New Release — Adult Fiction
Intent on finding his career path, a rookie reporter struggles to become a journalist at an Indiana newspaper in 1973.
He climbs the ladder from writing obituaries to covering cops and teacher strikes and murder trials and community disasters. As he navigates the competitive politics of the newsroom, he gradually earns the trust of his curmudgeonly city editor.
Along the way, he begins performing with a rock and roll band and falls in love with a stripper named Brown Sugar.
The choice between being a musician and a journalist becomes obvious after he writes a front page story on a job tryout at the Detroit Free Press.
ISBN 978-1-952782-10-7 (Paperback)
Adult Fiction
6 x 9, 420 pages
Publication date: September 1, 2021
This book is available in paperback and eBook format:
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Author Mark Paul Smith started writing for a newspaper in 1972. It was thirty reporters in a sprawling newsroom, getting yelled at by a curmudgeonly editor chain smoking Camel straights. From writing obituaries as “the death editor,” to covering cops, schools, social services, city government and features, Mark learned that if a man bites a dog, there’s a story.
Mark’s novels are inspired by world travel, rock and roll lifestyle and courtroom drama. They’re about real people; not super heroes, violence-porn and body counts. Mark says that facing grief, betrayal and shattered dreams are enough for any character to handle, and that fortunately, love and kindness can become their own rewards.
