From virtual to reality.

Several years ago when I first began jotting down an outline and thoughts for my first fiction novel, e-books were pretty rare. Kindle was new and the naysayers were saying e-books would never fly.

Having spent many a year in the world of Madison Avenue, I knew all about naysayers. These are the folks who predicted the downfall of the stock market--in 1930. Same folks who predicted Pearl Harbor--on December 8th.

The original title of the book was to be "The Castle Doctrine" as the premise was, and still is, the right of ordinary American citizens to use whatever force necessary to defend themselves against threat of imminent, bodily harm and to not have to face prosecution, civil or criminal, for having done so.

My wife hated the title. As good husbands do, I ignored her for the majority of the book. But then I line I'd written in a later chapter where a showdown occurred in the Dirksen Senate conference room over a national reciprocity bill, the title "Above Reproach" came out all on it's own.

From the book:

   “We have rules, Mr. Cole,” Senator Maguire said quietly. “And I’ve already warned you about your language.”
   “Yes ma’am, you do and you have,” Dillon replied. “But so do we. And our rules, from the people that elect you and pay you, are that you treat us with the same respect and dignity that you demand from us. All across the country these past few days, we’ve watched and listened to reports about armed citizens defending themselves, their families, their neighborhoods and businesses against these sleeper cell terrorists that have recently woken up and are going on murderous rampages. The people fighting back against these terrorists are ordinary citizens, just like you and me who—”
   “They’re not ordinary, Mr. Cole,” the senator from New York yelled, again rising to his feet. “They’re barely one step above the animals whose rights they violated and then murdered, and as such, should not be—”
   “Wrong, Senator!” Dillon thundered, slamming his open palm down on the table with enough force to make everyone in the chamber jump. “These are good people. They are decent, law-abiding people. They are patriotic citizens looking out for themselves and their families. When such people as these defend themselves or their families or friends or neighbors using whatever force necessary, they are acting morally, ethically and lawfully and as such, Senator, they are above reproach from you or anyone else in this screwed up town as well as the media!”

As cool as it was to see the book come to fruition in e-book form, it is now available in print edition.

Seeing, feeling and holding your labor of love and joy in your hands for the first time is pretty cool, I have to tell you.

For once, the timing worked out how I wanted it also. The print edition debuted on Memorial Day weekend at Amazon.com. It will be another month or so from the date of this writing until it becomes available at Barnes & Noble and other online retailers.

But for now, virtual has become reality. And for me, that's pretty cool.