Sailing New Bern

Sailing New Bern -- well, the Pamilco. We had a blast touring New Bern this weekend, including a sail with Captain Malinda aboard her 43' center-cockpit Irwin. We were trying to get a decent photo of me for the back cover of my new book, Leaving Lukens (due out this summer), but I decided I didn't like any we took -- I was squiting into the sun without sunglasses, and with -- well, you can see what I mean. Anyway, we had a great time! Also, I had a book signing at the Hanna House Bed and Breakfast. This is the only place I will stay in New Bern!

New Events Planned for April

I love springtime -- the flowers, the blooming trees, the vegies in my garden starting to sprout ... turning off the heat in defiance as we still hug sweaters around us and light another fire in the fireplace to take the chill off.

Now that winter is over, people are coming back out into the world. Therefore, it's time for book signings! I had one last night as a kick off to National Library Week (it's also National Volunteer Week, so go hug a library volunteer sometime and see what kind of weird looks you get). In New Bern, I have two scheduled for the same day -- one at Next Chapter Books, the other at Hanna House Bed and Breakfast. I'm thrilled about both! If you're in New Bern April 23, please stop by and say hello to me and to spring. Together, we'll wave a fond farewell to winter for good this year. In May, I'll be in Boone, just in case you won't be able to make it to the other side of the state. 

Local Paper Covers Book - Nice Article

Well, I finally made the lifestyles section of the Mount Airy News. The article is a profile of my work at Habitat as well, so there is a mix of information. The author did a nice job tying it all together, though I had hoped he would have included my website or at least the local bookstore's name where the book could be purchased, but the angle of where I work seemed to take first place. Oh well. It's publicity.

I've not blogged in awhile, primarily because of my nutty work schedule as of late. The good news is that I hope to see my work hours get to the "normal" range after this week passes, and then I can get back to blogging, promoting, and writing my book. Speaking of which, I've had more great reviews of The Pirate's Bastard, and I've hit nearly 30,000 words of the work in progress. The working title is Leaving Lukens, and I really like the storyline so far. I'll tell you more about it later, but I have so little time to write this week, so I'm going to get to it!

Shelfari book review thrilling

Now we're getting somewhere. My novel is getting great reviews! I'm just thrilled to read them, and then scoot around on Google to see where else the posts are picked up. When the next book comes out, I'll know exactly where to send it for an unbiased review.

Memories of place gone by

My son has taken a liking to Star Wars. He was so surprised to learn that when I was a kid of 15 or so, I piled into a Toyota Corolla with eight or so friends and we dashed for the downtown theater in Annapolis to see the opening night of Star Wars. It was an event not to be missed.

Now, I've never been a Star Trek fan, and am not really that into SciFi these days; but back then, Star Wars was a major happening, something akin to a Harry Potter release these days, I suppose. The funny thing is, I don't recall the sequels (Clone Wars) having as much fan fare as the sequels to Harry Potter's introduction. Or perhaps I'm not paying attention, anymore.

With an exhausting amount of Lego's around the house, my son can build anything he's seen in books, movies, and life. So, put Star Wars and Lego's together, and you have any number of sand cruisers, star ships, R2D2s, and dashing characters vying for attention. He is saving his money for a $72 kit to build ... Darth Vader's Death Star.

Ah, the days of childhood.

Book reviews starting to appear

On Amazon, I have two reviews of The Pirate's Bastard so far. I keep an eye out for them in other places, but if I hit five reviews on Amazon, my book moves "up" the ranking of favorites and will be suggested as a read to others interested in historical fiction.

Midwest Reviews is a national review organization, and I'm tickled the reviewer thought so highly of my little book. The other reviewer kindly equated my work to something she might see on PBS's Master Piece Theater!

If you buy the book through Amazon, I hope you'll take the opportunity to review it there.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Pirates-Bastard-ebook/product-reviews/B0046A9QFU/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

New year, new work

With the start of a new year, I finally sat down to continue working on a project I got really excited about in October. Holidays, life, and other projects found their way into my schedule for the last quarter of the year, and I had to put this project on hold ... until now. With a day off dedicated to writing, I made great progress; the manuscript isn't going the way I thought it would, though.

In fact, the characters I was peddling around with on the handlebars of my bike last fall have morphed, and the outline for the story is nearly upside down from how I "planned" for it to be.

Truly, it's a good thing. I don't want to give the story away, but I'll share with you a few of the surprises I discovered yesterday. My lead character, Ella, is much stronger than I gave her credit for last fall. She's remained calm (to a point) in a most harrowing experience that probably would have caused me to have a heart attack. This is the first story I've written from a woman's point of view -- go figure -- and it's proving insightful on many levels.

This isn't a love story, but there is a love interest or two. There's a mystery to solve, some deep-seated issues to resolve, and of course there's a boat. Set in 1942, the story dips a toe in the waters of the economic stress of the times, the social issues of a small North Carolina coastal town near New Bern, and the war that was encroaching upon the lives of the village's occupants.

With the strong running start I had yesterday, I have a better sense of where to go with the story next -- or rather, Ella is telling me what's going on ... it will be interesting to see how she wants to resolve it.

In this new year, I wish all my friends and family (and those of you reading this who haven't made yourselves known to me yet) a prosperous and productive new year. May the characters in your lives prove insightful to you, as well.