• About Stephen Roth

A Place for My Stuff

~ The hopes, dreams and random projects of author Stephen Roth

A Place for My Stuff

Monthly Archives: May 2014

This One is for Max

31 Saturday May 2014

Posted by ghosteye3 in A Plot for Pridemore, my life, parenthood

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

a plot for pridemore, amazon.com, fiction, greiving, loss, Stephen Roth, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

100_0029Late May is always a bittersweet time for our family. This year, it is especially complicated. May 31, 2006 is the day that our first child, Maxwell, was born. We lost Max nearly three months later to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Every year since, we have celebrated our son’s birthday by looking at his pictures, putting flowers on his gravesite, and releasing a couple of blue and white balloons.

I have mixed feelings about the balloons. Letting them go and watching them turn into tiny specks against the blue sky seems almost too similar to how we have had to let go of Max. I guess that is also what makes the balloon release such a perfect gesture.

This month, we are also celebrating the release of my book, A Plot for Pridemore. The novel, which I finished writing in the months after Max’s death, is dedicated to him.
photo
A couple of months ago, when A Plot for Pridemore was first posted on BarnesandNoble.com, I couldn’t help but notice that the publication date listed for the book was May 31.

Is it coincidence that my book is coming out around Max’s birthday, or is there something else at work? I wish I knew.

Happy birthday, Max. We miss you.

The Dean and the Sociopath

20 Tuesday May 2014

Posted by ghosteye3 in growing up, humor, my life, Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

failure, grades, greenville, high school, lying, parenting, report cards

People who know me in my adult life often act surprised when I tell them I was a screw-up in high school. I guess it is a good thing that most of them find that surprising. They didn’t know me my freshman and sophomore years, which I was, at best, a “C” student and, at worst, an “F” student.

I once got a zero on a biology test when my teacher caught me looking at my notes. Another time, in freshman English, I got a zero on a test because I somehow forgot to read A Raisin in the Sun. I was so panic-stricken during that test that I pretended to “forget” to turn it in at the end of class. Instead, I rushed into the school library, desperately searching for a paperback copy of A Raisin in the Sun so I could scribble down a few answers. Sadly, I never found the book and have not read it to this day.

During sophomore year, I found chemistry to be completely out of my realm of understanding. I somehow mustered a 70 average in chemistry for the year. Yes, I just barely escaped having to repeat my sophomore year.

The lousy grades were not a big deal with my parents because, for the most part, they didn’t know about them. For half of my freshman year and all of sophomore year, I went to a private school Greenville, South Carolina. We were new to town and my parents didn’t know any of my teachers or the other kids’ parents. It was easy for me to hide the fact that I was regularly racking up failing grades in Latin, chemistry and geometry. I covered it up in a way that would make Richard Nixon smile. Every eight weeks, when it was time to bring home another report card, I went to the school computer lab and invented my own report card, awarding myself A’s and B’s where there should have been C’s and D’s. I forged my parent’s signatures on the real report card, and they unquestioningly signed the version I gave them. They had no reason to doubt its authenticity because they had never actually seen a real report card from my school.
images6A1ZFAJA
I felt horrible about this. I wanted to tell my parents the truth but, like Watergate, I guess things kind of spiraled out of control. I was not a complete monster. however. My dad and I had a deal in those days that, if all my grades were 85 or higher, he would help me get my own used car. I made sure that at least one of my doctored grades fell just shy of an 85 because getting a car based on a pack of lies was an ethical bridge that even I was unwilling to cross.

No cover-up lasts forever. Mine ended on a spring day in 1987, which I got a 1050 on my Pre-SAT. My mother was so elated by the score that she wanted to talk with the school dean about my future college prospects. The dean of our school was a lanky, bespectacled man named Dean Dingledine (pronounced: “Dingle-DEAN”). Because he was the dean, his full title was actually “Dean Dean Dingledine.”

“You know,” my mom said over dinner one summer night. “I really do need to set up a time to talk with Dean Dingledine about your SAT score, and what kinds of colleges you should apply to.”

I took a little extra time chewing my pizza. I knew the dean would find this conversation ridiculous, based on the grades I had been making. He might hand my mother a couple of brochures to a community college or a vo-tech school and suggest that we start there.

“Mom,” I finally said after a long swig from my glass of milk. “I need to tell you something about my grades.”

I told her everything. Well, most of everything. Mom kept the appointment with Dean Dean Dingledine anyway. The dean was incredulous when she handed him one of my forged documents.

“This doesn’t look anything like our report cards!” he said.

“Well, I’ve never seen your report cards,” Mom replied. “What does one look like?”

