Virtual Book Tour: As Good As Can Be by William A. Glass

Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for As Good As Can Be by William A. Glass. This book tour was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I have an excerpt and a guest post from the author. There's also a tour wide giveaway for a chance to win a $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. Be sure to visit the other stops on the tour for more content. Enjoy!

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Title: As Good As Can Be

Author: William A. Glass

Publisher: Hawkeye Publishers

Publication Date: April 14th 2020

Print Length: 410 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

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Dave Knight is a wayward child growing up in a military family during the 1950s. His older sister wants to kill him but settles for regularly beating him up. Other siblings join in the mayhem while their alcoholic father contributes to the chaos with his unique approach to parenting. 

As the Knight family moves from one army base to the next, Dave develops a give-a-damn attitude that often leads to trouble. In high school, he joins other delinquents in a series of escapades, some dangerous, others funny, and a few that would be worthy of jail time should they ever be caught. 

After barely graduating, Dave is drafted into the army and sent to guard a nuclear weapons depot in Korea. There, he gets into trouble with his sergeant and tries to avoid dishonorable discharge.

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EXCERPT:

Upstairs all is pandemonium. Dan is furiously pounding on the bathroom door while inside Marie stares into the mirror applying eyeliner. She’s in the seventh grade now and has discovered that boys aren’t just for beating up. Meanwhile, Dave’s in the basement ironing a shirt. He gives it a couple finishing touches then slips it on while running up the stairs. 

“Have you seen my book bag?” Melissa asks. 

“Isn’t that it next to the door?” Dave replies.

The bus pulls up in front of the house, and Melissa grabs the book bag. Knight hands her a bacon-and-egg sandwich as she goes out. “Tell the driver to wait,” he asks. Then one by one the other Knight children rush out while the driver insistently honks his horn. Finally, Marie comes downstairs, gets her sandwich, and strolls down the front walk, arms full of accoutrements. As she climbs aboard, the enlisted men’s dependents in back sarcastically applaud. Marie ignores them, and once seated she uses a can of hairspray to laminate her teased tresses. She pays no heed to mounting protests from others on the bus who object to being gassed this early in the morning.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Bill is a retired business executive now living in South Carolina with his wife, Bettina. She teaches high school German while Bill coaches soccer at a small college. Their three sons, Alex, Robert, and Gordon, have all graduated from college and moved away to pursue careers. 

For recreation, Bettina and Bill enjoy hiking and camping out. Usually, they take their dog, Scout, along. When the weather permits, Bill commutes to work on his motorcycle. 

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GUEST POST:

MY INSPIRATION FOR WRITING AS GOOD AS CAN BE, A NOVEL
by William A. Glass

As an NPR fan, I often listen to interviews with authors who appear on shows to promote their memoirs. Many are famous people from politics, entertainment, and business, who have led fascinating lives and hobnobbed with other celebrities. I’m a contrarian, so one day it occurred to me that what the publishing world needed was a memoir by a nobody with few friends. That was my inspiration for writing As Good As Can Be.

As it turned out, there’s a reason why memoirs by nobodies don’t get written. In my case, I got about halfway through then realized that I hated it. My life has been full of dramatic twists and turns, but the memoir format forced me to include all the tedious bits. Documenting life as a military brat from a crazy family meant listing one move after another along with a never-ending series of family fights. Who wants to read something like that?

Just as it seemed that my writing career was over, it hit me that I could keep the entertaining episodes from my manuscript, throw out the boring repetitive things, and create a well-plotted novel with fictional characters. So, I started from scratch and out gushed a book I’m happy with. Reviews of As Good As Can Be indicate I’m not the only one who thinks that the ups-and-downs 😊 of ordinary people, trying to live life to the fullest, can be fascinating. Now I’m waiting for a call from NPR and a shot to shill my book on Fresh Air!

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GIVEAWAY:

William A. Glass will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter. To increase your chance of winning, leave a comment at a different stop on the tour each day. Good luck!

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