Read it and weep, author warns

Advance copies of local's book include a tissue for tears

SM/SL/VIEW--John Zaiss author of " A Dedication" stands outside of Barnes & Noble Book Sellers Thursday Apr. 28, 2005. View photo Henry Vargas. Advertisement

There's a fine line between being a self-centered teenager and stepping up to the plate, into the light of maturity. It doesn't happen overnight. It doesn't happen with any celebratory fanfare. But sooner or later, in its own way, it does happen.

Crossing that line into maturity is the focus of John Zaiss' book, simply called "a dedication." The lack of upper case letters in the title gives a hint as to its low-key manner.

His is the fictional account of an intelligent, if cocky 17-year-old boy named Quinn who learns about character and facing responsibility from a retired Marine who befriends him. It is their relationship which really puts the story into gear.

"It's one of those books you get a good cry from," Zaiss said. "You get a good cry and you go and tell others to read it."

Sherman Frederick, publisher of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, added his stamp of approval to the book, saying, "Zaiss has provided his readers with an insightful and fun read reminiscent of both 'Ordinary People' and 'Tuesdays with Morrie.' "

Zaiss has a book signing planned for 1 p.m. Sunday at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, 8915 W. Charleston Blvd.

The book is published by Synergy books. It is available on Amazon.com, but Zaiss said he'd prefer people go into bookstores and personally ask for it.

"If they request it at Borders or Barnes & Noble, those stores will be more apt to say, 'Wait a minute, maybe we should order more of these books to have on our shelves,' " the Summerlin resident said.

Without a major publisher behind him, Zaiss suggested his book sales will probably grow through word of mouth, much the way "Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold and Sue Kidd's "Secret Life of Bees" did.

Getting the finished manuscript from his computer and into bookstores proved difficult. He sent the first chapters to agents and publishing houses. Some came back with rejection notes slapped on them. Other places didn't even bother to reply.

So Zaiss went with a small publishing house and set about marketing the book himself. Part of that entailed writing 1,100 letters to various book outlets, asking them to carry his novel. Only 20 bothered to respond and not all wanted to help.

But his latest ploy will no doubt get some attention; his advance copies come with a facial tissue and the notation saying, "You're going to need this."

Meanwhile, Zaiss is not giving up his day job. He is the president of Crescent Capital Management Company. While writing the book, he got up at 4 a.m. each business day to race his fingers across the keyboard for two hours.

Then he put in a full day's work and returned to writing for a couple hours at night. He said his clients did not suffer. In fact, his investment strategy consistently beat the stock market.

He said he never missed a ball game or a chance to be at his three children's special events.

Still, he carved out time in his life to work on Quinn and Joe, his main characters. The first draft took one year.

It was followed by a full revision to change it from first person and present tense to first person and past tense, then three edits and one final proof.

"I can write anywhere," he said. "I can be at my kitchen table with my laptop. When I'm at my place in Montana, I write on my deck. I write on airplanes, in hotel rooms, anywhere."

He might be anywhere but his mind is focused. Zaiss always starts his writing regime with five minutes of meditation and a prayer for guidance.

Before "a dedication," Zaiss wrote another manuscript which has not seen the publishing light of day. It was a thriller set in the stock market world. The 440-page book took three years to write.

"I'll only do character-driven things from now on," he said. "Dialogue is easier. I hear the voices. When it comes to describing the setting, I have to focus on how to do it. It's the hardest part for me. One paragraph of description can take a couple, three hours to write. But the dialogue, it just flows out of me."

His next novel is already in the works, a story of a middle-aged woman facing a mid-life crisis who ultimately realizes her own significance in the world.

No doubt that one will be sent out with a facial issue, too.