UNION, NJ — Union resident Scott Mehno has been busy this holiday season. He’s been promoting his book, “Shorte List,” at various locations throughout New Jersey, with Union Public Library being one of his last stops.
“Shorte List” is Mehno’s first novel and is available in bookstores and on digital platforms. It’s a funny, universal holiday story set in a small New Jersey town struggling to reinvent itself in the 21st Century.
On Christmas Eve in Townlee, New Jersey, the small town’s hopes are all riding on Bailey Hatchell, an overworked artificial intelligence/hologram designer who’s created an AI Charles Dickens. In the book, the AI Charles Dickens is so advanced that he can come to someone’s house for dinner. When Mehno wrote the book 10 years ago, he didn’t know AI was going to be big. He said, “Sixty percent of Americans use it.”
As for Dickens, during his research for the book, Mehno read letters he had written. “He complained about everything,” said Mehno. But when Dickens did readings, people lined up around the block. “In 1867, he was a superstar,” said Mehno. “He was larger than life, like his characters.”
Continuing, Mehno said, “The great thing about Dickens, he was the first writer to put his money where his mouth is. He donated to orphanages. He knew the importance of what it is to be humane.”
In “Shorte List,” Mehno says that all sorts of crazy things happen. “The story is for ages 10 to 99,” he said. “I’ve been to 12 towns (promoting the book). A big crowd or a small crowd, they’re all pretty intrigued.”
Mehno has been writing for artists and companies in the entertainment industry for more than two decades. While living in New York, he’s written for MTV, Spin and various record companies for diverse artists, including Metallica and The Who, who he still works with doing public relations and writing liner notes.
Working in the music business, he knows how hard it is to get one’s work recognized. He said, “One song in 10,000 becomes a hit.”
But as fate would have it, a friend of Mehno’s knew a Hollywood producer, Chip Diggins, who made “A Walk in the Woods,” with Robert Redford. Diggins is going to make “Shorte List” a movie. Those who love the book will be able to see “Shorte List” on the big screen. However, Mehno points out that making a movie is a long process.
To learn more about Scott Mehno, visit: https://scottmehno.com/.
Visit the Union Public Library at: https://uplnj.org/.
Photos by Maryanne Christiano-Mistretta
