SecretAgentMan by Richard Saunders – Background Information

   The original idea that grew into this epic novel started very innocently in my childhood. As a nine-year-old fourth grade student, I was more interested in reading comic books than school books. I got an idea that inspired me to draw a simple four-panel comic strip featuring a central character I called Lawrence Howard. My plan was to make "Einstein Reincarnated" into a comic book series.

   One day that same year, I read the biography of The Great Impostor by Robert Crichton and watched the movie version starring Tony Curtis. The original Great Impostor was Fred Demara, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that he grew up in my neighborhood and had attended my school and church. I also learned that at one point he lived in my grandparents two-family home and that my grandmother used to babysit him. I was fascinated, maybe even obsessed with the story. I thought that if a kid from my own neighborhood could grow up to be a Great Impostor, then I could too!

   I never finished the comic book. As I got a little older I changed gears and wrote short stories that advanced my protagonist beyond the comic genre and moved closer to mainstream literature. I combined the Lawrence Howard fictional stories with my own real-life adventures as an impostor to produce the SecretAgentMan novel. My “schtick” became that I impersonated Mr. Howard in numerous real-life situations. With a technique that I call “method-writing”, I would write a sub-plot for the novel, attempt to act it out, and then write about how the escapade turned out.

   Over the years, I’ve successfully impersonated an independent political operative, a scientist, a computer hacker, an undercover police officer, an attorney, a philanthropist and an avenger – among others.

   My path would sometimes cross with high-profile celebrities (both local and national) who were inadvertently dragged into these impostor adventures without their prior knowledge or consent. You will read fictionalized accounts concerning my involvements with (or battles against) Presidential candidate Michael Dukas, Governor William Wilde, novelist Don Breen, singer Katy Parry, TV Producer Mark Bayliss and Mega Mogul Daniel Trask, among others.

   I’m now looking for people like you (people who know a good story when they see one) to help me spread the word in a viral campaign using all of your MSMS (Mad Social-Media Skills), skills I admittedly do not possess.