Saturday, October 22, 2011

The Last American Martyr - Tom Winton

Bio:  Tom Winton was born and raised in New York City. During his working career he has done everything from working on a railroad gang in the Colorado Rockies to driving a taxicab in Manhattan. Now retired, he has also been a mailman, a salesman, an entrepreneur and more. He lives in Hobe Sound, Florida, with his wife Blanche and their ill-tempered but loveable Jack Russell terrier, Ginger. They spend part of their time in Carmel, Maine.
Product Description:  It doesn’t happen often, but every now and then one small soul rises from the crowded depths of obscurity and causes the earth to wobble on its axis. This last happened in 2008 when an unemployed doorman, in a secondhand Goodwill suit, stepped onto the worldwide stage in Stockholm and accepted The Nobel Prize for Literature.

In this me-me twenty-first century, Thomas Soles may very well be the last American martyr. This self-described “simple man” writes a simple book that resuscitates the all-but-dead international labor movement. The response to his thoughts and perceptions are astounding. All around the globe, from pole to pole, from America to Zimbabwe, the marching footsteps of workers, young and old, tremor the earth. But not everyone is pleased. There’s a tight-knit, elitist clique that is absolutely livid over the thoughts and ideals that fill the pages of his book. And the moment Tom and his wife, Elaina, return home from Sweden, they realize just how angry this profit-hungry mob really is.
Q—What will readers like about your book?  Firstly, it’s a very timely book!  With struggling people and economies all over the world, most readers will in one way or another easily relate to the subject matter.  Also, The Last American Martyr is a suspenseful novel sandwiched between two heartrending romances.  Already it seems to be garnering a very wide reading audience.
Q—Why did you go indie?  After ten agents asked for all or part of my debut novel, Beyond Nostalgia, last July (yes TEN agents--four in one day) I allowed myself some hope.  But I did not have one taker.  Several said they were “sure” I’d find the right agent “soon”, but it didn’t happen.  I was then approached by a small indie publisher, and Beyond Nostalgia came out this past February.  By the way, this book that ten agents nixed...it has been on four Amazon Bestseller lists at one time and three “Top Rated” charts.
Q—Who are your favorite authors in your genre?—Odd as this is going to sound, I don’t read a whole lot of suspense.  Though, like I said, The Last American Martyr is suspense in the middle of two romances, it somehow evolved into that.  I had a rough idea of what the story was going to be, but I let the MC, Thomas Soles, take me wherever he wanted.  My favorite authors are Pat Conroy, Steinbeck, and Jim Harrison, just to name a few.

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