Shameless Self Promotion

I know you come to this blog for enlightenment on mental health issues from a science-based perspective. This post will be a bit of departure from that ...

As those of you who follow my personal social media presence already know, I have completed and published three novels about the evolution of a gangster from 12 years of age to 52, all three stories told in the voice of the protagonist; Denny. They are ;

Little Gangsters

(1959)

Bigger Gangsters

(1969)

Millennial Gangsters

(1999)

I’m currently working on a fourth book in the series titled;

Gangster’s Girl

(2015)

... told in the voice of Jessie, Denny’s adopted daughter who is on the verge of becoming a psychologist but is forced to take a little detour.

For those who know me personally, the first book - Little Gangsters - is semi-autobiographical and based on my childhood in East Vancouver.  Yes, my grandmother was a bootlegger; yes, we were connected to one of three powerful crime organizations in Vancouver; and yes, I grew up not knowing that most of the adults in my life were career criminals. Even when I grew old enough to understand these things I couldn’t reconcile other people’s opinions about the gangsters I knew - I only saw men who lived, laughed, and loved large, and were devoted husbands and fathers, not the criminal reprobates so many labeled them as.

All three novels are published online as ebooks, and I have done my best to ensure each one can stand on its own and doesn’t require you to read the book that precedes it, although you may have more insight into Denny’s evolution and life-long search for love and belonging if you do.

So, dear reader, this is where you come in, and here is where I make my ask;

I need help to build interest in the books, and the best way to build interest is to sell copies and to have people rate and critique them in the comments section of the online stores that carry them.

I promise you; the books are entertaining; they will tell you stories about being a gangster you’ve never heard before; and - going by the responses of the few friends who have read them - they will make you laugh, make you cry, and hopefully help you come to the realization that gangsters are just like the rest of us; human beings who love and mourn, who have aspirations and self-doubt, who question their abilities and their morality, and have a burning desire to keep the people they love safe.

The characters you will meet are not free of mental health issues either, and the stories explore addiction, dissociation, post-traumatic stress, anxiety, panic disorder, depression, suicidal ideation, unresolved grief and all the human conditions that sometimes plague each of us.

I encourage you to visit the website; GangsterStory and read the synopsis for each book, and if you like what you see, to read the sample chapters provided there, and if it seems like a good investment (each book costs less than a cup of coffee at Starbucks) then click on the links at the bottom of website that will lead you to a page where you can visit your preferred online ebook store where you can buy one or all of my books.  Or you can click on any of the book titles below for the same options;

Little Gangsters

Bigger Gangsters

Millennial Gangsters

You’ll notice that different retailers charge different amounts for my books despite me setting a low price, and for those of you without a credit card, Kobo will accept PayPal for purchases.

So, please have a look at GangsterStory and if it leads you to purchase one or all the books in this saga, please know it will mean the world to me.

Best regards,

Aaron D McClelland