Monday, August 1, 2016

Publication of my First Novel: Marcel Legrand’s Love Affairs

Book cover painting of Love Affairs Novel by Harry George Theaker
I am very excited to have my first novel published online! Love Affairs: Tales of Love, Romance, and Passion is available for purchase for only $0.99 (or less) at Smashwords as well as at a number of retailers, including iBooks! 

If you have an extra buck stashed somewhere or feel like taking me out for a virtual coffee, this could be a great way to spend your money!

If you are the cautious or hesitant type, you can download the first quarter of the book for free and then see, reflect, and decide if you'd like to purchase it, after all. Either way I fully appreciate your interest!

The only caveat is that you need to be 18 or older. Why, you may ask. Well, I think I would need to first introduce to you my French friend and alter ego Marcel Legrand.

Marcel is the protagonist of the novel; he is a philosophical womanizer / romantic poet whose self-proclaimed nickname is machine d’amour! He talks candidly - with a grain of salt and handful of humor - about his romantic 
conquests and endeavors. There are four main leading ladies he tries to seduce at different intervals, in addition to a couple of one-night stands thrown in, here and there, for good measure.

Although there is some sex involved, the prudish need not turn away necessarily. There's hardly any graphic or hardcore content here as this is 
more about romance and poetry and it is not erotica per se. When there is some "action" going on, it is dealt with a light touch and it is quite funny actually.

An example is when his cute neighbour asks him if he has a monkey wrench, and Marcel ends up fixing her leaky faucet. She then proceeds to strip for him as a form of recompense (I suppose) and he notices that his “elevator” has reached the “penthouse.” Humorous? Enticing? Both? Why not?

If you generally like Arash's World, you should enjoy this Frenchman’s random philosophical excursions and existential speculations and most likely be amused with some of his admittedly bizarre views on life and romance. His tales are semi-autobiographical, meaning exactly what it means: Half of the information is absolutely true, while the other half are just blatant lies.

What can I say about his style? Well, if you put Shakespeare and Benny Hill in the blender, this work will be the end result. Or rather expect more Benny and less Will in the mixture. Or take a male character of every French film you have ever seen, mash them up, and you will have a sketch of Marcel Legrand.

About 14 years ago I self-published a shorter version of Love Affairs. This was in the forgotten dark era before the existence of blogs and e-books. I say “self-publish” but actually am talking about a bunch of photocopies stapled together and given away for free to friends, acquaintances, and beautiful strangers on the bus.

It was actually a great success back then, all things considered. My friends liked what they read and tried to speculate who I had or had not bedded in the process of writing this short novel! As if this was a research project. Fun times indeed!

But I felt about my work the same way I feel about poetry: The main purpose is to get girls ... I mean their attention, of course. In fact, my main inspiration for writing it came from Truffaut’s brilliant film The Man Who Loved Women (1977) although I have to confess that I find my own protagonist somewhat more charming and endearing overall. But the general outline of both works is about the same.

Anyhow, over the years I have come to miss Marcel, this affectionate and crazy French guy. I know he is fictitious but somehow I feel a close affinity with him and decided to bring him back to life for a hopefully larger audience this time around. 

This is why I have put together a more definitive version as my e-book here; in fact, I am planning to write a sequel that depicts Marcel fifteen years later, which is hopefully to be released sometime in the next year! Please stay tuned for that!

I also want to heartily thank Smashwords for their platform and support and their genuine and admirable desire to help indie writers like me! They are professional and resourceful and, most importantly for me, they are well-organized!

Hope you enjoy what you read and feel free to leave me comments and reviews at your retailer of choice! And again, thank you, from both Marcel and me!

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