I spent a few hours this week attempting to
assist my publisher, Dr. Ken Tupper, Owner/Founder of Divertir Publishing, with
the cover for my next book release.
We’re trying to find just the right design for my short story
collection, Invisible Society Fables, soon to be published (June, I hope I
hope I hope or maybe July, rats). The
book is about people who are homeless and
others who interact and try to work with them. Taking classic
fables, Aesop’s and others, I summarize them at the start of each story along with
their morals, then re-create the fables into current homeless situations while
maintaining those morals. Dr. Tupper and his editing staff voted to
donate 100% of their proceeds from book sales to the charity of my
choice: I chose the Midway Shelter in Alameda. Invisible
Society Fables will be the third in their line-up for which they
will donate their profits. I am so proud
of that and very grateful, to say the least!
So, laptop and Internet access in hand (and in The
Cloud?), I searched world-wide, really, world-wide, for a cool cover
picture. I ultimately discovered so much
in my search, from dealing with copyright infringement issues, to all-out
hunting for free public use photography sites, to navigating electronic picture
galleries, to experiencing thousands of pictures depicting the plight of
homeless people in every nook and cranny on Earth. It wasn’t all that cool, it was downright
disheartening. Homeless people
everywhere, singles, couples, families, babies taking care of babies, grandmas
leaning on grandpas, all ages, all colors, all shapes and sizes. In many of the pictures, I wouldn’t even have known
a person was homeless or not if not for their chosen nesting spot on the
street/overpass/subway/park bench, the filth, the garbage bags and grocery
carts, but mostly the haunting look in their eyes. Lost and nowhere to go - that’s a telling
look, I swear.
But, here was my most important discovery, maybe
more the unearthing of an important question.
I was on that search for cover art, the target idea:
A homeless person on the street with
others just passing by, not looking, not seeing, not helping. Just ignoring. That attitude makes the homeless person
disappear, become invisible right, and that disappearing act will be depicted
in the picture? Yes, maybe, and also no.
Yes, it’s a classic move by many to ignore that
dirty, cold, hungry, maybe loud maybe stupefied person sitting on the street,
right in your path to work, school, shopping, a night out, whatever. Maybe if you don’t acknowledge them and don’t
respond to them, well then nothing bad is going to happen, you can avoid any
issues, literally sidestep confrontation, if you will; and hey, you’re a kind
person, you do try to help in other ways anyway. But, out here, come on, you’ve got to be
somewhere, get someplace, train to catch, meeting, pick up, hurry up, gotta,
shoulda, havta. Really no time to help
now, but later, for sure, always. Please
just let me pass, I’ll ignore you, please ignore me. Just be a good person and be invisible for a
minute until I pass, okay? Groovy.
So, in doing that – and, yeah, I do that, too –
who really winds up invisible? The
homeless person dealing with a horrible situation or you and me hiding in plain
sight?
+ + + + +
Announcement!
My book, Slow Pitch Softball – More Than Just a Game,
will be on display in the Independent Book Publishers of America booth:
May 29 to
May 31, at BookExpo America, New York, NY – The #1 Book and Author Event in the
Country (in 2013, over 20,000 attendees from 48 states and 82 countries) – This is over and they had a huge
turn-out! Many articles and comments about this great event on-line.
June 28 to
July 1, at The American Association of Librarians Annual Conference, Las Vegas,
NV –
The oldest & largest library association in the World (in 2013, over 26,000
attendees from 48 states and 82 countries). NEXT UP!!!
Check it out if you’re around one of those great
cities and love books. Unfortunately,
only my book will be on display, I will be at home!!! Please see more at my website: www.philcanalin.com
