So today, as promised I will be talking about my book- "The Snitch, the Witch, and The One Who Was Rich." This book took me 25 years to complete due to writer's block, having cancer 4 times, and going blind due to cataracts. https://joespraga.com/ 

This book is about life lessons/morality, the main message is that time is our only true commodity, & we must not waste it. It's written in verse, & has 3 choruses, a modern day nursery rhyme if you will. It has many quirky characters that must learn to get along with each other

Before I get into the characters, I'll explain how this book came about. I did a still life painting in college of three little statues, who turned out to be- The Snitch, the Witch, and The One Who Was Rich. The entire chorus popped into my head instantly. The rest took 25 years

Once i finished painting all the characters and had the book complete, I queried it around, and received rejections because it was too long, too big, and publishers said they didn't know how to market it. This also around the time I was fighting cancer for the first time.

I didn't want to die without getting this book out into the world, so I self published. I wasn't going to let "the establishment" tell me I couldn't be a writer. So as the master of my own destiny, I took my life savings and borrowed some money, and 20k later, I had my book.

1,000 books to be exact, all delivered by Steve from UPS. He was overwhelmed at the size of the palettes bc the 2 of them were each 6 ft tall, and weighed 2,000 lbs. Working together we got them into my garage and I started clearing space in my bedroom for them.

I started a website, did local shows and people really seem to like the book, minus a few online trolls of course, I tried selling it in an eBook format on Amazon, and I didn't like it. This is a fantasy picture book story that needs to stay that way. Digital is meh.

That was about 3-4 years ago. I have sold I'd say 450 maybe? I still live among book boxes and since this pandemic do not have the opportunity to sell my book at live events. Everyone is struggling, so in these quarantined times, I thought I could bring some of the book to you.

The reason I had writer's block for 25 years is that I honestly hadn't lived long enough to have enough life experience to know what I wanted the story to be about. But w/ all of my health problems, surgeries, and near death experiences, I gained a lot of wisdom in those 25 years

So I had originally planned on illustrating my book myself, I had done an entire series of oil paintings, but due to cancer and cataracts I had to hire an artist to finish the illustrations. An arduous task, indeed. Over 1,000 emails between the 2 of us, me acting as art director

Eventually it got done. So as I said, the book was here. You see, I had to get this done. This book was written through me more than I feel I wrote it. The universe sent me this story, these life experiences, & it was my job to get it done, cancer & query rejections be dammed.

I didn't have a lot of time, I still feel I do not have a lot of time. Having cancer 4 times is exhausting, mentally, physically, and emotionally. It can come back any second and take me to the other side, so I have a sense of urgency that most people do not understand.

The book ironically enough is about this very thing, as Phish would say- "Your trip is short." So I will do the best with what little time I have, and that is what the book is about, making the best of one's time. So let's get into the characters now.

This is the Snitch. He is an owl... most likely. He runs around making up lies and stories about people behind their backs in order to get attention. I imagine he talks really fast and just says anything to get people to like him.

This is the Witch. She is a bad witch. She casts bad spells bc she is old and lonely and doesn't have compassion for anyone else. She has forgotten how to embrace life and be happy.

This is The One Who Was Rich. Extremely wealthy and powerful, he assumes everyone is well off and has no idea how to share or be generous. He just hoards is wealth and assumes everyone else is the same as he is.

This is Elroy. He is a teddy bear that wants to belong to a little boy to be with, but instead of looking really hard, he just dances all the time and doesn't take it seriously.

This is Fitzroy. He is a little eccentric. He likes to act like a dog and bark at the moon. He loves dogs, so he pretends to be one.

This is Mr. Stitch. He constantly losing his stuffing, and having to sew himself up all the time. He is always sad because his body isn't good enough.

This is Larry. He loves examining things and figuring them out. He wants to be a detective. He like understanding situations and solving them.

This is Harry. He is very shy and doesn't talk. He wants more friends but has a hard time engaging with people.

The is Mrs. Caruthers. She loves reading books and learning new things. She is a bookworm and loves to study.

This is Rock with the dot. He is very big and very strong. He is very gentle and a little clumsy.

These are the Three Bully Brothers. They are mean and tease everyone bc they think it is funny.