Moving on to my next book . . . Inspector Javert

Javert, from Les Misérables
by Victor Hugo, published in 1862.

Having just launched Bishop Myriel: In His Own Words, what's a writer and avid Les Miserables junky to do? Follow BM with a book about the most dangerous and mysterious of all Victor Hugo's antiheroes, Inspector Javert (if he ever had a given first name, it isn't mentioned in the novel)? 

It's as if he came from the womb a dedicated policeman. His single purpose in life?  To catch and jail every lawbreaker in his path, until the just and punishing God he believed in and whose cause he served (in his own misguided way) carried him to his eternal reward. "Job well done," my son.

In fact, this young, innocent child quickly decided he had only two possible life-choices in front of him . . . follow his fortunetelling mother and his father, both of whom were serving prison sentences at the time of Javert's birth . . . or to become the most impeccable and zealous lawman ever created. And go to his grave with a clean slate to be welcomed by a choir of angels singing, "Well done good and faithful servant, enter into the reward your flawless service has merited."

Since 1862, Javert has become known the world over by readers of Les Miserables and audiences packing movie theaters and stage venues. We know him as a tragic foil to the the man of principle and charity, Jean Valjean (who assumes a variety of identities in his desire to cover his tragic past as the paroled prisoner 24601). These two antagonists  first met during Valjean's prison years. As chance--and Victor Hugo--would have it, they cross paths again . . . twice, at least, during Valjean's life in Western France and finally in Paris.

The question for me was . . . why do I want to enter the dark mind and soul of this man who dedicated his life to bringing lawbreakers to justice with a vengeance unsurpassed in world literature? To be honest, I fought it for months. After writing about the wonderful bishop who turned Valjean's life around and set him on a course of compassionate living and works of charity, I balked. Throughout the writing of Bishop Myriel, I reveled in probing the soul and good works of that great man. Then, why Javert?

Yes, why Javert?

(to be continued)

Don't miss Bishop Myriel: In His Own Words 

"An stunning achievement!" -- Judith Ingram, Forgiving Day by Day

Interview with Alfred J. Garrotto

Dear Friends:
I invite you to read this interview I did for the monthly newsletter of the California Writers Club, Mount Diablo Branch [Central Contra Costa County, California].

I invite you to read my new book (follow this link)

Approximately how long have you been a California
Writers Club (CWC) member and why did you join?

I joined CWC in 1996. I knew about it beforehand but wanted to have a published novel (A Love Forbidden) before joining a professional writers’ organization. This reasoning was skewed, I admit, because the novel was my fourth commercially published book. The first three were a series on adult faith formation. At the time, I didn’t think those “counted.” Go figure.

How has your CWC membership helped you or your writing?

Membership in CWC has been invaluable in helping me grow (gradually) into    a much more mature writer in every way. Looking at my early books, I feel like 
going back and reediting/republishing them. I am a better, more professional
writer now than I was when I first joined the branch.

You have published a lot of books! What is the total number published, and did you have a traditional publisher
or publish them yourself? If your work was self-published,
why did you decide to publish your work  yourself?

I have just published my 13^th book (5 nonfiction, 8 fiction). I had agents for my earlier books. When I hit the “senior citizen” stage of my life, I realized that I no longer wanted to endure the year or two it took to see my books in print from the time of sale. I switched to print-on-demand for my last four or five books because I can control the entire process from concept to writing to editing and publishing. I have been able to go from first written word to publication in less than a year. 

If your work was published with a traditional publisher, 
how did you find your publisher?

The now-defunct Winston Press (Minneapolis) published my first three nonfiction books. They were very good to me throughout the process, even flying me to their home office for consultation. I had no agent for those books. They sold pretty well in the low thousands).

I had two different agents for my next set of books. These were bought by small publishing houses (Genesis Press and Hilliard & Harris). It was then that I learned the harsh reality of small presses. They did little if anything to market my books. After the agent’s cut plus the publisher’s profit, I got a very small percentage on the sale of each book.

Do you have a favorite, or one that you enjoyed
writing more than others?

Nothing ranks higher than completing and selling my first
novel (A Love Forbidden). I got very emotional—even wept—
when I felt opened the box containing printed copies of my
novel. Seeing the book “in the flesh,” so to speak was
overwhelming. Next to that, my most joyful writing
experience was the planning and creation of Bishop
Myriel: In His Own Words.

