“Brothers,” Free through 11/02/14

There was a time in my life when I worked as a salesperson. First, in-store retail sales and after reaching a level of success there, outside sales. Back then, if you worked for Sears and you made it to the appliance department—you reached the top. The only place you could go to earn more money as a commissioned salesperson was outside sales. Unfortunately, those positions were few and far between. Basically, someone had to die or retire before you had a chance of getting one of those jobs.

Two years after I started selling appliances, someone decided to retire from Sears Heating and Cooling. Guess what, I got the job. And if I didn’t have designs on becoming a writer, or Kmart didn’t buyout Sears and destroy the outside-sales department, I’d probably still be working there. The people were great, they were all highly trained professionals, and we all made good money . . . including Sears.

Why do I bring all this up? Well, there’s one golden rule of sales that all good salespeople know but only the experienced ever follow through on. When you’re on a roll, don’t stop, always ride it out to the end. Inexperienced salespeople always lose track of this rule especially after they make a big sale. The worst thing you can do for your wallet is to quit when you’re hot and start celebrating too soon. The ride will end on its own, no need to cut it short, get back in there and close another. If you don’t, someone else will.

What’s the connection? As a promotional tool, “Brothers” is doing better than I anticipated. True, I’d like to sell books to as many readers as possibly for as much money as I can get. But money has never been my prime motivation for writing. Readers were, and still are; that’s why all my books are reasonably priced. Let’s face it, if wealth is your only motivation, you probably have a better chance of striking it rich in Vegas, and no, I haven’t run a statistical analysis . . . I’m just saying.

So, to sum it up, “Brothers” is getting out and touching people—no sense in stopping now.

Thanks to all of you.

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Hi guys,

I’ve had a request from a fan. Yep! I got a few. He asked if I would extend the free promotion on “Brothers.” Originally, I was only going to do the two-day deal, but for my 2.63 fans and approximately 50 followers of this blog, I’ve extended the promo one more day. I might extend it through the weekend . . . probably not, we’ll see.

I know, it’s awfully magnanimous and benevolent of me, but I’m generous and kind (for those in Rio Linda) like that.

Thanks all.

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After Graduation, A dream inspired by “Brothers”

“Darren Dixon,” the female reporter was short of breath as she caught up to the unlikely hero. “Your first home run of the post season is a walk-off to win the series. How did it make you feel?”

“Great.”

The reporter needed more. “Darren, you aren’t known as a homerun hitter; you were facing their lights-out closer with a 3-2 count. It was the bottom of the ninth, two outs, down by one, and the leadoff man was still camped out at first. With all that pressure, how did you know you had a walk-off in your bag of tricks?”

“I didn’t.”

She still needed more. “So tell us Darren. What was going through your mind before the pitch?”

He looked into the camera and a smile came to his face. It was the smile of someone who knows a secret, and has just decided to share it. He turned back and looked her in the eye. “You’re right. I’m not a homerun hitter. My average is high but that’s because I connect and get the hell out of the batter’s box as fast as I can. I’m faster than most and my job is to advance the runner and get on base. But last night something changed. You see, usually, I don’t get nervous about games, not even post-season games. I get excited but not nervous, for me there’s a difference.

“But last night I couldn’t relax to save my life. I need a good nights sleep before a game but I just kept tossing and turning, eyes wide open, and I was really getting on edge. It’s something I’m not used to. I like to read and it was late so I grabbed my Kindle and browsed around looking for something new, you know, to take my mind off of things. Of course, the first thing I searched for was something baseball related, I couldn’t help myself. Anyway, up comes a link to a short story called “Brothers.” And guess what? It was free. I thought what the hell, it’s free, so I downloaded it. Five minutes later, I’m reading this story and not thinking about anything else. The next thing I know its morning and at first, I thought I dreamed the whole thing, but I saw my Kindle next to me on the bed and then I remembered.

“All day, every time I started to feel nervous I’d think about the story, the dream. It just kept popping into my head and it was a distraction. But it distracted me in a good way, because thank God, I wasn’t anxious about the game anymore. Later on, standing there at the plate, with the game and the championship on the line, I started to think about the story.

“I regained my concentration just in time to see the pitcher take the sign and start his windup. But as he gained momentum, something weird happened—he seemed to move in slow motion, kind of like a dream. When the ball came out, it looked as big as a cantaloupe. It was a fastball but it looked like it was moving slow. Then it started to drop a little and inched its way to the outside of the zone. Everyone knows that’s not where you pitch to me. I always hit those, but never out of the park.

“The next thing I knew, the bat was coming around and it felt light as a feather, I could see the ball like never before. I could see the bat; I saw it all. When the bat connected, it felt like butter, smooth silky butter. I have never hit anything that hard before but I knew it was gone.” Darren winked at the reporter. “I guess there’s a first time for everything; I never hit a walk-off homerun before, and I never saw a pitcher throw a cantaloupe either.”

The reporter got what she asked for, unexpected as it was. Ramblings about a story and cantaloupes? What was that about? But her time was almost up, there were other reports waiting. “Just one more thing Darren.” He nodded his approval and she went on. “The camera caught you saying something as you watched the ball and started around the bases. What did you say?”

Darren smiled the same smile he had from before and said, “This one’s for you Mikey.” He winked again, “Thanks,” and started to walk away.

“Wait!” The reporter couldn’t leave her impromptu exclusive open like that. “Who’s Mikey? Is he a close friend?”

Darren turned back as he walked, “Read Brothers.”

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I know guys, it’s a shameless plug, but what the hell. You can download “Brothers” for free today and tomorrow. It’s my way of saying goodbye to the 2014 baseball season. Just go to my website www.LDavydPollack.com  by clicking one of the links below.

Let me know what you think. Feel free to leave a review too. Don’t worry, I can take it.

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Bad Blog Etiquette, I’m Sorry

I know. I started this blog last month and banged out a handful of posts then . . . nothing.

I’ve been a bad boy and I apologize. But just because I’ve been bad doesn’t mean that I’ve been lazy. Actually, I’ve been very busy with a new aspect of publishing and overwhelmed is probably a better term, not lazy. 

At first, I thought it would only take one or two days to finish and I’d get a good post or two out of it. I was wrong. It took over a month and I’m still not done, which means I now have a series of posts to do.

So yeah, I’m back, but before I get into my first posting series, I think I’m going to explore a fun idea that just came to me. I’ll work on it this morning and maybe a little in the afternoon if needed.

Here’s a hint: World Series seventh game.

Keep an eye out.

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