Denver, CO
Here's answers to frequently asked questions that you might have
about the new novel with a quickie Q & A and FAQ about THE KICKER...
Q. What is THE KICKER about?
A. Here's the tagline:
Former college football kicker Chilly Waters thought his playing days were far behind him. But when his friends challenge him to a bet to kick a field goal in a snowstorm, a video of the moment goes viral, changing Chilly's life forever. Almost overnight, the 42 year-old single father goes from running a pest control company to kicking for the Colorado Blizzard, his hometown professional football team. However, when Chilly and his teammates are approached by criminal entities to fix games, he's sucked into the dirty underbelly of sports gambling and forced to make a monumental decision.
Here's my elevator pitch:
What happens when a 40-something single father and rookie kicker is approached by criminals to fix a football game?Q. What is THE KICKER really about?A. It's a novel that explores proliferation of legalized sports betting and the underbelly of gambling world. Like my previous three novels, THE KICKER also delves into celebrity culture.
My most recent novels have a similar theme with creatives being crushed by the gears of capitalism. The characters are vying for survival while they're stuck in the crossroad of art and commerce, whether it was the music industry (FRIED PEACHES), the 1990s NYC art scene (GUARD THIS), or on the fringes of Hollywood (FADED).
With THE KICKER, I wanted to focus on the impact of a monumental collision between professional sports and the gambling world.
Q. Is the GIL supposed to be the NFL, or a different pro league?A. I did not want to worry about getting sued by the NFL, so I changed the league to the GIL. It's essentially my version of the NFL. By changing the name of the league and teams, it provided more creative freedom and flexibility. Figuring out team names might've been my favorite part of the project and research.
Instead of the Denver Broncos, the main team is called the Colorado Blizzard. They play in the Mountain Division which also includes the Kansas Twisters, Salt Lake City Angels, and the Albuquerque Aztecs.
Q. What's different between your GIL and the NFL?
A. The GIL is regional based with an Eastern and Western Conference instead of the AFC/NFC. There's only one team in major markets like NYC and LA, which allowed me to add teams to cities that do not have a pro football team or any major sports franchise like El Paso or Louisville. I also made sure Oakland has a team after both the Raiders and A's abandoned the city.
There's also a 16-game season (instead of 17 now in the NFL), and I do not recognize the NFL's new kickoff rule.
Q. Where does THE KICKER take place?
A. Denver, Colorado is the primary location. FADED was my LA novel. New York City, especially NYC in the mid-90s, is where GUARD THIS took place. FRIED PEACHES is considered a road book because every chapter covered a different city while the band was on a tour. Obviously, I wrote about Las Vegas in LOST VEGAS.
Q. How long did it take to write this novel?
A. I began the first draft at the end of 2020, but there was a 3+ year gap before I tackled a second draft. I worked on draft #2 in March/April of 2024 and wrote subsequent drafts in Jan/Feb of 2025. In all, I probably spent six total months writing THE KICKER but it was spread out over 52 months.
Q. Did you really write four other manuscripts between the first draft and final draft of THE KICKER?
A. Yes. Two were published including GUARD THIS and FADED. Two others are unpublished, which are either highly personal (DEBASER) or experimental sci-fi (2088), and I have no intentions to publish either at this moment.
After finishing the first draft of THE KICKER, I had spent three months in early 2021 in research mode (aka reading football books and watching films). However, after rereading the original draft in March 2021, I realized I did not set aside enough time to write the second draft. I had scheduled two weeks off from work, but needed a much bigger block of uninterrupted time. Since I had set aside a two-week writing session, I did not want to squander the opportunity. I needed to come up with something that I could write quickly and decided to experiment with a novelized memoir, or auto-fiction. That's how GUARD THIS was born.
FADED was another project that materialized quickly in the summer of 2023. Once we published FADED in early 2024, I set aside an unlimited amount of time to delve into the second draft of THE KICKER. I let the second draft marinate on a shelf for nine months before revisiting THE KICKER at the start of 2025.
Q. Is THE KICKER linked with your other novels its own literary universe?
A. Yes. Two characters are brothers including Mingus Christmas from FADED and Julius Christmas from THE KICKER. If you like Easter egss, you can find references to other novels including FRIED PEACHES, GUARD THIS, and even JACK TRIPPER STOLE MY DOG. I also figured out a way to link an unpublished manuscript just in case DEBASER gets published one day. 2088 is a sci-fi novel that takes place 60 years from now, but I'm sure if I'll figure out a way to link it with the other novels if I ever decide to revisit it.
Q. Did you read any books to research THE KICKER?
A. Yes, I had read EIGHT MEN OUT a month prior to writing the first draft, so the Chicago Blacksox scandal was initially on my mind. I enjoyed a few memoirs from Eric Dickerson, Brett Favre, and Nate Jackson. Also, Jeff Pearlman's book on Bo Jackson resonated deeply with me.
Q. Are you really going to pitch THE KICKER as a film or series?
A. That would be the next step, especially for what I've been told is my most commercial novel. Stay tuned!
Q. Are you working on any new novels?
A. At the present time... no. The screenplay is my primary project until inspiration strikes.
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If you have any other questions, please ask them in the comments or contact me. I'll be happy to update this section to include your questions and my answers.
If you enjoy this Q&A format, then check out other ones I did for previous novels including FADED FAQs and FRIED PEACHES FAQs.
THE KICKER is now available in paperback and as an e-book.
