"O.K, empty your pockets and remove your belt and shoes." The woman behind the counter spoke with no intonation in her voice. She'd gone through the routine time and time again. He removed his belt and put it in front of her.

Leland began writing I begin Anew in 1994, after friends told him about an unusual night they'd had at happy hour the previous night.  In fact, the first section of the book, the part that takes place in the bar of the Mexican Restaurant, is taken from this story almost verbatim.  He spent almost 10 years working on the book, and lost it in its entirety due to computer crashes on two separate occasions.  It was his own need to begin anew, along with the themes of the book, that inspired the title.

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This book is © Leland Hirschman, All Rights Reserved.

Alex Cole sat in the cool darkness beneath the array of colored lights, among shadows and highlights of red and blue, and raised the dark bottle to his lips. The bittersweet ale filled his mouth and he swallowed it with a satisfied "Aahh...." He shook a cigarette from the somewhat crushed pack he found in front of him, brought it to his lips, and let it hang loosely as he searched for a match. He had never been a smoker, but the actions seemed only natural on this particular night.

What is Copywriting?

In the worlds of Journalism, Marketing, and Advertising, there is a bit of jargon used for anything that's been written: Copy.