Minus 1: (I'm Trying Not To Hate You, Stockton)

by Norman Jones II

Minus 1 takes place in Stockton, California. A city that has experienced tough economic times. Stockton has some of the highest foreclosure and homicide rates in the state and in 2012 it became the largest city in U.S. history to file for bankruptcy protection. Our main character works as a loan officer in a bank and is the voice that leads us through the 101 entries of his personal journal. His therapist has suggested that he write a journal because they've had difficulty communicating during their sessions. Day by day, he opens up and talks about his activities and the feelings he has about his life and recent divorce. He begins living the life of a newly single man filling his days with spontaneous outings in an effort to find new meaning to his empty existence. He writes about chance encounters with old and new friends and experiments with online dating. He reminisces about his youth, past relationships and his shattered marriage. During his workouts at the gym he makes friends and notices a beautiful woman who he eventually becomes intimate with. At home, he spends time with the feral cat who has adopted him and various neighbors who have become a second family to him. One day he comes in contact with the man who engaged in an affair with his wife. The man does not know who he is. Soon after their meeting he decides that he has to get revenge on the man who ruined his life. He pretends to befriend his prey and one dark night alone in a boat on the San Joaquin delta they both find out they have more in common than the woman they shared. Minus 1 is a story about lose and a story about finding a reason to go on no matter how crazy that reason might be.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1980276536
• ISBN13: 9781980276531
• Release Date: February 2018
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 143 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.4" x 6.0"