The Unlounging

STARRED BLUEINK REVIEW
The Unlounging: From a Belly Full of Beer to a Craw Full of Time

"The Unlounging offers a whimsical fictional memoir of a loser who gains an unexpected purpose in life.

Selraybob spends most of his time in his lounge chair, drinking beer and frustrating his wife, Joalene, with his sedentary ways. As Joalene finally walks out on him, Selraybob sees something that will change his life: The two living room clocks, Selraybob notices, are seven minutes apart. Thus begins an all-consuming obsession with the nature of time that finally gets Selraybob out of his lounger. He visits clock shops, reads Stephen Hawking and even takes a road trip to Boulder, Colorado, to visit the atomic clock.

This newfound energy extends to other parts of Selraybob’s life as well: he fixes up his Chevy Corvair, gets a job at the local library, mentors a young boy and schemes to win Joalene back.

The introduction of a shadowy sect of “time fixers,” determined to keep humanity from learning the true nature of time, adds an intriguing element and paves the way for a potential sequel.

Selraybob is loveable and easy-to-root-for, his folksy, first-person narration embued with insatiable curiosity, unexpected wisdom, and endearing self-awareness. (Revisiting the idea that Joalene may have just “settled” when she married him instead of her high school crush, he says: ”[W]hen the guy knows all along that he’s a substitute, he tries like mighty to prove he’s not. He mows the lawn twice a week because she likes it short. He eats broccoli and Brussels sprouts... But the guy never succeeds because his wife’s still got someone else in her head...May as well just take to his lounger and sit.”)

The novel is quirky and picaresque without being tiresome. The author’s command of tone and pacing lends the novel internal consistency and holds together its unpredictable plot.

Fans of Frank Turner Hollon, Michael Kun and other writers who mix whimsy and pathos will find much to love in the novel’s wise humor and satisfyingly bittersweet ending."

STARRED KIRKUS REVIEW:

"A 20-something Missouri man with a penchant for swilling beer on his lounger experiences an epiphany that turns his life around in this fictionalized memoir.

Selraybob peaks when he plays left tackle for the Waketon champion high school football team. Years later, his wife, Joalene, reads him the riot act, walks out the door, and leaves him sitting in his lounger drinking three quarts of beer a day, reminiscing about those glory high school days. Does he indulge in self-pity as he watched her stride away? Of course not. Instead, Sel (as his friends call him) sees two clocks that differ in time by seven minutes, and this observation becomes the inspiration that drives him from his lounger to reclaim his broken life (“What I decided was this: all we’ve been doing when we tell time, since we started telling time, is counting things. That’s it. We’ve been counting”). That may not seem like much, but to Sel this reflection leads him to obsessively read up on time and to formulate his own intriguing theory, which comprises an Everyman’s argument against the ideas of Einstein and Stephen Hawking and all the sophisticated and complex concepts of modern physics. “Time is a Count,” Sel surmises. In this funny, wise, and poignant account, the author, also named Selraybob (There Is No Now, 2011), deftly describes the protagonist’s bracing journey and captivating cohorts. With the help of his best buddy, Herm, Sel fixes up his old, beloved, broken-down car (“She was still beautiful. Sleek and red. A Corvair. But not just any Corvair….This was a 1964 Monza Convertible. Rear engine. Long, straight lines. Not curvy but not boxy. Lean. And misunderstood. She was called dangerous back in the day”). He wants to hot-rod around town and keep an eye on Joalene; he thinks she was having an affair with Reggie, Herm’s brother, the star quarterback the author protected back in his football days. As Sel embarks on rollicking escapades while skillfully unraveling the mystery of time, Herm’s beautiful wife gives him some much-needed backup. Written in a distinctive, plain style that calls to mind Mark Twain, this book should touch and entertain readers with its self-deprecating humor and deep perceptions that penetrate to the root of the Midwest American male character.

A piquant and fun romp that recounts the misadventures of a beer drinker who proves to be as insightful as he is amusing."

March - June, 2018 — Pre-paperback

Build Basics
Solicitation of formal reviews for independent publishers, including Clarion/Foreword, BlueInk, Kirkus, and Publishers Weekly (Three down, PW to go, if they so choose)
Development of author web-site, Twitter profile and Facebook page. (complete / on-going)

June-July, 2018 — Paperback Release

Selraybob Awareness
Global on-line campaign reaching as many people worldwide as possible.
Facebook ads (on-going)
Google ads (scheduled)
Organic Twitter promotion through existing profiles (50,000+ followers)

Targeted Campaigns
Targeted on-line ad campaign focusing on potential buyers (literary fiction and humor), primarily through Facebook, Google Adwords and Goodreads
Beginning June 28
July — September, 2018 — Post paperback publication.
Print/online ads targeting potential buyers through outlets such as New York Review of Books and Booklist.
Specific outlet promotion through Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other retailers.