Thanks for all the encouragement last week. That's a piece I believe in and won't give up on. Hooray for love!
I have some big news about my magnum opus, Tree/House, to announce at a later date. In preparation, take a look at this emotional scene in which a seemingly random young lady has come to the door to accuse and recriminate the master of the house.
* * *
The young woman stepped inside and looked as quickly around as her furtiveness would allow, then she took Emma by both shoulders and said firmly, “You’re Professor Andrews’ new wife, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” said Emma, shaken.
“I have to say to you, then: “‘Tis not a year or two shows us a man: they are all but stomachs and we all but food. They eat us hungerly, and when they are full, they belch us!’”
She released Emma just as suddenly as she had taken hold of her, and Franklin suddenly lurched out of the Shakespeare library. “Othello, act three, scene four!”
* * *
Nothing like Shakespeare to add drama to your story! Thanks for visiting. I appreciate your comments immensely and if you have a blog, I will return the favor. The other exciting samples are here.
Tree/House, as always, is available here and here. And here.
The Electronic Text and Literature Cloud is the place to go to find out about independent authors you might never have otherwise heard of. Each title is showcased on an understated, tasteful page full of links to more information and, of course, where to buy it. I've had the honor of Tree/House being the first featured text in the "Literary" genre. Check it out here!
And check back with eTLC often for buried treasure that deserves more attention!
As always, check out the other participants of this amazing institution here.
Because of the popularity of my YA Sail From Italy last week, this week, you get more! Here, we see (married) Javier meet the person who gets so scarily confronted in the video excerpt at bottom. Enjoy!
* * *
Javier gasped when a stunningly beautiful woman emerged from the bushes and turned in to the yard. Her presence improved the appearance of the already gorgeous courtyard. She glowed with an aura that followed her, step by gliding step. Javier sprang up and shouted, “Conchita!”
The lady looked over and exclaimed, “Why, Javier! It’s you.”
“Oh, but who else?” smiled Javier.
* * *
Here's the video I mentioned.
The wildly popular Sailing Italy series is available for very little money on Kindle.
Happy Easter to all who celebrate it. Thank so much to everyone for their gratifying comments last week. You can find out what was happening in that clipping here.
We're celebrating the release on Kindle of the Sailing Italy series!
These six sentences come from near the beginning of Sail From Italy, when Noreena, now the queen, is interviewing the real Repual, Prince of Germany, for the position of King of Italy by marriage at a dinner party.
* * *
Repual smiled a very large smile, considering the size of his mouth. He smiled more at that dinner party than ever before in his life, and perhaps it was just an illusion, perhaps not, his eyes seemed not quite as large and his mouth seemed not quite so small.
He liked Noreena.
Noreena thought he was sweet.
Everything was fine.
Until a dagger flew through the air and missed Noreena by a foot.
* * *
Too thrilling for print! (Although if I reach a certain sales threshold, I will seriously consider a paperback version.) Get it on Kindle today by clicking the link above! Super cheap!
Today the people who waited for the real bargain get their reward: Sail To Italy and Sail From Italy are out today in a package deal that saves you $0.49! All the adventure, romance, travel and silliness can now be yours in one neat package. Look at the previous two posts for all the descriptions you can handle, and click on this ad to go directly to the goods. Also in Nook!
In honor of this auspicious day, I've decided to share with you the playlist for the soundtrack to Sail To Italy: The Movie, as I devised it when I was first writing. Click on the links to hear samples.
First and foremost, "A Word in Spanish" by Elton John. This represents the undying love between Carlovita and Javier. I still think it's one of Sir Elton's best!
Next, Gloria Estefan's Spanish rendition of "Anything for You," "No te olvidaré." Although it's in Spanish, it represents Giovanni's continued devotion to Noreena, even in the face of her rejection.
Third, "More Than Meets the Eye," an underappreciated gem from the Bangles. The song has virtually nothing to do with Sail To Italy, but in my mind, it stood for Gofinick's masquerade, revealed at the end of the book.
My attention was drawn to "Family Man," because as well as describing Javier's struggles to do what's right, it pinned down his character with beautiful Spanish-style nylon-string guitar interludes.
"Boy Trouble" applies to the way Noreena feels about Giovanni in the first book, and the way Carlovita feels about Hugo in the second book.
