A Message for Readers and a Special Offer to Paid Subscribers

I started this substack as a repository for essays I thought would be worth preserving. Having posted on a number of websites over the years, and having found a particularly welcoming berth at Michel Chossudovsky’s superb site, globalresearch.ca, I also discovered the all-too-frequent typo and ungainly phrase, which posting on substack would allow me to remedy.

I was very pleasantly surprised to find that a number of people began to follow my essays and that some actually signed up as paid subscribers.

Because I cannot promise that I will ever write another essay again, and I write only when I feel as if I can add something unique — well, I hope my judgment is on the mark, but who knows? — I have never been comfortable with paid subscriptions.

Like everybody I have opinions about a lot of things, but I have hitherto not ventured into domains where I can’t readily speak from the firm footing of personal experience or, at least, observations and conclusions I have confidence in — examples of which include various geopolitical developments. There are many many people who are reporting on many things: I do what I can do, but I’m not a newsman.

However, as a special token of gratitude to those who have become paid subscribers, and given the incertitude of future writing, I’d like to make the offer of a free e-book.

I happen to be a novelist and poet, which I haven’t said much about simply because this work is not necessarily relevant to the material on this substack.

So here’s the deal: if you are a paid subscriber and are interested in fiction or poetry, I can offer you a choice of a Kindle or Epub version of one of the following books:

The Case of the Missing Stradivarius (a Sherlock Holmes novel written in the style of Conan Doyle, which has appealed to those who love music and the violin and mystery).

The Chronicles of Jasper and Gary (a funny collection of tales about the amorous adventures of two New York City accountants, which one reader has described as ‘P.G. Wodehouse meets ‘Sex in the City’).

Venetian Rogues (a rather serious, though also witty, novel about a group of Venetian writers and musicians, touching on themes of passion, infidelity, fidelity and creativity, a kind of ‘fairy tale for adults’ set in Venice and Florence, with beautiful photographic illustrations to boot).

If as a paid subscriber you wish to receive and e-copy of any of the above, please email me — missingstrad@gmail.com.

There are other novels and books of poetry but we can discuss those some other time (sequels to Rogues and Jasper, for example). If you’re interested in learning more, drop me a line. I like to keep the fictional/poetic writer separate from the essayist, and I’ve discovered that many people, knowing I’m a physician, think that literature-writing is a kind of hobby of mine, not to be taken too serious.

I will eventually look into a way for readers who wish to make a one-time donation after reading a particular piece, and since I like coffee that ‘buy me a coffee’ thing may be appropriate. But I’m not doing this for the money and I can’t allow myself to be influenced by expectations, which money generally brings.

I will never make my content or the ability to comment on my essays exclusive: they will always be open to everyone to read and to discuss.

A hearty ‘thank you’ to all of you who read, comment, like, share and discuss these essays.

Emanuel E. Garcia, MD

September 2023