Wow, it’s amazing how quickly a decade can go by, or to be more accurate, fly by. As many of you know by now, I’ve been plugging away at my book, on and off, for the better part of a decade. I’m getting close now, I can see the finish line in the distance. But some days, the pages still come easier than others. It’s all about balance. And prioritizing. And time.

I still work a 9 to 5 but I hope that this year, this year, is the one where my writing and this book will somehow change everything. Every day I fantasize about giving my two weeks notice, to finally become a full-time writer. I hope and pray that this is it. At this moment, over 6500 Facebook friends seem to keep me in check with everything: writing my pages each day for the book, for this blog, keeping up with fresh marketing and promotional ideas for the Facebook page, and doing my best to read some fiction everyday. . .

It can all seem a bit overwhelming at times. Be careful what you wish for, folks, because as the old saying goes, you just might get it! I’ve picked up, mainly through FB ads, over 6400 “Likes” on my book’s page in just under two months. I’m been blown away and humbled by just how many people out there, 99% of them strangers, take the time to give me a few kind words of encouragement and support nearly everyday, telling me that they can’t wait to read my book. Me. My book. Sometimes it feels surreal.

I sure hope that I don’t let them down. Bye for now. I’ll do my best to post a couple times a week here on the blog. Thanks for stopping by.

The following mini-reviews can also be found on the book’s Facebook Page.

I know there’s many of us (myself included) who have real difficulty recommending a book from an unknown, first-time author, and telling their Facebook friends how they should all “Like” it, just so they can get a complimentary, pre-release digital copy.

I hope the following might help to turn a “not interested” into a “Like”, at least until the book comes out.

What Facebook is saying about the screenplay “A Kiss in Times Square”

Love the incapsulating prose and the dream of the future. Love the screenplay can”t wait for the book. — David Orr

Rich, I can’t wait to read the book because the screenplay was great! The ending made me cry and as odd as it is to say this I can’t wait to cry again! — Kelly Ohlund

Rich, I was so impressed with the screenplay. I couldn’t put it down. I loved the twists and to cry like that… I can’t wait for the book. Loved it! — Jennifer Lynn Sarfate-Bran

As a gentleman who likes a great story that grabs you and has your attention throughout, I find A Kiss in Times Square to be a well thought out, well written story that will grab your emotion and take it on a journey for the ages. I wish Rich much success and I feel this won’t be his only contribution to the literary world. — Bryan Bialecki

I love the way Rich took the real life characters and created this amazing story! As a writer myself, I’m sorry I didn’t think of it first! Good Luck Rich Ouano! — Lucille Serpe

This is a great story. I highly recommend reading it again and again!!! — Ryan Taft

I read this in it’s early stages and loved it! The Author has a way to really hit home. Not only because it has our American heritage behind it but because I lost my Uncle Emerson over the Pacific in WWII, MIA RIP. My Grandfather served in the Army Air Corps and my other 2 Uncles Served in The USN during this great tragedy. I always enjoy reading anything out of that era. A Kiss In Times Square is an Epic story written by an amazing author, I wish you the best of luck and can’t wait until I get my copy! — Jeff Eichenlaub

So I read this story last night after my wife told me how much she loved it. I sat on the couch at 5:25 and from the moment I read the first page I was glued. When I finished reading it was 7:30. For the two hours that I read, I felt that I was there seeing everything that the story was talking about!. I am not one to read MUCH, but I have to say this story is AMAZING! I have to admit this story at times almost had me in tears! it was that good! I cant wait for the book to come out because this is certainly a book I would love to own! If you have a chance to read this story do it, you will not be disappointed! Kudos to you Rich! — Jorge Bran

Just read the play, and all I can say is BRAVO !! Cannot wait for the book to come out… It was such a good story line, and had twists that make you not want to stop reading… This would be a Great Movie. Without giving it all away it was full of hopes, dreams, loss and more than anything love.. You are very talented Rich. Thank you for the good read tonight, I LOVED It ! — Jennifer Secrest

An amazing story based on one of the most significant pictures of the 20th Century. I loved the characters and was so drawn into the story that I could not put the screenplay down. It has been a long time since I have been left speechless and overwhelmed by a work of fiction. What a talent! The book could only be better making “A Kiss in Times Square” come alive and leave all who read it wanting more. – Valerie Schutt Johnson

