1. If Tony Soprano is alive, and for better or worse we know his mortality will always be in question (I vote for “better” myself), he might have opened up Friday’s edition of the Ledger and read a story about a South Korean author.

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2. That’s me with my Troy Polamalu impression.  The photo was taken in Long Branch, by the piers, for a story with a rather long title:

South Korean man draws on his experience of immigrating to Jersey as basis for award-winning book and his coming to terms with his cultural differences

It’s strange to read about yourself on paper.  Mostly, what I feel is a sense of dissociation, that the person the reporter is talking about is not me.  Yet there I am, sharing the name and the visage with this character, and possessing a personal history not unlike my own.  Yes, this is my story, but in order to create the most compelling drama, stresses have been placed on certain facets of my life while other parts were minimized or not mentioned.

In addition, as a writer, what I feel is powerlessness.  I’m used to being the one in control of the written word, but in this case, I’m standing on the other side of the glass, looking in.

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3. It finally happened, as I knew it would at some point — you can now buy a copy of my book in hardcover for a penny from Amazon!  Of course shipping cost is about 400 times that amount, but hey, it’s nonetheless a genuine bargain.