My books—FREE for a limited time!

I think the time has come to turn Labor Day into one of those gift-exchange holidays. After all, it's not as if it has a lot going for it right now, other than a three-day weekend: it's the end of summer, there's nothing to look forward to until Thanksgiving, and, unlike those of us who sit behind a desk and type for a living, many real laborers don't get the day off. Jerry Lewis isn't even on anymore. So why not liven things up a bit with some presents, maybe a party, and a nice card? (I'm surprised Hallmark hasn't already started a line of Labor Day cards.)

So that nobody can accuse me of not doing my part, I have an excellent gift suggestion: check out my Bookstore and, if you haven't already, make a gift of one of my books. And this week only, as an incentive, I'm making these books my gift to you—and you won't have to pay a dime! You heard that right! For the next five days—from now until Sunday—the Kindle versions of The Electronic Mirror, The Car, and The Collaborator are absolutely free. It's my way of promoting the daylights out of my books thanking you for your loyalty over the last 11+ years. All I ask in return is that you submit a (hopefully positive, but above all honest) review afterward; easy for you, and helpful for me. 

I'll be the first to admit that, besides the ad that runs permanently on the sidebar, I haven't done nearly as much as I should to promote these books, and the last couple of years of shutdowns haven't helped. But I wouldn't be asking you to check them out if I didn't think they were worth your time, and it will never be easier, or cheaper, than this.  

THE ELECTRONIC MIRROR: WHAT CLASSIC TV TELLS US ABOUT WHO WE WERE AND WHO WE ARE

This collection of essays looks at TV during its formative years and examines how this most personal form of mass communication reflects the culture of its time, how it has fulfilled (or failed to fulfill) its initial promise, and how TV has—intentionally as well as unintentionally—predicted the future, with sometimes disturbing results. It is the sometimes humorous, occasionally ironic, but always interesting story of how classic television indeed is an “electronic mirror.”

THE CAR 

It begins with the car. But for Winter, an ordinary man living an ordinary life, it will not end until he learns what has happened to the car’s owner and why the car has been left abandoned and ignored on a city street. As Winter’s curiosity turns to obsession, his search for the missing owner intensifies and he finds the car taking him on a journey that he never expected, one of dreams and reality in which nothing–and no one–is what it seems. Not even him.

THE COLLABORATOR 

In this eerily prescient novel, a wildly popular new Pontiff promises reforms designed to focus the Catholic Church on inclusion, social justice and modernization. He is opposed by the powerful Prefect, a cardinal dedicated to preserving the traditional teaching of the Church, who fears the Pontiff’s plans will destroy the Church. Their inevitable confrontation is brought to a head by a Journalist’s investigation that uncovers a story of ambition, loss, deceit and more.

Pick up one, or try all three. There's nothing authors appreciate more than the sense that others are reading their words. Just remember that this promotion ends on Sunday. And if you don't, I'll just keep plugging them more and more frequently until you do. After all, it works for public broadcasting, doesn't it? TV