Yes.  I’ve brought my friend again.  You remember Direct Actions.  Direct Actions, you remember my friends at The Booman Tribune.

[Potential readers, somewhat charmed after their first meeting with the book, share a polite handshake with the now eager novel.  Fade to black.]

Okay.  This whole bumping into my novel is getting old, right?  He looks kind of like an action novel.  (Chuckle).  And he looks a bit green.  Is that novel going to be okay?

But there is new and exciting news.  So how else am I going to tell you?  The book is now available at the Boo Store.

Sure.  It’s not like news of an indictment being returned against a high government official.  But it’s something to PISS the time away, isn’t it?

And speaking of Karl Rove, I thought I might take this opportunity to introduce you to the bad guy of Direct Actions, here, in this edition of — “Characters You Can Grow To Hate.”

Let me set this up.  Kurt Bishop is the chief-of-staff to Gov. Howell.  He learns about an old acquaintance from law school who is defending an accused terrorist.  And he takes the case to his boss, with a mind to settle old scores.

Bishop saw his opening with Howell.  He worked hard, cared about no one, and earned a spot as Howell’s top aide in Washington after the election.  In two short terms he had helped Howell hone his natural image.  Then they set their sights on, and captured, the governor’s office.  It was a natural stepping stone if they were going to take a shot at the presidency.  Bishop was pleased with his plush office next to the governor, but he often day dreamed of a desk very close to the Oval Office.

Bishop may not have been the editor of the law review, but he had an uncommon political sense that most lawyers never possess.  And while it brought a thin smile to his fleshy face to see Jefferson representing such an unpopular cause, and doing a poor job of it at that, Bishop saw an even greater good in the developing story.

*

“I think I may have something,” Bishop said, slapping the folded press report in his hand and setting it down before the governor.  “Just off the wire today.”

He gave Howell five silent minutes to read the news brief before launching in.

“It’s not an action issue, really,” said Bishop.  “You come out with some policy aimed at this problem — maybe a legislative proposal — and whether there is action or not, it lets you take a stand against terrorism at the state level.”

“God,” said Howell,  “I don’t want to get stuck on some environmental issue.  Have you seen the negatives for us on that stuff?”

“Yeah.  I know the numbers are bad on green issues.  But that’s the beauty of it.  This case will take the edge off those numbers, I think.  Make the tree-huggers into terrorists.”

“I don’t know,” said Howell.

“Well, let’s release a statement condemning this act of eco-terrorism,” said Bishop.  “And I’ll get Artie to take some numbers on how it goes over.”

“All right,” said Howell, stifling a yawn.  “I guess that can’t hurt.  But let me see the release before it goes.  Anything I can’t bump for today?”

Bishop helped the governor clear his schedule.  He was pleased he could stick it to Jeremy Jefferson and carve out a nice wedge issue at the same time.  Politics was a wonderfully harmonious game, he thought.

Is this how future indictees get their start?  Innocent toying with the lives of others for petty satisfaction.  Hmmm.  We’ll see I guess.

Okay.  A couple of quick notes, and I’m out of here.

Some cool stuff.  Despite the book’s own reluctance to endorse the global economy, it is in fact now being sold in the global economy, as evidenced by this Italian book site.  (I had to give you the cached version — for some reason the original site is not accessible now.)

And the Italians have made me a liar, to boot.  Probably retaliation for my country’s shooting their intelligence agent earlier this year.  Booman is no longer the cheapest place to get the book.  These Mafia types are selling my book cheaper than a knock-off Prada purse on the streets of NYC.  36,870 Lira for the hardcover.  21,580 Lira for the trade paperback.  $16.99/$9.97 according to exchange rates a couple of days ago.  Now I’m going to need Bondad to figure out these royalty amounts.

It has also become available, earlier than expected on Barnes and Noble.com and Borders.  I think these major retailers, with their ability to force discounts, might end up being cheaper than the Boo Store, too.  I just don’t know with shipping and all that.

And then there is my second favorite place to get the book, next to the Boo Store, at this website:

www.savezeb.com

If you read the book, you too will grow to love Save Zeb, I think.

Okay.  I might have time for a couple of quick questions before I go out into the wide world and shill my book.  But let me make it very clear at the outset, that as there is an ongoing investigation about whether I lied to you all the other day about Booman offering the lowest price.  The special prosecutor has requested that I not comment on this matter, and I will respect that request.

Update [2005-10-20 11:10:8 by BostonJoe]:: The scandal on pricing grows somewhat. I think the weight of book is listed too high (at 24.5 pounds as opposed to actual weight of less than 2). So, don’t pay the $40 shipping. I’ve e-mailed the store. It takes some time to fix — give it a day — or until Monday even. And I’m sure it will get corrected. Store guy is great, but definitely has a bunch of real world responsibilities to attend to. So, as in all things, patience. And thanks for all the support on diaries and stuff. You’re all too kind.

Update [2005-10-20 11:21:22 by BostonJoe]: This is from Wolverine Writer, down below, the store proprietor. So I include it here. He’s way faster than I thought possible. Thanks.

“Ok, a couple of things regarding the store. The store site absolutely will not calculate “zero” shipping charges unless I trick it–and 24.5 lbs. is the “magic weight”. So, when you go to check out, the weight chart will display some unreasonable charge for shipping, but when you push past to the next screen your shipping charge will be zero. Also true for the bumper stickers for sale on the site.

Another note–the stickers were dreamed up as a way for people to “support” the site legally–Boo cannot take donations directly, but he can sell slightly pricey stickers.”

Update [2005-10-20 11:51:21 by BostonJoe]:: Last update. I wanted to share this from Wolverine Writer. I think it explains the shipping thing well. “Shipping isn’t forty dollars, its free. 24.5 lbs is the magic number at
the site for free shipping to calculate correctly. If they go through
checkout it will calculate and display correctly.” So good luck.