Excited to announce that The Law of Momentum is now available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever fine books are sold. The fact that its launch date coincides with Election Day is no accident. If you’ve read the first two books in the series, you can probably guess why . . . It’s become a tradition for me to post the Acknowledgements of each new release, since many of you guys whose names are mentioned have never actually read one of my books and might not otherwise know. (Wtf!) Just wanted you to know that I love and appreciate your friendship and support over the last two decades. And if you don’t see your name here, check the other 7 books. Read the other 7 books. I left breadcrumbs everywhere.

Acknowledgements

August 22, 2024. As I sit here on my bunk drafting what will be the final acknowledgements of the Miranda Rights trilogy with the Democratic National Convention thundering from my headphones and a release date that is suddenly months―as opposed to decades―away, my mind keeps returning to the women who populate the pages of this book. Tasha and her maternal guilt and pride, Tussie and her dementia, the fearless recklessness of Daphne Throckmorton, the sarcasm and stoicism of Dixie, the tragedy of Amity . . . even characters like Yani and Vanessa. These women having been living in my head for so long, I keep catching myself worrying about them as if they’re real people. Especially since most of them are serving life.

As the series wound down, I was careful to leave each of them a little daylight. A little hope for freedom. But it’s sad to realize that in a story that addresses issues such as undiagnosed mental illness, systemic failure, institutional drug abuse, and predatorial staff members like Jason Grantham, the only imaginative stretch, the one area where I took a little artistic license, was when I offered these ladies hope. Because for those serving life and de facto life sentences in Florida―especially those who have exhausted their post-conviction legal remedies―there is no hope. Not at the moment, at least. Life means life in the Sunshine State and there is no parole. No incentive to grow, no finish line to cross, no mechanism in place to earn one’s way home through years of exemplary behavior and a demonstrated commitment to rehabilitation and education. If you’ve read Letters to the Universe, particularly the “Politics and Reform” section, then you know I intend to spend the rest of my life fighting for this change. In the current political climate, things aren’t looking too promising. But the pendulum will swing again, and when it does, we’ll be there.

Special thanks to my sweet Mom who types, and my lovely Shonda who handles interior formatting and cover design. This is a massive understatement though. These amazing women do much more than that. They form the unsung two thirds of this Ivey experiment. Without them, there would be no books . . . and I’d be lost.

Big hugs, high fives and fist bumps to readers Janet Zimmerman, Rachel Schenck, Josh Wolford, Deborah Hinton, Jo Vernier, Shae Shae, Karen Vazquez, Anna Knapp, Cameron Terhune and Sarah Voorheis. There are thousands of other authors in the world. Hundreds of thousands. Many with the full power of the Big Six publishing firms behind them and plush high-rises full of professional and intelligent people working to ensure that their novels are pitch-perfect, slickly packaged, and lining the shelves of every brick-and-mortar bookstore in America and beyond. The fact that you guys invest your time and your heart reading books that were written in prison and produced by our little family-owned operation means everything. You are a major part of this.

I also want to thank the ladies at Gadsden Correctional for keeping my novels on the preferred reading shelf in the library. I could not receive a higher compliment. I realize this honor has a lot to do with Marlo Knapp who pushes my books like Throkkie pushes Suboxone strips. Thanks Marlo. I owe a similar debt of gratitude to my good friend Sheena Law who keeps my name ringing at Lowell (when she’s not busy nurturing rescue dogs).

In addition, I gotta show some love to Tommy Roland who was born since the last book came out. Beginning with the elder statesman, Jude, I’ve welcomed seven nephews and two nieces since I began this writing journey. The acknowledgements sections of the last six novels have chronicled every new arrival over the years. I’m looking forward to relinquishing my role as the uncle in prison and spending the next chapter of my life as the uncle roaring in the bleachers at football games and applauding at ballet recitals. Almost home.

Without going into a lot of detail, I also want to acknowledge the unconditional love and strength of Rhizo mom Marie Aspley and her beautiful daughter Callie. “Heaven awaits your heart and flowers bloom in your name.”

To my good friends Marcia Ensminger and the man known only as “Pilot,” I hope I’m not blowing your cover when I say Wishing you a happily ever after!

Last but never least, I want to thank the people who inspire me most―Harry “Chino” Tipton and his sweet mom Kyong who sat next to me and my mom at five different prison visitation parks over the last 20 years. Also, Patrick Odom (it’s almost over, bro), Chad Mattson, Megan Siefert, Tristan and Dara Stokes; Leah, Avery, and Nicolas Dorris; the Skills Program faculty and partici-pants at FCI Coleman; Mike Da Barber; my bandmates Jean “Venny” Ferreira, D, Martin, and Ghost; fellow writer Isa “J-9” Thompson; to Teddy Stokes who read Year of the Firefly and immediately drew up a post-conviction motion for Miranda (look for it on malcolmivey.com soon); to my boy Ernie Davis; Matthew Perry, Josh Hite, Jeff Mitchell; Kelly and Marcus Conrad; my friends Caro Outhwaite, Jessyca Smoky, and Allison Nichole.

This will most likely be the final book I release from this side of the razor wire. If you have been riding over the years and I have not acknowledged you by name in any of the novels, hit me up on Substack and let me know what books you’ve read and how you discovered them. Maybe I’ll give you a shout-out in Scar Tissue.

As always, wishing you momentum.