This weekend I had the pleasure of connecting with my buddy Brad Meltzer at the Vero Beach Bookstore, where he was making an appearance for his newest bestseller, The Nazi Conspiracy. Brad and I met back in 2013 at Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut, when my debut novel, Last Ghost at Gettysburg, was coming out, while he was already an established literary star. Since then Brad has been a sounding board and constant source of encouragement for me, as well as hosting two hit TV series on the History Channel, (Decoded & Lost History) while turning out both adult best-seller thrillers and biographies of notable Americans geared to young audiences. He's also a top-notch speaker and promoter, which is imperative in this industry. But more important , Brad always has time for everyone, be it his thousands of fans or a fellow writer like myself. So, it was very cool to do an author book exchange in Vero Beach, signing our novels to each other at the same time. I'm glad we got to meet up again and hope to see him down the road.
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I was saddened to learn of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, who came to the throne of England an amazing 70 years ago. In good times and bad, I always felt she carried herself with class and elegance. So, when I included "The Queen" as a character in my 6th T.J. Jackson book, Terror in the Tower, I was ever so careful to treat her with the dignity she deserved. You can imagine my joy - and relief - to later receive a letter of thanks from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge regarding the book. Obviously, they considered my portrayal of Her Majesty to be favorable. I shall treasure this memento from the Royal Family forever. And hopefully, when my readers come to the scenes involving Her Majesty, especially the one in which she interviews T.J., Bortnicker and LouAnne and displays a maternal concern for their welfare as they undertake this dangerous case, they will smile at the memory of her humanity and grace.  I was saddened to learn of the passing of legendary broadcaster Vin Scully at the age of 94. Then I thought back to this past winter and my wonderful encounter with him. I had just put the finishing touches on my novel The Kid From Dodgertown and was seeking notable baseball people with Dodger connections to offer "advance praise" quotes for the book's jacket. So, on a wing and a prayer, I sent Mr. Scully a snail mail cover letter and a detailed plot synopsis, expecting little. You can imagine my shock when he called me at home a few weeks later. Long story short, after offering his assistance, he asked me about myself and what made me write the book, and then proceeded to regale me with tales of Dodgertown and Vero Beach. He was absolutely charming, and by the time our hour-long conversation was through I felt I'd known him for years. I'm proud that his words found their way into my book. You know, in this business there are many people who will "big time" you at the drop of a hat. Mr. Scully was the opposite. Thanks for your kindness, Vin, and God bless. Recently I had the pleasure of participating in the second annual Paraconn in Ansonia, CT. The T.J. Jackson Mysteries table was lively all weekend, and we even sold out a few titles. Making it more fun was being adjacent to my daughter Caroline and her husband Sean, whose popular podcast Ain't it Scary With Sean and Carrie attracted many fans of the horror/paranormal genre. On Saturday I had a speaking engagement on the big stage with fellow author Tim McLaughlin, and new T.J. fan Lori Salerno won the raffle for a cool Voodoo Cult's Treasure tee shirt! Special thanks to Charles Rosenay and Nick Grossman (AKA "The Shaman and the Showman," their official moniker which was coined by yours truly) for putting together this huge event. See you next year! Recently I had the pleasure of being interviewed on WTTB Vero Beach during their Morning Drive show. I hope you will enjoy my conversation about The Kid from Dodgertown with WTTB radio personality Bob Soos. My thanks to Bob and the folks at WTTB for the opportunity.  On April 1 and 2 we had the pleasure of participating in the annual New York area Fest For Beatles Fans. I got to contribute to a couple of panel discussions and meet many other Beatles authors. There were lots of great vendors and enthusiastic fans. A splendid time was had by all. Special thanks to our table mate Jan Mitchell, and for the invitation from organizers Mark Lapidos and Susan Ryan. On March 27th, I was honored to be the guest author of the First Church Congregational, Fairfield "One Book One Congregation" for their Racial Justice Pathway program. We discussed my novel The Girl Who Stole J.E.B. Stuart and participated in some meaningful conversation on this very important topic. Thanks to those who read the book and came with questions and comments, and to Rev. David W. Spollett for putting the event together. Last week I had the pleasure of co-starring with author Patricia Gallo Stenman on the Tomorrow Never Knows video podcast. Hosts Warren Brown and Bob Wilson interviewed us on the similarities between my historical fiction novel 30 Minutes in Memphis: A Beatles Story and her memoir Diary of a Beatlemaniac.
I had a great time talking to the guys and my dear friend Patti. Click on the link below to see the interview. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRtoud-MfRs I hope you will enjoy this interview I did with The Table Read in the UK. It not only discusses my newest T.J. Jackson Mystery, Terror in the Tower, but also covers my other books, and how I got into this writing thing in the first place. Hard to believe we are up to 10!! Remember that the gift of reading is the best Holiday present. Have a happy and healthy Holiday and New Year! https://thetableread.co.uk/author-interview-paul-ferrante-terror-in-the-tower/?fbclid=IwAR3bShuMoXSEJ8cNq7YcxdIJA5-b6sL1WPGrAgwMRcVPK3D02VQWpt5vaC8  This past weekend the T.J. Jackson Mysteries were front and center at ParaConn, Connecticut’s first ever paranormal convention. Both days were sellouts, with patrons enjoying a bevy of booths featuring paranormal experts and ghost hunters, spooky memorabilia dealers, artisans, authors, and more. I’m happy to say that EACH DAY our sales far exceeded any other event we’ve ever done. It was also cool speaking to a packed audience about T.J. and his adventures. We even ran a contest where anyone who purchased a book was entered in a drawing to have a character in my next book named after them (Congrats to winner Amanda Lisnow!). What made ParaConn even more fun was having my daughter Caroline and her husband Sean McCabe at the table next to us for their popular podcast Ain’t it Scary with Sean and Carrie. We met so many great folks and can’t wait to do this again. Special thanks to promoter Charles Rosenay and co-producer Nick Grossman for putting on a first-class event. We hope you enjoy the photos from the weekend; also, click on the provided link to the Connecticut Post’s article on ParaConn which includes many more images, including us! https://www.ctpost.com/seen/slideshow/SEEN-The-first-ParaConn-224456.php?fbclid=IwAR1FwncgHq0ytIjBk-oHmItPDXGXRa13M8-Huz07OcRlEjV4ZvKEmUZHzY4 |
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