Notes: Writing About Things While Living on Long island

The first thing I learned when I moved to Long Island is that there is a kinship of all those who were born, raised, and live on Long Island.

There are sections of the island that define you somehow, yet in the end the proximity to either the Ocean, the Long Island Sound or the Long Island Rail Road bonds everyone together. Waiting for a train to pass, or having a town sticker for the beach is as much of a routine as predicting the traffic in the next hour on L.I.E.

After writing just under 2,800 articles about the East End last winter I wrote my first novel about a divorced father who at the age of 40 moves into NYC to rebuild his life. After a rather intense 4-5 years of dating, working, drinking, and perhaps sleeping around the main character moves out to the East End of Long Island and the magic happens. I never thought the book, "Whistling Past the Hottie Graveyard," available on Amazon.com and other sites would be so well received, alfterall it just poured out of me. I think people saying it was a male's version of "Sex in the City" understated the parts about the humor of age discrimination in corporations, and dating after being married for over 20 years. It was a challange to create scenes of first dates with younger women, women from work, and other funny moments. I based those sections on research. LOL.

The emails from those who have enjoyed the book have been a pleasent surprise. Somethings things surprise you, I enjoyed writing it and watching the words become a novel, but having strange people read it and like it is pretty neat.

The owner of a boat yard just told me he read the book during the hurricane by candle light to keep his mind off whether the boat yard was being destroyed. He said he is ordering 10 for Christmas gifts. I laughed, hopefully , others will continue to like it.