Kindle Version
Late Tuesday night, I checked the Amazon site one more time. The Kindle version was there at last. I ordered it right away and uploaded it to the Kindle app on my iPad. I was afraid it would be a jumbled mess, but it looks fine. What a relief!
Both versions are now available, and Zen Flowers is officially launched.
What, and who, will I write about next?
Playing in the Apocalypse is available now at Amazon as a paperback book!
Formatting a book turned out to be incredibly hard–I won’t be trying that myself in Word again. I admit I’m a beginner when it comes to things like section breaks, but I kept ending up with headers on the first pages of chapters, where they didn’t belong, as well as blank pages that didn’t show up in the manuscript but nevertheless ended up in the proof. I don’t know how many proofs I went through before I let it go, but it was a LOT.
At UCSB, my friends and I carted around copies of the “Yellow Book,” The I Ching, a Confucian text full of Chinese wisdom. We had no bamboo sticks, so we’d toss quarters like dice to get readings, which came out uncannily appropriate for whatever situation we found ourselves in. I most remember the phrase, “perseverance furthers” — good advice for authors. I mutter it to myself during tedious proofing, formatting, and even writing when it’s going slow.
The wait is over! Playing in the Apocalypse is out in ebook form at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, as an iBook, and directly from BookBaby, the publisher. I have put the links on one convenient page, here. I’m looking into getting paper copies made; that’ll be next.
Thanks so much, everyone, for your interest, help, and support in getting this book out into the world.
My last post was about deciding to self publish the Isla Vista story when I realized how the whole university landscape has changed radically from the way things were. Now I realize that in addition to having a book out, what I learn from the whole experience will be more than worth the cost of having the ebook distributed and having a great cover design.
Soon I’ll be getting the book proof to review, and if all goes well, it will go out to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and a bunch of other booksellers I haven’t heard of. And then, who knows?
All winter, I’ve been hunkered down, waiting for news regarding my late mother’s tax situation… and now it’s spring and I still have no idea how much money is owed. My sisters are in the same situation, lives on hold while nothing happens. We are all so tired of being in limbo.
I have been busy writing during this long wait. I’m over 40,000 words into a new novel, and I revised the first book in the series one more time. Right now, I’m working on my “pitch” letter to send to agents and exploring different publishing options. One way or another, that book will soon be out in the world (yikes!). I submitted a story to “Voice Catcher” today. I plan to go to the Willamette Writers conference this summer, no matter what. I missed last summer because I didn’t know whether I could afford it.
Outside my window, there’s an explosion of color in the neighborhood, and it’s so much fun to wander the streets, camera in hand.
Noticing Magic Everywhere 