An Open Letter to British Petroleum (BP)

Dear BP,

That was not nice! Isn't it enough that you've polluted the ocean, massacred wildlife, and destroyed people's businesses?

Now you have to go after me? I'm also a Brit, in case you weren't aware.

Am I really such a threat? I know, I know, the pen is mightier than the oil drill, but do you really feel so threatened by the onslaught of literature?

Oilspill dotcom isn't even about you. It could be, and I wouldn't be surprised if one day it will be, but I was having a go at McDonald's. Honest. I happen to love the rain forests as well as the oceans.

I sell most of my books over the Internet. It’s the only way. I have a full time job running a non-profit that supports students. And they will, unfortunately, all be driving oil-fueled cars in the very near future, so you could see me as a stakeholder of sorts.

Did you really have to buy up ALL the 'oil spill' search words from Google? Now all those literature lovers are going to get distracted by apologies to the tarred brown pelicans and your explanations for why BP shares aren't performing as well as one might expect.

Poor buggers. They just wanted to buy a novel to read on the beach (a tar ball-free one) this summer, enjoy reading some humor, sex, and politics. Solid summer reading that QUESTIONS THE UNCHECKED POWERS OF MULTINATIONALS!

Oilspill dotcom confronts the issue of freedom of speech and you buy up all search words to control what people see on the Internet – the final frontier of freedom – do you even see the irony?

BTW - there is also a small company down in West Chester, PA. They clean up oil spills and their business URL is http://www.oilspill.com/ I wish their business well. I hope they don't rely too much on the Internet for business referrals. Hey, perhaps you could become a client!

Your Internet Competitor,
Alon
http://www.alonshalev.com/

Breaking News!

The ink is drying on the contract. My novel, Oilspill dotcom has been picked up by Three Clover Press. The book will see a new round of editing, receive a new cover, new title and new author (okay - I got carried away at the end).

The new title will be The Accidental Activist, emphasizing the role and transformation of my protagonist from a self-absorbed computer programmer to a social activist.

The cover, still not finalized, will show him staring up at the towers of corporate America. I am really enjoying working with the graphic designer and would be happy to recommend her to other authors.

One exciting aspect for me is that my book will now be available in the UK. When it first came out, the publisher Booksurge put it up on Amazon.co.uk. Weeks later they closed their European operations. And Oilspill dotcom was just about to storm the bestsellers list! Seriously, with the novel based upon the McDonald's libel trial that happened in London, I had high hopes of making a splash in England.

Other developments will include creating a broader Internet presence. The Three Clover Press president is a firm believer in blogging and has the experience (and statistics) to back it. In August I will launch a new blog that will cover West Coast voices who use literature and culture as a source for social justice. The blog will be on Word Press and I am already writing posts so that I can quickly make a splash.

The release date is scheduled for the NCIBA Trade Show in the beginning of October. But hold on to your copy of Oilspill dotcom. When I win the Nobel Prize for Literature, it will be a collectors item (as solid as most other investments these days!).

I'm stoked!
Have a great week,
Alon
http://www.alonshalev.com/

Making a clown out of Ronald McDonald

April 1st, 2010

I came across the following post yesterday:
April Fools? Group Calls for Ronald McDonald’s Retirement
Written by Free Audio Books - Free audiobooks on March 31, 2010 – 11:13 pm -

A nonprofit consumer rights group argues that Ronald McDonald is hardly a good example to children and, in fact, has played a leading role in the country’s current epidemic of obesity and diet-related diseases, says Corporate Accountability for International.

Now the group says it’s time — long-past time, perhaps — the clown packed up his over-sized shoes and messy red wig and retired.

“McDonald’s, and its iconic clown, is not only the face of the epidemic: it is the engine behind it. No corporation has done more to hook kids on unhealthy food,” said Stacey Folsom, spokeswoman for Corporate Accountability International. SF Gate

Truth is, Ronald McDonald is no stranger to controversy. In the McLibel trial (rumored to be the real story behind my latest novel, Oilspill dotcom), one of the defendants shared his rage at the clown appearing at a birthday party and at a public school event. When the verdict came down, McDonalds lost the point that claimed they advertise to children.

However, my favorite anecdote was when the original Ronald McDonald went vegetarian. Of course, McDonalds took him to court and attempted to force him to eat his words. They did succeed in preventing him from ever donning his McMakeup again.

Thank you to all who congratulated me on reaching the final 250 entries of the 2010 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Please do click on the link and leave a comment, review etc.

Good Writing,
Alon
http://www.alonshalev.com/

The Elevator Pitch

I am sitting in SFO, waiting for a flight out to Baltimore. I will attend a conference for work (my other life), and will share, at every opportunity, my forthcoming novel, Oilspill dotcom. I realize that they will ask what it’s about, and I will only have a minute or so to explain.

This is called The Elevator Pitch, where you only have the time it takes for an elevator to travel a few floors, to tell your story. I’ve been working on mine for a while, but it still doesn’t come out of my mouth fluently.

Oilspill dotcom is a political courtroom confrontation wherein a multinational corporation tries to silence two young idealists, who level the playing field using a new emerging tool: the Internet.

It is a fictional drama that closely parallels the McDonald's libel case, which captivated England through the 1990’s.

It is a work in process and I will surely change it as I practice (I made about four changes just now!). I would appreciate any feedback or improvements that you might have and will share with you its evolution.

I will be home from the conference on Friday – in time for another blog!

Good Writing,

Alon