Novelist Robert Earl attended the Miami Book Fair three years ago promoting his first book, Miami Contingent. He will return to the popular annual street fair on Friday, Nov. 17, promoting his second novel, Miami Misnomer.
He said he is looking forward to the event for many reasons.
“To get out there and sell books and mingle with the readers and other writers and have a day of fun and fellowship.”
Earl, born in Baltimore, MD, resides in the Miami area and now is a successful Realtor and world traveler. He currently is attending the University of Miami.
His writing was inspired by his countless experiences from living in the dark abyss of drug addiction for more than 20 years, and tempered by his empowering rise from those depths.
Like his first book, the language and subject of Miami Misnomer is raw and no-holds-barred. He makes no apologies.
“I know that my stories are not for everyone and that’s okay, because I will not conform for the masses,” Earl said. “I will keep my stories real and true to life andm if a person cannot deal with realm then they can’t read Earl.”
The book’s protagonist is Simon Rolla, a man who was a violent and troubled youth with a checkered past and a painful dark secret. Rolla is now a member of the City of Miami Police Department, despite being raised in an impoverished Miami neighborhood where death, drugs, and crime reigned supreme. Those scars still remain for Rolla, and are part of the purpose Earl had in writing this new book.
“I wanted to shine a light on a subject that has been swept under the rug and hid in the closet for a very long time — sexual abuse of children and how those children turn out as adults,” Earl said. “I hope readers go away with a freedom from shame and guilt, able to forgive themselves, knowing that it wasn’t their fault what happened to them and to get on with living.”
Was the second novel any easier to write than the first?
He said it wasn’t.
“I had to do a lot of researching and planning to get this story where I wanted it,” Earl said.
Is he working on a third book?
“Not yet. I took a little break to promote this one and I will start on a new story in January.”
Miami Misnomer provides “a glimpse of the gritty trek through the dangerous streets of Miami’s forbidden neighborhoods as a forsaken boy grows into a man, and does everything he can just to survive.”
Earl’s novels can be found on Amazon at www.amazon.com/Miami-Misnomer-Robert-Earl-ebook/dp/B074MG5L94.
The Miami Book Fair begins Nov. 12, with the street fair running from Friday, Nov. 17, to Sunday, Nov. 19.
