Carmel Author Publishes First Book

Carmel native and now published author, Robert Cosmer, is busy these days signing copies of his newly released first book— Mussolini’s Money. It all started with a night out at the movies a few years ago.

“I walked out of the movie and said, ‘You know, I could write something better than what we just saw!’” That night, the soon-to-be author began pursuing his dream and set out to write his first action adventure.

Because Cosmer’s relatives fought in the war in Italy, he was inspired to create a character who lives in Wisconsin and keeps an old ammunition crate that his grandfather brought back from the war. “Jim,” the main character in the story, had all but forgotten about the chest until the Sicilian mafia show up and try to kill him and steal the chest. That’s when the action and adventure kick in.

Cosmer says he knew he was onto something when his dad, who reads a lot,looked it over and said, “This is the best stuff I’ve read so far this year!” From then on, family and friends encouraged him to continue writing and a book was in the making.

“They kept saying you are onto something here. You have to finish this story,” says Cosmer.

To do reseach and background, he traveled to Italy where he picked up a lot of good ideas for the book, as well as a penchant for Italian cooking. “I make a mean pasta with salmon dish that I discovered while in Italy.”

Cosmer says the publishing process is an arduous journey and he is not sure he wants to do it all again. “Since I didn’t know much about the publishing business, I blindly walked right into it. It is definitely a lot of work.”

Once the book was complete, he sent it out to publishers. He received about eight rejection letters. The final letter arrived in the mail the very day he signed with a publisher.

In a tip-of-the-hat to his alma mater Purdue, where he majored in BCT Construction Management, the book was printed with a black and yellow cover.

Although Cosmer was born in Indianapolis, he spent his childhood years in Carmel and is a graduate of Carmel High School. He now resides in Indianapolis with his two dogs who are a big help to him when it comes to writer’s block.

Good Luck Robert!