PRESS INFORMATION
ABOUT THE AUTHOR (updated April 2010):
After working as a nurse, mainly in critical care, for close to twenty years, I began got to thinking about the patients I'd cared for and about the
co-workers I'd left behind looking for greener pastures. I wanted to tell the world about these wonderful, frail, noble, heroic people. About what they
endured and how they triumphed. And most of all, about what they meant to me, having never told them so at the time.
So at the ripe age of forty I began writing short pieces about my nursing experience. Sold a bunch of them to nursing journals and mainstream
magazines. It was exciting to see them in print. It made me feel connected to those former co-workers and patients in a weird sort of way.
After selling a number of stories, I collected a whole bunch of them, with a spine that traced my personal development. I also wrote about my
marriage to my dear Mary and the birth and changes of my two fine sons, Matthew and Christopher. I tried for several years to sell that collection,
titled, The Cup of Human Kindness, but never landed an agent or a publisher.
My wife has always been a big mystery fan. She got me reading Holmes and Miss Marple and Nero Wolfe and lots of other characters. I decided
to try my hand at fiction, writing short mystery stories. There were many rejections, but also quite a few acceptances. I had a gig for while selling
350 word Five Minute Mysteries to one of the weekly tabloids. That was a terrific learning experience, because I had to deliver a tight story on
deadline. I sold around 30 stories until they abandoned the format.
Finally, I decided to take the plunge and try a crime novel. But who would be my protagonist? I'd never worked in law enforcement, so I was
unprepared to write a police procedural. Had never worked as a private eye - that would have come off equally unrealistic. All my work experience
was in the hospital, so it had to be a medical mystery. And it would have to be an amateur sleuth; it was the only option left.
But who would be my hero? My favorite amateur sleuth was Miss Marple, Agatha Christie's redoubtable spinster detective, because she
appeared to be harmless and not terribly smart, but beneath her benign exterior was the mind of a cunning detective. Looking around the hospital
for a Miss Marple clone, I sat one day with a dear friend who worked as a janitor. He was also a fearless 1199 shop steward. My friend was telling
me yet another one of his inspiring stories about what he did to try and help a co-worker, not necessarily with a work rule infraction, but with a
personal problem as well, such as spouse abuse, immigration, addiction, and the like.
Looking at my janitor-shop steward friend, I realized it would be a simple for him to take on the role of detective, at least, in a fictional story. He
already had the trust of all the workers and quite a few supervisors in the hospital. Everyone talked to him, and everyone trusted him. And so my
first Lenny Moss novel was born. It even began with a real life incident I heard about: a white security guard searched the backpack of a young,
hot-headed black worker while allowing a white doctor to walk out with his bag unsearched. The young man became angry and threatened the
guard, which brought him disciplinary action and my friend's intervention.
What if the young black man was accused of something more than stealing hospital materials? What if he was wrongly accused of murder? Who
would come to his aid, organize workers to search for clues, and finally bring the killer to justice?
Only Lenny Moss, working class hero.
And now in 2010, having past my 60th birthday, I've become a publisher and brought out the 4th Lenny Moss novel under my own imprint, Hard
Ball Press. My last two publishers insist upon bringing out hard cover books, which sell for 25-26 dollars each. My blue collar readers want a less
expensive book. So I've taken advantage of the new Print On Demand technology and published SLIM TO NONE as a trade paperback selling for
$15.00. What's more, the Kindle and E-book editions are available for only $5.99. Since the cost of publishing an E-book is lower than a print copy, I
don't believe publishers should charge as much as they do. Lower the price and everybody wins.
After working as a nurse, mainly in critical care, for close to twenty years, I began got to thinking about the patients I'd cared for and about the
co-workers I'd left behind looking for greener pastures. I wanted to tell the world about these wonderful, frail, noble, heroic people. About what they
endured and how they triumphed. And most of all, about what they meant to me, having never told them so at the time.
So at the ripe age of forty I began writing short pieces about my nursing experience. Sold a bunch of them to nursing journals and mainstream
magazines. It was exciting to see them in print. It made me feel connected to those former co-workers and patients in a weird sort of way.
After selling a number of stories, I collected a whole bunch of them, with a spine that traced my personal development. I also wrote about my
marriage to my dear Mary and the birth and changes of my two fine sons, Matthew and Christopher. I tried for several years to sell that collection,
titled, The Cup of Human Kindness, but never landed an agent or a publisher.
My wife has always been a big mystery fan. She got me reading Holmes and Miss Marple and Nero Wolfe and lots of other characters. I decided
to try my hand at fiction, writing short mystery stories. There were many rejections, but also quite a few acceptances. I had a gig for while selling
350 word Five Minute Mysteries to one of the weekly tabloids. That was a terrific learning experience, because I had to deliver a tight story on
deadline. I sold around 30 stories until they abandoned the format.
Finally, I decided to take the plunge and try a crime novel. But who would be my protagonist? I'd never worked in law enforcement, so I was
unprepared to write a police procedural. Had never worked as a private eye - that would have come off equally unrealistic. All my work experience
was in the hospital, so it had to be a medical mystery. And it would have to be an amateur sleuth; it was the only option left.
But who would be my hero? My favorite amateur sleuth was Miss Marple, Agatha Christie's redoubtable spinster detective, because she
appeared to be harmless and not terribly smart, but beneath her benign exterior was the mind of a cunning detective. Looking around the hospital
for a Miss Marple clone, I sat one day with a dear friend who worked as a janitor. He was also a fearless 1199 shop steward. My friend was telling
me yet another one of his inspiring stories about what he did to try and help a co-worker, not necessarily with a work rule infraction, but with a
personal problem as well, such as spouse abuse, immigration, addiction, and the like.
Looking at my janitor-shop steward friend, I realized it would be a simple for him to take on the role of detective, at least, in a fictional story. He
already had the trust of all the workers and quite a few supervisors in the hospital. Everyone talked to him, and everyone trusted him. And so my
first Lenny Moss novel was born. It even began with a real life incident I heard about: a white security guard searched the backpack of a young,
hot-headed black worker while allowing a white doctor to walk out with his bag unsearched. The young man became angry and threatened the
guard, which brought him disciplinary action and my friend's intervention.
What if the young black man was accused of something more than stealing hospital materials? What if he was wrongly accused of murder? Who
would come to his aid, organize workers to search for clues, and finally bring the killer to justice?
Only Lenny Moss, working class hero.
And now in 2010, having past my 60th birthday, I've become a publisher and brought out the 4th Lenny Moss novel under my own imprint, Hard
Ball Press. My last two publishers insist upon bringing out hard cover books, which sell for 25-26 dollars each. My blue collar readers want a less
expensive book. So I've taken advantage of the new Print On Demand technology and published SLIM TO NONE as a trade paperback selling for
$15.00. What's more, the Kindle and E-book editions are available for only $5.99. Since the cost of publishing an E-book is lower than a print copy, I
don't believe publishers should charge as much as they do. Lower the price and everybody wins.
| Contact info: timsheard@optonline.net 917 428 1352 415 Argyle Rd., 6A, Brooklyn, NY, 11218 |