Charlie Carillo's Blog - Posts Tagged "second-chances"
Hooray for Second Chances!
Have you heard that old story about the prizefighter who believes he hung up his gloves too soon, makes a comeback - and gets knocked down in the first round?
Well, this is the story of a literary comeback, and I'm hoping to take it the full fifteen rounds.
My novel "Shepherd Avenue" was published 31 years ago to a string of good reviews. It's the story of a shy, sheltered ten-year-old boy whose tranquil suburban life is shattered when his mother dies. His dad flips out and heads cross-country - but not before dumping the kid off to spend a wild summer with his Italian-American grandparents in a rough Brooklyn neighborhood.
The New York Times said it had "terrific force," and "Shepherd Avenue" got optioned to the movies a few times. I was lucky enough to get hired to write the script, and the money came in handy when my son was born.
Sadly, the movie wasn't made, the book went out of print, and that was that.
Or was it?
I refused to believe it. I wrote a sequel set fifty years later, "Return To Shepherd Avenue." They liked it at Kensington Books - so now "Shepherd Avenue" is getting new life on April 4th, to be followed by "Return To Shepherd Avenue" in June.
As someone once said, it ain't over 'til it's over. Shepherd Avenue
Well, this is the story of a literary comeback, and I'm hoping to take it the full fifteen rounds.
My novel "Shepherd Avenue" was published 31 years ago to a string of good reviews. It's the story of a shy, sheltered ten-year-old boy whose tranquil suburban life is shattered when his mother dies. His dad flips out and heads cross-country - but not before dumping the kid off to spend a wild summer with his Italian-American grandparents in a rough Brooklyn neighborhood.
The New York Times said it had "terrific force," and "Shepherd Avenue" got optioned to the movies a few times. I was lucky enough to get hired to write the script, and the money came in handy when my son was born.
Sadly, the movie wasn't made, the book went out of print, and that was that.
Or was it?
I refused to believe it. I wrote a sequel set fifty years later, "Return To Shepherd Avenue." They liked it at Kensington Books - so now "Shepherd Avenue" is getting new life on April 4th, to be followed by "Return To Shepherd Avenue" in June.
As someone once said, it ain't over 'til it's over. Shepherd Avenue
