A La Jolla native and resident of downtown San Diego, Corey Lynn Fayman wrote his first book, a gumshoe novel set in La Jolla, and published it through iUniverse, a print-on-demand company. It’s the first of three planned books concerning the life and times of Rolly Waters, a recovering alcoholic/addict, professional musician and unwilling detective.
Normally, self-publication is frowned upon by literati and by authors who insist upon doing it the hard way or not at all (most settle for not at all); however, the writer of this review has been pleasantly surprised by print-on-demand books of late, including Fayman’s aforementioned “Black’s Beach Shuffle” and Felicia Gilbert’s moving memoir, “Of Many Houses: A Young Woman’s Journey from the Third Reich to the New World” (Xlibris 2005).
Fayman, former head of multimedia for the now defunct MP3, is a master of all trades, a professional musician, songwriter and theatrical sound designer. He brings all this knowledge to bear in the character of his protagonist.
Readers will relish Rolly’s forays into the Gaslamp Quarter, Hillcrest, the Torrey Pines industrial complex and the city’s nightclub scene.
A likable loser, Rolly the guitarist plays a lavish corporate party at a largely empty La Jolla Farms mansion above Black’s Beach. Returning to retrieve his instrument, he discovers a body floating in the swimming pool and, the next day, a bit of extraneous material ” a data disc ” in his guitar case. The body mysteriously winds up on the beach; hence, the shuffle. Rolly is summoned to the dot.com’s corporate headquarters and offered stock options in exchange for his investigation into the disappearance of the “magic key,” which proves integral to the business and the murder. The story unfolds in a series of swift, compelling chapters that are rife with interesting characters.
Asked why he chose to self-publish, Fayman said, “A couple of reasons. I sent the manuscript out to quite a few people, got a lot of ‘OK’ responses, but nobody bid on it.”
Fayman feared the subject matter would get stale and therefore deemed it smart to have the book published and get it out there.
“If I could sell a few copies on my own, it would give me more leverage with agents and publishing companies when I go to sell the second one,” he said.
Fayman is working with an Internet publicist who has gotten him a live podcast interview on readerviews.com and a review at blogcritics.org.
“It’s been very interesting so far,” he said. “I knew this stuff was out there, but I needed help.”
Fayman’s about three-quarters finished with Rolly’s next gumshoe adventure, set at San Diego’s international border. Meanwhile, “Black’s Beach Shuffle” is available at amazon.com. For information, visit www.coreyfayman.com.
