yet to upload the second book to that network.

You can buy the second book through the Amazon direction but I want it to be available to the independent book stores, as  well as any other store which may not want to deal with Amazon's distribution network. I was waiting until I edited another series I'm working on (TBA) and want to upload them all at once. I'm guessing before the Christmas season starts, fingers and eyes, crossed.  I have to say, even if only one copy sells, I'm happy just making it this far, In spite of sounding like an artist, I have to say it's not all about selling a million copes and getting a movie deal and all that shit. Yes, that would be nice, but to me, it's like giving birth to something good and wanting to send it out into the world instead of it living in your basement for 40 years  and masturbating to free WiFi.

Book 5?

Finished another cover. This is for book 5. Book 4 was going to be the last one but there were a couple of loose ends I felt the character would want to confront before she felt her goals were at least at a resting place if not solved. I hate stories that wrap everything up in a bow at the end but I also hate the stories where you're like: "But what about______? and____?
 I'm going to go around to a couple of the book stores to see if they'll carry a physical copy of book. The digital version was selling well enough but my goal is to have the physical copy in book one and  one day do a book signing. But, for now. My goal is to write, do art and enjoy the ride.

IT"S HERE!

Book #2 Now Available!!!!!

Pam Pam

Book 3 and 4 are in the proofing stage.  Book 2 is being aimed for a February release date. I think it will be perfect if I can get it done by Valentine's day because of the title " Flaming Jackass, In Love". Book 3 introduces one of my favorite characters:

Pam Barlow.

Age: 28

Job: part timer at the University Of Neopolitan Medical Center, Reproduction Sciences. Freelancer, Graphic Artist and Programmer for Naughty Little Devil Girl Graphics.

Pam is based on a girl used to work with at an art supply store and is best described in the novel as: "… ‘Robert Crumb’ girl type, after the style of the underground cartoonist that loved to draw thick, tall Amazon-like girls. Pam wasn’t that much taller than Erin but she was built in a broad, borderline plump way and always sported big clopping motorcycle boots." Pam is an only child of religious, conservative parents. She grew up 50 miles South of Neopolitan and like Erin had some very rocky teen years. At one point in her teen years, Pam was caught stealing her mom's Valiums. Instead of fessing up that she was taking them to get high, she lied and said she was trying to commit suicide. As a response, her parents sent her to one of those re-hap, troubled teen asylums. While there, she met a boy. They fell in love and escaped the camp where Pam ended up spending the entire Summer on the rough streets of Neopolitan, begging for spare change and sleeping in abandoned buildings. After her boyfriend was arrested for selling pot, she  was left to fend for herself. This was at the time there was a serial killer on the loose in the city known as Big F.S.O.B., targeting young street punks. When one of the girls she hung out with disappeared, Pam had had enough. She returned home to her extremely happy parents who spoiled her  rotten, while keeping a tight rein on her. As part of this arrangement, she was given a computer. This became her first love and she emerged herself in programing and graphic arts and a desire to be successful and rich. Pam is loving, uncouth, unapologetic and  will always tell you the truth, no matter if you want to hear it or not. In the novel, she offers a new perspective to Erin's craziness as Lashell does in the first two books. She is also roommates with Allen, another voice of truth but this time the male perspective that bounces off Erin's illogic. Book 3 and 4 focuses a lot of her and Allen's lives and turns Erin into a spectator while occasionally bringing her problems forward in a sort of tag team wrestling match.

Special BOOK STORE edition

Book Two is now in the editing process and hopefully will be up and selling by next year. I've also finished book 4 which I think (for now) will be the final chapter. I say for now because when it comes to telling some one's life story, your story never really ends. You can always kill off a character and that can usually end a story but, in real life, when your parents die, if you're still living, there's still a sequel in there (No I'm not giving  hints for what happens to the main characters in the book) but I don't think  there should be these stupid fairy tale, wrap everything up in a bow ending unless it's a sci-fi or horror story where you finally blow up or killed that asshole that's been causing so much trouble.

I've also been prepping the first book for a special "Book Store edition" version because apparently, bookstores only deal with certain publishers and anything for sale on Amazon is frowned upon by the Hipster Dipster bookstores. So I had to re-do and republish the first book.On the plus side, I was able to add some bells and whistles to the cover such as a picture of Lashell on the back. I think I may do that to all of the books and add a side character in that spot because I have lots of illustrations of other characters.It also sports  the bad-ass little logo for Rabboks publishing (Rabbooks also has a web page in the works here: Rabbooks )If all goes well, I'll have a lot more muscle in the publishing world as this will be made available to a lot more channels than Amazon.