Even though it was summer, the dean and my mother agreed that the school should administer some form of punishment. So for one week in July, I reported each morning to the dean’s office for a chat, then spent the rest of the day pulling weeds and picking up rocks on the school softball fields. My first conversation with the dean was uncomfortable. This was the summer of Ollie North and the Iran-Contra hearings.

“Lying gets you nowhere,” Dean Dingledine explained. “Just look what happened with Watergate. And now we have Iran-Contra and it’s like, ‘Here we go again.'”
imagesMIDW1D5F
I nodded, not knowing what to say.

Later that month, my parents sent me to a therapist. She had me do a series of personality tests. One test suggested I might have a future in teaching. Another test wasn’t quite so positive. The therapist told my parents there was a strong likelihood that I was a sociopath. My parents laughed, thanked her for the analysis, and we never saw her again.

Later that summer we returned to my hometown of LaGrange, where my parents knew many of the teachers and most of the other parents. I decided to stop lying and misleading my parents or anyone else. I managed to turn my grades around and eventually attended the University of Missouri.

I don’t know what became of Dean Dingledine, but I have to thank him and my parents for the roles they played in turning my life around. Otherwise, who knows what I would be doing today?

They’re Here!

13 Tuesday May 2014

Posted by ghosteye3 in A Plot for Pridemore, my life

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

a plot for pridemore, fiction, mercer university press, southern fiction, Stephen Roth

P1030298

The books have arrived – all one hundred copies! What a thrill it is to see A Plot for Pridemore for the first time as a paperback. Thanks so much to the team at Mercer University Press for bringing this dream to life. The cover illustration is even more beautiful than when I first saw it weeks ago in jpg form.

The night the boxes of books arrived, I pulled one copy out and leafed through it. It was a very quiet, satisfying feeling, as well as one of relief. After writing, and re-writing and re-writing again, after reading and fine-tuning the same chapters countless times, my work on this book is finally done. It is now out there for others to read. Hopefully, most readers will be entertained. Hopefully, A Plot for Pridemore will find its audience.

Even though sites like Amazon.com have the release date as May 30, you can order A Plot for Pridemore now and receive it in a few days. If you are more of a Kindle and Nook person, it will be available in ebook form at the end of the month. Book reviews will start appearing in the coming weeks, and I will re-post them here unless they are absolutely scathing. Okay, maybe I will post those reviews, too. I will also launch a website, http://www.plotforpridemore.com, within a few days.

Now if you’re excuse me, I’ve got to go figure out a way to sell a hundred copies of my book.

An Interview with Stephen Roth, author of the novel A Plot for Pridemore

08 Thursday May 2014

Posted by ghosteye3 in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Here is a great little interview that Mercer University Press conducted with me about A Plot for Pridemore. We are only a few weeks away from the book’s general release!

Mercer University Press News

Mercer University Press couldn’t be prouder to announce the release of  Stephen Roth’s first novel, A Plot for Pridemore . The 2012 winner of the Ferrol Sams Award for Fiction, this novel is a whirlwind of intrigue and shenanigans in a small Missouri town.

Stephen is a native of LaGrange, Georgia, and long-time journalist, and he stopped by the blog today to talk about his terrific foray into fiction.

Roth_Pridemore_tbnl1. Baby Alison and her rescue from a well inspires the mayor’s scheme to bring infamy to Pridemore. Did news stories similar to Baby Alison’s strike you when you were younger?

I have always been fascinated by news accounts of extraordinary things happening in ordinary places, and the effect that those stories have on people. The fictional Baby Alison story is inspired by the real-life Baby Jessica rescue that happened in 1987 in Midland, Texas. During the handful of days workers…

View original post 519 more words

Follow My Stuff!

RSS Feed RSS - Posts

RSS Feed RSS - Comments

Blog Archive

  • May 2022 (1)
  • March 2022 (1)
  • February 2022 (2)
  • March 2021 (1)
  • December 2020 (1)
  • June 2020 (1)
  • May 2020 (1)
  • April 2019 (1)
  • March 2019 (1)
  • March 2018 (3)
  • February 2018 (3)
  • February 2017 (3)
  • January 2017 (3)
  • December 2016 (2)
  • November 2016 (4)
  • September 2016 (2)
  • August 2016 (6)
  • July 2016 (1)
  • June 2016 (4)
  • May 2016 (3)
  • April 2016 (5)
  • March 2016 (4)
  • February 2016 (5)
  • September 2015 (1)
  • August 2015 (1)
  • July 2015 (4)
  • June 2015 (2)
  • May 2015 (1)
  • April 2015 (1)
  • March 2015 (3)
  • February 2015 (3)
  • January 2015 (4)
  • December 2014 (2)
  • November 2014 (1)
  • October 2014 (5)
  • September 2014 (6)
  • August 2014 (5)
  • July 2014 (6)
  • June 2014 (6)
  • May 2014 (4)
  • April 2014 (6)
  • March 2014 (5)
  • February 2014 (6)
  • January 2014 (7)
  • December 2013 (7)
  • November 2013 (7)
  • October 2013 (6)
  • September 2013 (5)
  • August 2013 (7)
  • July 2013 (7)
  • June 2013 (4)
  • May 2013 (5)
  • April 2013 (6)
  • March 2013 (6)
  • February 2013 (7)

