#WhatsYourStory Featuring Brian Kaufman

Brian Kaufman is curriculum editor for an online junior college. He has published four novels, two textbooks and a number of novellas. In other universes, he is a pro wrestler, a radio talk show host and a heavy metal guitarist. In this universe, he lives with his wife and dog in the Colorado mountains, avoiding moderation and any pretense of maturity.

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My love of books grew out of weekly trips to the library with my father. The local library proved to be too small, so every Monday night, we made the hour drive to the Cleveland Public Library, a huge old building with multiple floors and wings. There, I found vast, unattended areas stuffed full of books written by dead people. Quiet, shadowy aisles full of Poe, Lovecraft and Shelly made me a lifetime fan of dark fiction.

When people talk about the feel and smell of a real book, I think of that library and the odors of leather, mildew and dust. And I think of the quiet.

My goal was to read seven books a week. I kept pace for years, until baseball practice began cutting into reading time. (Dad helped with baseball, too. We played catch after dinner every night, weather be damned. I didn’t learn how little he cared for the sport until years later.)

Baseball aside, I don’t think I’ve ever gone a week without reading at least one book. Back then, I read everything. I gravitated toward age-inappropriate material. My father borrowed our books on his library card, so he knew what I was reading. Much to my relief, he never commented on my choices beyond suggesting additional titles.

When I was twelve, I announced my intention to earn my living in professional sports. My father suggested that I might need a backup plan, so I began writing. If not center fielder for the Yankees, then a best-selling author, right? Later, when I married and the need for a backup plan became more immediate, he explained that writing for a living was like “winning the lottery.” He suggested ways to pursue a dream in my spare time, beginning with the need to make spare time available. I had a craft to learn, and a million words to write.

Through the administrations of eleven different Presidents, I’ve learned a few things more:

• Persist. My first published novel (The Breach, Last Knight Publishing) earned 103 rejections slips before seeing print.
  
• Don’t Stop Learning. When my dream stalled out, I quit my job and earned a degree in literature from Colorado State, graduating at the age of 47. That was just the start.
  
• Meet other Authors. I belong to two critique groups. I correspond with dozens of writers via email. I attend book signings. My favorite signing featured author and filmmaker Clive Barker. He was rock-star cool, and he shared my love of Tab, a vaguely cola-like diet beverage. Watching him slam can after can somehow convinced me that I, too, could become an author.
  
• Be a Businessperson. When I got that impossible “lottery ticket” writing job (I write and edit textbooks), I learned that writing doesn’t happen when the muse strikes—it happens when you plant your butt in a chair.
  
• Read and Write Outside Your Comfort Zone. Much of my writing reflects the dark nights in the Cleveland library, but there’s much to be said for stretching. I’ve written poetry and accounting texts. Historical fiction and tales of the zombie apocalypse.
  

This last piece of advice informed my most recent efforts. My parents suffered eventual health setbacks that convinced me of my own mortality. Mom passed last year, and Dad followed her shortly thereafter. Having carried some “bucket list books” in the back of my head for decades, I decided to tackle the stories I’d always meant to tell, but somehow put off. I started with The Fat Lady’s Low, Sad Song--a tale about baseball, the passion for a fading dream, and saying goodbye to the people and things you love. ​

The Fat Lady's Low, Sad Song

Courtney Morgan is a female knuckle-ball pitcher trying to break into professional baseball. Parker Westfall is an aging slugger with one last chance at the ultimate carrot—a spot on a major-league roster. She’s gorgeous, and he’s having the season of his life. Together, they’ll try to change a losing team’s fortunes on their way to the big show. But when tragedy strikes, will their dreams still matter? The Fat Lady’s Low, Sad Song is about what it means to be part of a team, and part of a community in the heartbreaking world of minor league ball.

"An entertaining, sweetly atmospheric baseball story."
~Kirkus Reviews







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Where to Buy The Fat Lady's Low, Sad Song

Amazon