How long have you been writing?

            Professionally, for about 30+ years.

             Do you have a website?

Yes, I have a website (https://www.alfredjgarrotto.com) and 
a blog site (https://wisdomoflesmiserables.blogspot.com)
I’m on Facebook at AlfredJGarrottoAuthor
and Tweet at @algarrotto

What are you currently working on?

My novel, Bishop Myriel: In His Own Words, is now
available in e-book and print formats at Amazon.com
(see link above under cover photo. By mid-May it should be orderable at any bookstore. The paperback
edition saw the light of day in March 2020. In Les

Miserables, Victor Hugo outlined in detail a book
that his character, Bishop Myriel, intended to write. 

Then, Hugo added that the bishop got no farther
than the outline.

In my book I dare to write the text for the bishop,
following the exact outline Hugo laid out, just as the
author might have written it. It is a great challenge, but I do my best to crawl inside the bishop’s mind
and channel his beautiful spirit.

In which genre(s) do you write?

I write fiction, nonfiction, poetry, with an occasional
magazine article or book review. My fiction works range
from romantic thrillers to the spirituality of creative
talent (The Soul of Art.).

How have your background, previous work and/or
experience contributed to your writing?

Mightily. I spent 12 years in the seminary and 18 years as a
Catholic priest, before being called to another vocation—
marriage and parenthood. 
For the last 20 years, I have served as a lay minister in
my local parish, so my earlier education in philosophy and theology and my life experience in parish ministry
were not wasted.

What do you like about writing?

The most fun in writing is that you never know what is inside
of you until you see it on a page. When I look at any of my
published work, I’m likely to say, “This is really good. I wonder who wrote it?” Even though my name is on the cover
or in the byline of a magazine article, I’ve had the same
experience of wondering where all those ideas and their
literary expression came from. It can’t be the same guy
I see in the mirror every morning.

Who or what has influenced you the most as a writer?

It may sound corny, but I think of my ability to write publishable
prose (and some poetry, too) as pure a gift from the Creator Spirit.
I don’t want to seem too pretentious, but that’s how I identify
my primary muse. 
I’d say my greatest source of inspiration has been the Mt. Diablo
Branch of the California Writers Club and all the amazing authors
I’ve met and been influenced by over the last quarter century.

How do you define success as a writer?

I write because I cannot not write. I am not a famous or
even noteworthy author. I make very little money
considering the hours, weeks, and months of thought and labor
writing and publishing demands. I am a “successful” author,
if I am faithful to my originating inspiration to write and have
done my best to translate that inspiration into language that
might inspire others in some way. In short, I am a success if I gave it my best effort and feel good about the finished work.
Anything else that follows is a welcome surprise.

What part of the writing process is most difficult
for you? 

Most difficult socially is to balance the time I need to write with family time—I can’t write in 5-10 min. spurts. When I’m on a roll, it’s hard to break away and be present to the
people around me.

In the independent publishing process, the hardest part is meeting the specs of the automated software. This is especially true of paperback and hard cover publishing. I’ve found KDP persnickety but doable. I finally had to hire book designer Andrew Benzie to upload my cover and interior
to IngramSpark. 

What kind of research do you do, if any, and how longdo you spend researching before beginning a story/piece of work?

In writing Bishop Myriel, my research has been ongoing for a
number of years. I’ve read the text so many times that it’s
ingrained in me. I did have to do some research but found
everything I needed online (mainly Wikipedia for dates
and name spaces/spelling, etc.).

Paying attention to pre-awakening (morning) inspirations is valuable. I get some of my best ideas, answers, solutions in the haze of waking up.

Does writing energize or exhaust you?

I’d say it’s more energizing than exhausting, but there are
limits. After in intense session, I need to just shut down,
then pick it up again later (or the next day.

Do you have any advice for new writers?

I run into so many people who want to write but never seem 
to make time for it. They say everyone has at least one book in 
them, but only a few of us actually take the time to do it. If onewants to write, there’s no other way but to do it.

