Writing Books that Publishers are Afraid to Publish
By
Neil Ostroff
When I started writing DEGENERATES I knew it would be a hard sell to the traditional publishing community. It’s a dark novel filled with drug use, hard luck stories, and the grim realities faced by a segment of the population that mainstream society tends to dismiss.
Being in the restaurant business for more than twenty years gave me the unique opportunity to work with people from all walks of life; addicts, ex-strippers, people struggling to get through the daily grind. Working side by side with these people left impressions on me that I knew had to be put to paper.
With DEGENERATES I was lucky enough to score a top New York agent who meticulously shopped the raw manuscript to various publishing houses. The reaction was always the same. “Too intense, too dark for the mainstream population.” Thus, the manuscript was shelved.
But it would not die. The characters would call to me in the middle of the night, begging me to give them life. That’s when I decided to self-publish DEGENERATES.
The book is a cacophony of the hundreds of sick, twisted, sometimes heart-wrenching stories my co-workers would tell me about their lives. From the seventeen-year-old who prostituted herself for drug money, to the young wife on the streets after leaving her abusive husband, to the struggling, alcoholic writer. They are united in a restaurant named City Café.
Just surviving isn’t enough for this crew, however, as they are tested to their limits when a psychotic young man is hired to wash dishes. Just when their lives seem on pace with success, a string of horrific episodes nearly destroys them all. I hope you enjoy DEGENERATES.
http://www.amazon.com/Degenerates-N-D-Ostroff/dp/1440173028/ref%3Dsr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1299436405&sr=8-3
