From Cemetery Plots To Viagra

So, it's not enough that the change in my life includes the military. Oh no, my world has gone from writing, reading esoteric literature, surfing the web, teenage rearing, taking care of an old house, dog companion to used car lots, cop shops, phone calls, beauty shops and the hard sell. I have to say there's a certain freedom from solely writing and wondering where the next dollar/job/editor is going to come from.

I made my first sale yesterday. The commissions are big, the residuals are as well. But I have to say, my sale would not have taken place were it not for a salesman named Jonas, handing it over to me.

Jonas is as different from me as one can get. He has sold everything. From prime loans at a major bank, to sub prime loans (and has personally taken responsibility for the collapse of the banking industry). He has also sold cemetery plots to get through college. His dream is to cross the river that divides hawkers of plots, subprime loans, merchant card systems (what we do now) to the more gilded world of Pfizer and becoming a Viagra rep. There is a certain logic in his path from selling plots to becoming the face of erectile dysfunction. It's sort of a modern day take on a flim-flam man, a modern retail version of Elmer Gantry.

Anyway, I get a kick out of Jonas because he has no "off" switch on his mouth. He says anything, admits when he's talking "crap." He can point out weaknesses, and cultivate strengths. He has visions...they might not be yours, but he is convinced that they are. Character quirks that we'd put in a novel but are all quite true: old car, old cell phone, salmon sweater. And yet, there is a certain bit of him that is trustworthy and true. People such as Jonas are the basis of characters in books. But he's not the only interesting character I've met. They all are. Every single one of them!