Help a New Orleans Author Shine at the Baton Rouge Book Fair!

Goal : $2,500

Story : Hi, I’m John Bertucci, a 66-year-old New Orleans native and aspiring writer. For 25 years, I worked in TV, crafting over 1,000 commercials and shows as a producer and AVID editor, starting as a radio announcer at 21 in Port Sulphur. After Hurricane Katrina upended my life, I pivoted to IT, managing networks for three Louisiana casinos for 13 years. Last August, I lost my job, and now, on Social Security.

Living modestly in a Baton Rouge apartment with my wife, Maria, whom I recently married, I’m chasing a dream inspired by reading over 280 books-every Sherlock Holmes mystery by Conan Doyle and 22 thrillers by Michael Crichton.

Over the past decade, I’ve written 12 novels, including , a thriller with 25 stories of Hercules the cat and Squealer the parrot solving crimes in New Orleans’ French Quarter and beyond, hitting Amazon this month with Palmetto Publishing. I’m also looking to promote my latest novel, The Bootlegger’s Cousin, a 116,000 word Sicilian saga of whiskey runners from 1905 to 1992 based on my grandmother’s life and her passionate stories. I’ve poured my heart into these stories, drawing from my New Orleans Sicilian American roots and my love for suspense and big ideas.

Now, I’m headed to the Louisiana Book Festival on November 1, 2025, to share them with 20,000 visitors. I’ve reserved a minibooth and need $1,400 for 100 copies of The Bootlegger’s Cousin to sell, plus $700 for signs, bookmarks, and travel. That’s $2,500-my whole monthly SSI budget.

I've always gone it alone, but now I need your help to make this dream real, reaching out to my family, friends, and fans to make this happen. Your support will bring Hercules, Squealer, and my Sicilian heroes to mystery lovers and locals.

If we raise more than $2,500, I’ll publish The Bootlegger’s Cousin professionally to share its gritty tale worldwide. Every dollar helps me live my dream-thank you!

AVAILABLE SOON ON www.jdbcreation.com

My Novels :

My Life With Amazing Animals

The French Quarter Connection

The French Quarter Connection: The EMP Heist

The Travellers

Night Hawks

Night Hawks: Exodus

The Prince and the Dreamer

Vatican on the Bayou

The Dream Maker

The Last Hope

Where Evil Lurks: The Man in Plaid

The Bootlegger’s Cousin

The Enforcer

About the Author

John Bertucci, a former television engineer, sports and show producer for 25 years in the city of New Orleans, worked for TV stations and a worldwide ministry. He crafted over 1000 commercials, promotions and programs. He also served as an A VID editor for many of those years

in TV production. He started his career at age 21 as a radio announcer at KAGY in Port Sulphur, La, graduated from the university of New Orleans in 1984 was married twice and has four children. After his television career, he married a third time and worked in the IT world as a network administrator for three Louisiana casinos for thirteen years. John has two grown sons living in Baton Rouge and a son in North Carolina. His daughter Jessica, is a Television Show Producer in New York City, and he has one grandchild named Rowen. John resides in Baton Rouge with his wife.

The Enforcer, my new book is nearly finished and will be available on my website in September. It’s a gritty action back gangster thriller with cinematic scenes from the 1930s-1950s.

Note: No promotions or giveaways are offered in exchange for any donation made here in this GoFundMe.