Joel Frey

"Leroi Moore on the saxophone"

For those of you who have read Cypress Walls, you might recall a few entries that mentioned the Dave Matthews Band. I have been a fan since college and there were several summers in my mid-to-late 20s where I did not think twice about venturing near and far to take in a concert or two or three or even four. In June 1999, Shea and I headed to Nashville and met up with Mike for a show at the old Starwood Amphitheater, drove 200 miles home afterward and caught them the following evening at the Pyramid in downtown Memphis with a bunch of friends and family who had gathered for my sister's wedding. A couple of weeks later, I took an Amtrak train from Memphis to Chicago and then over to Milwaukee and saw two more shows with Tyra, one at the legendary Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, WI, the second at the Marcus Amphitheater during Summerfest.

While my zeal has tapered off, I was still shocked and saddened to learn of the passing of Leroi Moore, the quintet's steady-as-you-go saxophone/flute/clarinet/penny whistle player. He died suddenly on August 19th in Los Angeles where he was about to begin physical therapy for injuries he sustained in an ATV accident earlier this summer. As it turned out, the band was playing the first of two L.A. gigs that evening and, despite learning of Leroi's death just hours earlier, went on with the performance. From what I've read, Dave, Carter, Stefan, Boyd and company played valiantly, delivering an emotional and heartfelt tribute to honor their dear brother and his memory.

If you had told anyone directly or indirectly involved with the Dave Matthews Band that after almost 20 years of touring the world together and playing their music in front of millions, that June 28, 2008 would be the last night they would share a stage with Leroi, no one could have fathomed it. But life took a tragic turn and now they find themselves paying homage to him whenever they come together.

While these sad circumstances reminded me of how frail our time here on Earth is, they also instilled a sense of appreciation for the uncountable number of moments I have been blessed to experience with my own family over the past 34 years. A recent one occurred the day before Leroi died. My dad, brother-in-law Aaron his dad Vilas and I snagged four seats behind the third base line at the Ballpark in Arlington for a major league baseball game between the Texas Rangers and the Detroit Tigers. I've pulled for the Tigers since the Roar of '84, the last season in which they took home the World Series crown. In the first inning, Ranger All-Star Josh Hamilton, hit a ball in foul territory that ricocheted off a massive concrete awning behind us and then fell from the sky directly toward Section 17, Row 14, seats 3-4. Dad and I both reached heavenward and somehow I came down with the ball. It took several minutes for those 10 seconds to sink in and we were even more stunned when my sister sent me a text message that read "Were ya'll just on TV?" We later learned that an old friend of Aaron's dad watching the game in Michigan saw us from his living room screen and made a call to Texas to confirm his hunch. The Tigers went on to win the game 8-7.

Thanks for checking in. If you find yourself in the mood to listen to the DMB in the next day or two, you can't go wrong with "Live at Red Rocks." Leroi has an awesome solo on "Lie in Our Graves." Peace ya'll.

 

Fevers

Good evening from stormy El Paso where Olympic fever has overtaken the Frey household. On Sunday evening Heather and I were yelling and cheering so loudly as the U.S. men came back to defeat the team from France in the 4x100 relay that Megan came upstairs to see what all the commotion was about. She'd never seen us make such a raucous about swimming. And this morning we woke up to see that a U.S. gymnast who somewhat resembles our cousin Chris gave the performance of his life on the pommel horse catapulting the underdog men's team to a bronze medal.

"He has handsome qualities," Chris relayed to me in a text message. I forgot to ask him whether or not he has Olympic fever too.

You guessed it - I don't have much to update you on regarding Cypress Walls this evening. I spent a couple of minutes on the phone today with the manager of the local Barnes and Noble who was quite cordial, but on her way out the door. I hope to advance my discussion with her in the next day or two. Now that the book is for sale on the Barnes and Noble Web site, there is a chance she will work with me on coordinating some sort of author event at the store in the near future. I also sent the editors at the Barnes and Noble Review a short query last week, but that note most likely ended up in the spam filter they have reserved for somewhat desperate self-published authors.

