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"A compelling novel-in-stories, Hollywoodski showcases a self-described "faded" screenwriter's forty-year career. Dale Davis is a man encumbered by a natural writing talent, corrupted by early success, and reduced to scrambling for crumbs. He arrives in Hollywood, unbattered and innocent, with a novel about his days as an almost Olympic-caliber swimmer. But his faith in the prevailing powers of talent and justice in Tinseltown leaves him essentially black-listed and unemployable, a talented writer who just can't get paid. Despite the fading of a once-promising career, Davis still believes that his talent will propel him back into prominence. But that belief, in Hollywood, is about as realistic as the belief that "Someday my prince will come," and as likely to make you depressed and crazy. Hollywoodski is a nonlinear journey through Davis's life, weaving his memories with stories he's written over the years, charting how his hopes and dreams have changed over time. Featuring stories originally published in prominent publications such as The New England Review, The Los Angeles Reader, and Six Three Whiskey, Hollywoodski is a sweeping and inventive telling of the strange avenues that a life follows"--
List of contents
Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others (1988)
Gower Gulch (2004)
Hollywoodski (2008)
Tutorial (2009)
Individual Medley – A Story by Dale Davis (1981)
Oscar (2005)
Not Oliver Stone (2006)
Quality of Life (2007)
Written Out – A Story by Dale Davis (2007)
Limbo Time (2008)
Bat Fat (2009)
La Novia – from the journals of Dale Davis (1987)
Desperate Times Desperate Crimes (2010)
Persecution Street & Hazard Avenue, the corner of… A story by Philip K. Dick as told to D. Dale Davis (2011)
Payday (2012)
About the author
Lou Mathews lives in Los Angeles and is a fourth generation Angeleno. Married at nineteen, he worked his way through UC Santa Cruz as a gas station attendant and mechanic and continued to work as a mechanic until he was thirty-nine. His first novel,
L.A. Breakdown, about illegal street racing, was picked by the
Los Angeles Times as a Best Book of 1999. He has received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction, a California Arts Council Fiction Fellowship, a Pushcart Prize, and a Katherine Anne Porter Prize. His short stories have been published in more than forty literary magazines including
Short Story, ZYZZYVA, New England Review Witness, Crazy Horse, and
Black Clock, as well as twelve fiction anthologies and two textbook series.He has taught in UCLA Extension's renowned Writer's Program since 1989 and is a recipient of Teacher of the Year and Outstanding Instructor Awards.His last novel,
Shaky Town, was published in September 2021 and was long-listed for the 2022
Tournament of Books. More details on Mathews and
Shaky Town can be found at https: //www.tigervanbooks.com/shaky-town.
Summary
showcases a self-described “faded” screenwriter’s forty-year career.
Dale Davis is a man encumbered by a natural writing talent, corrupted by early success, and reduced to scrambling for crumbs. He arrives in Hollywood, unbattered and innocent, with a novel about his days as an almost Olympic-caliber swimmer. But his faith in the prevailing powers of talent and justice in Tinseltown leaves him essentially black-listed and unemployable, a talented writer who just can’t get paid. Despite the fading of a once-promising career, Davis still believes that his talent will propel him back into prominence. But that belief, in Hollywood, is about as realistic as the belief that “Someday my prince will come,” and as likely to make you depressed and crazy.
is a nonlinear journey through Davis’s life, weaving his memories with stories he’s written over the years, charting how his hopes and dreams have changed over time. Featuring stories originally published in prominent publications such as he Los Angeles Reader, is a sweeping and inventive telling of the strange avenues that a life follows.
Foreword
- Website marketing on turnerpublishing.com
- ARCs distributed to social media influencers, various trade publications, media outlets, and the author’s own publicity contacts
- Social media campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Twitter, and TikTok
- Email marketing campaign to Turner Publishing subscribers
- Extensive bookstore and library ARC mailings
- Amazon A+ content
- Amazon advertising
- Coordinating author interviews and book signings
- Submitting to relevant awards