A fantastic, well written screenplay. I could not put it down. Loved the characters and the story. – Bill Mooi

I read the screenplay and just loved it. Rich, you did an amazing job telling a great story, and the blinding realization at the end really got me – I didn’t see it coming, well done! Would love to see this at the movie theater, and if Robert Deniro would play the ‘janitor’, the movie would match the picture in my head. I’ll settle for the book, for now. Can’t wait to read it. – Mary Hallinan Deischel

Rich, I felt privileged to read your screenplay. Privileged turned to grateful within a matter of pages. I could not put it down. This story exemplifies the complexity of love and life. Your characters prove there are many paths our lives can take. The unexpected ending not only showed a “twist in the journey” but it brought me to tears upon understanding how long that path was and how much he really loved. Looking forward to buying your novel and someday seeing the terrific movie that has already played in my head! – Tracy Nappier

Hi Rich, your friend Eric (my son) had me read a copy of your screenplay right after you finished it. I was going on a trip to ND and read it on the plane. At the end I was crying so hard that the stewardess thought there was something wrong with me. I told her it was the screenplay that a friend of my son’s wrote that made me cry. She said if it was that good maybe it should be made into a movie. I totally agreed with her and I truely do hope that it will be some day soon. My father was in WWII and met my mother in Germany during the war and that is where I was born. I came to the states through Ellis Island with my mother when I was a baby, but I went back to Ellis Island and New York City right after I read your screenplay and I thought about your play and was hoping it would get published for you. Good luck and can’t wait to read the book. – Chris Ebele

I met Richard about twelve years ago in Arizona. We met at a gym in Scottsdale. We use to spot each other and one day he told me he wrote a screenplay and according to him, I said “I remember u laughed when I told u about the script. I described it as TITANIC on dry land, as far as the love story, you told me it sounded like a chick flick!” He gave me his script and I read it. I am not a big fan of fiction when it comes to reading. A Kiss in Times Square was an amazing script. I am not what people would call a small guy or a girly man and hardly every cried but the script actually made me cry. It is an amazing story. Richard is extremely talented. He wrote something amazing off of one timeless picture. I look forward to this book coming out, it will definitely be on my book shelf.  –  Jarrod Love

Even now, working in the E.R., Ray still couldn’t even begin to understand how a parent could hit a child. Not a spanking or disciplining, but when they hit you. When you’re on the ground, hiding inside that shoebox of a closet, and then he finds you. Your legs begin to kick and arms start to flail away like you’re suddenly drowning, and you never learned how to swim; thrown into the deep end of the pool, everyone just watching, including God, all of them ignoring the thrashing waves and cries for help. Jesus, you really wanted to learn how to swim.

When Daniel Miller hit his son, it was more than just blood and tears that left Ray’s body. What also flowed out were the tiny bits of life, treasures that most young boys seem to possess, but most never realizing until later in life. During those years with his father, it was his son’s own sense of adventure and wonder, along with his hopes and dreams; it was all of these precious gifts that managed to slowly seep their way out of the boy, like a hole the size of a pinhead at the bottom of a styrofoam cup.

And seldom were there any witnesses at the scene of the crime. Most of the time, Ray’s mother and three younger sisters weren’t even there. But his bruises could speak, as well as the scars. And whenever the family returned, Ray knew that he could race to the door as he stripped off his clothes, allowing the bruises and cuts to finally speak, as he introduced them to the world.

But instead, he chose to bury the evidence under layers of clothing. Keep it all covered up, he told himself, and they’ll never suspect a thing. It was all worth it, he knew, because when he saw his parents together, he could swear that Elizabeth and Daniel Miller acted more like a couple of teenagers than anything else, their arms wrapped around each other as they shared the couch with Ray’s younger sisters.

Ray would lay on the floor beside them, his face usually buried in a book. He would do his best to focus on the words, despite the laughter which filled the room, usually a by-product of the rest of the family as they listened to their favorite radio show. Most days he never questioned his own silence; because of all the happy moments around him that were far too common, he never had to try and rationalize for very long, always certain that he’d made the right decision.

God, they look so happy, he would tell himself. They are so happy. Who was he to try and take that all away from them? They were just bruises. Still, there were some mornings when he would wake up, barely able to move, half his body seemingly swelled up to twice its normal size. But Daniel Miller would never touch his son’s head or face. And as he grew older, there were times when Ray would actually see it as some kind of twisted courtesy. Thanks, dad, how thoughtful of you.