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 335 other subscribers

Blogs I Follow

  • So Many Miles
  • Jolie and Piper's Writing
  • Deidra Alexander's Blog
  • rummy's own blog
  • Five More Minutes.....
  • Daily Inspiration Blog
  • The Shameful Sheep
  • LITERARY TITAN
  • Grateful and Authentic
  • Stuff White People Like
  • Storyshucker
  • 8 Hamilton Ave.
  • SO... THAT HAPPENED
  • TruckerDesiree
  • Mercer University Press News
  • BookPeople
  • A Place for My Stuff
  • "Write!" she says.
  • TwistedSifter
  • André Bakes His Way Through Martha Stewart's Cookie Book

Posts Categories

advertising A Plot for Pridemore author book review current events entertainment fiction growing up humor media movie reviews music my life observations parenthood photo fiction president satire social media sports stephen roth Uncategorized

Goodreads

Blogroll

  • Discuss
Follow A Place for My Stuff on WordPress.com

Categories

  • A Plot for Pridemore
  • advertising
  • author
  • book review
  • current events
  • entertainment
  • fiction
  • growing up
  • humor
  • media
  • movie reviews
  • music
  • my life
  • observations
  • parenthood
  • photo fiction
  • president
  • satire
  • social media
  • sports
  • stephen roth
  • Uncategorized

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

So Many Miles

Thru-hiking. Truck-driving. Miles.

Jolie and Piper's Writing

Deidra Alexander's Blog

I have people to kill, lives to ruin, plagues to bring, and worlds to destroy. I am not the Angel of Death. I'm a fiction writer.

rummy's own blog

Writing. Exploring. Learning.

Five More Minutes.....

I am a mother of five active, sometimes aggravating children that drive me crazy, provide me with lots of entertainment and remind me constantly about the value of love and family. I am married to my best friend. He makes me laugh every day (usually at myself). I love to eat, run, write, read and then eat again, run again…you get it. I am a children's author, having published four books with MeeGenuis (The Halloween Costume, When Santa Was Small, The Baseball Game, and The Great Adventure Brothers). I have had several pieces of writing published on Adoptive Families, Adoption Today, Brain Child, Scary Mommy, and Ten To Twenty Parenting. I am also a child psychologist, however I honestly think that I may have learned more from my parents and my children than I ever did in any book I read in graduate school. This blog is a place where I can gather my thoughts and my stories and share them with others. My writing is usually about kids and trying to see the world through their eyes, a few about parenting, adoption (one of my children is adopted) and some other random thoughts thrown in… I hope you enjoy them! So grab a cup of coffee, or a glass of wine, depending on what time of day it is (or what kind of day it is) and take a few minutes to sit back, relax and read. Please add your comments or opinions, I know you must have something to say, and I would love to hear it. Thanks for stopping by. Anne Cavanaugh-Sawan

Daily Inspiration Blog

The Shameful Sheep

LITERARY TITAN

Connecting Authors and Readers

Grateful and Authentic

Shift Your Perspective, Change Your Life

Stuff White People Like

This blog is devoted to stuff that white people like

Storyshucker

A blog full of humorous and poignant observations.

8 Hamilton Ave.

Reading, writing & other mysteries

SO... THAT HAPPENED

TruckerDesiree

Offering Opinions and Insights

Mercer University Press News

Our Mission: Mercer University Press supports the work of the University in achieving excellence and scholarly discipline in the fields of liberal learning, professional knowledge, and regional investigation by making the results of scholarly investigation and literary excellence available to the worldwide community.

BookPeople

Howdy! We're the largest independent bookstore in Texas. This is our blog.

A Place for My Stuff

The hopes, dreams and random projects of author Stephen Roth

"Write!" she says.

Tales from the car rider line and other stories

TwistedSifter

The Best of the visual Web, sifted, sorted and summarized

André Bakes His Way Through Martha Stewart's Cookie Book

175 cookie recipes - 175 stories to tell

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • A Place for My Stuff
    • Join 227 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • A Place for My Stuff
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...