MADE IN AMERICA (or How The Book Saved America)

Darrell James

All this past week, ABC World News with Diane Sawyer has been reporting on Made In America, a patriotic movement to encourage Americans to spend their Holiday dollars on products made in America. From renewing our infatuation with the Slinky, to rewrapping our fingers around a Louisville Slugger, all in an effort to inspire American jobs for American workers.

ABC World News website states: “The average American will spend $700 on holiday gifts and goodies this year, totaling more than $465 billion, the National Retail Federation estimates. If that money was spent entirely on US made products it would create 4.6 million jobs. But it doesn't even have to be that big. If each of us spent just $64 on American made goods during our holiday shopping, the result would be 200,000 new jobs. Now we want to know, are you in? If so, we want to hear from you. How are you planning on spending your $64?”

Well, here’s a thought: “Books” by American writers, published in America, are 100% American made. From the authors themselves, to the house that publishes them, to the printers, to the distributors, to the book retailers, paid reviewers, and even those who report on books, owe their job, all or in part, to the BOOK. American paper suppliers and lumberjacks also benefit when the book is released in print. UPS Drivers, Mail Carriers--they all get a piece of the action.

When a book winds up gift wrapped beneath the tree, it comes with America’s finger prints (figuratively, if not literally) all over it.

This, of course, is the economic view point. But consider what the gift of a book does for the recipient. It offers knowledge, entertainment, inspires imagination, and sometimes provides hope. Hope! How much closer to the spirit of the holidays can one gift be?

I often give books as presents. It’s one of my favorite things to give. But this year, I’m making a special effort to offer the gift of books to everyone I can. So, yes, count me in! A book is a wonderful, sometimes wondrous, thing.

What about you? Will you be giving books for the holidays? (Some bindery worker in Poughkeepsie may well be counting on it.)

Darrell James is an American author. His novel, Nazareth Child, was recently released by Midnight Ink, Llewellyn Worldwide, an American publisher. It is available from American bookstores and through American online retailers. “Come on America! Buy a book!”

Have I said enough?

To see the whole story and watch the video go to ABC World News with Diane Sawyer.

MOVING AHEAD SO LIFE WON'T PASS ME BY

Darrell James

My decision to become a writer, sixteen years ago, wasn’t exactly an off-the-wall idea, conceived of inebriation and flight of fancy. In fact, in part, it was a premeditated choice based on some long-held attitudes. Yes, I had a passion for writing, a yearning for creativity. But I was also looking for something to do, that I could imagine myself doing the rest of my life.

So, many of my friends claimed that they couldn’t wait for retirement so they could play golf four or five days a week. And while I love a good round on the links as much as anybody, I couldn’t imagine my days with nothing better to do than play.

Maybe it was the Jim Croce lyric that echoes: "...moving ahead so life won't pass me by..." that was stuck in my head. But, see, I’ve always loved to work. And, I’ve known for many years that I wouldn’t be happy with the traditional idea of retirement. (Which for me is synonymous with having no particular purpose for life.)

Now, that may sound judgemental, maybe cynical, but I’ve seen far too many of my peers drop out of the workplace only to find their days spent in the recliner, consumed with CNN and Sports Central. It just isn’t for me.

So, when I set out to become a writer, it was with the idea that writing was something I could do well into my twilight years.

Elmore Leonard quickly became my model of success. Elmore is 86 years old, to date, and he still turns out a book (or more) a year. In his time, he’s published more than forty novels and numerous short stories. His stories have been made into moves, adapted for television. And he is revered and respected, at his age, by virtually every writer and reader of contemporary crime fiction.






I just turned sixty-five and my first novel was released in September. It is part of the longterm (and longtime) plan that I have constructed for my life. To write well into my seventies, eighties, perhaps beyond. Whatever success I may achieve along the way is mostly secondary. See, for me, it’s the work that counts. It’s the sustainment of purpose. It’s the living of life in a meaningful way that’s important.

I know I’m not the only one to harbor such beliefs. ABC World News, in fact, just ran a story of senior adults working well into their nineties and beyond. The sentiments that many of the seniors had for continuing their work efforts mostly echoed my own. But there also seemed to be a plausabilty to it that suggested that their lifetime of experience contributed strongly to their life satisfaction. Quite simply, they “felt good” about the work they do.



I feel good about the work I do. And, health and other influences aside, I hope I will be able to write for many years to come. The reward comes along the way, not at the end of the journey, I believe.

It comes with living ones life with purpose.

Darrell James is the author of NAZARETH CHILD, a debut Del Shannon novel, released in September by Llewellyn Worldwide Publishing. It is available in bookstores and from online retailers, in trade paperback and all popular electronic formats. SONORA CROSSING, book two in the Del Shannon series, is scheduled for release in September next year.