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The Twisted Biography of the author

ANTON VON STEFAN.



Part Twenty-six  - the curse is lifted; the book is launched

The year 2017 opened with our author nestled in a tiny village within the Vienna Woods in Lower Austria.  He had an advance copy of his book firmly in hand.  You see, the ‘package’ he had received just prior to his departure from Vancouver contained a printed, soft-cover volume of that book, The Curse of The Red Crystal.  As he spent much of his time at the Roman baths within that town, I was able to observe in comfort as he meticulously went through page after page making hundreds of corrections.  It was still not up to his standards.  In fact, I later learned he made 302 changes before the book was closed and he was finally satisfied.

The corrections must have made their way back to Vancouver as in less than one week an air-express package arrived from Granville Island Publishing that, from the documents I was able to see, contained a small number of hard cover books.  Here, I must say, I found he was both elated and downtrodden.  These contrasting moods were not simultaneous, but worked themselves out over several days. 

I followed an elated author into Vienna where he handed several of those copies to his brother (see part 1, Twisted Biography).  He also went to a number of English language book stores while in Vienna promoting his book and his publisher.  In fact, he had five or six other books printed by Granville Island Publishing with him. 

Once back in the area known as a part of the Vienna Woods, he frequented many a restaurant and bar, a few of which I was able to squeeze into and enjoy a beverage or two.  Therein, he was still very happy with the books he showed most of the individuals he met.  Then, near the end of that week, in a bar on the Beethoven Gasse, he entered a Beisl, a quaint local bar.  It was so small there was no possibility for me to hide in a corner without being noticed. As a result, I remained nearby, in the cold and drifting snow while he spent several hours in this tavern.

Each time I passed by the rather large window to that establishment, he sat amongst the patrons, many which are his close friends.  They seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely.  On one occasion, he was showing the book to six or seven lovely women, all local girls, and one or two seemed to be reading parts of his book.  Some guests left, others arrived, and I tried to keep an eye on the events as they unfolded.  One tall fellow, a gentleman who had just moved from Vienna to the small town our author was in, arrived late and entered.  I noted he greeted the author with a broad smile and a warm handshake.  On my next pass of the bar, he was reading the book and laughing.  I never saw any reason for the jovial mood to change, but when the author left several hours later, he had his book in hand but had a frown on his face.  That downtrodden mood stayed with him over the next few days.  At a loss of what had occurred, I determined to find out what was at the root of the cause.

Uncovering the reason was not too difficult.  I simply went into that small tavern, ordered several beers, and let them know I was Canadian.  Within a few moments, the conversation turned to the ‘crazy’ Canadian, our author to be exact, who frequents that bar.  It seems he and the fellow from Vienna, the last patron I had seen enter the bar, had found another ‘flaw’ in the hard cover book he was showing.  In fact, along with the ‘flaw’ there were six other errors and the book could not go out to the public as printed!

A short while thereafter, Anton Von Stefan departed for Vancouver and met with his publisher.  Within a few weeks of that meeting, I received an invitation to the official release of his book, The Curse of The Red Crystal.  The final alterations to the book and its text were complete.

Knowing the author as I do, there was no surprise at the date he had chosen, April 1^st—April Fool’s Day.  The location, however, impressed me—Mahony & Sons, Burrard Landing, at Canada Place in the very heart of Vancouver’s posh cruise ship terminal district.

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