Notary Public Enemy

My writing here has been a bit spotty. Some of that has to do with "news fatigue". Some of it with work being hectic, as I try to shoot the rapids of this recession.

And a good deal of it has been because of other writing I have been doing.

Thus far, in the last year or so, I have had 12 poems published--with 3 more accepted.

And now, my novel, Notary Public Enemy, has been accepted for publication!

Diversion Press, a new, small publisher in Tennessee, is going to publish my murder-mystery novel.

Peter De Stio is a fallen star litigator settling uneasily into a quiet life, one that no longer includes alcohol, marriage, family, or his partnership in a premiere law firm, when he is accused of a multimillion dollar bank fraud and murder. He can't account for his notary stamp and signature on forged deeds, and their relationship to the fraud that occurred while he was in the throes of an all-out alcohol-induced free fall.

Peter's old law school buddy, Joel Levine, has given him an office at his firm, an expense account, and a few newly employed "students", including a pretty, former Bronx assistant D.A., to train for Joel's firm. Thrust into the bank fraud and murder investigations, and wondering if the law is the right career for him, Peter dodges a disbarment proceeding, a civil suit, and a brutal beating with a crowbar to defend himself against the charges.

Though his instincts are to weather the crisis alone, he is forced to rely on others to help clear his name. It is through a network of young lawyers, a private investigator, old friends, satisfied clients and twin toddler nephews that Peter follows the trails left by the true conspirators to find the truth about who he is, and his path to redemption.

No date yet for launch--but I'll keep you all in the loop!

Happy Easter!

New York's New Stadia

The new Yankee Stadium and the Met's new CitiField are set to open.

Soon the new Giant/Jet stadium will replace the perfectly-good Giant Stadium in Jersey.

Taxpayer money and guarantees abound. Ticket prices have skyrocketed, meaning most taxpayers will no longer be able to afford to go--but that is merely supply and demand at work-- New York has about 20 million people in our "fan radius". We have two baseball teams and two football teams. At 10 million potential fans per team, we have the largest fan base, by far, of any major sports league city.

That said, two points about these stadia.

Phil Mushnick pointed out in a withering article in the NY Post, that the Roman Coliseum, built 2,000 years ago, had no obstructed seats.

Both of the new baseball stadia will have seats from which you can't see the whole field!

What Phil didn't mention was this: the Roman Coliseum had a retractable canvas awning that covered the top to shield patrons, sitting on white marble, from the glaring Roman sun. And it was designed to catch the breeze to cool fans--a form of early day air conditioning.

In other words, the Coliseum had a retractable roof. And provisions for fan comfort!

2,000 years later, here in New York, we will have baseball teams playing games in cold, wet April and May, and, hopefully, frigid late October/November, and football teams playing in miserable December, in the open air.

Three new stadia in New York.

Not one with a roof!

Meaning no SuperBowl. Meaning more 4 hour rain delays as baseball teams, heedless of fan comfort, try to jam in sold-out games without resorting to double-headers.

How ridiculous is that?