One year later...

Now a NOOK Book!

One year ago on May 21st, I released my second novel The Fractured Hues of White Light as a paperback original, and now, to celebrate this first year, my little-big novel is now available at Barnes & Noble as an ebook.

I gotta tell ya, it's a lot of work putting together the ebook is a process that I don't want to do again right away, but yet, I'm OCD enough to get a sense of pleasure picking around at the tiniest bits of code to make the reading experience on the Nook to be enjoyable. I spent most of the morning and dipped into the afternoon doing the finishing touches on the files and inputting data and clicking the right buttons to make the "magic" happen - my eyes are blurry and burning and my head is dizzy from looking at a computer screen so closely. As of an hour or so, it went live - so now more readers can love or hate it - it is such a see-saw existence being an author, and I will always welcome the good and bad criticism with grace. It's been a rewarding experience publishing my books, and although the second one hasn't been as well received as the first book (Dusty Waters) I understand as the author and publisher, that books are a subjective business, and not everyone is going to like what I do. John Steinbeck said it best of all:

 "You know just as well as I do that this book is going to catch the same kind of hell that all the others did and for the same reasons. It will not be what anyone expects and so the expecters will not like it. And until it gets to people who don't expect anything and are just willing to go along with the story, no one is likely to like this book." (from Journal of a Novel: the East of Eden Letters, quoted from page 26, March 8, Thursday.)

Good and bad reviews go with the territory. I like to think that readers come to my writing because they are looking for something different, something unexpected, and to make this novel available for the Nook will make it accessible to new readers looking for something new and different - this is a happy day...


Synopsis:

The Fractured Hues of White Light is an emotional journey that explores who we love and why we love them. Mother, father, daughter, siblings, lovers, spouses, and friends; it’s all love in some form. It is a story about Samantha Ryder, a young autistic woman who is an artist; it is because of her handicap that she often fails to articulate her emotions with an appropriate demonstration. Ironically, the ‘normal people’ who surround her are just as incapable of communicating their feelings, creating a sense of isolation full of things left unsaid. Samantha’s uncanny artistic ability is limited to being a novelty after her father encouraged her to create miniatures of the greatest hits of art history for a wealthy clientele. For years, she has filled sketchbooks with drawings that she feels mean nothing, yet they mean everything. Within the abstract scribbles are the portraits of the people who she loves; the quirk of her disability is how she is very aware of the emotions of her loved ones. They love her with unconditional bonds that vary in degrees; her mother Lenore’s maternal nurturing is sorely missed after her death when Sammy was six. Her father, Whitley, is a possessive narcissist, but his heart is always in the right place. Memories of the protective love of her father’s stepson, Guthrie, filtered into her adolescent fantasies. Her half-sister, Helena, exhibits a lackadaisical tolerance and irritable impatience, yet offers a clinging-vine possessiveness in spite of herself. The lingering romantic feelings of her friend and former lover, Sylvester, manifest in his boundless patience; their continued friendship stands firm on a foundation of trust. When Samantha agreed to marry Preston Ackerman, she initially believed that she could learn to love him, but the empty bond between them causes her to emotionally lose ground. As their marriage falls apart, Preston becomes dangerous, forcing her to go on a journey of self-preservation away from the familiar security of home. Her escape threatens to be her undoing.

Winter Solstice time...

Crow tracks

Crow in Snow

A snowy crow

The old maple tree in winter

It's a funny time of year, moody and emotional, sentimental, the darkness, the blowing snow, the persistent gray, the slant of the sun when it is out, the shadows are different now...its' the first we've seen a great deal of sunshine in a couple of weeks, so we're all bleary-eyed and squinting in the daylight...I feel like a mole on these rare sunny days...oh, but it's pretty out there this morning...8 degrees this morning, a paw lifter for Max...all that clear sky with moonshine and starlight last night made the temps drop, but with the sun out, it's quite pleasant, not so bitter, a relief from the cabin fever, which has come early this year because of the storms...normally that doesn't set in until later in January or early February.

I was out and about with my son doing the final shop...I never was a fan of shop 'til you drop, and I dislike the crowds, so we set out early with the goal to be off Erie Blvd by noon...last stop B&N...that place was delightfully packed! I didn't see any indication that the book in the form of paper is on life support, people were clutching plenty of them in their hands in the long line at the front registers...but there were the curiosity seekers lingering around the NOOK display...and I was one of them, listening to the inquiries, the "ooo's" and "ahhh's", the "oh, really? Well, that's neat." One fellow did ask if I needed any help or had any questions, and I just told him I thought it was an interesting little thing. But he lost interest in me quick because there was another customer with potential to buy (there was quite a swarm, and I had no problem with being left alone to play). He did come back to check on me, but I only smiled and said, "I think my son or my husband might buy me one." (I don't have it on my wish list at all.) Although I do have my little ghost story published for the Nook, I only have the Nook app on my laptop, so I haven't seen it on the actual device, seeing the gadget in person and seeing that it's so bitty is a fun feeling. So, naturally, I played with it! My son and I huddled around it. It didn't take long to figure it out, tho' my fingers are being a bit funky lately with tingly-numbness, I'm not so nibble anymore. I found my way through Google to my blog, clicked the icon that I have set up for the Nook store, and once I saw my little book cover, after that, I walked away. Someone stepped up and started looking at the device right away, I don't know if she was looking at my book, or if she explored something else, but it was a guilty pleasure... because of my lingering over the Nook, we didn't leave Erie Blvd until 12:17, but that was fine. I needed to satisfy that little craving.

