I planned to sit down today and write a new forward to my
Sal Conte 80s horror novel, Child’s Play. I am bringing out my old Dorchester titles
along with a new short for Halloween, and I thought a forward looking back
would be a great addition. As I
considered what to say, my mind drifted back to the 80s—the awesome music, the house
parties, the fun I had at USC hanging with all the young would be writers
trying to get our nascent careers going.
It was a time of equal parts fear and exhilaration.
As I conjured up those halcyon days, my mind drifted back to
my time in the South Bronx where I grew up.
I started thinking of how I got here in the first place and realized it
was luck. How is it that I’ve led the life I’ve led, have the career I have? Pure dumb luck. The police of the 41st
Precinct dubbed my neighborhood Fort Apache.
They felt any time they ventured outside of the precinct house into the
streets, they were taking their lives into their hands. They even made a movie
about it: “Where even the cops fear to tread.”
It didn’t seem so dangerous to me, but I was just a kid
back then. It was all I knew, so what
did I know.
It was back then,however, that my luck first kicked in. The tough kids in my neighborhood liked that
I was different, liked that I had ambition.
They looked out for me. When
something bad was about to go down they’d insist I get lost. It was luck that after I graduated high
school I had a friend going to Lehman College in the Bronx. She said I should check it out. It was luck that despite my terrible high
school transcript they accepted me. It
was luck that I was looking at the bulletin board outside the English
Department office where I happened to see a poster touting the USC Professional
Writing Graduate Program. It was luck I
found a professor, George Blecher, to take me under his wing and nurture me.
It was luck that after arriving in Southern California (broker
than I expected to be) I happened to read an article in The Writer about writing
for romance magazines—which is how (after several tries) my professional career
started. It was luck that I was standing
at a newsstand thumbing through horror novels (I couldn’t afford to buy one),
and I noticed a number of them were published by Dorchester.
Wow! Some days I can’t
help but look at my life and wonder “how lucky am I?” Yeah, I know, somewhere in there comes hard
work. But we all need a little luck to
go along with the hard work, and I've had my share.
Okay, that’s it. That’s
all I wanted to say. No deep meaning
here. Before I write the Sal Conte forward I realize I have another post to
write. In this one I will be thanking my
role model. If you’d like to know more
about Sal Conte he has his own page on my website. Check him out HERE. And my latest, Boyfriend
from Hell, is still on Sale for $2.99.
The price was supposed to go up on the 1st but it didn’t. I know it will be going up soon. If you’d like to read a few sample chapters
click HERE and then click on Boyfriend From Hell Sample.
Enjoy your life. Take
advantage of all the luck that comes your way.
And remember to pay it forward. Peace.
