VIVA LA EVOLUCION MEETS CONTESSA

BRINGING YOU UP TO DATE.......

I've been meaning to get around to having more to say about VIVA LA EVOLUCION since the book came out a little over a year ago. The problem is I had no idea what was waiting around the corner for me. I wish I could say we were talking about glad tidings but unfortunately that wasn't the case. I guess the most charitable thing I can say concerning the period is it gave me more fodder about which to write.

First of all, last year I was coming home from seeing a movie with friends. I went to my car, got in and intended to be home in about ten minutes. This was not to be. You see, Palm Springs (California) where I live has a woman who owns a horse and carriage and she provides tourists with rides for a price. This particular night she turned left at a stop sign with no arrow (obviously letting the horse do the driving while she gave out running commentaries to her clients). Unfortunately I crossed the intersection and ran into the horse. What a nightmare to see a gigantic animal in your windshield. Fortunately the horse was not hurt but my car was. It took $8,000 to repair it. The horse was judged at fault and cited because it initiated a left turn without waiting for oncoming traffic to first pass.

Then shortly after that I came down with a case of Shingles. I don't know if you are familiar with what they are but I hope you're not. They are the most disagreeable form of a skin condition. Your nerves become extremely sensitive and you are a wreck. It took me three months to get over them.

Then a very close friend of mine took seriously ill and before we all knew it, he died. I could say passed on or some other euphunism but John was the type who didn't much like B. S. being called whipped cream. Anyway, what a loss.He was a retired actor from Hollywood and a great friend.

Then as if that wasn't enough, I fell down some steps and fractured my hip. I am presently getting over that. Hopefully my spell of misfortune has come to a close. So, sorry that I couldn't talk over VIVA LA EVOLUCION with you during my dry spell.

I am back--maybe not with a vengeance--but I'm getting things back on the front burner. This includes another new book which has been delayed by at least three months to the publishers. More about that one in a month or so. Let me try to sort all these other things out first.

VIVA LA EVOLUCION when it first came out was I thought going to set the woods on fire. To my surprise it didn't seem to catch an audience as fast as my other books. I tried to figure out why. At first I thought it was due to satire and especially political and social satire no longer being front-burner tickets. Once I had some feedback and talked with several people (especially at a book signing at Barnes & Noble), chit-chat had it that I might be as hot as a Havana chili pepper concerning the liberal/progressive movement in our country but my audience wasn't. Unfortunately the Republicans had stolen their mojo somehow and both they and President Obama had become as tepid as a bowl of cold oatmeal. Right string but wrong yo yo as my traveling salesman uncle used to say. There wasn't a thing wrong with VIVA LA EVOLUCION according to the majority of people who read it, In fact, they had great things to say about it. However, getting the general population off their dusters to buy a copy was something else--and my dealing with a lot of bad luck didn't make matters better.

Anyway, I'd like to encourage you to read VIVA LA EVOLUCION and help give it the life it deserves. As an added bonus, it can now be purchased as an electronic book for $9.99 on Kindle, Nook and iPad. I hope you will give it a run and then let me know what you think of it. I'd be very appreciative.

I started another blog today concerning another of my books CONTESSA. It has had a very good run and lots of positive feedback. It is having a resurgence of popularity at the moment and I would like to encourage you to become a part of it. Its address is http://ContessaUpdate.blogspot.com.

In order to get your interest, I've pasted some information below that appeared in a West Hollywood CA journal this week.

My best to you and I promise I won't wait a whole year for you to have word of me again. I'd say this time it will be a week or ten days at most. So, here's some information about my book CONTESSA.

CONTESSA: A Bombshell of an "as told to" book.

A brisk, witty fictional autobiography of a mega film star’s surprising road to fame.

The novel CONTESSA is the fictional, as-told-to autobiography of a famous film and theater mega star who recounts for the first time her early years leading up to international stardom.

This popular film star confesses how she started out in life as a man who knew from a very early age that he was really a “she” locked in the body of a “he”. His major problem was his father, an Arkansas bootlegger and local godfather, whose idea of a cure for his son’s affliction would be a lobotomy. The son escapes and his road to womanhood and subsequent fame is a tale of strength, courage, intrigue and adventure. CONTESSA examines the life trials of a young man who realizes that the keys to freedom for him must be fought for one by one.

This highly unusual book spotlights the bigotry, ignorance, self-righteousness and absurdity society forces certain of its members to endure. At the end of the book, Contessa questions what her life would have been like if she had remained a man. “Where would I be today? What kind of life would I have led all these years? How happy would I be today?”

The Rambles Literary Review states: “The basic idea behind this book is fascinating. The exploration of the conflict experienced by young Clyde / Contessa is handled exceptionally well, and this character is an alluring, engaging figure. The experiences of violence, sexual prejudice and lack of reason are shocking, and, I feel, quite realistic in their nature. Underneath it all, CONTESSA conveys a great message of social significance.”

The Lambda Book Report says, “Imagine if one of your favorite female movie stars was revealed to have begun life as a man. That is the premise of Jack Fitzgerald’s novel. And an impressive read it is. Fast paced, his story is filled with some of the most colorful, memorable and unforgettable characters I’ve come across in a long time. CONTESSA is not only a fascinating page-turner but would make a very significant film.”

Jack Fitzgerald is also the author of two other books: PARIS PLAYS and VIVA LA EVOLUCION. He lived for ten years in France where he founded The Paris English Theatre. He is the author of many stage plays and screenplays.

The International Herald Tribune writes, “Fitzgerald has an uncanny knack of capturing American types and speech. It is in their conversations and present-day mores that Fitzgerald’s talent shines.”

A POST FROM JACK, THE AUTHOR OF CONTESSA.

The world of transgender people has changed for the better in the last twenty years. Up until the early 1990s, a transsexual was someone who for the most part had to hid themselves from society. They were thought of as freaks and jokes abounded about them. Moreover, they had little protection and many were murdered. If books appeared about these people, the transsexual subjects were portrayed as pitiful, unhappy and marginal people whom happiness was only a dreamed-about state of being.

Things have changed quite a bit in the last ten years. Transsexuals are now in every facet of society. Many are making their crossovers at an earlier age and therefore are more glamorous than their. predecessors. The present-day transsexual is no longer hiding. They now have clubs, weekly meetings, magazines and a lot of books written about them.

My book CONTESSA was written so as to give the transsexual community a much needed lift in spirit. The main character is not to be pitied but to be enjoyed for actually having succeeded in life. I am convinced my book would make a very worthwhile motion picture. For that to happen though, people have to read CONTESSA and some producer must fall in love with the story. I invite you to get a copy and see for yourself that CONTESSA is a great human-interest story.

Be sure to visit www.jackfitzgerald.com and read about all the plays, screenplays and other books I have written.

Until our next get together,

Jack