What are your future writing goals? I have at least two more books in me, if God gives me the yearsand good health to accomplish this. 
(1)   I want to write a 3^rd volume in my Wisdom of Les Miserables series. Bishop Myriel is #2. The first was Lessons
from the Heart of Jean Valjean. I intend to finish with Inspector Javert:  In His Own Words. Part of me shrinks from
entering that man’s dark hole, but I’d like to fill in some
blanks of his life. 

(2)   I want to do a second expanded edition of The Soul of Art.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

No, I’ve probably said too much already.

Bishop Myriel--A Professional Review

Spiritual writer, Judith Ingram (Forgiving Day by Day), has just published a review of my new novel, Bishop Myriel: In His Own Words.  I am pleased to share it with you here:

REVIEW by Judith Ingram

A Stunning Achievement!

Alfred J. Garrotto has composed a novel that ushers Victor Hugo’s fictional character, Bishop Myriel, out from the shadows of the Les Misérables stage play to the front-and-center position to which Hugo’s famous novel assigns him. Hugo hints in his novel that the bishop was writing a volume on Christian duty but left it unfinished. Garrotto steps in to cleverly elaborate on the bishop’s detailed Scriptural outline—thoughtfully provided by Hugo himself—and composes a work of theological reflections as if penned in the good bishop’s own hand.

Calling himself the ghostwriter in this tri-level authorship he shares with Myriel and Hugo, Garrotto quickly immerses his readers in the voice and heart of Bishop Myriel through a series of autobiographical vignettes. The charming formality of the bishop’s narrative and pitch-perfect style befitting an early nineteenth-century writer render the ghostwriter invisible and magically transport the reader to the very feet of this humble priest, wise beyond his years and devoted to Christian service.

After his introductory vignettes, the bishop presents his “completed” work, Duty. While the stories charm and endear the bishop to his readers, Duty stuns with its brilliant, incisive treatment of fundamental truths of Scripture and their application. The bishop laments his own shortcomings, yet his love for Christ and passion for giving himself to others in service outweigh his flaws. The reader is left to wonder whose soul is truly revealed by these deep wells of compassion, understanding, and purity of heart—is it Myriel’s, Hugo’s, or the ghostwriter’s? The bishop might answer that all such beauty must ultimately spring from the Christ Himself, to whom all three authors give first honor.

*    *    *

Bishop Myriel is now available for presale in e-book format. The paperback edition is due out in early to mid March of this year.
 

I hope all you Les Miz fans out there will enjoy this most unusual book. Unusual how? It is a fictional story whose protagonist is a fictional character created by the master fiction writer  Victor Hugo.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=bishop+myriel%3A+in+his+own+words&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1003393

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bishop-myriel-alfred-j-garrotto/1136384449?ean=2940163463299

I'm delighted to announce that my latest novel, BISHOP MYRIEL: IN HIS OWN WORDS, is now available for presale on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084FVJQBX?pf_rd_p=ab873d20-a0ca-439b-ac45-cd78f07a84d8&pf_rd_r=SBW6388S744NB5YSMGJ5

The paperback edition will follow shortly after the ebook's release on February 25.

All Les Miserables and Victor Hugo fans will enjoy this novelized version of the man who changed Jean Valjean's whole life.

I claim the title, ghostwriter, with

great humility and esteem for

Bishop Myriel, Victor Hugo’s catalyst

character in Les Miserables. Basing this novel on an already

well-known and beloved fictional protagonist posed a

challenge, to say the least. As did "channeling" the bishop's spirit, so I could speak in his voice.

*    *    *

In the dramatic stage adaptation of Les Miserables, with music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, French lyrics by Jean-Marc Natel and in English by Herbert Kretzmer, Bishop Myriel appears early in Act I for barely a few minutes. During that brief encounter with mendicant Jean Valjean, the bishop bestows upon the wild-looking parolee the inherited Myriel family treasures (silver dinnerware and candlesticks). Before they part ways on stage, the bishop spontaneously “commissions” Valjean with a new calling in life:

“Jean Valjean, my brother: you belong no longer to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I am buying for you. I withdraw it from dark thoughts and from the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God!”

With that surprising and confusing revelation, the bishop withdraws from the stage not to be seen again until Valjean’s deathbed scene when he appears to the dying man as in a vision.

How different the scene in Hugo’s original!

The first lines of that sprawling epic present Bishop Myriel front and center as a major player in the story:

In 1815, M. Charles Francois Myriel was Bishop of D____. He was a man of seventy-five and had occupied the bishopric of D____ since 1806.

