Writing My Book

The recent attack on my credibility by Brian Hever, had me thinking about all of the hours I devoted to writing my memoirs. By and large, reliving my experiences as I wrote AMERICAN ROULETTE was great fun. As with any task that requires a serious devotion of time and energy, there were times of frustration, especially when I had to deal with technical parts of cheating moves in ways that those without intimate knowledge of casino gambling could understand. After writing the book, going through a detailed editing process, and all of the requisite vetting and other business matters surrounding the book, I couldn’t help but be a little upset when someone accused me of having no authority on the subject, someone telling me experiences that I lived out were all bullshit.

But, then an old friend reminded me that such criticism is inevitable. An attorney, his book about real estate while somewhat technical was for layman readers, similar to those “For Dummies” books. He too received criticism from folks who didn’t know nearly as much or have anywhere near the amount of success in real estate dealings. All he was trying to do was pass along some helpful advice, lord knows he didn’t make nearly as much writing the book as he did in real estate.

As difficult as it is to let criticism roll off of my back, when I reflected on the attack leveled against me and my book, I soon recalled the many, many people who wrote to tell me how much they’ve enjoyed my book. Professional reviewers liked it. The many radio hostswho interviewed me liked it. And, the producers at Entertainment Tonight and MSNBC liked it enough to have me on their shows. Soon, an entire hour will be devoted to my stories on The History Channel, and I can’t wait to see the guy they hired to play me.

The many positive responses are the main reason I wanted to start writing this blog, to be able to tell more stories from the strange casino world in which I lived.

So, on it goes. I’m now running the site solo. The guys who helped me set it up have taken the training wheels off. Now that I know how to run the damn thing, I hope to update it more frequently, with updates from Pat, Balls, Bats and others. It should be fun. I hope readers think so.