Stone In The Surf Press
Charlie's Treasures
Richard Neumann / Dian deWolf
Summary of the book
At first glance the book appears to be a beautifully illustrated story about a young boy, Charlie, who visits a very unusual shop filled with antiques. In the back of the shop is the owner, a wise old man who seems to have known Charlie for a long time. Charlie shares with him his most valuable treasure, a collection of marbles. Each marble has a name and each one has story that holds a very special place in Charlie's heart. But, if you choose to look deeper into the story, there is much, much more. Read Story about the story below....
Author Bio
I was born in Burbank, California, in 1957, the son of an aerospace engineer and an accomplished ballerina and Hollywood movie actress. I graduated from San Jose State in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business. Although my career has taken me down the path of corporate CFO, my love has always been writing. I spent a good portion of his high school years writing and producing amateur movies and working backstage for local theaters. Twenty years later I returned to writing and the theater as ways to bring tranquility to the turmoil of high-stress corporate mergers and acquisitions. I has completed two full-length novels and I'm deep into a third – as yet unpublished. I have also written five stage plays, three of which have been produced. In 2005 I founded Stone In The Surf Press and in 2006 launched this website designed to help other aspiring “Indie” Independent Publishers.
Story about the story
While working for a number of high-tech, high-pressure companies as Chief Financial Officer and unbeknownst to me, while the foundation of my family was crumbling, I became saddened that the only thing people seemed to care about any more was their own greed. I began having this reoccurring image in my mind of a young boy sharing his most valuable treasures in his life with a grandfather character. If you have ever talked with a little kid about their collection of baseball cards, toy cars, shells or marbles, they can tell you everything about each one. What parent these days has the time to care enough to listen? But, grandparents do. When we get to the end of this life and we stand before God, what treasures will we have to show for our time here? Like that small child standing before a grandfather I want to share my treasures. It won't be the money I made or the houses I lived in, it will be the people who have touched my life. See this one here, the one that's made from real marble from Greece, that's Paul. And this one here, the one made of steel, this is Mary. And this one here .... Dian and I have left some wonderful clues in the book to look for.
When I shared this vision for the first time with my good friend Pam. She said, "You're a story teller, go home and write the story." I went home that night, sat down and wrote the story. The text remains unchanged from the first writing. That, I consider to be an inspired work.
Two other great things happed as well. One was finding Dian de Wolf to illustrate the book. A mutual friend, Heather introduced us and I am eternally thankful for that. Everyone told me "no" and yet Dian agreed to read the story. She usually paints with water colors. For this she put down her brushes and picked up pastels. The result is amazing.
And the other is, I have always loved the art and books by Dean Morrissey. But, I figured he was a famous artist and me, well I was a nobody. My parents met him at a Barnes & Nobel in San Jose. They told him their son had written a book and would he please take a look at it. He agreed and when I called him, he asked me to send him a copy. A few months passed and then I got a call one night, it was Dean. "You've got it! This story is great!" Those words of encouragement have given me the strength to persevere.
Why you choose to go “indie”
After sending our numerous manuscripts and getting a slew of rejects I wasn't going to give up. I took the advise of Dean Morrissey I made a set of hand made books and sold them for enough money to get to New York. I packed up a few pieces of art and a stack of manuscripts and headed to Manhattan during the coldest winter in a decade. I can honestly say I have walked 50 blocks in a snow storm, up hill both ways, to deliver my manuscript. I knocked on 110 doors of agents and publishers in 10 short days. In the end, I got told "no" 110 times.
When my divorce was over, I found myself, unemployed, without a penny in the bank, my 401(k) was gone, no house, no place to live and what few possessions I had left were crammed into a small public storage space. The one thing I wouldn't let the "Y" and the lawyers pry from my hands was Charlie's Treasures. I did what any sane person would do, I started my own publishing company, Stone In The Surf.
Biggest mistake(s) you made along the way
15,000 copies was probably a bit optimistic. But, at the time it made perfect sense. Signing with BookMasters as my 2nd tier distributor turned out to be one of the more costly mistakes I made.
Best thing that happene
Everything! Dian, Dean, seeing the look on people's face's when they read the book. Having a woman send her husband back time and time again to buy more copies, the girl who came back to my booth at the LA Times Festival of books and finally bought a copy, and the man who read the book cover to cover and then looked and me and said, "Thank you for writing this book." That is why I write.
Word of encouragement to other upcoming “indie’s”
Don't ever give up. Never, ever listen to anyone who does not fill you life, your hopes and your dreams with positive energy and encouragement. Forget the word "No". Erase it form your vocabulary and all of it's evil incantations. And, if you breathe so that you can have the strength to write, the find a way to take one small step closer to your dream every day.