Fantine, Book the First, Chapter I, Myriel

In the commission scene, the bishop’s final words to Valjean are:

“Remember this my brother, you will use this precious silver to become an honest man. By the witness of the martyrs, by the Passion and the Blood, God has raised you out of darkness; I have saved your soul for God.”

Soon after being released, however, Valjean robs Petit Gervais, a lone child on a deserted road. Suddenly, he recalls the bishop’s mandate (in this abbreviated form):

“. . . you have promised me to become an honest man. I am purchasing your soul; I withdraw it from the spirit of perversity and give it to God Almighty.”

Myriel and Valjean never meet again, at least not until Jean Valjean lies on his deathbed. Hugo describes that scene as follows:

The portress had come up and was looking through the half-open door. The physician motioned her away, but he could not prevent that good, zealous woman from crying to the dying man before she went”

“Do you want a priest?”

“I have one,” answered Jean Valjean.

And, with his finger, he seemed to designate a point above his head, where, you would have said, he saw someone.

It is probable that the Bishop was indeed a witness of his death-agony.

Over the century-and-a half of the original novel’s existence, a number of abridged versions of the 1,200-plus pages have appeared. Some publishers made an editorial decision to abridge the text. In doing so, they generally omit the statement that Bishop Myriel was in the process of writing a book on the topic of Christian duty. I am grateful for Charles E. Wilbour’s  unabridged English translation (1862, the very year of the novel’s first publication. Wilbour includes Hugo’s detailed, Scripture-based outline of the bishop’s opus-to-be. Random House’s Modern Library Edition of Wilbour’s translation (2000) filled that important gap.

We are told by Victor Hugo himself that the work remained unfinished. The bishop’s detailed outline captured my imagination and launched me on a twenty-year inner quest that has resulted, finally, in this historical novel. Probing Les Miserables’ expansive spirit became my passion. I can only hope that I serve the good bishop well by attempting to channel his spirit. And so, I dare to offer what I call a first draft manuscript of Bishop Myriel’s book. In doing so, I have done my best to preserve Duty’s outline as created by the original author. 

Bishop Myriel--in his own words . . . new novel to arrive in early 2020

Early in 2020, I’ll be releasing my 8th novel, “Bishop Myriel: In His Own Words.”Les Mis fans will enjoy this inspiring story. 

Current tentative cover

Writing in the voice of Victor Hugo’s beloved fictional character is requiring me to climb inside the body and soul of this great yet very humble man. 

Writing in the bishop’s own voice is a personally rewarding challenge. It requires me to “channel” Hugo’s bishop, Les Mis’s catalyst character. 

The bishop’s generosity and personal challenge (“to become an honest man”) sent the former convict,  John Valjean, on his way to becoming the courageous, exemplary man who served to the poor and suffering (les miserables). 

Stay Tuned.

The Arts. . . both gift and a call to service

What's not to love about the cello? A "voice" to die for. Sexy design. Polished finish that brings each wooden fiber to brilliant life. 

This instrument first thrust itself upon my consciousness in the PBS documentary, "Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound," that chronicles Baez's life. The segment that stood out for me was her 1993 visit to the destroyed and terrorized city of Sarajevo, Bosnia. She described her heart-rending encounter with Sarajevo Opera cellist Vedran Smajlovic. 

"Unable to stop the madness that had ripped apart the former Yugoslavia, Smajlovic honored the memory of his friends and defied their killers by doing the only thing he was good at. Placing his chair in the middle of the street, he took out cello and bow—musician and instrument melding into a single defiant force. Eyes closed to the surrounding destruction, he rendered the mournful Adagio in G minor by Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni." 

 

Be it a musician, actor, painter, or writer, anyone else endowed with creative gifts, Smajlovic's offering to his fellow Sarajevans represents an artist's supreme achievement: to become one with the work and with the audience. I imagine him getting up every morning, donning his tuxedo, as if he were going to play with his disbanded orchestra, and carrying chair and cello out onto the dangerous street to play Albinoni's soulful Adagio in G minor. 

I imagine Michelangelo on the scaffolds of the Sistine Chapel, Antoni Gaudi living the last years of his life in the dusty construction site of Barcelona's (still-unfinished) Sagrada Familia Basilica.

