April 2019. Baseball season has begun. Don’t get me started about how the Mariners-A’s started in Japan for “Opening Day” while the other teams were still in spring training.

Anyway, seeing that some books are already out for the new season, I contacted my publisher on Monday (April Fools’ Day) to follow up on when my John Cangelosi book will be out. The release date had been tentatively set for opening day, but it got pushed back.

The rest of the day went well, as I was then working on the manuscript for my 1992-93 Montreal Canadiens book, which is due to the publisher on June 30th. Not much time left! On this particular day, I was writing up something on Mario Roberge, one of the unsung heroes of that team.

I grew up a Boston Bruins fan, so initially I thought it would be difficult to write about this… but I was wrong. Because guys like Gilbert Dionne and Stephan Lebeau have been so gracious – along with Denis Savard – and have spent time discussing their memories with me, I have felt that once I sat down to do this, the story practically writes itself.

Later, having a video conversation with N.H.L. inspired me even further.

Tuesday. I got a reply from the publisher and I received plenty of praise for the Cangelosi story that I had written.

I also reached out to several people on a book I’m working on with Fred Claire. Have an interview lined up for Friday.

The day didn’t have its bad moments, though. At work, I have been working on a proposal with a “team” but that has gone awry.

Since this is confidential, I’m not going to get into the details, but the consultant working on this with us sent this via email, which rubbed me the wrong way.

Now, just because I don’t have white skin doesn’t mean I’m not a native English speaker. This sort of idiotic comment didn’t sit well with me, and I chose to respond:

Anyway, I didn’t appreciate the comment.

Switching gears, as far as the Cangelosi publisher is concerned, we should consider getting quotes from a couple of current baseball players who also, like Cangelosi, have been underdogs but have persevered to perform at a high level.

Wednesday. I share this information with John Cangelosi, and we’ve decided to reach out to two players specifically, and see if we are able to give the publisher what they want.

In the meantime, it’s up to me to review the editor’s comments and edit the entire Cangelosi book now.

And, of course, continue working on the 1992-93 Canadiens book. I actually got a hold of another former Hab’s email and phone number – we’ll see if he responds.

Ahh… another person of interest for the Fred Claire book project responded back – we will be chatting on Friday, making that day a day with two interviews (so far).

Oh, as I am organizing myself writing out a plan for the rest of this week, a journalist from the Richmond News interrupted me to do an interview for a piece she’s writing. Her words of wisdom have inspired me for the rest of the week as far as what I need to do! See? You never know how a short sentence or comment can lift someone’s spirit and help point that person in the right direction – and this Richmond News journalist has inspired me by briefly chatting with me. You just never know the type of impact someone could make in your daily life.

It will be a busy week the rest of the week!