Full "Paper" Jacket

Does anybody remember "Full Mental Jacket," a 1980 film by Stanley Kubrich? Those that follow this blog know how much I enjoy writing about the origins and meanings of all sorts of expressions, phrases, sayings; whatever you call these utterances that radiate from our mouths on a daily basis. The first one in my book; "cooking the books," is an idiom and it's modern meaning is accounting fraud, and the last one is a phrase; "that's all folks!" which comes from the funny cartoons by Warner Brothers called, Looney Tunes. Full paper is as far from full metal as you can get. A cover of a hardbound book is called a "dust jacket," versus the outside of a softcover book is called, duh, a "cover." (I took the liberty of changing "dust" to "paper" so I could incorporate this phrase in comparing it with the Kubrich film.) Full metal jacket is a bullet designed by Lt. Eduard Rubin of the Swiss Army in 1882 and was used as standard ammunition in 1886 for the French Mle [Rifle]. The last process I had to check and double check was the dust jacket for my book and it's lucky I did. I found two significant things that needed to be corrected before my book went to press and the picture at the right is the final product. The next event will be the printing process. Halaula!

Presses will be rolling!

The final proof has been approved by me and in about 3-4 weeks I will have books in hand for my first speaking engagement at my Rotary club (So. Hilo). I have just secured a TV spot with a station in Pleasanton, Ca. that broadcasts to over 300,000 households in the Livermore Valley. The reason I love Jay Leno's humor (I have two quotes in my book-one on the back cover) is that his jokes "just crack me up." Here is one from this week by Leno that was on my favorite site, http://www.politicalhumor.about.com/: "President Obama has been meeting with voters in what he calls 'backyard chats.' He's held these in real people's backyards. You know something, I think all politicians should talk to people in their backyards. Then you could take what they say and spread it on the lawn." Stay tuned for the next update from me on the completion date for the book from the pinter, Publishers Graphics, Chicago, Il.

Back cover of "Cooking the Books"

The Picture you see is the back jacket of my book and was taken in a kitchen of a friend. This was exactly the look I was seeking for the back cover-that of a kitchen with hanging pots, pans and an assortment of utensils. I wanted to have this scene look like an old kitchen instead of the austere, aluminum, squeaky clean appearance of restaurant kitchens I looked at for the back cover scene. Cooking The Books is now at my printer (Publishers Graphics, Chicago) and I will have "books in hand," late October, early November and then the marketing part begins. I have a speaking tour set up with eight Rotary clubs (with more to come) from Hawaii to Northern and Central California, between December 1st and February 16th. Now is my time to start getting the word out on my book and I can greatly use your help. (a great number of any book sells by word of mouth, and what better way than to ask my family and friends to spread the word "far and wide".) I will have the web site http://www.theycookedthebooks.com/ up and running by then that will show you how to order the book. Only if you like it, do I ask you to do this "word of mouth" promotion for me. The other favor I will ask is it is important for my book if you would write a comment on my blog and/or become a follower. Both are simple to do. Click on the word comment at the end of any posting you would like to comment on. Become a follower-it's easy-just click on the follower button on the right side. This blog address is www.theycookedthebooks.blogspot.com. I am willing to refund both your postage and handling if you don't like it, but I guarantee that this will be one of the most enjoyable books you have read in a long time. Thank you, Patrick

"They Cooked The Books"

People ask me frequently, "how did you come up with the idea for this book?" In my last post I talked about how a Beetle Bailey cartoon in May 2009 provided the enzyme for starting the writing process for this book, which is, as we speak, at the graphic artist and about ready to makes its way to my publisher. The very first event that happened which triggered this whole concept of the book was the day I walked into Joe's Pharmacy, San Francisco, Ca. and spoke to Tony, the Proprietor. It seems that a stock Tony owned "tanked over night" because, in his words, "The company 'cooked the books.'" When this information became "exposed to the light of day," Wall Street reacted with the result of the stock becoming virtually worthless." Tony's comment, "they cooked the books," forever was ingrained in my phyche. The year was 2008 but it took until May the following year to begin the writing process and 18 months of research and writing to bring the project to this stage. I can see the finish line (at least the one that brings the book to market) ahead and cannot wait to start marketing the book. Stay tuned...

Beetle Bailey

Dear Friends and Followers, A writer friend [Kay Strom, who I am indebted to for starting my writing career] has a posting on her blog (http://www.kaystrom.wordsmith.com/), titled "Beetle and Me" in which talks about the 60th anniversary of the comic strip Beetle Bailey and what this comic has met to her. Well, coincidentally, this strip is one-half on the genesis of my book, "Cooking the Books" (I will share the other half in my next blog.) It was May of 2009, that the creators, (Mort and Greg Walker of this wonderful comic strip (circ. 1950) had printed the following (paraphrased): Sergeant Snorkel asked a new recruit why he joined the army. "I was under investigation for corporate fraud, so I joined." "Do you have any military experienced?" asked Snorkel. "No, but if you need someone to 'cook your books,' I'm your man." When this idiom, "cooking the books," hit my ears for the first time, I immediately thought, what a wonderful book title this is, and furthermore, what is the history of this saying. Fast forward to September, 2010, after more that a year's research and writing, the book is currently at the the graphic artist, and after the printing process, I should have "book in hand" by early October. (I hope I do because I start a book tour of Rotary clubs in the state of Hawaii this month.) I would like to encourage you to follow my postings and get snippets of my book, and also some great quotes from well-known people such as Jay Leno who said: "It looks like more that 13,000 people were caught up in that Madoff Ponzi scheme. Do you know what a ponzi scheme is? That's were you throw good money after bad, or as the government calls it, a stimulus package." Mahalo, Patrick Edwards