APOLOGY TIME:
Sorry, folks, I messed up – BIG TIME – and I had to trash my entire previous post! The alternative was to throw my laptop out the front door, but the wife stepped in… Thank God for VampireLover, right? I lost your comments, though. Please don’t hate me, I’m only human…
HERE IT IS… MY 2nd MEDIA INTERVIEW!
My second interview plugging the book ran August 22 on Bullet News Niagara. Enjoy!
PETER CONRADI/Bullet News
Call him the Bellman with attitude. That won’t bother him. Heck, he’s been called worse. A lot worse.
But that goes with the territory when you make your living with your hand out in the midst of stressed-out tourists in one of the busiest destinations on the planet. Yes, Robert Hookey is a bellman. A professional bellman in a high-end Niagara Falls hotel. He’s been doing it for 15 years and shakes his head with dismay when asked when he’s going to get a real job.
This is his real job, thank you very much, and he’s pretty darned good at it, too. Don’t believe him? He’s got the awards to prove it. Yes, bellmen get awards. Still don’t believe him? Then you’re fair game for his blog, his weekly column in Bullet News (What the Bellman Saw), or maybe you’ll be a chapter in his next book. First, though, he’s got to sell the first one.
The Bellman Chronicles: Shining a Light on Mankind’s Missteps from the Trenches is Hookey’s debut attempt at collecting all he has seen in more than a decade of helping tourists from their cars to the lobby and to their rooms – and back again. And he has seen plenty. And he’s perfectly willing to tell the world all about it. So be generous with your tips.
“I never really understand why people get so upset when things go wrong,” says the 42-year-old St. Catharines native and graduate of Westlane Secondary in Niagara Falls. “Things always go wrong. But you’re on vacation, so relax, take it easy – it all works out in the end.
“Most people are really nice. But that would be pretty boring reading.”
Fortunately his job is anything but boring.
“It’s the ones who are cranky and rude who stand out.”
And cheap. Don’t forget cheap.
“You’re paying a couple hundred bucks or more to stay in a full-service hotel and you want to cart your own bags to your room? Come on. That’s not how it works. This isn’t a Holiday Inn.”
Naturally some folks are well meaning enough. They’re pleasant. They’re not tight with a dollar. They just, well, do dumb things. And The Hook is usually there with pen and paper in hand.
“All of the stories are real. Absolutely. I don’t make anything up.”
It doesn’t sound like he has to.
There was the time a guest showed up with a dead deer strapped to the roof of the car, and parked it near the hotel kitchen.
“One guy brought deer antlers up to his room.”
Then there are stories about sex. There are always stories about sex. Hey, he works in a hotel.
“There was a conference and a couple was caught on a security camera in the laundry room.”
Alas, the male partner somehow found himself locked out of his room and had to brave and bare all at the front desk to ask for a new key.
Yes, life at the bell station has its curious, bizarre, frustrating and amusing moments.
“Here is my bag,” came one demand from a frazzled businessman. “Guard it with your life.”
“Is your storage room secure?”
“I’m waiting for a package. Where is it?”
Hookey spares no one in his 283 pages. Not even himself. He is complimentary to his employers, mind you. They know all about his literary antics and have let him go ahead, which surprises some. He has been accused by a few in the tourism game of biting the hand that feeds him – and them. They don’t like it much. They don’t appreciate having their customers mocked. His response?
Tough beans. Or words to that effect.
He doesn’t think he’s mean. Seriously. OK, maybe a little mean. But only to those who deserve it. Mostly he’s an avid observer and chronicler of humans at play. He can’t help if sometimes things gets a little ugly.
“It’s not portraying people in a certain way, it’s just how people behave when they are on vacation.”
Hookey, who studied journalism at Humber College but couldn’t find work in that field, said it took about five months to compile his book, which he self-published through CreateSpace, a division of Amazon. He’s pretty sure there will be a second volume. He thinks his concept would work beyond the printed page, maybe as a sitcom or a reality show. Goodness knows a lot worse ideas have made it to cable.
“I’ve thought about it, but I don’t know. They tried doing one about airports before and it didn’t really work. You’d have to find a hotel that’s going to want to have it filmed in their place. That wouldn’t be easy.”