But much to the young boy’s delight, all of his little secrets: the bruises, cuts, and soreness, would always disappear. Ray could even recall a handful of times when, as a child, it would take several weeks for his tiny secrets to reappear, on his arms, legs, and torso; just minutes after Daniel Miller would walk into the room, usually unexpectedly, but always drunk. And mad as hell.

But when she saw his suitcase in the hallway behind him and his feeble attempt to even hide it, she knew without a shred of doubt that their weekend would be one to remember. And when he told her to pack a bathing suit, she jumped into his arms, the both of them nearly crashing to the floor as she wrapped both legs around him. She was ready in twenty minutes flat. Two hours later and the two of them were airborne, soaring out of JFK, just in time as the storm hit full force. Thousands of travelers found themselves stranded, countless dreams dashed all along the eastern seaboard, as Ray and Tricia kicked up their feet, toasting their luck with champagne at thirty thousand feet.

It was only four days, Tricia knew, nothing more than an extended weekend, but it was Jamaica and everything had been perfect: their suite with its ocean view, the food, the weather, even the colorful drinks and their tiny umbrellas. There wasn’t much in this world, Ray thought, that a few days in a tropical island paradise couldn’t fix or mend, if one only had the means of getting there.

On Sunday, shortly after daybreak, he and Tricia had gone scuba diving. He remembered that she had been quiet as the boat made its way out and he asked her if everything was okay. She just smiled, perhaps not hearing the question over the motor and salty wind. Ray decided not to ask again, convinced she would speak up if anything was bothering her. Tricia never had a problem speaking her mind and that was just one of her many qualities which Ray admired. He had never been one to take to timid or shy women, or even people, for that matter. Life was too short to live like that, he thought.

They had been out late the previous night, and maybe the dive wasn’t such a good idea, but it was too late to start thinking like that. They had hiked a couple miles from the hotel shortly after dusk, before discovering a secluded beach overlooking a cove, not another soul in sight. Ray proceeded to build a small fire, wondering as he scooped up some kindling, if this isolated beach was his own discovery before finally laughing aloud at the thought. They sat on a blanket, sharing a nice bottle of wine before Ray revealed the rest of their meal that was hidden away in a picnic basket.

He surprised her with lobster, caviar, bread, and two different cheeses that she had never had before in her life. It had all been ordered from room service, just a phone call and a few minutes of his time but she was still impressed. It was the thought, the planning, the attention to detail, and Tricia thought hard between bites, of when the last time anyone had even come remotely close to what Ray had done. But that’s been our whole relationship, she thought, and at that moment a million dollars wouldn’t have been enough to wipe the smile from her face. After their meal, they laid back and stared up at the stars as they held each other. They talked about life and dreams and future and all the other things that young couples in love tend to speak of, especially after a nice bottle of wine. And when their stomachs were no longer full, they joined hands and waded off into the gentle surf.

The ocean was perfect, the night unable to cool the shimmering water as they allowed the warmness to wash over them. Nature wasted little time, and in minutes, their clothes were strewn about along the shoreline, just out of reach of the soft waves that intermittently rolled in to lick the white sand. They stayed several yards offshore, standing in the waist high water as they made love, their newly-tanned skin intertwined, meshing together, melting completely into the other as her arms and legs took him in completely. And when his legs felt ready to give in, he found himself struggling towards shore, knees churning desperately, breaking the surface with each stride.

She refused to let go and the two of them finally tumbled hard onto the wet sand, laughing the entire time, unable to move for several seconds until a wave rushed in unexpectedly, stinging Ray’s eyes. He took her in his arms again before rolling themselves inland just a bit, their feet still tickling the ocean as she made her way on top, taking him in once more. Above them, the night sky was bright enough to light their way as the nearby fire slowly began to die, as Tricia’s bra drifted out to sea.

They eventually made it back to their room, the stars still bright, never once checking their watches, deciding that for once in their lives, time didn’t apply to either one of them. They quickly lost their clothes again, stepping into the shower as they proceeded to wash away the salt, sand, and ocean. They went to bed exhausted, holding each other as the ocean blew its way in through an open window, waving her wand, the moon and stars in on the magic, as another spell was cast. Minutes later the young couple awoke, and without saying a word, they began to make love again.