Michael Meloan traveled extensively to England, Germany, and South Korea supporting the Department of Defense as a software engineer. He met the real Top Guns at Ramstein, Germany. He also wrote short stories for Larry Flynt, Buzz, Wired Magazine, and many literary journals. With his brother, Steven, he penned a published novel called The Shroud. Also with his brother, he wrote journalism for The Huffington Post.
In the ‘80s and ‘90s, Meloan was friends with Charles Bukowski and his wife Linda. Bukowski enthusiastically encouraged his writing and invited him and his wife Cathy to many Hollywood events.
Meloan was also good friends with NPR monologue artist Joe Frank. Their regular brunches at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills were among the most fascinating encounters of his life. They discussed sexual failure, the nature of existence, godly realms, and the existential abyss. Meloan had the privilege of co-writing a number of radio shows with Frank that appeared on the NPR syndicate. The documentaries
Bukowski: Born into This and Joe Frank: Somewhere Out There both contain interviews with Meloan.
Visit the book’s website at www.pinballwizardbook.com.
Before you started writing your book, what kind of research did you do to prepare yourself?
I do research while writing. I’m constantly looking at photos similar to what I’m creating in text to heighten a sense of reality. And if I write about anything with a technical aspect, I include details that must be absolutely accurate.
Did you pursue publishers or did you opt to self-pub?
A translator in Germany put me in touch with my publisher over there. He accepted the book immediately upon reading the manuscript. Then, I sent the manuscript to a small publisher in San Francisco, and he also accepted it for the US market.
This all sounds very easy, but my work has been rejected repeatedly in many other realms. I don’t want to give the impression that I lead a charmed life.
Did you purposefully choose a distinct month to release your book? Why?
The US version of PINBALL WIZARD was released on August 15th, 2023. I did not choose this date. But I was fine with that eventuality.
Did you write your book, then revise or revise as you went?
I revise quite a bit as I write, and then I revise and edit extensively after I am “done.” It is hard for me to stop editing. Even upon viewing my published works, I see things I want to change.
It never ends.
Did you come up with special swag for your book and how are you using it to help get the word out about your book?
I don’t have any swag.
What’s your opinion on giving your book away to sell other copies of your book?
I give many books away. I want people to read it. That is the prime directive.
What are some of the most important things you believe an author should do before their book is released?
Find a good book publicist. And work your social media apps.
What are some of the most important things you believe an author should do after their book is released?
Again, work social media. Contacting people through DMs on social media can be very effective for selling copies.
Approach indie bookstores to take copies, do readings, and try to get your book into library systems.
What kind of pre-promotion did you do before the book came out?
Prior to release, I was working social media.
Do you have a long term plan with your book?
I have written a screenplay adaptation. That is phase two for PINBALL WIZARD.
What would you like to say to your readers and fans about your book?
“Are you the Pinball Wizard or the pinball?” asks Ralph’s manager inside a nuclear-hardened bunker in England. That is the question driving Michael D. Meloan’s new novella—a story of love, sex, jets, and Bukowski.
Lights flash, and bells ring as Ralph is buffeted between a controlling father, international intrigue in the US defense industry, and a friendship with the writer Charles Bukowski. A wild girlfriend also ratchets up the action.
But in the end, it is Ralph’s turn at the controls.
Inside the Book
Title: Pinball Wizard
Author: Michael D. Meloan
Pages: 136
Genre: Novella / Romantic Action / Adventure
Michael D. Meloan’s new novella PINBALL WIZARD is a story of love, sex, jets, and Bukowski. Ralph is buffeted between a controlling father, international intrigue in the US defense industry, and a friendship with the writer Charles Bukowski. A wild girlfriend also ratchets-up the action.
“Are you the Pinball Wizard or the pinball?” asks Ralph’s manager inside a nuclear hardened bunker in England. That is the question driving Michael D. Meloan’s new novella–a story of love, sex, jets, and Bukowski.
Lights flash and bells ring as Ralph is buffeted between a controlling father, international intrigue in the US defense industry, and a friendship with the writer Charles Bukowski. A wild girlfriend also ratchets-up the action.
But in the end, it is Ralph’s turn at the controls.
“My mailbox contained a surprise a week or so ago: PINBALL WIZARD, a novella by Michael Meloan. It is one of the most satisfying reading experiences I’ve had in recent years, in part because it handles a famous writer (Charles Bukowski) as one of its main characters with nonchalant deftness. Meloan’s slightly picaresque story is hard to classify, which is one of the things that makes it such a pleasure to read. He has a gift for writing unapologetically masculine prose; it’s flavorful without being exotic, and it doesn’t hurt that he has a fine ear for dialogue.”–Bill Mohr, writer, critic, and English Literature Professor at California State University, Long Beach
More information on the book PINBALL WIZARD can be found at https://www.amazon.com/Pinball-Wizard-Michael-D-Meloan/dp/1733386483/.
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