Going Dutch

Wow! This has been the hardest part! If you don’t know the author, how do you choose a new book to read? You look at the cover and read the back, right? But how does the author, in 150 words or less, lay out a premise for a story that excites the reader enough to plunk down $8.00 and buy it? I couldn’t do it. At 300 words, this is as good as it gets for now.

It’s been 10 months of work, and in all honesty, a lot harder than I thought it would be. The story is written. The characters are fleshed out. The ending is in place. I’m very happy with it…on most days. Writing it has been a lot more fun than I ever would have imagined. Unfortunately, at 22 chapters, I am still not done. I’m sure that practiced authors don’t write/rewrite this inefficiently. But after sitting down and reading it start to finish last week, I can clearly see that additional pacing, cadence and back-story need added before it is ready for the final edit. I think that I need another 2 or 3 months.

Coincidentally, 2 or 3 months is exactly what the publishing houses and agents need to give an initial evaluation on a new book. Also coincidentally, we’ll be in New York next week where a lot of these guys are located. They want a short synopsis and the first three chapters to determine if they want to look deeper at the work….so, what the hell…I’m going to start sending it in. I need to learn this process as well.

I thought that you might enjoy this little teaser. I’ve had a lot of you ask what the book is about. Well, here is what you might get from the back cover. Give it a read and send me an email…what do you think it’s about?

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Johnny Boyer is newly engaged. He wakes up early, makes a strong pot of coffee and watches the morning news on his deluxe flat-screen TV. He walks the dog in the park, then he drives his shiny, black, SUV from his home in West Seattle to his corporate job in the business parks of Bellevue.

Life has finally fallen into place for Johnny. It’s finally gotten easier.

It wasn’t always that way. He worked hard for all of this, and he did it on his own, never asking his family for anything. At age 18, he moved out of the house and never looked back.

His father rarely noticed him when he was living there, and predictably, barely noticed when he left. His younger brother, on the other hand, was ecstatic. With Johnny gone, Bart no longer had to pretend to be civilized toward him.

Johnny did still speak with his mother. She kept him up to date on rest of the family back in Texas. As much as he hated to admit it, he felt isolated and still enjoyed this tenuous connection with them.

But when his mother dies unexpectedly, Johnny finds himself completely cut off from his father and brother. Her funeral seems to drive the wedge between them even deeper. He has nearly given up trying to reconcile when he gets a frantic call from Europe. His little brother. Begging for his help. It’s something to do with their father…a matter of life and death.

Wary, but desperate to reconnect with family, he puts his life on hold and plunges in. He enlists the help of Eva, a girl he just met in a seedy back alley of Amsterdam. Together, they begin untangling a rats nest of family intrigue, learning more than they ever guessed about who Johnny Boyer really is.

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“DRAMATIC…CLEVER…EDGY…FRESH FROM START TO FINISH.”
--- Sebastian Wigman, Caprera Daily Review

“GLASSTETTER KEEPS THE ACTION AND WIT COMING FAST.”
--- Rosie Romijnsen, Volkstuin Weekly

“BRILLIANT! D.J. GLASSTETTER MAY WELL BE THE BEST STORYTELLER WRITING TODAY…AND HE’S GREAT IN BED!”
--- BethAnn Boyer, Financial Daily News

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We’ll be back in America for the next two weeks….visiting some of you face-to-face. I’ll post an update on the blog when we get back. Hope all is well with you!

Cheers!