"Music Box" is here because it's the most beautiful instrumental music I'd heard at the time that wasn't already claimed for a major motion picture. I had a plan to put a music box in the plot at one point, but it never came to pass. (The sample is Track 7 on Disc 3.)
I'm not sure what the logic is behind "Dust in the Wind." It might refer to the passage in Sail From Italy when the wind kicks up and the characters flee a storm. It might refer to the evanescent nature of power, as when Noreena gets locked in her own dungeon. It might be that I had the song deeply ingrained in my consciousness because our roving music teacher made us sing it in grade school, and it seemed so very "deep." Anyone's guess, really.
And the grand finale of the whole hypothetical album, "Set Your Sails," by Jem and the Holograms. I think the link to the title of my series is self-evident. By the way, I owe thanks to my mother for the evocative title of the first book. I hope you enjoyed this little jukebox. Thanks for traveling with me. Now, go preview and download the epic story it inspired!
For those of you who want to check out the first part before committing to the second part.
The sequel to Sail to Italy has more romance, more travel, more adventure, and most importantly, more Spain. Buy it today on Kindle!
What if the Queen of Italy and her best friend were the targets of a mad killer? What if the only way to save their own lives was to travel to Spain? Sail From Italy ties up the loose ends from Sail To Italy. Javier gets to visit his beloved homeland. Carlovita has to fight for her man. Tony confronts the secrets from his past that separated him from the Italian royal family twenty years before. We find out what Repual Gofinick is really like, and discover the soft side of Pirate Pierre. We also have an absurdist interlude in the finest hotel in Hortaleza and a thrilling chase scene in the harbor at Torreblanca.
Sail From Italy is just over 10,000 words long. I wrote it a year after Sail To Italy, so, although the writing is less simplistic, the same restrictions apply: no one over fourteen years old should be reading this book. It will be too lighthearted and fun for such people. And even fourteen is pushing it. Use of this book should probably be limited to people twelve and under, or people who still understand the wonder of one’s first trip away from home, and the innocence of falling in love for the first time.
Although the loose ends get tied up, in my dim memory, I can recall writing the first few paragraphs from a third part of the series, titled Sailing Italy. It was going to be about Italy's economic problems and the way Noreena and her friends triumph over them. The scraps are probably in a box in Pennsylvania -- somehow they didn't get scanned before we left. If I ever find them, I'll be sure to share them with you.
Tomorrow: the economy combo pack!
The first thrilling book in the Sailing Italy Series is also available.
What if the Princess of Italy had only the help of her friends to solve the mystery of her father's murder? What if the Prince of Germany wanted to marry the Princess of Italy in a coldhearted grab for power? This book answers these and other burning questions. Along the way, the reader journeys at sea, meets pirates, bankers, and cousins, spends some time in the dungeon and very nearly gets married. Sail To Italy is a silly story with exotic locations, pirates, mistaken identity, royalty, blacksmithing, romance, and adventure.
At just over 8,000 words, this book is a fast, fun read for people who have not developed beyond the emotional and intellectual level of a thirteen-year-old. Seriously, if you can't think like someone thirteen or younger, this book is not for you. Why do I put the cap at thirteen? Because that’s how old I was when I wrote it.
When I was thirteen, the only source material I had was The Princess Bride. That books remains a major inspiration to me today, so you will see a spark here that I hope I still display: love of words, love of silliness! The biggest debt I owe to The Princess Bride here is the name of the main character. There is a Noreena in Chapter Two: The Groom, but it's not a very flattering picture. Everything else about my Noreena came from my young head. I had quite a hard time finding names for all the characters, and it gets pretty random and creative in places. I hope you enjoy.
Buy it on Kindle today! Buy it, easy peasy, by clicking on the link above. Okay, so the cover is kind of faint, but it's the best I can do for now. If I sell enough copies, I'll correct the problem, and there may be a print version in the future.
If you like this book, look for Sail From Italy by the same author. That's right, Sail To Italy begins a series. Sail From Italy will be officially released tomorrow.
In honor of his 100th blog post, author Ron Knight has decided to help independent authors even more than he already does and showcase a bunch of us. I'm there! Check us all out! Thanks so much to Ron!
Great news! Tree/House is the official March 2011 selection for the Secret Society of Literary Divas Monthly Book Club of St. Helens, Oregon. Congratulations, ladies! I hope you enjoy it!