It's All About the Books

The First book is up and running and available for purchase on Amazon and Createspace. Either in regular book form or electronic style. My goal for the book is to get 1000 units out there.  I don't care if it's a regular book sale or the Kindle version (which are selling more than the book version) , but it doesn't matter. As nice as it would be, it's not about making lots of money and quitting my day job. That's the unrealistic dream of psychopaths living in castles in the sky. If the book sells a lot, of course I'd be happy but even with a great novel, there's no way you can guarantee  thousands of book sells and retire like those New York Times Best Seller people. Even most of them never make enough money to quit their day jobs unless there's a movie deal in the works. HBO, if you're listening, call me. Flaming Jackass would make a great series! No, my goal is to do art. If I can sell enough art or books to keep on doing it, THAT is my goal. to keep this thing going. 1000 units is a nice round number that says, 1000 people will probably buy the second and third and fourth books and make doing this worth it. This fan base is the most encouraging and in my opinion, appreciated people in the world. For someone to take a chance on an unknown artist or writer or even musician, and patronize them is an awesome thing and I thank you!!!

I have created a logo for my Publication company called Rabbooks Publishing. Now for some business cards:

 

Speaking of future books. I've already finished the cover art for books #2 and #3. The second book: In Love is in the editing process right now and hopefully will be out before Christmas. As for #4 (working title Detox), the first chapter is written and it's a big one that takes up 1/4 of the book. Here are the cover illustrations for #2 and #3:

Flaming Jackass; Book #2

 Book #2,  is due by Christmas 2016. This could be called the book when everything hits the fan that's already covered in shit.

Flaming Jackass; Book #3

You may have noticed her change of hairstyle on the cover of book #2. That's not the only change in that book. New characters and situations appear to further complicate Erin's life.

Character Files

Lashell Bronson

Lashell Bronson

Age: 21

Occupation: 

Cashier/Cook at F. J. Pizza parlor.
Student at Neopolitan Community College studying Medical Billing. 

Personality:

 Lashell is Erin's best friend and one of the few female fiends Erin has. She can always be counted on to tell Erin exactly what she's is doing wrong in an uncensored way. Lashell is a very resposible person and it drives her nuts with the idioic decisions that Erin makes. She also loves Erin and would do anything to help her out, especially get Erin and her out of the pizza parlor and into college.

Lashell has a temper, is impatient and argumentative. She lives at home with her mom, her single mother, sister and her niece. Lashell is closer in personality to her mother who, even tough they live in the rough part of South Neopolitan, has managed to provide for her daughters and made sure they never fell trough the societal cracks. Lashell is very clean cut: No smoking drinking or drugs creating, a complete contrast to Erin. In a way, Erin is like a social worker's project to her and she feels almost obligated  to do charity, but at the same time, she likes the way Erin makes her life interesting.

Cover is Did

Flaming Jackass is about 500 or so pages long.  Besides that, there is a sequel which is probably 500 pages also. Being a first time author, It's very rare for companies to use so much paper on you. This is why J.K. Rowling and other first books in a series are so small. So I ended up breaking the first book into two separate books and If I can keep putting them out, the second book can be broken down into two. That's four novels! I had no idea I wrote so much.  Usually when people write, I assume they think about this is where the story starts, then this happens and then it ends. Me, I know exactly what's going to happen but I like for the story to flow naturally and not have a feeling that a scene is rushed or–this thing happens here, because it has to happen here.  also like to make sure the story foes what's best for the characters or story and not what's best for the reader which is why I would have a hard time doing a crowd pleasing mainstream book. I mean I like a happy ending also, but life throws a lot of crazy shit in your way first.

Finished laying out the cover which I illustrated:

Cover of Book #1 of 4

I decided to call the first book: Sex, Drugs and Pizza. The second: In Love. The third: Returns and the fourth: Detox. Right now I'm doing a final proof check and once it's finalized, it will be available on Amazon in print and digital and hopefully in a bookstore. 

The Town of Neopolitan

NEOPOLITAN

Neopolitan is a city located somewhere in the united States.I never say where but I will say it's not located in the South or anywhere near Texas or anywhere that does not have rivers and lakes and most likely it's located near mountains and probably one of the oceans is a long but possible drive.  The population is around 2-3 million. 

 The size is about 12 by 14 miles, depending on who wants to be considered living in the city. 

 Racial makeup  is very mixed as I've tried to make sure Erin has to come in contact with a variety of characters.  It's history comes from a bunch of pioneers coming together to do their own thing and find a utopia. Sometimes I stick in a lot of French references which could make the town somewhere in Canada. But I think the people are too mean for Canadians.  

Weather wise: Beautiful  temperate Spring. Hot and muggy Summers, rainy and cold falls and snowy Winters.

