Making a ConnecTion

Below is an essay I submitted to the Boston Globe magazine almost six months ago. I wrote it for the Connections column on the publication's back page, but since I haven't heard back I figured I'd publish it here.

I self-published a children’s book about students traveling through Boston on Green Line trolleys. A Wicked Good Trip! is selling modestly around Greater Boston, but it was recently translated into another language right before my eyes.

The book is inspired by my son’s, ahem, love for the MBTA. Through Owen I’ve learned the ins and outs of trolleys and seen parts of Boston that were new to me.

We’ve ridden on every subway line but lately we focus on the Green Line. We used to spend most of our time underground, but Owen now appreciates fresh air and my desire to shoot photos of old buildings.

I relied on Owen when writing A Wicked Good Trip! On one illustration, he corrected the four-digit number of a trolley. “That one’s out of service,” he said.

In the book, the students travel through numerous subway stations, and go above ground to see Fenway Park, the Boston Common and other landmarks.

I’m happy my book is available locally. But I also wanted to share the book with families who don’t have time to shop. I mailed the book to three non-profits helping sick children. I recently read my book at one.

I didn’t know what to expect with busy families who have a lot on their minds. I would have been happy if just one kid showed.

A family of four entered the room. The father said that his kids didn’t understand English. I felt my visit might be cut short. Thankfully, it wasn’t.

The couple was eager to hear my book. “We can translate what you say to them,” the husband said happily.

I pulled my chair closer. Rather than a straight reading, I held an informal conversation about the T, tourist destinations and the differences between Boston and Poland, the family’s country.

The kids’ eyes lit up when they saw the Museum of Science dinosaur. After I read about how squeaky the trolleys can be, the mother said her son asked why didn’t somebody make them quieter. Exactly!

They asked about Faneuil Hall. I said the building was important, but stressed the vibrancy of Quincy Market. They were intrigued by the shops and restaurants. The children sat patiently as their parents explained about the 360-degree views from Prudential Skywalk.

The kids giggled at the monsters that one of the students in the book speculated might live in an abandoned tunnel. Goofy characters don’t need translation.

The family visited Fenway Park, which is depicted in the book. “We don’t understand the rules, so we left early. Is that OK?” the father asked. “My kids know the game, and they don’t stay for an entire game,” I said.

Their daughter left to play with some toys. Their son zoomed around with my toy Green Line trolley.

He had successful surgery, so the family was excited to explore more of Boston.

About the illustration of students at the Museum of Fine Arts, the father asked, “Is this a good place?” I nodded.

“Even for children?”

“You won’t see as much as you would if you were alone,” I answered. “But it’s great. Check out the instrument room.” They liked that idea.

The mother said she and her daughter were learning violin together. They brightened at the idea of walking to the Boston Symphony’s home, which I mention in the book.

I learned there are no subways in their town, but there are in Warsaw.

Pointing at the last page of my book, I asked, “Do you understand this Boston word: wicked?” I asked.

“It doesn’t mean ‘evil,’” I said. “It means ‘very,’ as in ‘wicked awesome.’” They laughed, happy to learn local slang.

We shook hands and I explained that my son fell in love with the MBTA when he was five. “He’s almost 15,” I said. “We might go for a ride tomorrow.”

“Maybe we’ll see you on the subway!” the father said.

You can buy my book at the Sidetrack Products web site.

A Long, Strange, Wicked Good Trip....

I share the relief of Chicago Cubs fans. No, not because after more than a century their goat-cursed baseball team finally won the World Series. But rather because after telling people over and over during the last few years, "I'm writing my first children's book," I can finally finish that sentence with, "and here's where you can buy it."

I refuse to look back over my emails, documents and copy shop paperwork to see how long ago I started working on this book. Suffice it to say, it's been a wicked long time since I began work on "A Wicked Good Trip!"

I had a draft of a rhyming alphabet book that involved a generic subway system, inspired by my son, Owen, who has loved Boston's subways since he was in kindergarten -- 9 years ago. But once my wife's brother-in-law asked me if I wanted to produce a book about Boston's underground transit system, for his company, Sidetrack Products, I scrapped that idea and got to work on a new concept.

Fairly quickly I arrived at the idea that you'll see in "A Wicked Good Trip!" The book is about a group of elementary school students on a field trip, riding Boston's Green Line subway through the city. The kids learn about the trains and stations, and go above ground to visit landmarks including Faneuil Hall, the Boston Common, Fenway Park and the Museum of Fine Arts.

