Welcome to My Journey!

As you may know by now, I am about to become a published author! As of tonight, I have signed the contracts with BearManor Media (the Publisher) to get my first book published.

It will be called The Omni-Directional Three-Dimensional Vectoring Paper Printed Omnibus for Bewitched Analysis a.k.a. The Bewitched History Book. "The what?!" you may be asking. Well, for those of you not very familiar with Bewitched, let me explain....

In the Seventh Season episode "Sam's Psychic Pslip" Durwood a.k.a. Darrin calls on Dr. Bombay to find his witch wife Samantha as she's gone shopping and may be in trouble. Dr. Bombay zaps in a psychedelic one-handed clock-looking contraption which Durwood questions. He is told it is an omni-directional three-dimensional vectoring cadmium shielded computer for location analysis. "A what," Durwood asks. The witch doctor begins again to repeat the unusual name only for Durwood to interrupt him by asking what it does. ("It's a witch hunter. It tells you which witch went which way.") When I first saw this scene many years ago I couldn't stop laughing at how crazy the name was and how Bernard Fox (Dr. Bombay) could've remembered such an intricate name.

When I first submitted the idea to BearManor, I hadn't named the book yet and for some reason the witch hunter's name kept coming to mind. It then occured to me that my book was "omni-directional" in that I not only discussed Bewitched, but I also integrated world events that were happening at the time an episode aired. It was also "three-dimensional" considering it's a physical object; "vectoring" because of how I would tie in many points to one episode or idea; however, instead of "cadmium shielded" I realized my book was going to be "paper printed" and not so much a computer as an "omnibus"--a volume of works related in interest or theme--a very scientific sounding name like what Dr. Bombay would've used for his inventions; and not "for location analysis" but "for Bewitched analysis." It was perfect! Especially considering my online persona in the Bewitched fan community was Dr. Bombay.

Which brings me to the origin of the book...back in 2004 the show was coming up on it's 40th anniversary since the premiere and shockingly no media outlet was celebrating it, though shows like I Love Lucy and the Brady Bunch received TV specials and books, etc. I was a frequent contributor to the message board at HarpiesBizarre.com (named after a witch's magazine on the show) and so on September 17, 2004, the actual 40th anniversary date, I posted about how 40 years ago we would've turned into ABC-TV's newest show and been introduced to the beautiful witch Samantha, her mortal husband Darrin, and her indominable mother Endora. I decided to keep honoring the show each week after on the next episode's anniversary and so it went.

In 2005, to coincide with the release of the Bewitched movie, Sony released the First Season of the show on DVD and my good friend and huge Bewitched fan, Sharon, decided we should have Bewitched club which is very much like a book club but instead of reading we would be watching and discussing every episode. This was quite interesting as there were things about the episodes which I had never noticed that she may have or vice versa. As the 40 Years Ago posts continued I also decided it was interesting to note what would've been happening that evening as the show took place during a very active time in American history.

A couple years ago several of my readers asked if I had plans to print my posts in a book, which I had never thought of. I said I would look into it but I brushed it aside as it seemed a very far shot.

In the fall of 2010, X-Factor mentor and pop star Paula Abdul, whom I love more than I love Bewitched, encouraged us fans to set goals and go after our dreams, no matter how big. I decided that maybe publishing the book would be the way to go as my readers still kept inquiring about it and I have always wanted to have a book published just to have the thrill of seeing it on the book shelves. I began the process of collecting all my postings, and having to rewrite the first two seasons as I stupidly hadn't kept those. In January 2011 I decided to submit my idea to BearManor Media who focuses on old TV shows and movies and mainly radio stars. I was shocked beyond belief when Ben Ohmart, the president of the company, said it sounded interesting and he wanted to get feedback from an unknown Bewitched fan. Shortly thereafter he said we should go for it and so began the process of editing the huge manuscript.

Of course, regular life had to interrupt and so it took almost a year, but just last month I sent the finished manuscript to the type-setter and just signed the contracts tonight to send tomorrow.

I do not know a publication date as of yet, however, that's why I decided to start a blog about the book, to keep you all updated as to it's progress so you'll be the first to know.

I'm very excited about all this as it's a brand new experience! And it feels so good to be achieving a dream!