I've been focusing on the one paragraph challenge as I sign books. Here's how it works. The author chants briefly over his book. Don't be alarmed. It might be a little loud, but it's essential for the magic to work. The author then hands the book to the reader, who opens it to a random page, selects a paragraph and hands it back. The author then provides a brief background setup and reads the paragraph out loud. If the reader is duly entertained, the one paragraph challenge has been successful. Spoiler alert: the challenge has never failed.
Coming of Age
My novels are inspired by world travel, rock and roll lifestyle and courtroom drama. They're about real people; not super heroes. It's about Boomer Lit, reconnecting people to their hopes and dreams.
Available now to pre-order...
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Coming October 1st, 2021
Intent on finding his career path, a rookie reporter struggles to become a journalist at an Indiana newspaper in 1973.
He climbs the ladder from writing obituaries to covering cops and teacher strikes and murder trials and community disasters. As he navigates the competitive politics of the newsroom, he gradually earns the trust of his curmudgeonly city editor. Along the way, he begins performing with a rock and roll band and falls in love with a stripper named Brown Sugar. The choice between being a musician and a journalist becomes obvious after he writes a front page story on a job tryout at the Detroit Free Press. |
Novels
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Benjamin Franklin Silver Award Winner
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Mark Paul Smith is excited and pleased to be recognized by the
Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA)
Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA)
The Story
I started writing for the newspaper in 1972. It was thirty reporters in a sprawling newsroom, getting yelled at by a curmudgeonly editor chain smoking Camel straights. From writing obituaries as "the death editor," to covering cops, schools, social services, city government and features, I learned that if a man bites a dog, you got a story.
The People
I'm old enough now that everyone I meet reminds me of someone I knew before. I've found that people all over the world are pretty much the same. We all love a good story, one that teaches us about ourselves and how we fit into the big mystery. I write about the good life and the bad life and how the important decisions have a way of making themselves.
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