Happy Birthday Mr "Mayor"!
 

Just a heads-up to all my wonderful neighbors: I’ve got a birthday coming up this Tuesday! No need for gifts—just honk if you see me in my golf cart, raise a glass at happy hour, or join me in pretending this is the year I finally start acting my age. (Spoiler: I won’t.) Cheers!

:gc:

To celebrate my birthday I just published my very first book—a humorous take on life here in The Villages, starring a cast of characters suspiciously similar to our own friends. If you enjoy margaritas, mishaps, and golf carts with more personality than most SUVs, this one’s for you. It’s free on Kindle Unlimited, or you can grab a copy and help fund my next flamingo floatie. Amazon.com

Ya know, I worked with an attractive and pleasant young woman many years ago who brought in baked goods and set up a little "birthday" table to put them on to celebrate her own birthday. Always seemed odd she had to toot her own horn and that no one did it for her. Kinda gave off an "I have no friends who care" vibe. She didn't call her self "Mayor" either, I think she relied on others to give her nicknames of endearment, she didn't make them up for herself.

By the way, I'm selling my a C.D. (Compact Disc for all you Boomers) of all my garage-based band songs, please feel free to follow this link to buy one for yourself and another for a loved one. Plus, I'll be parked backed into a space on the square at Lake Sumter Landing with my trunk open this Friday night, selling my CD's that are piled up in there. Thanks!

Signed,

Admiral El Diablo.

:posting:

Well, I was going to bring cupcakes and set up a table, but I couldn’t get a permit from myself in time. As for the ‘Mayor’ title—it was either that or ‘Duke of Shuffleboard,’ and I didn’t want to get too political this close to pickleball season. But don’t worry—I’ve got plenty of friends, and at least half of them still talk to me after happy hour. :jester:

I vote for Duke of Shuffleboard.

Could you donate some copies of your book to the Sumter County Library? Maybe the one off of Parr Drive. I have a thing about birthdays and like reading about the Villages. I often have a pile of books I am reading at any given time. Resource Directory • Sumter County, FL • CivicEngage

Absolutely! I plan to donate copies as soon as my author shipment arrives at the end of May. It’s a lighthearted book filled with oddball British humor—some stories are true, others are suspiciously well-embellished. And for those curious about the “Mayor” title—it’s just for laughs. Since The Villages doesn’t have an official one, I figured I’d volunteer… no campaign signs required!”

Sounds good. https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...library-98853/


There is also the Mark Twain Library. The last I heard.

Wow, you must be a REALLY good writer. $17.99 for 164 pages? I'd buy Admiral El Diablo's CDs before I'd pay that, and I don't even have a CD player. Good luck bro, you're gonna need it.

Slap the phrase 'The Villages' on anything and you can sell it to the people that live here.

I've got to say I'm a little disappointed. What started off as just a fun post from someone excited that they have authored their first book and it's their birthday this coming week, turns into a put down competition. I wasn't asking people to buy the book, I was telling them it's available free through Kindle but if you want to buy the book that's okay. If a paperback book is not worth the cost of burger and fries to you, then don't buy it. No need to be rude.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Mayor, and welcome to the internet.

I went to Amazon and read some excerpts from your book. Some funny stuff.

More specifically welcome to TOTV. It’s always this warm and fuzzy here, lol.

Happy Birthday and congrats on your new book. I just might treat myself to a copy for my birthday (also this month). Cheers!

Isn’t that redundant, Oddball British humor :-)

Thank you for your kind words.

Have to call yourself the Mayor and toot your horn that it is your BD.

Not sure what to think.

Apologies if my humor is not to your liking, but no offence was meant.

Of course a company town is going to have a mayor. I thought it was funny.

Generally, when someone blows their own horn they should expect some noise.

the only ' mayor ' i know is kevin sullivan of eisenhower pickleball.

I may look at it on Kindle.

Appreciate your post and offer to read your newly published book. Congratulations. The site has an excellent tool which permits you to add the regular malcontents to an ignore list. It's worthwhile to watch them disappear one by one until they exist in their own little world where they can snipe at each other to their heart's content.

I just bought your book in Kindle format at a very reasonable price (don’t have Kindle Unlimited). Looking forward to an entertaining read about my current hometown.

Happy Birthday and Congratulations, Mr. Mayor!

You got it done! I respect that. I have been writing in my head since I retired. Mine is a play. So far, I have a title and two scenes. . .but I never work on it. It just plays in my head. It is now approaching “Longest Running Play” status, but, alas, it remains unfinished. There is a saying about writing that applies for those who want or need or have to write: “The art of writing is the art of putting the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.” (I am not good at that part because my muse is a procrastinator and sometimes a social butterfly.)

One of my longtime, lifetime friends does what you are doing. She self pubs through Amazon. Mostly cozy mysteries with a couple of series. She was a cop in real life. She has done this for years. She said she never expects to make any money but does it for the mental exercise and because it is fun. I get that. BUT she now gets a comma in her ROI every once in a while.

Enjoy your birthday and keep on having fun writing.

Boomer the Wannabee

PS: I am going to spend $6.99 from my retirement fund to download your book on Kindle.

Boomer the Wannabee,

Your play may be unfinished, but I know it’s a hit in your head—and that’s where all the best Broadway tryouts begin. I applaud your dedication to writing "mentally"—I did that for years too. It’s cheaper than coffee and no one can critique your punctuation :beer3:

I’m familiar with that old writer’s saying… though in my case, the seat of my pants is usually in a golf cart, and the muse is holding a margarita yelling, “We’ll write tomorrow!” Still, here we are—book done, birthday inbound, and more stories brewing than a happy hour at Lake Sumter.

Your cop-turned-cozy-mystery-writer friend sounds amazing—and clearly way ahead of me. A comma in the ROI? That's bestseller territory in my book. Literally. And as for your $6.99 Kindle splurge… you’ve just funded my next round of flamingo floatie repairs. You're practically a patron of the arts.

Keep that play spinning, Boomer. One day we’ll both be on stage—me with a mic, you with a Tony.

Mayor Chapman
Self-declared, unelected, and entirely unqualified—but writing anyway

Boomer and Mayor Chapman, thank you both for your thoughts and your writings. Many of us have been on here long enough to know that you get a lot of what you want and al lot of what you don't want whenever you pen anything here in TOTV. I trust that neither of you will be the least bit discouraged from additional writings because of some jealous "wish I had said that" or "wish I could write like that" type of people. We all know that generally the criticizers could never compete in a head-to-head competition, so they elevate themselves (they think) by criticizing others. Keep up the good work, gentlemen. Looking forward to your next contributions. TQ
+

Thank you, Mr. Quick. But not to worry, my psyche could never be scarred by those types who crawl out like clockwork around here to sling their snark around. Some seem to be in competition for the Curmudgeon of the Year Award while others no doubt just have a plain old mean streak. If I ever made those types of pathetically predictable posts into a drinking game, I would be sloshed in no time.

One correction for you though. Boomer is a gentlelady not a gentleman. :)

Boomer

There was a Mayor of Doggie Doo Run Run. But I have never seen her on Talk of the Villages. Not that I know of anyway . She was an art teacher in the NYC schools .

And Happy Birthday on this May 6, 2025.

Thank you! Another year wiser!