Once I had the basic story down, I began working with an artist who I knew casually through a friend of my wife's. We met several times to discuss my story and her approach, but after a while we came to a mutual realization that she wasn't right for the book (she had a hard time drawing kids' faces, which is a crucial element of the book). She suggested I post a job on two art college web sites, which I did. I then reviewed a handful of portfolios and found the right person, Martina.

I was very taken by the bold colors she uses in her illustrations. I also liked the fact that she had done art for another children's book, albeit one that never got published. She longed to work on picture books, and I had the basic story for one about riding Boston's Green Line subway, so we set to work.

Honestly, I don't remember all of the steps we took early on, but we had to meet on occasion and email frequently to hash out some wording and ideas for how each page should be illustrated. I had ideas and passed them along, knowing full well that she would have better ideas most of the time. Because my book would be part of the Sidetrack Products line of MBTA-themed toys and apparel, during each stage of the process I needed to meet with the licensing agent for the MBTA, which runs Boston's subway system.

The agent, a really nice and interesting guy named Steven, had ideas about the book, and edits both for content as well as grammar.

The entire process took longer than I thought or hoped it would. Sometimes Martina held things up because she has a full-time job and couldn't get to the illustrations as quickly as I'd like, or she was in Europe for a few weeks during the summer. Other times Steven was the hold-up, as he had to put reviewing the latest draft of the book on the back burner because he has at least one full-time job and is working on a book of his own. Most often, though, I was the reason things got gummed up. I would work on other writing projects -- this blog, my other blog (The Backside of America; check it out!), my road trip memoir -- or was too stressed out with the job of raising two kids or simply forgot about the book, hard as that may be to believe.

There were plenty of times when I was sure the book was done, or nearly so, only to learn that the MBTA wanted some little thing changed, or I had made an editing error or Martina had forgotten or misunderstood some suggestion I had made about an illustration. Once Martina and I had a decent working draft, I printed copies and mailed them to two publishers I had targeted, once because it was a new company starting out in Massachusetts, the other because several years ago the company published a book about riding an MBTA bus.

Both publishers rejected the book. I realized that the best idea was to self-publish "A Wicked Good Trip!" and hope that if the book did well perhaps a traditional publisher might then be interested.

Through Steven, the MBTA's licensing agent, I learned of a printing company that works quite a bit with self-publishing authors. King Printing is based in Lowell, Mass., and they have been wonderful to work with. Helpful at every step, for sure. Once I was sure the book was ready, I had a proof copy made. I expected to give it a once-over and then give them the thumbs-up to publish.

But no. I had to reject it because I had neglected to include a blank page in a crucial spot, and hadn't noticed that some of the kids' faces looked green or gray when they should have been brown or black. So Martina had to go back to her computer and fix that stuff and then I had to review that draft with a microscope to make sure nothing was missing or looked weird.

But persistence has paid off...although there was one last snag. I ordered 500 copies from King Printing and eagerly awaited their delivery. Ten days ago, 492 copies were placed on my porch in small, but heavy, boxes (somehow the print job came up 8 books short; I wasn't charged for them). But I noticed that the books didn't have an ISBN barcode on them. I had discussed buying an ISBN -- the International Standard Book Number that you need in order to sell books to retailers and libraries -- with the printing company early on, and assumed that discussion would follow the print job. But somehow, it didn't.

So after ordering an ISBN and attendant barcodes online, I had to visit Staples to get them printed, and then I slapped them on my books. This week Sidetrack Products has started placing the book with local retailers. Additionally, the book is available through the company's web site.

So that's the long, strange tale of "A Wicked Good Trip!"

Kidding Around

Here are some thoughts that might come to mind when someone says, "Boston's Green Line":

• Squeaky
• Smelly
• Cold
• Hot
• Crowded
• Late
• Did I mention squeaky?

For others, including my 11-year-old son, Owen, the Green Line conjures images of adventure and intrigue. The oldest subway stations in America are on the the line -- Park and Boylston stations. You travel through the heart of Boston when you're on the Green Line. You go past Fenway Park, TD Garden (home of the Celtics and Bruins), the Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of Science and historic Boston Common.

My son also loves to keep track of which trains are running on which lines (the Green Line has B, C, D and E branches), and which ones are in or out of service.

As some readers know, I've been working on a children's picture book about riding the Green Line. A few years back, inspired by countless subway rides with Owen, I started writing a book about a generic subway ride. I had a hard time with it, and gave up. But then my sister-in-law's husband, Todd, asked if I wanted to write one specifically about the Green Line, for eventual inclusion in the line of products that his company, Sidetrack Products, sells.

The process is taking longer than I'd expected, but things are heading in the right direction.