The Bellman Chronicles is available online at Amazon, and at Pulp Comics, 4413 Queen St. in Niagara Falls. Prices are $14.99 for soft cover and $4.99 for a Kindle edition. If you wait until Sept. 10 and 11 you can download it those two days for free.
“Nothing is a great price, right? Hopefully this will get people talking about The Bellman Chronicles.”
– with files from Niagara This Week
AND NOW… SOME FREE SWAG!!!
Mark your cyber-calendars, folks…. My first free giveaway of The Bellman Chronicles runs September 10 – 11! As part of Amazon’s KDP Select program, I get a five-day window to share my work with the world for the low, low price of absolutely nothin’!
More on this in the future, but get ready to enjoy my masterpiece for FREE – and be sure to tell your friends! I need reviews, people!
AND FINALLY….
A shout-out to my newest blog buddy, Kristen Lamb and her best-selling tome, We Are Not Alone: The Writer’s Guide to Social Media. Give it a try, folks. You won’t be disappointed…
And now… My first Blog Hop!
Starting 9/1 through 9/15, Romance at Random, & the participating sites below, are hosting a blog hop with FREE books! Enter your name into the Rafflecopter & you could be chosen to win:
- A Free Romance book! (10 winners in all)
- Be one of 5 winners to win a prize pack from author Elisabeth Barrett (check out her new release, BLAZE OF WINTER, below)
- Grand Prize is a $25 eGC
Happy Hopping!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
You've Been Hooked! 
My Kindle bit the dust at two years, and so I got a credit for your kindle book and bought the hardback instead. Have yet to dig into it, but am relishing the free moment when I can.
I look forward to your opinions, my friend.
Great article !!
Thanks, young lady!
Good good luck!
Looks like a great interview!
It was! I just need to duplicate the experience a hundred times over!
You will – I’m pretty sure! ; )
You are getting famous…don’t forget us little people! 😉
Entertaining interview, too!
I’ve got a long way to go, but thanks!
You need to generate some button badgers……..”I had my bags carried by The Hook ! ” …………. and then see where they get spotted in the world. 🙂
Great idea! They could say “I’ve Been Hooked!”
What? As one of your groupies here, I would never be so cheap as to wait for a free Kindle version. I purchased my Kindle edition a couple of weeks ago and am just now getting to it. Geez, if I waited for the free version, I’d feel like a real cheap-ass… like some of the subjects you write about. 😀
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the fact you’ve spent your hard-earned money on my book, but most of my subscribers haven’t taken the financial plunge. I’m hoping I can draw reviews – which I so desperately need to raise my profiles – by offering the book for free. Thanks again, young lady!
Congratulation The Hook for your great achievement , Thumbs up my friend 🙂
Thanks, Jake!
Great article. You know it dawns on me again that the people who are the most stressed around here are the people on vacation. Why? I guess that is why you have a book.
The irony is mind-blowing, isn’t it?
A BOOK IS SOOO TRULY UNIVERSAL the great thing about a BOOK it can B shared abroad!!
thanX
redz041@yahoo.com
Great article and I will be definitely getting your book, and putting in our upcoming book reviews and maybe when you have some free time you could come on my podcast for an interview.
Thanks
What a fun interview. And the book looks like it’s going to be a great time. Nice swag Bellman.
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, my dear Hook….! Just you wait and see; you’ll be known allll over..! 🙂
And now for some bad news….! I’m not receiving your posts (and some others) in my reader… Darn; I’ll have to check out your blog every few days to see if you’ve posted..!
Anyway; that’s one great interview… more to come…!
Sorry you’re not getting my awesome work! That happens to me all the time; the ‘net rules, right?
Oh, WOW ! Congratulations, Mr. Hook ! ! And of course I’ll buy your book ! ! Ah, I hope you can sign it, and have some bragging rights.
Cheers ! !
Great post my friend. I am happy and excited for you and the your amazing work!
Thanks, old buddy!
Thanks for the contest! I love reading!! I love finding new books and authors!!
donnasing777@yahoo.com
Thanks for stopping by and brightening my day, Donna! I needed it more than you’ll ever know…
Thanks for the great hop.
You’re more than welcome!
Bought it. For iPad, not sure if that lowers your cut or not. Hope not.
Not to worry, you’ve honored me with your purchase.
I’ve learned a great deal since writing the first book, so keep in my mind that my second will reflect that evolution.
By the way, you rock!