I think of Victor Hugo in 1861-1862, melding himself with his idealized man, Jean Valjean.

The great gift of artists is that they do not hoard their transcendent experience, but allow us differently skilled humans an opportunity to transport ourselves in spirit to a higher realm of contemplative unity, be it ever so brief. Wise beyond human comprehension are those artists who are fully conscious of their lofty and sacred calling, to inspire our world and make the world a better place for everyone.

- - - - - - - - -

I invite you to read my book, The Soul of Art, available at all online booksellers in both paperback and ebook formats.

My Art and Soul retreats/workshops explore the sacred source of artistic gifts and the mission of those so blessed to share the fruit of their talents with others for the betterment of our Sarajevo-like world.

Next retreat/workshop:

Saturday, June 24, 2017
9:30 a.m.-4 p.m.
San Damiano Retreat House
Danville, California
Cost: $55

For information about this event or to book future events, contact alfredjgarrotto@gmail.com

(c) 2017 by Alfred J. Garrotto
All rights reserved

Les Miz Companion Books

I’ve found a kindred spirit in author Rev. John E. Morrison, an Episcopal priest. In his wonderful book, To Love Another Person: A Spiritual Journey Through Les Miserables, his treatment of the spirituality of Victor Hugo’s novel and the amazing Kretzmer, Boublil, Schonberg musical version helped me to deepen my own appreciation of the epic story’s psychological and spiritual themes. Morrison’s approach is more academic than my own in The Wisdom of Les Miserables: Lessons From the Heart of Jean Valjean, but it is no less stirring and inspiring. If, like me, you are a LesMis-ophile, you will both enjoy and benefit from a reverent reading this book.

(c) 2012 by Alfred J. Garrotto

Where Has All the Wisdom Gone?

The whole month of May has gone by since my last post. I've tried, but finding big-stage wisdom on the edge of summer during a presidential campaign is nearly impossible. Normally, I can turn to people of faith for wisdom, especially within my own tradition. Not this time. Wisdom is not strident, yet "loud and louder" is all we too often get from religious leaders in the U.S.


So where does sanity reside in the late spring of 2012? Let me toss out a few rays of hope I cling to on these overcast days: Stephen Colbert, the American women religious, National Catholic Reporter, US Catholic Magazine (print and online), Fr. Richard Rohr, Sr. Joan Chittister, Fr. Brian Joyce and the people of Christ the King Parish, Jean Valjean and Bishop Charles Myriel inVictor Hugo's Les Miserables, and--of course--my wife Esther, a truly wise woman.


I invite the readers of this blog post to add their own wisdom sources to mine.

Lost Angels

[NOTE: In the Roman Catholic liturgy today, we honor three biblical angels--Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel. Over the last 40 years, angels have not played a prominent role in the average Catholic's prayer and spiritual life. Into the gap stepped the New Age movement, which seems to have now run its course, or at least tapered off. To honor today's angels, I'd like to share  an excerpt from my book, The Wisdom of Les Miserables: Lessons From the Heart of Jean Valjean.]

To teach Cosette to read, and to watch her playing, was nearly all Jean Valjean’s life.
And then, he would talk about her mother.
Les Miserables, Cosette, Book Fourth, III: Two Misfortunes Mingled Make Happiness

Jean Valjean must have discovered soon after taking Fantine's child into his care that not even his heartfelt attachment to the little girl could love away her loss. Nor could he erase Cosette's earliest memories of rejection and humiliation, suffered at the hands of the Thenardiers.

Being a good father, Jean Valjean spoke often to Cosette of the mother she had never known. This elderly guardian, who knew nothing of modern parenting techniques, followed the counsel of his love for both mother and daughter. Wounded and scarred himself and grieving the woman he loved, he intuited that Cosette, too, suffered from a "primal wound" that festered at the core of their shared abandonment.

Jean Valjean possessed a special antidote with which he revived Cosette’s numbed spirit—the gift of healing stories. He recounted her mother’s eternal love and her dying wish to have her child at her side, as in former, better times. Jean Valjean held back from Cosette the truth that, in her mother’s quest to achieve that reunion, she had sold her golden hair and perfect teeth. And, with nothing left of commercial value, her body, too. In a final act of desperation, Fantine had entrusted her child to M. Madeleine (Valjean), the very man she had once blamed for her loss of employment. Piece by piece and in carefully edited versions of that history, Jean Valjean restored all that was healable in Cosette’s spirit, leaving the rest to the Ultimate Healer of Souls.

