I might as well note some other family stories that relate to this time. I considered both offers, from both publishers, and decided on one. Having signed the contract that they sent and popped it back in the mail, I was very excited that I was going to be a published author. I called my parents. My father answered the phone. In my excitement, I don't even think that I said "Hello." I just blurted out, "I sold my book!"
There was a long pause. Then my father, in a questioning tone, said, "You wrote a book?"
"Yes," I said.
"What's it called?"
Actually, since the choice of title is up to the publishers, when you are an unknown author, I didn't actually know what the title would be. The publishers finally decided that they wanted to call it "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses." I was not happy with this. Having done a lot of book reviews, I felt that authors who put their own names into the book's title tended to be rather egotistical, and didn't necessarily have much of value to say in their books. I expressed this reservation to the publisher. The publisher, or, at least, the representative I was dealing with at the time, stated that the only reason they had agreed to publish the book was because of my name, and the fact that I had published so much material on the Internet. So the book reviews, and the material related to my research, which I had simply been publishing for free on the Internet, actually was the reason that I managed to get a book contract.
My father's reaction was rather hurtful. The fact was that I had been working on the computer virus research, and the lessons from it, and therefore the contents of the book, for at least five years. I had made no secret of it. Therefore, the fact that my parents had no inkling that I was writing a book was kind of a slap in the face.
In a sense, I got my own back at one point. My parents, never really understanding either the book or the research, didn't understand the significance of the book. They may have thought it was cute, and even possibly marginally impressive that I actually got it published as a book, but beyond that they had no interest at all. Until a friend of theirs, who was an academic, and therefore familiar with academic publishers, was quite impressed by the publisher of my book. Apparently, it had never occurred to my parents that I might produce something of value.
On a subsequent one of their vacationary trips they took a long a copy of my book as a curiosity, that one of their offspring had produced. At this particular location, they had been there a number of times, and knew a number of the staff who came on a periodic basis. One of the people who showed up was the person who did technical support for this outfit, and they showed him my book. He said, "Rob Slade? I know Rob Slade. I know this book. I didn't know he was *related* to you." My parents didn't know that another of my friends had had the book accepted as a standard text for college level security courses in that country.
Whenever one of my books was published, Gloria held a "book launch" party for the family, and I would give out my "writers copies" of the book to the family. Gloria's family always got into the spirit of the thing. My family always seemed quite bemused by the proceedings.
Previous: https://fibrecookery.blogspot.com/2024/06/mgg-524-hwyd-guarding-and-writing.html
Introduction and ToC: https://fibrecookery.blogspot.com/2023/10/mgg-introduction.html
Next: https://fibrecookery.blogspot.com/2024/06/mgg-526-hwyd-kevins-on-tonight-write-up.html
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