Time Away...

I think this is the longest I've gone without spending time with my friends in Derry since I started writing about them in April 2010.


I honestly thought some of my vacation time would be spent "polishing" the next installment of their story to prepare it for publishing, but that never happened, and I think it was for the best.  


Sometimes, your brain just needs to be free of anything that creates stress, even if it's a stress you have enjoyed, such as writing about fictional folks that you love.


It was a good week of sitting on the beach, playing in the surf, and not doing much of anything else.

On Vacation

Mike and I are in Gulf Shores.  It's wonderful here, although the area has changed drastically from the Gulf Shores of my childhood family vacations.
I brought Mike here for the first time 36 years ago this month. We were both 19 and had been engaged about 8 months.  It's kinda funny to think about--the changes both this area, and we as a couple have been through. And yet, there are a few things that are constant. The waves and the sand are still there; at times, they've been whipped into a frenzy from hurricane winds, and mankind's pollution has wreaked havoc as well, although I'm amazed how clear the water is and pale the color of the sand on this trip.
Mike and I have had a few hurricanes in our married life, and heaven knows we've wreaked a little havoc on each other.  But there's a core of our relationship that has stayed constant, and I'm incredibly grateful for that.


I don't know if I'll work on Full Circle this week or not.  I had every intention of doing so, but there's a feeling of just being completely lazy and enjoying time away.

I’m in one of my funks.  After the initial high of having three purchases of Broken Road on Smashwords, and numerous downloads of the sample, we’ve had none of either for several days.  The Barnes and Noble upload is taking forever, and my submission my story was rejected by yet another contest.

Mike has told some folks that Full Circle, BR’s sequel, will be ready by Father’s Day…I never knew he smoked crack.  I spent time with Lana Lawrence yesterday as she worked her magic on the cover for Full Circle only to discover when I opened the saved photo on my computer that the colors are NOT what I saw on hers.  She emailed and said we might need to adjust our screens’ resolution, but my confidence in using that pic is shot.

On top of everything else, it was an awful two weeks at work.  I’m fifty-five and in a “what-the-heck-is-the-point-of-life” mood.

On the up-side, Mike will be out of school on Monday, and we have a lovely vacation planned for this summer.

And, of course, tomorrow is another day.


http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/157986

A Chance to Win....

We are giving away three copies of Broken Road through Goodreads.  If you are interested, please visit the following website and register.  
http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/25664-broken-road

Remembering...

34 years ago this weekend, no one is sure exactly what day, a precious soul took his own life. His death and, more importantly, his life, have had a strong impact on me through those years.

So much of an impact that around ten years ago, a wish turned into an idea, which became the beginning of a story.  The story would take years to grow from that single idea, but in November 2011, it became a published, hold-in-your-hands book. Not much later, the second book was begun. Today, the second is nearly finished.

My hope and fervent prayer is that no one ever believes I “used” my friend’s death for my novel. The reality is that the story was born of my love for him and how desperately I missed a dear friend.

Wahoo!

Broken Road's first review from a complete and total stranger via Smashwords.com:
Review by: fongies on May 09, 2012 :          
LOVED it you can't leave it there when is the next one coming!
I haven't cried so much reading a book in ages you grabbed my heart strings and pulled them tight.
The bond that you built between all the characters is so strong and it leapt off the page and they now all have a place in my own heart - thank you for bringing them to us
(reviewed within a week of purchase)

Everything old is new again...

     A couple of weeks ago, Mike and I went to the Arkansas Literary Festival and attended a session about publishing an eBook.  I heard a few things about “today’s reader” that frustrated me, but, as Mike often reminds me, we have to keep up with a certain amount of technology.

     A “hold in your hands” book is still my favorite, although I must admit having a Nook that is self-lit comes in very handy when I wake up for no good reason in the middle of the night. 

     E-publishing is no-frills, which I really don’t like.  There is no way to know what electronic reader someone may be using, so the careful formatting of acknowledgement and dedication pages is not worth the time.  I opened Broken Road on one particular reader and my dedication page is split between two pages, with the second page showing the very last line of the dedication.  It looked really stupid.  But that’s hard cheese because “today’s reader” wants to get to the story as quickly as possible.

     So, long story short (I know; too late), we have completely revamped Broken Road. We cut four pages out of what used to be the first two chapters.  Those first two chapters are now the first six chapters. Evidently, “today’s reader” prefers shorter chapters as well.  I decided I might as well just go whole hog and printed the cover on a lighter paper.  I loved the red background, but it seemed to muddle the drawing.

     And now, the big hurrah.  We will be offering the new, upgraded Broken Road on Mother’s day for $0.99.  Yep, that was the biggie we took away from that session on epublishing.  Drop the dang price…and honestly, at this point, I really want folks to read this thing. 

     We’ll see how it goes from here.