From Advertising to Author

What started out as a serious look at what happens to top-level executives facing a downturn in the job market ended up a lighthearted story about a man whose life plays out like a country western song — losing his wife, kids, dog, house, friends — forcing him to start a new career as a sales clerk in a hardware store set in Shaker Heights.

Such is the latest book by former advertising and marketing executive Mike Cargile, who, after a string of published children’s books, decided to try his hand at novel writing for an older audience. The recently released “Monkey Wenches and Yellow Bikinis” was published by AuthorHouse.

“I was inspired by Cleveland and its shifts and downsizing in the job market,” says the Beachwood resident. “I watched people I knew in top positions suddenly lose their job and I wondered, ‘Where do these people go? What do they end up doing?’”

The novel took Cargile four years to write — for two reasons. “It takes a long time to write a novel and few people realize that when they start out,” he says. “And it requires a tremendous amount of research to be able to describe places and people to your readers.”

Although he was born and raised in New Orleans, Cargile has spent most of his adult life in Cleveland, where he’s been a prominent member of the advertising and marketing landscape, holding top positions with firms such as The Jayme Organization, Fahlgren, CommuniQuick and Adcom. He has also served as president of the Cleveland Advertising Association and was inducted into the association’s Hall of Fame. 

When he isn’t working on his next book, Cargile works in marketing at Forest Corp. in Twinsburg.

“People ask me why I don’t write about New Orleans,” says Cargile. “But Cleveland is my adopted city and you always write what you know. And I know Cleveland pretty well now.”

“Monkey Wenches & Yellow Bikinis” is available at www.monkeywenches.com.

—Amanda Stephenson