THE BRAND DEMAND Launch Speech

THE BRAND DEMAND book launch

Sugarhouse Barnes and Noble

Saturday, April 18th 2:00-5:00

Welcome everyone to the official launch of my third novel, THE BRAND DEMAND. Before I take your money and sign books and bask in the glow of a life’s dream made manifest I thought I’d take a minute and tell you how it came about.

I began my journey as a writer with a specific fan base in mind: Me. My motto, “I write what I like to read, this guarantees me at least one fan,” began with my first completed novel, THE BRAND DEMAND. I wrote it because I wanted to, — no - needed to vent. It was born out the my own frustration at a time when I felt lost in a sea of bigotry, hypocrisy and rampant corruption. Yes, the kernel of the idea for this book was born during the Bush Years.

I’m not sure a lot has been worked out in with the world since then, but thanks to the BRAND DEMAND, I’ve worked out a few things.

I remember distinctly that when I got around to writing THE BRAND DEMAND I woke up  with the ending, the climax of the book. I knew at once that my angst ended in that climax, the very climax that survives in the book today. 

I knew where I was, and I knew where I was going, but at the time I didn’t understand how the two connected. I discovered that by writing THE BRAND DEMAND.

Tip O’Neill, the later Speaker of the House ,famously said that all politics is local. He meant that people understand policy by its immediate effects around them. 

As THE BRAND DEMAND flowed out out onto the page, I saw the invariable course that began with frustration and polemics, smoothly, inevitably, naturally flow into a personal experience of love, companionship and personal decision. The two ends of the book, my conscious frustration and the subconscious answer connected through Galen Reed’s journey. Theory into action. Personal understanding of communal ideas.

What I saw is that though politics is local, it is ultimately personal. It’s one thing to extrapolate a belief from an ideology, but the truth of any idea, comes from personal revelation.

Looking back I’m not surprised that my manifesto morphed into an intimate quest for self awareness, purpose and decision. Regardless of what else is happening in my life, the existentialist questions are never far from me. I explore them and hopefully come to some nuanced understanding of myself and the universe.

Damn, that makes the book sound so heavy. That’s not the case. THE BRAND DEMAND is a romping adventure. A love story, a mystery, a thriller. There’s even a sex scene in it, that I’m kind of proud of. 

I want you to buy a copy. I hope you read it. I think you’ll like it.

"Do what you can, when you can."

Thanks for coming.