Year 5 of an Indie Writer: Week 5 AKA Virtual Bookshelves Never Go Out of Stock

I couldn't believe what I saw.

Or didn't see.

Gregg Hurwitz: A New-to-Me Author

For a few years now, the Orphan X series by Gregg Hurwitz, has been circling my radar. I'd download a sample onto my Kindle, but never get around to it. I'd see the second, third, and fourth books in the series be published, but still I didn't move off high center.

Until late last month.

At  one of the paperback racks at a Barnes and Noble in far west Houston, I saw OUT OF THE DARK, the fourth volume in the series. Unlike in the past, when I see a book that captures my attention, I read it, no matter what number it is in a series. But when I realized it was an Orphan X novel, I was reminded that this series is one I should try.

So I walked over to the regular bookshelves and pulled a paperback copy of ORPHAN X, the debut novel in the series. This was late December 2019, in that timeless week between Christmas and New Year's Day. As an avid audiobook listener--who easily could have downloaded the audio version, I know--I resolved to read the paperback. Frankly, it had been awhile since I picked up a new paperback and actually read it. (I always pick up books, but don't always get to them.)

I read the entire book, finishing a week ago. Loved the book, the character of Evan Smoak, and Hurwitz's writing style. I'll have my full review this coming Wednesday (as part of Barrie Summy's Book Review Club) but I can tell you now it's a winner.

I was so jazzed to read the next book, THE NOWHERE MAN, that on Tuesday evening after rehearsal, I drove over to a Barnes and Noble (not the same one). I strode past the hardback section--where INTO THE FIRE sat, having been published that same day--and made my way to the paperback section.  I found the Hs and looked.

And looked. And looked. I checked the Mystery section just in case Hurwitz's books were considered mysteries by B&N. You know what I saw?

Zero Gregg Hurwitz books. A New York Times best-selling author.

Are Virtual Bookshelves Better?

If you read my column from last week, you'll remember one of my goals in 2020 is to create an online bookstore. Sure, there is nothing like going to a bookstore, browsing the books, and picking one up to read and buy. It really can be a magical experience.

But what happens when something like the absence of Hurwitz books occurs?

You go elsewhere.

And that elsewhere is either another bookstore or it is online

This is where an online bookstore has the edge. As long as an author is willing, the shelves of the online bookstore are always stocked. You can always find something you're looking for, especially if an author is willing and set up to sell direct to you, the reader.

It's not just ebooks either. I plan on having paperbacks available for direct purchase--complete with personalization. Audio will come later.

Just imagine the virtual bookshelves of an author's bookstore: ebook, paperback, maybe hardback, audio, video links, and more.

Exciting to imagine, huh?

Gregg Hurwitz in Houston

I love the serendipity of me finally buying that first book in the Orphan X series, reading it, and loving it. This coming Monday, at Houston's Murder by the Book, Hurwitz will conduct an author event and book signing. Love the timing. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Early KISS Footage Provides Inspiration

At little over a week ago, at the always awesome Ultimate Classic Rock website, they posted the earliest known footage of KISS in concert. And it is a remarkable thing to behold.



The show was from 21 December 1973 in the Coventry in Queens, New York. The nearly nine minute black-and-white video has about 1:30 minutes of silence at the beginning. Then, after whatever speaker/microphone issue was resolved, the announcer comes on around the 1:37 mark. He tells the assembled audience that they're "right on top of them [the band]." While he probably means they'll get to hear this new band early in their career, he might also mean the people are literally right up against the stage.

No matter. Once he tells the people to put their two lips together and kiss, KISS starts in on "Deuce."

I know the song. I've known it now for forty one years. I know the show and the stagecraft. I know what they do when this song plays because I've seen it live and on hundreds of YouTube videos over the years.

And they are doing it in this video. When Ace Frehley takes the solo, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley face each other and do their choreographed moves. Later, during the outro, all three guitar players face Peter Criss's drum kit and perform the now-famous swaying.

I just grinned. It didn't matter that they were playing to probably dozens of people. No pyro (except for the candelabra in the back). The song already was all but perfected. They had a vision of where they wanted to be and what they wanted their shows to be like, including Paul's between songs banter as they launch into "Cold Gin." They didn't have the money--yet--but the carried on like they were going to sell out Madison Square Garden (which they did in less than four years).

Why bring this up now, in January 2020 when the band is on their two-year-long farewell tour? Inspiration. They started small, but knew that every little step got them closer to how they viewed themselves.

And it reminds me, here at the beginning of the decade, that the little baby step I'll be taking in 2020 to start up an online bookstore won't be one giant leap from A to Z, but a series of baby steps--and missteps--to where I envision this online bookstore to be.

But everyone has to take that first step, and that's what I'm doing here in January 2020. More news to come as the weeks and months progress.