So have I reached "somewhat desperate" status? Nah, we're just treading a bit of water here at the headquarters of JAF Publishing Inc. while we anticipate the fever that's sure to spread...one of these days.

A review is in

Cypress Walls is officially on sale at barnesandnoble.com! Click here if you'd like to check it out. My friend Phil was the first to post a review and he was kind enough to give my book a whopping five stars out of five. Thank you kindly!

I finally found a few minutes to call the Book Rack last week. The store's proprietor was out, but I did snare her email address and sent a note giving her the details on Cypress Walls and why placing a few copies on the store's shelves would be a wise business decision. I haven't received a reply to my query yet, but I'm sure she's busy.

The gym calls so I'll keep it short tonight. Thanks, as always, for stopping by!

Day off

Late yesterday afternoon, I jotted down a to-do list of 13 items to tackle during today's respite from the Day Job. Several of those items are book related including " B&N," "bookstore calls," and, obviously, "write a blog." As for the rest of the list, it looks as if several of those tasks will live beyond the weekend.

I did succeed in shipping two copies of Cypress Walls to Barnes and Noble's distribution center in New Jersey this morning and also sent their accounting department in New York an invoice. They have 30 days to pay or else. Hopefully, "this item is currently out of stock" will soon be updated to "Buy now! Just two copies left" on their Web site. No one has taken the plunge to write a review, but then again, I haven't asked anyone to do so either. It's summer and I know those of you who have read the book have more pressing matters to attend to. Kidding aside, having Cypress Walls on sale with a reputable seller of books is wise and a step I should have taken a long time ago.

"Bookstore calls" is my cue to dial up two local bookstores, The Book Rack and The Bookery, to see if I can interest them in putting Cypress Walls on their shelves. While some of you might assume that I'm deliberately putting off a couple of cold calls, I'm actually thinking ahead to my next update. Clever, eh? My fear of talking up strangers and trying to get them excited about a subject they have absolutely no familiarity with subsided during my three years as an account executive at Vollmer PR. If you've ever pitched a snarky reporter on behalf of a client, you know what I'm talking about.

I have sold four more copies in recent days. Thanks to Anne King and super fan Julie Weber for the cash flow.

TJ update: our friend who recently graduated from the University of Memphis had an interview with the local CBS affiliate a couple of weeks ago. I haven't heard on whether or not he landed the job, but I'll keep you posted.

Have a great weekend everyone. Thanks, too, for stopping by.

Mardi Gras cheesecake

I still have not received a purchase order from B&N, but they did get the cover image up making Cypress Walls feel a bit more legitimate on their site. Check it out here. And if you're so inclined, feel free to write a review - even if you think the book sucks. Seriously. I'm still waiting for a brave soul to step up to the plate and tell me so.

Three boxes of books found their way to El Paso on a rainy afternoon a few days ago. They now sit in my office awaiting a home other than our own. I heard from Julie in St. Louis yesterday and she sold a couple more leftover from the book club there in March. Thanks so much Julie!

I hope you're having (had) a great weekend! The Popeye's chicken was really good on the 4th! So much so, Heather and I ran through the drive through last night...she's definitely become a fan of every New Orleanians favorite! We also highly recommend the Mardi Gras cheesecake.

Peace ya'll.

Fresh rejection

I have a new rejection letter for my hall-of-fame courtesy of Barnes & Noble. As I suspected, Cypress Walls will not be stocked at the nation's leading seller of books anytime soon.

"Our experience with other titles similar to yours tells us that the customer is more likely to expect to purchase this title online rather than in a general trade retail bookstore," wrote Evelyn from the Small Press Department.

This knowledge turned out to be quite convenient for me because after officially letting me down with "we have decided not to add this title to our store assortment," she followed up with "we do want to make it available to our customers through the Barnes & Noble website."

Evelyn's colleague April, a vendor rep, had already shared this good news with me though. Last week I received an envelope from her with instructions on getting Cypress Walls set up for the Extended Title Base Program. I should receive a purchase order any day now for a couple of copies that will be sent to a vast warehouse in New Jersey. I have also emailed a jpg of the cover to another B&N team member, Raymond, whose responsibility is to get the cover up on bn.com. In the words of the immortal Babu Bhatt, "the wheels are in motion."