The city used to be a hub for tuna canning and steel making but those business closed down and threw the city into economic despair. Thanks to a popular art and  music scene and what they call 'Grime' music, the city has become a hip mecca and is bouncing back.  Politically, the city is a mixed bag  between the Conservatives who want to turn the city in to a big banking city with loose restrictions and the Bohemians Liberals who want to focus on protecting the utopia parts. The mayor is usually conservative, whereas the city council are packed full of liberals creating an interesting political battle ground.

As you can see, the city is divided into North and South.  The hipsters all live in the North side and the South can best be described as the Walmart crowd with the exception of the industrial district which is getting very lofty and hip with artist and a club called the Acid Pit. Upper Heights area is full for gated communities and the Lake Charles, kind of  redneck. If you are young (21-28) the best area to live in the University Circle with all of the things that come with a college town, whereas older hipsters (29-33) prefer anything near Center City park which is the home for the pizza parlor that Erin works in. The 33- crowd or young people with money who still want to be hip live in the 10th street area or the up and coming East River valley.  Those that want to be left alone, live in lofts in the two downtown areas which also sport 4 star restaurants and tourist attractions. the Kenwood area is one of those neighborhoods in transition from ghetto to young hipsters. I believe all neighborhoods go in that direction, 1st the Whites move out because of crime or just to get out of the city. 2nd. Blacks move in then Hispanics. 3rd Artsy Whites and Gays move in for the cheap rent. 4th the neighborhood becomes interesting and White hipsters move in. 4th the neighborhood becomes the next big thing and Yuppies start to move in. 5th the Yuppies get old and have kids, now all of the hip places can't afford the rent and move out. Starbucks and chain business move in along with gyms, Zumba classes  and over-priced kids clothing stores. This is official the death of the neighborhood until the economy crashes, the stores go out of business, crime increases and the Yuppies move out started the process all over again.

The city actually has a pretty decent public transportation system. Buses run on time and they have an electric street car system simulacra to San Francisco's. In one part of the story, erin has to take advantage of the system: 

In front of the station she saw a girl walking toward the same entrance, another Toad clone in the Gutter Punk uniform of dirty parka, torn fishnets, one tuft of hair on an otherwise bald head, and patches with the names of underground bands. Erin nodded hello. The girl ignored her. They both stopped near the little booth and stared at the guard. He was reading a newspaper, not paying attention to anything. Erin and the punk girl looked at one other. They both knew what the other wanted to do. The punk girl looked at her watch, a big silver one made for a man. Erin wondered if it was stolen.
    The girl acted like she had a plan to get in, and Erin decided wait until she’d made her move: perhaps as they were arresting her, Erin could slip past. A black janitor rolled a bucket and mop past them. He propped the handicap gate open his bucket and started mopping around the booth. The guard looked up and they started discussing sports. The punk girl took the stance of a horse ready to leave its gate at the Kentucky Derby. Erin got ready as well. The guard left his booth and the two walked across the lobby, the janitor with just the mop, talking loudly about a TV show that had been on last night. When they’d entered the men’s room, the punk girl bolted through the gate. Erin ran after her.
    Her heart was beating faster than she could remember. She felt like she was running in slow motion. At any moment the men could come out and catch them, but then they were through the turnstiles and it was too late. The punk girl stopped running and Erin did the same. As they started trotting down the stairs to the platform, the guard and janitor came out of the bathroom laughing about a beer commercial. The punk girl looked unworried. The men ignored the two women walking calmly as if they had just paid to get in.
    Erin laughed nervously. “That was scary.”
    “Easier than last time.”
    “You’ve done this before?”
    “ ‘Course. Same time every day that janitor props the door open and they go into the toilet for whatever the fuck they do.”
    “Cool. I have to remember that.”
    The train was packed with people all wanting to get home at the same time, and Erin got onto the same less-crowded car with the punk girl. Erin didn’t feel like they’d bonded, as she had with Tracy and her group after sneaking into Jelly. Why do I feel so detached from her? Am I being a snob because she looks homeless? Maybe I should be friendlier. “Now all I have to do is figure out how to eat for free.”

Alexander G. J.

 

Welcome to Neopolitan

Where to start…

The Urban Dictionary defines Flaming Jackass as:

 A really huge dumbass. Who pisses someone off so bad that they scream: 
"Oh my god, you're a Flaming Jackass!"  
"Why'd you throw the ball at me? I wasn't looking, you Flaming Jackass!"