Throughout my daughters’ childhoods, I used stories and parables to shed light on the meaning of their lives. Some dealt with actual events in our family life; others combined fact and fiction. All the stories were true in their own way and intended to heal wounds I had not inflicted and could not cure.

One bedtime story in particular drew frequent requests: "Daddy, tell us about our angels!"

"The ones who made a terrible mistake?" I knew exactly which parable they meant.

"Yes, that one."

After getting them settled, I began the familiar story:

"When it was time for you to be born, God gave each of you an angel who had instructions to deliver you directly to Mom and me here in California. But something went wrong. Your angels forgot the directions, or something. Anyway, they got lost. Instead of delivering you to us, they brought one of you to El Salvador, the other to Honduras to other mothers and fathers who gave birth to you and took care of you the best they could. Somehow—don't ask me to explain it—these good people sensed that something wasn't quite right. They had received misplaced children. And so, they began to search for your true parents.

"Meanwhile, back in California, Mom and I were saying to each other: 'What could have happened to those girls?' We waited some more until we decided, 'We'd better go looking for them.' It took a long time, but first we found Monica in El Salvador! Then we found Cristina next door in Honduras. Now at last, we’re all together, just the way God planned it from the beginning."

In answer to our daughters' concern for what might have become of those errant angels, the best I could offer was: "I suppose God assigned them to new jobs that didn't require delivering children to families."

Interview With Cover Artist Douglas M. Lawson

In my search for cover art for The Wisdom of Les Miserables, I found a close up of church doors with beautiful inset stained glass. The church appeared to be European and date from the 19^th century. That works, I thought. The grain of the oak doors spoke of solidity, maturity, and--yes--wisdom. Then, I stumbled upon a piece of art that captured in a much deeper way my vision of the book's soul. The art was titled, “Val,” and the artist, Douglas M. Lawson, was someone I already knew. What I didn’t know was whether he would consent to let me use this work for the cover of my book. I was just as thrilled when he said yes, as he was to have me ask. Now, I want you to get to know him.

AJG: Doug, how do you feel about having “Val” on the cover of a book?

Lawson: I'm elated. It’s an honor.

AJG: You’ve titled the work, “Val.” Can you explain what that means or refers to?

Lawson: “Val,” is short for heart-valve. It’s an interesting coincidence that your book is about Jean Valjean and that you were drawn to the picture. We are looking into a cutaway of a human heart. The shape of the heart, in this case, is that of a broken human being, as Jean Valjean was. If you look closely below the heart and to the right, you will see the outline of a dove—a symbol of wisdom, peace and love.

AJG: Exactly what the book is about. What is it that you try to express, not just in this work, but in your art in general?

Lawson: I want to express many different shades of human emotion—happiness, sadness, anger—and spirituality, as well.

AJG: How would you describe your artistic style?

Lawson: I don’t like to describe it in words. Rather, I am attempting to combine the surrealist ethos with abstract expressions.

AJG: What are your goals as an artist?

Lawson: To have my work published, to become more involved with video production and animation.

AJG: What media do you work with?

Lawson: I use Photoshop, Illustrator, and Video Studio. Although I am left-handed, I do most of my computer work with a right-handed mouse.

AJG: Can you tell us what you are currently working on?

Lawson: A music-video featuring Johann Sebastian Bach’s little fugue in G minor.

AJG: I understand that you have an interest in writing. Can you tell me something about that?

Lawson: I’ve started an advice book: Never Bet on a Horse Named Glue...and Other Logical Choices.

AJG: I love it already! Can’t wait to see it in print someday. Thanks, Doug, for sharing with us and for making “Val” available to me. No more suitable piece of art exists to accompany what I am trying to express in The Wisdom of Les Miserables: Lessons From the Heart of Jean Valjean.

By the way, I have my eye on another of Douglas M. Lawson’s works for a second WLM book. You can e-mail the artist at douglasmlawson@yahoo.com.

Copyright (c) 2009 by Alfed J. Garrotto