Hey 3.5 readers.
Your old pal, BQB, here.
Well, I finally did it. I finally self-published a full-length novel. Previously, I have put up short stories and a book of writing prompts, but now I can officially call myself a novelist.
What is it about?
During the height of the pandemic, like many of you, I survived on food deliveries. You download the app. You put down what you want but um…well let’s just say pre-pandemic, it worked out better. The shopper would actually bring the bags into the house, lug them into the kitchen, go over with you any errors and settle up.
Post pandemic? They just whip at your door going 90 mph down the road and if you got 10 percent of anything right, you’re lucky.
I was amazed at how orders that seemed very clear turned out so wrong. Order an apple? You might get an apple or you might get an apple pie, an apple turnover, an Apple computer, a CD of Fiona Apple’s greatest hits, a bottle of Snapple, or maybe even something that has no tangential connection to apples at all and you just sit there wondering how the shopper saw “apple” and how they made the series of mental backflips that led to them delivering a pair of hiking boots to your door.
Anyway, fun thing about being an aspiring writer. You see a potential for a story in everything. The idea formed. What if you were an employee for an online shopping service? What if you had a customer who was ordering weird, suspicious stuff?
A year post college graduation, Steve Anderson can’t find a job even with a BS in Philosophy from a college of ill repute. Desperate for dough, he slings grocery bags for the online shopping service Shop Buddy. When a strange old man begins ordering the bizarre – knives, power tools, axes, chains, rope, etc. Steve’s ex-girlfriend turned current boss is very suspicious while Steve remains blissfully oblivious.
Anyway, it was fun to write and all in all, it took about a year. I hope you fine 3.5 readers will lend all 7 of your eyes to it.
Bookshelf Battle 