Back in late October I gave draft copies of the book to the licensing agents for the MBTA (aka the T), which operates the subway. Two weeks ago I heard back from the point man, who likes the concept of the book. He had some questions/comments about the look of the book, and stressed that I need to make sure I get any necessary clearances to use the names of Fenway Park, TD Garden, the Red Sox, etc.

The bottom line, though, is that he's excited to sell the book because there are no other T-themed children's books available. So yesterday I met with Martina, the illustrator, to address some design issues in order to make headway on a next draft to give to the licensing guys.

In the meantime, I'm waiting to hear back from the two publishers I mailed the manuscript to three months ago. Several years ago one of the companies published a children's book about riding a T bus; the other is based in Massachusetts and is looking to publish its first books.

As I told Martina yesterday, I hope that by the end of this year to have an agreement in place to publish the book. I've already got a draft for a Red Line book, in hopes that if the Green Line book does well, there could be a series including all of Boston's subway lines.

Stay tuned.

Get a Job!

Owen and Amelia are in camp together -- finally! -- and I'm getting a preview of what my life will be like in six weeks when Amelia joins Owen in elementary school.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Amelia gets out of camp at noon, but on Monday, Wednesday and Friday she's there until 4:00, like Owen is every day. So I've got more free time than I've ever had, and have started getting serious about how I'm gonna fill that time, and, with any luck, actually earn some money in the process.

My first priority is to finish my children's subway book. I am working with an illustrator and hope to present a draft with some pictures to the licensing agent for the MBTA in the not-too-distant future. If the book gets green-lighted, there could be other projects.

Also on the writing front, I continue to work on the memoir I mentioned a while back (see May 25, 2012, "Inspiration"). I've been working on it for four months, pretty regularly, and feel like it's coming together nicely. I've gotten down the facts of the trip after listening to audio tapes and going through my journal, newspaper articles and foggy memory. I've also included details about places we visited, and places we blew past that I wished we'd visited, and brought in memories from my childhood sparked by events and places.

I still have a lot of work to do to incorporate larger themes into the work, something I've begun but realize is going to take a bit of time. Unlike with my first book -- still available for sale here -- I plan to have a few sets of eyes look at my memoir.

I hope to get it out next year as an e-book.

That book probably won't make me any money, but reading other people's books (and my own) might earn me a living.

My mother-in-law, Rose, has told me over the years that I have a good radio voice. Recently, she suggested I should be an audiobook reader. So I looked into that and found that Audible.com seems to always be looking for voice talent.

Those interested in the job need to submit a 2-minute sample of themselves reading a book, so I've been practicing reading my book. While doing so, I looked into the possibility of turning my book into an audiobook, and Audible offers authors a chance to do that as well (apologies to my college buddy, Pete Duchesne, who last year raised the idea of doing my audiobook).

Anyway, I plan to send in an audition recording after I've done quite a bit of practice. After watching a six-minute video on Audible's web site, I realized that quite a bit goes into not only reading books -- a good voice, sure, but also good acting and diction skills -- but also producing quality audio recordings.

If that doesn't work, I could always go back to my first career: working in the Stop & Shop produce department.

Goin' Underground

The MBTA is about to raise fares and cut some service for subway, bus and commuter rail passengers in the Greater Boston area, which is a shame. The move will result in some commuters leaving the "the T" in favor of driving to work or elsewhere, which will hurt the environment and add to Boston's infamous traffic woes.

It didn't have to be like this.

Up until 2000, the state legislature covered the difference between the T's income and expenses each year. Beginning that year, the state enacted what's called "forward funding," in which the T was allotted one cent for every five cents collected from state sales tax, but also saddled with $3.8 billion in debt the state had borrowed to complete public transportation work required by the feds in light of the massive Big Dig highway project.

Long story short: the sales tax hasn't dumped as much into the T's coffers as legislators had projected, the debt load is crushing the agency, making it difficult to keep up with regular maintenance on tracks, trains and buses, and the state doesn't appear to be willing to shift that debt burden. For the whole story, read this Boston Globe article.

I ride the T a lot with my son, Owen. He used to love riding the whole subway system, mapping out the trip ahead of time and making sure we followed it, well, to a T. More recently, he prefers the Green line. He likes to check out the different lines and types of subway cars, and I love to watch people, take pictures and wonder about all the abandoned tunnels of the system.

While I love the trips, I get bummed seeing the terrible shape of so many tunnels, trains and stations. The system needs money for upkeep, never mind for buying new equipment and expanding the Green line into Medford.

