"THE WRITERS AFTERLIFE" AN INTRIGUING PROPOSITION

                         RICHARD VETERE, AUTHOR OF "THE WRITERS AFTERLIFE"

 How important is fame in the grand scale of life?  Quite important, if you feel you deserve it but don't achieve it, especially if your life is cut short and you die at a mere forty-four years of age.  As an artist, a statesman, a sports star, an actor, you might understandably feel cheated.  For Tom Chillo, a writer ready to burst forth on the literary scene, his sudden death is devastating.

Enter the creative, fertile and fantastic mind of Richard Vetere as he explores Tom Chillo's ascent into a unique place, "The Writers Afterlife." There Tom is assigned a guide, Joe, a painter who will assist his adjustments in the hereafter.  When Tom realizes he has been placed in the Valley of Those on the Verge, with the ability to see and even speak to the special Eternals, those lucky enough and talented enough to have achieved a level of prominence, assuring they will never be forgotten, he is devastated.

With envy, Tom regards The Eternals and desperately wants to earn his place among them.  To be forever in the company of Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Oscar Wilde and Thornton Wilder is a dream and goal that quickly consume him.

In this compelling tale, Vetere, who is himself a writer of some note, having penned plays, poetry, screenplays, novels and also acted, takes the reader's hand and guides him on a literary adventure.  As Tom Chillo chats with luminaries like Edgar Allan Poe and reflects that writers much younger than himself, like Keats who died at 26 and Shelley who left this earth at 29, achieved their quest for immortality, he plots how to join their ranks.

With a week at his disposal to go back to earth, to convince friends, agents and critics, to change his destiny, to help him achieve notoriety, Tom Chillo must plan incredibly well.  He has one chance to do it right.  Will the love of a fellow writer, Jennifer, help him in his goal?  He knows what makes a great writer: extraordinary use of language, the ability to tell a story, creating memorable characters, dedication to learning the craft and a well of imagination.

Does Tom Chillo have the right stuff to reside forever with The Eternals?  Read "The Writers Afterlife" (Three Rooms Press, $16.95) and discover the fascinating answer for yourself.