Mr. Johnson has shipped me three fresh cases of books so JAF Publishing Inc. should not have any problem keeping the B&N warehouse stocked over the course of the next 50 years or so. But just in case, Mr. Johnson agreed to store several more cases for me at the offices of Post Printing in Memphis. Crisis averted!

Have a Happy 4th everyone! Heather and I plan to spend part of the day on a picnic blanket with a box of Popeye's chicken. If you're in the neighborhood, give us a call!

The rest of my life

That was a far lengthier pause than I anticipated. I greatly appreciate the faithful few of you who have regularly checked in since May 21st. My average page views are down to 18.74 per day, but at least I have not logged a goose egg...yet. Thanks also to David Larsen and Meredith Stites for buying a copy of Cypress Walls last week when I was in Big D. checking in with the Roaming Gnome at headquarters. With 251 copies now sold, I have officially reached the quarter turn though it might take the rest of my life to sell all 1,000 copies.

With that in mind, I have taken steps to extend my reach of prospective readers. The book will soon be available online via the Barnes and Noble Web site. The nation's largest seller of books has had a link featuring Cypress Walls for sometime now though it had Gar listed as the author instead of me. A quick email fixed that error and on Friday Heather faxed back a vendor agreement to a pleasant lady named April at the B&N distribution center in New Jersey. I expect to go live in the next few days. In my research, I also learned that B&N has a "small press" department that considers titles like Cypress Walls for placement in their retail outlets. While I'm sure it's a much longer shot, I did mail a copy to a corporate address on 5th Avenue in New York. And sometime soon, I'll hit the hot pavement here in El Paso and pitch the college bookstores on the idea of stocking a few copies. If you have any other distribution suggestions, please drop me a line.

Cheers everyone. I hope your summer is off to a rockin' start!

Pause for Reassessement

Cap-and-gown season has come and gone and, barring some unforeseen circumstance, I'm not any closer to landing a break for Cypress Walls.

A month ago, I had reasonably high hopes. The story in the El Paso Times was pending. For the first time my little book would be written up in the actual book section of a daily newspaper. Despite the positive nature of the story, it came and went without fanfare - just like those that proceeded it. The link has already been taken off the paper's site and I doubt any mover and/or shaker in the publishing world will by chance run across it and send me an email wanting to learn more.

On April 28th, I blasted out a press release to media outlets across the world letting them know that an unknown author from the great state of Texas was ready and willing to be a resource for them as they mulled over their angles and story lines for the Class of 2008. Despite an array of downloads spanning the globe, the effort netted only a single email from a columnist in Long Island who subsequently put it in her "save for later" file.

It's been two weeks since I've sold a book, #249. The buyer was Song Yang (thanks Song!), a co-worker in our New York office. Upon my return from the Big Apple, I sent Mr. Johnson the Printer a note to see if we could scale down my order. Where as nine months ago I did not think it would be that difficult to move 1,000 copies of Cypress Walls, I'm no longer so optimistic/delusional. As expected, Mr. Johnson has already printed the pages and is moving forward. He has agreed, however, to store them for me at no additional cost which I'm greatly appreciative.

"I'm praying that you sell those books," he said before we hung up.

Thanks Mr. Johnson. Every bit helps.

So now what? Besides Mr. Johnson's heavenward appeals, I have contemplated a few ideas all of which require the commodity I'm most lacking these days: time. But, rest assured, I'm not giving up on my dream. I've just reached a point of reassessment, that's all.

Plus, I have some inspiration. My friend/colleague Terry Fallis recently sold the rights to his self-published novel to a major publishing house in Canada! The Best Laid Plans will be released next fall. Congrats Terry on your success.

It's now time to see which David will be crowned the American Idol. Peace, ya'll and thanks for stopping by.

Q&A with a Recent Grad

Mom and Dad's visit to El Paso wrapped up yesterday. I think it was the first time we celebrated Mother's Day and my birthday together since May, 1997 when our Michigan relatives came to Memphis for my sister's college graduation. That weekend is well documented in Cypress Walls.