Because Owen and I don't ride that often any more, I'm not concerned about paying more on future trips. But for so many people, taking the T is the most affordable way to get to work, do shopping or visit friends and family. Paying more is going to hurt plenty of people, it's clear.

It's sad that the state and federal government spent $15 billion to bury Boston's Central Artery highway and improve the face of the city by removing raised highway structures, but the two entities can't commit themselves morally and financially to a cleaner mode of transportation.

The MBTA currently has a $160 million budget shortfall for the current fiscal year. So raising fees and cutting service now does nothing to address the agency's long-term fiscal woes. The federal and state governments need to commit to building and maintaining public transportation across the country. Increase gas taxes, tolls, whatever you need to do.

Whatever you do, don't blame the good folks who work at the T. Below, you'll find a 45-minute documentary, "Boston Under: After Hours," which shows how drivers, track maintenance workers and supervisors work behind the scenes to make things run as smoothly as possible.

Subterranean

I've taken so many pictures of Boston's subway system, I don't think I'll ever have enough time and space to post them all. I've posted countless albums on my Facebook page documenting the numerous trips I've taken on the MBTA with my son, Owen. I've also posted a bit on my other blog, The Backside of America (see August 30, 2010, "Going Underground").

Owen likes the different types of trains, especially on the Green line -- well, he used to before he got completely and totally absorbed in Mario Kart. On our trips, I've always taken more interest in the stations, the people and the surrounding scenes on the above-ground portions of our trip.

All the shots in this post are of a mosaic in the Park Street station on the Green line. The work of art was created in 1978 by Lilli Ann Rosenberg, who passed away earlier this year at the age of 86. One hundred ten feet long and weighing in at 12 tons, the mosaic depicts the history of the Boston subway system.

Heredity

("Big Alex," Felton Street in Waltham, MA)


I was reminded during a recent visit with my sister how much I loved big rigs when I was young. She's five years older than I am, and told me that to this day she remembers the difference between a cabover and a conventional truck tractor because of how obsessed I was with spotting 18-wheelers.

Previously, I hadn't thought about how similar my one-time appreciation for big trucks is to my 9-year-old son Owen's current love of subway trains. I used to ride my bike down to the heavily traveled Route 10 in my hometown, Simsbury, CT, so I could spot trucks. I would hang out for quite a while, trying to get them to blast their air horns. And when they did, I got a real thrill.

I was totally into CB radio lingo, even buying a book so I could learn some in case I picked some up on my walkie talkie while I was watching trucks. Did I watch "BJ and the Bear" on TV? Yes, I did. Did I love C.W. McCall's "Convoy" when it played on the radio? Yes, I did.

I've never seen "Convoy" the movie, however, which I need to rectify.

In the last two years or so, Owen and I have gone on close to two dozen trips on the Boston subway system. He loves the trains, the stations, the noises, the connections between places. I love to take pictures and see parts of Boston I don't usually see from the highway or local streets.

Just as I now take my son on subway trips, my dad helped feed my truck obsession, although not to anywhere near the degree that I help Owen. My dad took me to a truck dealership in Hartford once, and explained to a driver outside how much I loved trucks. Faster than you could say, "10-4, good buddy," I was climbing up to take a look in the cab.

Another time, on a family vacation out west, we stopped for the night at a motel in Salt Lake City. I was in the outdoor pool and saw a truck pull into the parking lot. Once again, my dad asked, and once again, I got to check out the cab.

Also, I loved the "Smokey and the Bandit" movies when I was a kid.

And I had a favorite 18-wheeler when I was a kid. In the center of Simsbury was a factory called Ensign Bickford. They had a red-white-and-blue cabover Peterbilt parked there with a double sleeper. I used to dream of breaking through the security fence and driving that thing away.

Why did I love trucks so much? Because they were big, and loud and the best ones had huge chrome smoke stacks, running lights that lit up the night and the guys driving them looked like cowboys. I imagined that driving a semi truck was all fun: traveling the open road, being your own boss, sleeping in the truck like it was a camper, meeting people from all walks of life.

Now, like me, Owen dreams of one day driving a big rig, although a subway car is a much different beast than an 18-wheeler. He loves the Green Line more than any other, and keeps track of which trains we've ridden (they have four-digit numbers prominently displayed), which ones have derailed in the past, which ones have been repainted. His favorite stations are Government Center and Park Street, because the trains squeak the most as they come around the bend at those stations.

And, like my sister, I've learned a lot from exposure to a young boy's deep interest. Thanks to Owen, I know the difference between a Kinki train and a Breda train, for instance.

I wonder what Owen's kids will be obsessed with. Maybe spaceships.