I nearly adopted a cat yesterday during our travels... a 2 year old tabby, Wandering Paws had their Saturday adoption hopefuls set up at PETCO, the little sweetie named Emmi started chirping to us and was very engaging, she could've passed for Charlie's sister, a big girl too (big like Charlie).

Yes, this is Charlie...Mr. Mischief Mittens himself.

Well, I left that store with all the treats and goodies for my cats and Max feeling so sad and choked up that I couldn't justify opening our home to one more...it was all I could do not to tell my son, "Turn around, we're going back!" Self-control for sure...at this point I'm not sure if I want to deal with the hissing and bushy tails. So we hugged them all when we got home, and told them they are so lucky to have a home when there are so many who do not. All of ours were stray once, drop-offs, or the offspring of feral barn cats...they look at us with those cat eyes with no memory of the time before this moment. Happy purrs all around!

The Three Wise Cats having a snuggle-fest, flannel blankets, Max's toys for pillows, and warm sunshine, the best!

The day after Thanksgiving...

Blue on Rust, Leaves (Sumac on Maple)

Briar and Weeds

Fossils and Weeds

A Solitary Leaf

Shell and Leaf

Pale Green Viola Leaf

Viola Leaf on a Rock

Leaves

 Thankfulness...

I got up at 6AM yesterday morning, and had the nigh 20lb bird stuffed and in the oven by 7AM, the routine is a familiar path, I plodded along all through the morning making preparations, then got halfway upstairs to change, and ran back to the living room to turn on the Macy's Parade just in time to see Santa Claus...(it wouldn't be right to miss Santa!) Although we had a fraction of the family around the table than in past years, yet still keeping to the tradition as we've known it...my Fred's mother passed away almost two weeks ago, and so it's been a time...as our niece insisted, "Grandma would have wanted us to be together today." And so we did gather around as a family to begin the process of moving on, and we enjoyed our company and talked. It was lovely in spite of moments of missing her...and missing Grandpa (our second Thanksgiving without him.) We're still in that emotional period of loss, slightly numb, yet sharp in feeling...we're seeking a foothold on the latest version of "normal". Time will tell. Today I'm in that fatigue zone...painfully tired, which is typical FMS, I'm used to it, and push through it (how easy it would have been to go back to bed and sleep the day away!), but in spite of it, I worked on my paintings today, for some reason, on days when I'm this tired writing is impossible, but the act of painting flourishes in that intuitive flow that is beautiful, and it felt right. If anything, I am thankful for my determination.

Leftovers for dinner tonight...mmmmm...and tomorrow TURKEY SOUP! (I love that more than the dinner.)


I haven't been able to keep up with the last three Literary Blog Hop activities through the Blue Bookcase, but have enjoyed the conversations that have emerged since the first one I hooked up with earlier this month. As I noted in the side bar of my blog, Dusty Waters is now available as an e-book on the B&N Nook (as part of the B&N PubIt! program, released on 11/19.) It took well over a month to accomplish it, I had slowly worked my way through both books to get them properly formatted, but only put up the one. The Fractured Hues of White Light will be saved aside for release at another time since I'm still in the early giveaway mode of the paperback at Goodreads. I downloaded the Nook app for my laptop so I could sample the technology, and purchased Virginia Woolf's early novel Night and Day just for fun (since my most favorite paper back is falling apart) ...it is a temptation to buy more books, but I will restrain myself for now, and make selections of old favorites in due time. No matter the convenience of the e-book and all the other arguments that make them the bees knees I still love the intimacy of a solitary book made of paper, and will gladly make room for more of them on my to-read pile. Will I purchase an actual Nook? Probably...I've become slightly smitten with the gadget during my careful investigation of gadgets. Will I convert one (or both) of the books for Kindle? Eventually, it is quite possible with all the available conversion tools out there to 'make it so'...I'm in no rush (if there's anyone who wants it bad enough for their Kindle they can send me an email and say "pretty please" and I'll see what I can do about it sooner than later.) For now, the Nook is the test...it is one more test in my indie publishing experiment, I'm going to see how it goes as I continue to muddle along at my own pace. It is just how I am...it is how I do what I do.