Let's jump in, give me your quick one line pitch?
Award-winning, but down on her luck playwright, Andrea Smilow, finds herself in a curious working relationship with the spirit of the real Jacob Marley…and falls in love with him along the way.
Tell readers about your main characters.
Andrea Smilow – Smart, attractive and accomplished. Men have crapped all of her. The youngest Tony award winner in history, at the age of 25, for her play Rememberings. She has been entrusted by The Playhouse in Connecticut to save it from bankruptcy with a new play…but her emotional baggage has her completely blocked.
Jacob Marley – Handsome and charitable, his life was ruined when Charles Dickens turned him into a miserly curmudgeon in A Christmas Carol. The finger pointing and laughter was everywhere. It got so bad that Marley’s wife divorced him, and then married his rival…Oliver Fagin. Marley never recovered and lived a life of misery. He was one of the most charitable men in all of England. In in the afterlife, he pines for redemption…and wants Andrea’s play to be about him.
Beth Mayer – Andrea’s best friend and roommate. She grew up within the tightknit community form Barbados that exists in New Haven, Connecticut. She is the most powerful witch in North America, skilled in Obeah, Sanskrit, healing herbs, voodoo, and is blessed with the sight for reading tantric energy levels. She agrees to help Scrooge in his plan to get Andrea to fall in love with Marley.
Ebenezer Scrooge – Marley’s best and truest friend they are bonded, even in death. Scrooge remained silent when Marley’s wife divorced him…even though she trusted his counsel and advice. It haunted Scrooge from the rest of his life, the same way it haunted Dickens. Scrooge is determined to win a second life for Marley from God, to make up for the one Dickens ruined. He is also determined to get Andrea and Marley to fall in love.
Where do you write?
I write at my computer. I like to write early in the morning. The computer is in my music room, as I am also a guitar player. I never write more than two hours per day.
What's your best marketing tip?
I’m finding what works best is talking to women face to face. I had the cover of the book printed onto business card sized refrigerator magnets…and I hand them out everywhere. I also make 30 second ‘talking cat videos’ about something in the book…and then post them everyday to TikTok and Instagram. I’m not sure if they are selling books, but they are being seen and liked.
What is the best author/marketing websites?
I really like Readsy. Their book building tool is really easy to use and works great. They also have great resources.
Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
I think for both fiction and non-fiction, the journey begins with a story that your audience will want to read. I decided to self-publish. As I’m the publisher there are expenses I’ve decided to take on. My goal is not to sell millions of books…although that would be nice. My goal is to establish the IP so I can then move on and produce the movie in 2024.
David Weinberg
Genre: Romantic Comedy/Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Old Fezziwig Press
Date of Publication: May 23rd, 2023
ISBN: 9798218104054
ASIN: BOBRZ457N4
Number of pages: 285
Word Count: 80,000
Cover Artist: Nicole Collis
Tagline: Love and redemption are always possible…even for the dead.
Book Description:
Award-winning, but down-on-her-luck playwright, Andrea Smilow, is commissioned by The Playhouse in Connecticut to save it from bankruptcy with a new work.
When she arrives, she discovers that The Playhouse is inhabited by the spirit of the real Jacob Marley, and he wants her play to be about him…to set the story straight about how Dickens ruined his life with A Christmas Carol.
Andrea believes he needs to be reunited with the spirit of Ebenezer Scrooge, who lives in the caretaker house. It is all Scrooge’s idea. He has been working with Andrea’s roommate, the most powerful witch in North America, to win a second life for Marley from God…and to get Marley and Andrea to fall in love.
Excerpt:
Andrea walked to the coffee table and picked up the letter. She held it up and jabbed at it with her right index finger. “Eleven regional theatre companies have performed Rememberings this year, and I get a royalty check for $750. How could that be right? They’re screwing me and I have no idea what I’m supposed to do.”
“Call Roger and see what he has to say.”
Andrea laughed. “Roger? He texted me yesterday. Not a word about money. He texts me once a year and never once has mentioned royalties…let us not forget that Roger is my last remaining tie to Brian. I met Roger through Brian. Fifty agents wanted to sign me, and Brian insisted I go with Roger and WMA. He’s a pleasant enough guy, unlike Brian, but he’s never done a damn thing for me. Is it Brian’s fault for recommending him, or my fault for listening to him?”
Thoughts of Brian hit Andrea like a face against a windshield. She hadn’t thought about him consciously in a long time, yet he was never far from her thoughts. Some guys are like that; they just get into your blood. Often it is the horrible ones that stay there. As the hot water from the shower touched her skin, it elicited an almost imperceptible sigh. She and Brian had spent many a shower together. She remembered how he loved to soap her breasts, and make her nipples hard…until they begged for his lips. She tossed her wet hair out of her eyes and slapped the wall, chastising herself for even thinking about him. He was just one of many evil spirits she had encountered in her life, and he was her past. Perhaps Ivoryton would point the way to her future. She shook her head as she dried her hair with a towel. She had no idea that she was not quite done with Brian yet.
David Weinberg is a screenwriter and musician. Most recently a quarter-finalist in the 2022 Creative Screenwriting Pilot competition.
He has a B.S. in Environmental Health from Quinnipiac University and a Masters in Liberal Studies from Wesleyan University. He is divorced and owns the two most spoiled cats in America.
Website www.davidweinbergauthor.com
You can also enter The Contest on the author's site to win
1st Prize – A cameo in the movie version when it gets produced.
Winner chosen Christmas Eve -2023
2nd Prize – Ibanez 6 string sunburst acoustic guitar, gigbag and capo.
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