Say Goodbye to Poland

Aug. 16, 2011 - PRLog -- On Sale at Amazon

A man named Bud Meyers, who's been unemployed for almost 3 years as of this press release, has just published his book. Although he says it's based on a true story, it's really only Book One (out of three in his novel) that was based on his current life, and Book Two and Book Three of the book was written as he would have liked to have seen the rest of his life play out, as each "book" is a generation in his life.

Bud Meyers' REAL life: After a very heart-wrenching break-up from his fiancée (she cheated on him just 3 days after they got engaged on Christmas Eve), Bud Meyers' life went into a freefall. He was fired from his job of 14 years as a casino bartender in Las Vegas, then cited for a DUI,  eventually filed for bankruptcy, then became estranged from his family, had his car stolen and totaled just after having paid it off, and then he had to endure the grief of the passing of his father.

Three long years later, just as he was starting to get his life on track again, the Great Recession hit. Bud was laid of from his last job 3 years ago, plowed through his life's savings after exhausting all his unemployment benefits, had his last car repossessed for non-payment, and then became three months behind in all his utilities. He had become completely isolated and friend-less. Before finally being evicted from his home, and after giving up all hope of ever salvaging what was left of his miserable life, he carefully planned to end his pathetic existence.

Just 3 weeks away from suicide, he posted a letter on Facebook so that all who once knew him (including his estranged family and ex-co-workers) would know what had become of him. He made a Last Will to leave on his desk for the authorities to find...after they found his lifeless body.

After reading his goodbye note to the world ( the article "I'm So Tired of Being Tired" he had posted on his Facebook wall), an anonymous person called 911 to report this to the police - who had then tracked him down the next day through his IP address - and did a "wellness check" on him while he still had a roof over his head..

Another stranger, a woman, had read the news stories about Bud Meyers' plight in the newspapers (Associated Press, Yahoo News, Washington Post, Huffington Post, and two of his local newspapers - the Las Vegas Review~Journal and the Las Vegas Sun). She also saw Ali Velshi mention him on CNN (He posted the video of this at his YouTube account under the username "buddymeyers").

Afterwards she e-mailed Bud through his blog and offered him a room in her home. Bud had been living in Las Vegas at the time and she was living in nearby Henderson.  At first Bud had declined, not wanting to be burden on anyone, before finally agreeing to take her up on her offer to have him stay with her in a spare room in her house. It was his last and only option to avoid becoming a homeless man.

While Bud was living with her, this kind stranger (who was also jobless herself and living on unemployment benefits) had convinced him to publish "Say Goodbye to Poland". As hobbies, Bud Meyers used to design web sites and blog before losing his internet connection. The woman had read other stories that Bud had previously posted and thought his novel had potential.

In Book Two of his book Bud Meyers puts himself into the future, far removed from the real tragedy that had befallen his real life, and built a story around how he wished his life might had panned out. At first his book began as a personal diary that he wrote as mental therapy for himself, but then later realized he could write a whole story about his personal chaos.

Kasha, one of the main "villains" in the story, was the woman Bud was once engaged to...so you can only imagine how her character plays out. In Book Three of his novel he writes about the grand-children that he knows he'll never have (Bud was never married, and at 55 years old, has given up any idea of ever having children).

"Say Goodbye to Poland" is about saying goodbye to his ex-fiancée Kasha, who had immigrated from Poland. She had moved to Las Vegas via Wisconsin on a student VISA. She was 20 years younger than Bud but was a world ahead of him when it came to lying, conniving, and manipulation. And Bud was no push-over, it's just that Kasha was that good at deceit, and he lays it all out in his novel.There are many twists and turns (and sub-plots) in the book, and many characters to follow (he has a genealogy chart in the beginning of the book to help you, just in case you forget who's who).

All in all, it was a very good piece of work for a first-time novelist; and with 550 pages in 10-point Times New Roman font, you'll get your money's worth for reading material. My only criticism is that Book One starts out rather slowly, defining the characters and setting up the conditions and plot. But without even realizing it, it became a page-turner and I ended up reading the entire novel in one sitting until the very end.

"Say Goodbye to Poland" has suspense and humor - but it was also poignant and melancholy at the same time. It definitely exposes the sinister side of people. I can easily see this novel becoming a movie or screenplay.

At the time of this press release, Bud Meyers is still unemployed and suffering with arthritis in his back. He had just recently been rejected for Social Security benefits and currently sustains himself on food stamps and donations made through his blog. The "stranger" who took him in had convinced Bud to publish this book, and I for one, am glad he did.

Ironically, if his novel ever does gain some respectable notoriety, maybe Bud's dream in the prologue of his mostly-fictitious book could really come true. And how often does someone actually write their own future? I mean, how weird would that be?

"Say Goodbye to Poland is a tale of two families spanning three generations - from WWII Europe, to the bars of Las Vegas, to the beaches of Malibu, and ending up in the labs at One Microsoft Way. Based on a true story." ~ Bud Meyers

See the video trailer for " Say Goodbye to Poland" posted at YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYQusJmUp5o  



Read the prologue here:
www.createspace.com/Preview/1084987  

More info here for "Say Goodbye to Poland" is at Facebook:
www.facebook.com/pages/Say-Goodbye-to-Poland/125497124201038  

More info at his personal blog:
www.bud-meyers.blogspot.com/p/my-novel.html

Say Goodbye to Poland is on sale at Bud Meyers' eStore at CreatSpace and is also available at Amazon.
www.createspace.com/3635698

* Patricia Wilkenson
Public Relations
Half Apple Productions
RE: Say Goodbye to Poland

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Bud Meyers blogs about the economy, corporate out-sourcing, labor statistics (the REAL unemployment rate), government and corporate corruption, and the plight of the long-term unemployed. He's authored two books - "Say Goodbye to Poland" (A suspense novel) and a political commentary called "Why I Hate Republicans : And the Fox News Channel" - both on sale at Amazon.