A Message from Bruce

I just want to give you a time line on the writing of Matter of Conscience. I began writing this book during the spring of 2001. But because of my paid commitment to writing one, oftentimes two scripts a week for daytime television — that's anywhere from 70 to 150 pages of dialogue a week — the last thing I felt like doing to relax was… write. In addition, my wife and I had a nine-year-old daughter in elementary school, and I was heavily involved as a parent volunteer all the way through her high school years. It wasn't until she went off to college in 2010 that I finally completed my first rough draft in manuscript form.

I then began polishing the manuscript before beginning my journey to self-publishing. Finally in 2016, I began the arduous task with Authorpartner, a branch of Publish Wholesale, and worked with them until 2019, when the book had its first release. The 2020 Corona Virus Pandemic kept me from having bookstore readings and guest speaker engagements, so I was way behind. I had wanted it released during the Trump presidency because of the wedge he had driven through America. I felt that in my final two chapters, I could draw comparison between now and the anti-war movement that took place in the 60's — the demonstrations and peaceful protests for ending the war, for civil rights, gay rights, women's rights.

Not a drop was spilled, and no one hurt or killed. Then along came January 6, 2021, and here we are still at war. Not only are we continuing our fight for civil rights, gun control, gay rights, prison reform, better health care — we're now taking on a pandemic that has killed 500,000 Americans, almost ten times as many as were killed in Vietnam. On top of all that, we're also fighting insurrection and homegrown terrorism. The last line I wrote in Matter of Conscience…

I hope you'll purchase a copy of Matter of Conscience. All but the final chapter and Epilogue have to do with my experience. It's not just about prison — it's about my early career as an actor, and for any Zabriskie Point fans out there, I think you'll find some of that history very interesting, even funny.