Thanks to everyone for watching the show and encouraging so many
others to do the same. 1.9 million people saw the show and that's a
great start on my quest to find that publisher! Please be sure to write
the History Channel and tell them you'd love to see more about the El
Rey Club.
Americanrestorationtv@gmail.com
Better
yet, email publishing houses explaining that the El Rey Club is a story
that you'd love to read. If they know there are people willing to buy
that book, somebody will be willing to publish it.
Anyway,
people have been flooding my inbox with questions about the show so I
thought I'd post a note and answer them here. Some of the questions are
sillier than others, but I'll try to answer them all here, starting
with the two most asked questions...
- What am I going to do with the sign?
I'm
going to try and sell it on Pawn Stars.Just kidding!I'm actually
putting it on eBay. (ba-dum-BUMP!)The sign will eventually be on display
in my home. I need to figure out what my living situation will be
before committing such a large section of wall to it. I will not be
living in this house for a lot longer thanks to the split with April and
therefore any place I go will need to be able to accommodate this
treasured addition to my El Rey Club collection.
If I cannot display it wherever I live it will go on loan to local museums.
- Where is it now and where am I going to put it?
It is in my garage right now, off the stands they made for it. I have given serious thought to making it my headboard.
- Am I happy with the show?
EXTREMELY!
Searchlight, The El Rey Club, & Willie Martello got the majority of
the coverage in the program. About 12-15 minutes in total and it did a
great job of telling the story. I'd have preferred more of the cool
stories ABOUT the place were included so it would be a better
representation of WHY the El Rey was historically significant and why I
would bother researching it for the last seven years. But there's only
so much they can include in a short show and what they presented did not
hurt Willie's legacy one bit. Rather, it helped and that's what
matters most.
- Did I actually pay $2500 to have it restored/Do they make people pay?
Rick's
Restorations is a business and I am a customer. So yes, I paid for the
sign to be restored. However I did have help from friends and family.
Aside from savings thanks to my awesome job and some private gigs,
generous donations came from people like
Marty Martello,
Matt Martello,
Melia Shumaker,
Patrick Bertleson,
and others (apologies if I have not mentioned you here.). My tax
refund (the first I've had in years) also made a big chunk of the
payment. If I put five bucks in a slot machine and turned it into ten,
it all went towards the sign.
- Have I been contacted by any publishers or agents?
No.
I've had a few bites from my last round of query letters, but nobody
has contacted me as a result of seeing the show. Even with almost 2
million people watching the show, it seems none of those people are in
publishing. That's why I implore people to email publishers directly
about wanting to read this book about the place. If enough people are
asking,
"Where can I buy this book?"
eventually someone will publish it. Here's a link to my agent query
letter.
http://andymartello.blogspot.com/2012/04/author-seeking-representationpublicatio.html
- Did I really find that billboard in the desert?
Technically,
no. A man named Mike Madden found it and contacted me. He lives in
Searchlight, found it and called right away. He didn't even charge me
for it. So other than the cost of a tank of gas and a bottle of
"thank-you beer" I didn't pay anything for the sign. The story of how I
got this thing can be found
here...http://andymartello.blogspot.com/2012/01/el-rey-club-updates-roll-of-dice-big.html
- Has Willie's family reacted to the episode?
So
far I've heard from a few family members via text and phone calls and
they all loved it. Nick Martello has chimed in as well through FB. No
complaints yet, so I think it was a success with them.
- How am I related to Willie Martello?
This
is a big part of the book, but I've never really hidden the fact that
in all likelihood, I'm not related at all. Just a crazy coincidence we
have the same last name. I'd have never given a second thought to the
El Rey Club had Willie Martello had a different last name. Makes the
story that much better.
- Was that my pick-up truck?
Nope. That belonged to my friend & neighbor Victor.
- Were my reactions genuine or was there a script?
You
saw my genuine reactions to the initial reveal, but alas, many things
in reality TV are shot over and over again for coverage and such. So
there were plenty of times where I felt like I was being told to cue the
spontaneous reactions. lol There was
no
script and so much of what I said was mixed with what you saw on
screen. There was close to 7 1/2 hours worth of footage, reactions, and
discussion between me and Rick and that's only talking about the time I
was filming (over two days). Lord knows how much they covered of the
actual restoration
- Is that really my ponytail?
This
question obviously came from "new" friends and folks who have not met
me nor known me since 1987.Yep. My ponytail. My AWESOME ponytail. My
AWESOME 25-year-old ponytail. Based upon some of the reactions (and
some of the total babes) who have contacted me personally to tell me
they LOVED it, you can see why I've kept it so many years. lol
This
is no joke. I'm not trying to be funny here. My sister has been asked
this many times now and I've seen a bizarre (but flattering) increase
of private FB messages wondering this exact thing. So I must assume I
need to be on TV much more often if I'd like my social calendar to be
that much more enjoyable. lol
Yes. Single. Newly-single
if that matters. I have not talked much about it publicly due to
special circumstances, but will once we're "officially" (legally) done.
Very
flattered, but this show wasn't about seeing me on TV. I enjoy the
attention though. Makes me blush every time a new message or a comment
from friends who were "TOLD to ask me." lol
The research & collecting of photos and memorabilia from the El Rey Club never stops! Please contact me at 702-465-5604 or email me at andy@andymartello.com if you have stories or memorabilia to share.