My friend TJ received his diploma from the University of Memphis on May 3rd and I thought it would be fun to share a few insights from a recent college graduate. Enclosed is our email exchange.

JF: So now what?

TJ: Well, I've got to put my resume tape together. That's pretty important right now. I went and worked on it the other day and came away very frustrated because nothing worked right. I sometimes wonder why I am trying to get into TV. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong, that is the way of the TV world. So until I get that done, I won't be in a TV studio near you anytime soon.

JF: Are you already tired of people asking you this question?

TJ: You have no idea.

JF: How did you feel when Memphis was up 60-51 with two minutes left to play?

TJ: I was telling myself it wasn't over. Obviously it wasn't...

JF: Just how long was the ride back to Memphis?

TJ: Do the math for 12 hours through the night plus already writing the game story for the school paper about the Tigers blowing the game plus thinking about the game every five minutes pop on how it could have gone. That sentence alone should give you an idea of how long that ride was. I still think the game isn't over sometimes. I get these thoughts occasionally that tell me it can be fixed or that Chalmers misses the three or unrealistic fantasies like those. I saw the Sports Illustrated issue from the game for the first time recently, the one I had been avoiding for the past month. That sucked. So did the car ride.

JF: Where do you see the journalism profession in ten years?

TJ: Funny you should ask. My goal is to be at ESPN in 10 years.

JF: Do you see yourself still being a part of it?

TJ: I hope so. I really don't know what else I would do. If I'm not, I'll be working at a golf course the rest of my life. Free golf, baby.

I like your options TJ though I am betting that the likelihood of you making it with the Worldwide Leader is greater than you ending up as a caddy. Keep aiming high, my friend! The pic below shows the happy grad in the middle with his sister Hannah and friend Moe.

Thanks everyone, as always, for stopping by and happy birthday to our sister Renee!

Reynolds Hall

A couple of weekends ago, Heather and I attacked the remaining pile of boxes in our garage that had been sitting there since my move to El Paso right before our wedding. The heaviest one contained a bunch of folders, notebooks and clippings from my MTSU days.

"When was the last time you looked at this stuff?" Heather asked.

"A long time," I replied, looking at the dilapidated box that had stored the documents over the course of six moves in twelve years.

One dusty piece of newsprint from MTSU's student newspaper, Sidelines, then held me captive. It was my farewell column - similar to the one TJ filed a couple of weeks ago - dated April 29, 1996. The first few paragraphs read:

Everything was unpacked. His bed was made neatly and all the towels folded and in place. It was time for them to go. Only they didn't want to.

He stood in the parking lot and watched his teary-eyed parents head back home. Man did he want to go with them. But he stayed...

It hardly seems imaginable that it was almost four years ago in the parking lot of Nicks Hall that my folks dropped me off, headed back to Memphis and worried endlessly about me as I started my college career.

In a word, it has been a blur.

And as I anticipate graduation in a couple of weeks and continue my fervent searches for meaningful employment across the country, there are several people I wish to thank before leaving MTSU.

I've stayed in touch with most of the people I mentioned. Some of the professors have retired, while some are still shaping the minds of present-day Blue Raiders. A few of those friends are now married with kids and probably socking away money for college all over again. In the last paragraph, I anonymously thanked Mike Lively, Warren Beck and Josh "Country" Perkins, three friends who worked as resident assistants with me in Reynolds Hall. Each of their names appear in the pages of Cypress Walls.

"Just remember fellas," I wrote. "Reynolds Hall will never be the same and if I ever wind up in AA, I have you three to blame for it."

Fortunately, I have never attended an AA meeting and I did grow out of my binge-drinking ways...eventually. Had TJ asked me for a second piece of advice for his column, "Don't be a stupid drunk," would have been a close second to "Be proactive."

"That's all for me folks," I wrote in closing. "May the force be with you."

I'm not quite the Star Wars nerd that I used to be either, though lately, the Spike Network has me hooked on "Star Wars Sundays." Yoda is a hard little critter to shake.