Oddly enough, I completed a large amount of the first draft of Tree/House in St. Helens, OR.
It will be my pleasure to come to any book club group who so desires in order to talk about any aspect of the book. I only require transportation and lodging.
If your book club or classroom is interested in Tree/House, please comment here to get information on discounts and free bookmarks.
And don't forget, it's an economical Kindle single! Also available for Nook at bn.com.
Coming soon: a discussion-starting guide to Tree/House.
At the beginning of January, Goodreads released a list of "Books of 2010," obtaining votes from users for a list of pre-selected tomes as well as a few write-in winners. And so we confirm yet again that there are too may wonderful books to ever read.
I noticed a strange trend. Most of the most voted-for books were over 500 pages long, and many of these were mere parts of a series, meaning that the entire story would run thousands of pages. For some reason, I remembered English classes in grade school, which were just one long string of students complaining about how many pages the assigned books were. When we had to read Great Expectations, only the abridged version was required. Those of us who were curious enough to read the uncut version may have received extra credit just for intrepidness.
Are these people who would read the unabridged Dickens the same ones driving the voting for Goodreads' Best Books? Maybe they consider themselves "serious readers," who have to set themselves apart by reading epic tomes just for fun.
The long book phenomenon may have something to do with publishers, whose biggest cost is actually the paper the book is printed on. A shorter book doesn't generally become cheap enough for publishers to lower the price to meet consumers' expectations. And so, publishers choose to print longer works that make the readers feel they're getting their money's worth of paper and words.
Not to mention that series become addictive, and sales of one volume in a series boosts the next volume's sales, etc.
Another trend we've seen in the last few months is the increasing popularity of e-readers and thus, e-books. Obviously, paper costs are not an issue for e-books. Publishers can cut the prices significantly while delivering less traditional lengths of quality writing. Shorter books might have a fighting chance! I think that's the logic behind Amazon's recent announcement of a new category in e-books:
"Each Kindle Single presents a compelling idea--well researched, well argued, and well illustrated--expressed at its natural length."
"Natural length" here is defined as 5,000 to 30,000 words. I've always valued economy in writing: getting the most out of each word, making extra ones unnecessary. So I welcome the advent of this new category with open arms.
Tree/House fits neatly into the Single category. I'm not too snobbish to say that I valued a fast read without excess a full two years ago, when I, a publishing pioneer, first made Tree/House available to the Kindle reading public. I've waited patiently for the novella form to again fall into favor. Thanks to you, users of e-readers, it's well on its way!
The best-selling novella, Tree/House: Now Unveiled in Its Proper Place as a Kindle Single! Thank you so much for reading.
Tree/House is my darling underweight baby. By "underweight" I mean that it is a novella - only 26,000 words - and as such, it is very difficult to publish. I have it at a really great small press that specializes in shorter works (Tree/House is something of a behemoth over there). If nothing comes of that, my imprint (more on that later) will put out a second edition, with a fresher cover, some judicious editing, and one or two appropriately symbolic short stories of women's empowerment as a bonus.
The story has a lot going for it, other than the obvious advantage of being a fast read.
• A strong message. As one of my reviewers put it, "This book reminded me that I once was a free spirit and the time is now to get back to who I really am!"
• A beautiful friendship between women. The women are not perfect, but they help and complement each other with their strengths and their neuroses.
• Good writing. Another reviewer says, "wonderful descriptive language."
• Great rhythm. An astute review calls it a "page-turner"!
• A villain you can never be completely sure about. Guaranteed to leave you with that pleasantly icky feeling, this Bluebeard will haunt your imagination.
• Just the right degree of weirdness. Although the women sleep in trees and suffer unreal isolation, the psychological realism keeps you believing in them as real people. As a final reviewer put it, "An interesting look at human behavior and what many people do to try to find happiness by looking outside themselves."
Anyone who's read this book is invited to contribute to this list of good qualities!
The full reviews can be seen at the Amazon site.
I also invite you to check out the reading I did on You Tube (in two parts): Part 1Part 2 (Yes, that's me, about two years ago!)
Sometimes I think I should just try to turn it into a proper novel, but that fact is that I've said all I wanted to say, and I've never been one to go on and on. Enjoy!
