Next month the CLOSET opens

Denver debut book signing and reading of

The Closet of Discarded Dreams

Su Teatro's Denver Civic Theater

721 Santa Fe Dr.

Sunday, Sept. 16th, 5:00pm

by Rudy Ch. Garcia, the unfolding author

One week. Siete días. It's almost here. Like my unnamed protagonist would say, Qué chingaus! People at the readings might ask: What did you think about after you heard you'd be published? What did you feel? How was it, holding your first novel in your hands? So, anticipating that, here's this week's installment of what it's like having your first novel published, at least how I experience it.

The Closet of Discarded Dreams will release Sept. 1 and the process will begin. Then I'll wait. I've gotten past anxiety and some nervousness, and now a bit of excitement seems to be entering the picture. But it will take more time for me to hold something physical in my hand, turn the pages, find the typos, thrill in the fact that my first one reached print.

First though, it will not reach print. A few days after Release, ITunes and Amazon will have it in E-book and pdf formats. Then I'll be hustling to get digital review copies to the press, bloggers and whoever else I promised such. But I won't read it; maybe just scan it. I'm waiting for the paper.

Maybe a week after Release, it will be available as a paperback, but I still won't have it in my sweaty palms, though maybe I can get my first copy by paying for overnight delivery. As an immediate-gratification baby boomer, the process will no doubt take fokkin' forrrrrevvvverrrrr.

At least that could take my mind of all the pre-Release work I'm drowning in. Make up posters, business cards, bookmarks, drink coasters; make sure all the info is included, that there's no typos; design it and beg my daughter to get the files ready for the printers. Do a shoot with the same photographer daughter Marika, check proofs, decide on and send for stills. Etc. Here's what we came up with for a publicity photo. Comments appreciated.

Then daughter says, "You need Facebook and Twitter." "What for? I don't do that stuff."

"Everybody else does. Like your potential readers." Okay, so now I face and tweet, or at least my author self and the book do.

Then at the last minute somebody say, "Where's the QR code?" "What's that?" After a couple of hours of online googling, reading, navigating and back and forth questions to daughter, I don't completely understand, except that I know it's something the kids (under 50) do with their digital toys that I don't have because I can't afford the service they pay for as a "necessity." So I add the QR code, even though I doubt I'll ever use one, otherwise. 

Here's what I'll likely send out today for a beer coaster. The idea that I heard about from another author is to take them to college bars, ask Mr. Nice Bartender if it would be alright to leave some around, and then hope the college boys--before they get too borachos--will notice the graphic while they're waiting for their fourth beer, read it, and maybe scan the QR or head over to the book website.

The Closet of Discarded Dreams is filled with clones of celebrities and historical figures, Marilyn and Che included. So the graphic is a fit. In fact, in the book the two homestead one of the 9/11 monuments, debating, flirting and generally acting unlike anything you might imagine would happen if they'd met in their past real lives. I could be reading a passage from my protagonist's first encounter with the famous twosome, at Su Teatro or in Albu. If you can make it, I think you'll find that, among other things, more than entertaining. It's one part of the novel that I relish reading to myself.

Okay, one more week. In the meantime, you can check out the work my daughter and I have been taking care of, at the sites below. I'm not sure how it's all said but, tweet me, make me your friend, or friend me, like me, face me (or is it give me face?). And when you're done with that, send or connect or link or QR it to all your digital worlds. I love what we've created on the website and more is coming that your friends will probably like. Much more. Just not soon enuf for me.

book website: discarded-dreams.com     FB: rudy.ch.garcia      Twitter: DiscardedDreams

Es todo, hoy,

RudyG