Howard McEwen, CFA

Jen asked me to write a post for her blog on how to make a comfortable living as a writer. Comfortable? Can’t say that. But take a read here.

From the piece:

I thought, How should I know? My writing doesn’t make my living comfortable. But it does cover my mortgage most months. And that’s something. So here’s how I did it.

I wrote.

Simple, yeah. But that was the first step. Let me elaborate.

I wrote fiction in my teens and twenties. I knew I had writing chops but was unwilling to toss myself into the life of a poverty-stricken author or work in academia. So I became an investment advisor. In the early 2000s after years of dormancy, I dusted off those little used writing skills and wrote The Pure Investor. I self-published it and gave it to my clients and prospective clients. It wasn’t fiction, my first love, but it was writing. Some folks read it. Most folks ignored it. One who didn’t ignore it was a newspaper editor.

Friday night warm and fuzzy. I got the following in an email from a reader. Of course friend who read Wrath say nice things and I discount that as politeness so it’s cool to get feedback from someone I don’t know. They won’t lie to save my feelings!

“I just wanted to say I just read your book Wrath and found it to be excellent. While I was in school this period of time was just not covered. We seemed to go from the Civil war to WW 2. It was a time when Northern Kentucky names played a big part on the state and national level. I don’t think we have since.
I worked in Frankfort for many years in the 80′s and 90′s and would often eat lunch on the steps of the old capital. I often walked by the statute of Goebel and the marker placed at the location he fell. It always seemed to me that much of that area probably looked about the same as it had in 1900 except for all the armed men. Anyway thanks for the great read.”

Technorati ranks Big Hollywood one of the Top 100 Entertainment blogs, a Top 100 Film blog, and a Top 100 Celebrity blog. It gets a lot of traffic.

They’ve reviewed my novel reviwed my novel Wrath – the life and assassination of a United States Governor recently. Pretty cool.

Take a look here for the complete review.

A sample:

Howard McEwen’s fascinating account of William Goebel’s rise to power and subsequent assassination opens a window into the post Civil War period as it played out in a state where Union soldiers and Confederates were thrown together and expected to return to business as usual. What makes this historical fiction especially compelling is McEwen’s choice to weave the childhood of a would-be assassin with that of William Goebel.

This was nice. So Google alerts just caught up with Kentucky Monthly magazine and delivered this review I had missed back in October. It’s delivered as a PDF but the link is here. I typed up the text of it below.

It’s written by David Domine. David and I did a book event together. If you are in Kentucky and interested at all in ghosts, history or food then buy David’s books.

Kentucky Monthly magazine – October 2011

Death of  Governor

Belleview (sic) author Howard McEwen brings to life one of the state’s most intriguing and tragic political figures in his debut novel about the only sitting U.S. governor in history to die at the hand of an assassin.

William Goebel won many friends when he championed populist causes such as regulation of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. However, his abrasive personality made him high-ranking enemies as well. This only got worse after he was acquitted of murder for the 1895 dueling death of rival John Sanford and intensified during the 1899 Kentucky gubernatorial election. By then, Goebel, a Democrat, had divided his party with self-serving tactics at a time when state Republicans were gaining strength; this led to a close contest between Goebel and opponent William S. Taylor.

Goebel won the election, but was sworn in on his deathbed, the victim of an unknown assailant. The pursuit of his ideals and personal power brought Kentucky to the edge of civil war. McEwen weaves a tale using history and some conjecture in an entertaining and informative read.

No not really. But she acted as if I did.

So it’s pre-7 am and I’m in the automated check-out lane at the Kroger store buying a 12-pack of Diet Dr. K. I’m a frugal caffienne addict, you see.

I reached into my right hand pocket to pull out my wallet. Now also in that right pocket I keep my trust and useful Swiss Army knife. When I pulled out my wallet I clumsily also pulled out my knife. I had a hold on the wallet but not the knife. The latter went skipping across the tiled floor coming to a stop near the feet of a middle-aged white woman of surburban demeanor.

She looked aghast at me.

Why do you feel the need to carry a weapon? she asked frantically. The early morning fog that was in my head kept me from processing her question.

A weapon? It’s a Swiss Army knife, I said.

I just don’t see the need for it, she siad then stormed off with a box of donuts I’m sure was going to be shared with her fellow cubicle people. (N.B. I am a cubicle person)

I guess a Swiss Army knife is a weapon. Of sorts. But I use it mainly to open envelopes. A man can’t carry one now without being looked on as a threat? We’re turning into a nation of weenies.

This one showed up here at Amazon on Wrath’s page.

I might shoot him myself. While the rise to power by the main character is relentless and unstoppable, the development of the Mountain Man is profound.

From the opening line in the kitchen to the closing when everything goes black, Wrath kept me going and going and reading and reading. This is one of those books that will keep all readers involved through the end. A great read.

Then I was sent this one privately about my novelette Love on the Rocks:

Love on the Rocks if funny, innocent, and naughty all at the same time.

Yesterday I stood in line at Chipotle’s and watched two moms out together with their two school-aged kids each. The first mom sat down, put the food and drinks in front of herself and her kids and the three began to eat. The second mom had her children sit down then she carefully unwrapped each burrito then got each child their drinks then when one complained about too much ice she went back to the drink fountain and spooned out some of the ice. When she got back her other kid whined about something green in the food and mom began dissecting the burrito pulling out said green thing while hunched over the table. The second mom’s made some complaint about comfort so mom then did some business with their coats I couldn’t figure out. The second mom finally sat down and started to eat. The first mom and her two kids looked to be half through their meal. Second mom then complained about not being able to get anything done.

The moral of this story: If you go to Chipotle at noon you’re gonna wait in line a while.

I remembered I needed gifts for folks in my professional life and the answer to that question is always booze. I trotted down the street the the discount liquor store sandwiched between a check cashing place and place that says “American Food” ran by accented guys from an indeterminate Eastern European country. The place was sad. There’s no more depressing crowd than the customers at a discount liquor store on a Tuesday at 11AM. Also, the owners (also from an indeterminate Eastern European country) looked to have bought every failed marketing gimmick odd lot bottle of crap that the booze distributors had to unload. I picked a few quirky bottles and went to cash out. “Cash only” an exotically attractive woman shouted at me as if rehearsing for a leadership role in the next pogrom. She then pointed to the sorriest ATM I’d ever seen. I gave it a 20% chance that it was hardwired to a hard drive stowed in a Uzbekistan cave and would promptly empty my account. I waved goodbye and went to Kroger. Got some Champale.

You can click here.
An excerpt:

Are you currently working on any projects?

Wrath was a pretty serious novel where I tried to delve deep into the psyche of some pretty dark people. I then wrote a novella about a self-absorbed father who destroys his family. I’m letting that one sit for a while before I release it.

For a change I’m writing a series of humorous cozy detective-ish stories. They are much lighter with (so far) plenty of humor. I’m getting too old to do the dark stuff anymore.