BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Mark Talley officially announces the release of his book called “5/14 : The Day the Devil Came to Buffalo” at a press conference Monday, just days away from marking a year since the Tops mass shooting on Jefferson Avenue.
33-year-old Mark Talley’s mother, 62-year-old Geraldine Talley, was one of ten people murdered inside the Tops Friendly Markets.
Talley says he took it upon himself to start writing to help cope with his grief.
“It’s kind of just numbness flows over me,” he expresses. "It’s kind of being at Tops right now. There’s no pain, no guilt, no anger. Just kind of putting two ice cubes in your earlobe to give yourself a piercing. It’s just, I don’t feel anything.”
Jacquie Abram, an international best-selling award-winning author of the book, “Hush Money,” worked closely with Mark.
She tells 7 News reporter Yoselin Person there were moments when she didn’t think she could survive the sadness of reading Mark Talley's draft.
“Even though it’s a tragic story based on horrific events,” she says. “There’s beauty and pain and I was able to see the beauty in his life with his mother.”
Talley says his anger fueled his writing especially after seeing the video made by the gunman, an admitted White Supremacist.
“I watched the video so well, and it will discuss everything that I saw and what I saw and seen,” he says. “And I want people to understand what I went through so I will get specific in those details.”
Mark Talley has this message for his mother, Geraldine Talley.
“You're happy right now. I got the suit on,” he says. “I got my hair done. I combed out my beard. No sweat pants on. No hoodie. So I think I’m definitely doing her proud right now.”
Click here to find Mark Talley’s book on Amazon.
An electronic version of the book is available for preorder.
A paperback and hardcover will be available on May14th.