Flaming Jackass is also the name of the first novel in a series called Tales From Neopolitan

Flaming Jackass, the novel started out as a comic called…Strangely enough, Flaming Jackass Pizza. This comic which first appeared in 1996 in the the pages of a  magazine called Splunge Comix,  a Humor magazine aimed at Gen Xers. The story followed the fucked up life of a 21 year-old girl who I loosely based on a friend of mine I knew when I lived in Atlanta Georgia back in the 90s. Back then, her life was so chaotic, full of drugs sex and punk rock n' roll,  that I knew I had to get her shitty life on paper and imagine what her life would be like in situations I would create. The situation I created for Erin, is that she is in love with a handsome boy named Kevin Goldberg, who she has 0.2% chances with, in spite of her friends telling her what a dumb-ass she is. On top of that, Erin lives in the boring-ass burbs of the fictional town of Neopolitan and believes that life would be perfect if only she could move to the good part of town and date Kevin. An armchair psychiatric would say she suffers from perfectionism, but I  say she's an optimistic, dumb-ass. And I only mean that because I'm sure you've had a friend you've cared for and wants to see  succeed. 

An original panel from the comic book version of Flaming Jackass.

Adding color to the novel are at least 180 characters. That's fuck'n right, 180!  I filled the town of Neopolitan with characters based on the many people I've seen and known over the years (a lot I hope are dead). Sometimes these are friends and colleges of Erin's and sometimes it's a person who barely makes an appearance.  Any characters Erin deals with, I could probably tell you about them, what their background is and when the last time they  took a shit. I believe when you read a novel or see a movie, every damn character should be able to have their own novel or movie. Otherwise they're just a bunch of zombies for the main character to bounce shit off of. The town of Neopolitan has about 1 million people in it and I'm not going to write a bio on all of them. But, in this blog I will focus on some of the major ones in the story.

Let's start with the main character: 

 

Erin

Name: Erin Patricia Pierce
Age: 21
Height: 5,5
Job: Works as a floater at F.J. Pizza Parlor aka, The Flaming Jackass.
Lives in Riverview, South Neopolitan. 

Personality: As I've mentioned earlier, Erin is a bit of a perfectionist and because of this usually doesn't settle for anything less than that. This leads her to sabotage her happiness, sometimes resulting in a lot of personal bridge burning. Erin was originally from New Jersey where she spent part of her teen years. When her parents divorced, she became a juvenile delinquent and had had a run-in with the law (despite the fact that her dad is a policeman). 
When her parent divorced, she moved to Neopolitan to live with her mom, where she lives at the beginning of our story.

Erin is a a pain-in-the ass, stubborn,  foul mouthed, chain smoker who experiments with any drug except the ones that kill rock stars (unless it's free).  She also masturbates too much, but then again there's nothing really wrong with that one.

Erin, at her  best.

 
Erin is also very loyal, funny, usually a hard worker when there is incentive, friendly (to those that aren't yuppies or frat boys) and can surprisingly  be smart at times.  She has an artistic side, appreciates obscure films and is good at making her own  jewelry. 

A year before the story started, Erin traveled to Europe and this made a big impact on her.  She was also dumped by her boyfriend at the time, Peter, over the phone, while she waited for him to show up at the airport for their trip. This event, along with the parents divorce,  pretty much scarred her for life  and leads to a lot of stupid decisions and misadventures throughout the book.

Here is an excerpt from the novel version to compare it to the comic presented on this page:

    "Erin parked in front of the apartment and took a deep breath. This was it. She wished she had some coke to boost her confidence right now. She settled instead on a breath mint, pretending it was a magical confidence booster. She hopped up the walkway carrying the pizza with one hand. She had made it herself. She wanted it to be completely perfect, from the extra Canadian bacon to the well-placed Portebello mushrooms. She took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. She tried to think of what to say and how to say it. She twisted her dreads. Everything had to be in place. The door opened. It was Kevin. She had forgotten how pretty his eyes were, or how tall he was. Her heart sank into her stomach. She wondered how she could have ever stopped chasing him. He was wearing a tank top and sweat pants. It appeared as if he had just got out of bed. That struck Erin as weird, because it was at least five o’clock.
    “What’s up?” His voice sounding like harp strings to Erin.
    “Er, ah...hi, Kevin.” She said it as if big hearts covered in sugar floated around her words.
    “Uh, what was your name?”
    “Erin!” she almost yelled. She handed him the pizza. She sighed and wished she had put her phone number on the box.
    “Erin. Twelve ninety-five, right?” He picked a ten and a five from an end table and handed it to her. In the process, his thumb touched hers. Erin’s head almost exploded from the over stimulation. She sighed. She stood at the doorway.
    Kevin wondered what she was waiting on. He had included her tip already. He backed away to give her the hint that the transaction was over. She didn’t move..."

Next blog: The town of Neopolitan!


A..James