The View Today from the Old Stone House
It’s been awhile since I’ve updated you on general news around here. Thought I’d take a moment this morning to do so.
Recent Reading & Signing at Neustadt Public Library
While it would seem I was prepared for the event Saturday, March 28 at the Neustadt Public Library, the local residents were not. Four people attended, one of whom was my dear, long-time friend, Vandy Simpson, who, with her husband, Darrell Markewitz, were coming for an overnight visit. My three other guests were familiars in the village, but it would seem were unaware of what a reading/signing involved, showed up expecting to briefly visit and chat, and promptly left.
This, despite press in the local newspaper and considerable alternative marketing. Still, any exposure is good exposure. Unfortunately there were no sales which meant no donation of funds to the library. I did, however, donate copies of my own books to the library.
Five Rivers Books Appearing in Shortcovers
If you haven’t heard about Shortcovers, it’s a remarkable new form of digital book released by Indigo/Chapters, that is poised to out-perform Kindle, Sony and other forms of readers out there. Users of Shortcovers will be able to download books, chapters, news and magazine articles, short stories, blog posts and more, anywhere, anytime online and on your mobile device.
Within the next two weeks all of Five Rivers books will be available through Shortcovers.
Progress on From Mountains of Ice
I’m now into the final quarter of my new novel, From Mountains of Ice. Very pleased with the story so far, and looking forward to finishing the first draft and getting into the revision to tighten up plot points and expand certain areas.
The novel is a cultural fantasy, set in a vaguely 15th Century Italian Renaissance milieu, deals very much with funeral and death rituals, although it is not macabre, and explores the character of Sylvio di Danuto, his fall from grace and loss of honour. It’s a story about the scope of love, and how far some people will go to prevent loved ones from leaving.
I’m hoping to have the first draft and revision finished by fall, send it out for comment from a few trusted colleagues, revise one last time, and have the novel released either for Christmas or early in 2010.
Five Rivers Actively Seeking New Authors and Manuscripts
I’m now looking for a few new authors to add to our community, whether you’re a writer of fiction or non-fiction. The only real criteria is you feel passionately about what you write, and you write to a standard of excellence.
Five Rivers’ submission guidelines are available here.
Upcoming Events
Five Rivers’ authors have four events coming up in April, three for writer Paul Lima, and one for me. You can check out the calendar of events on our website.
Social Media
If you’re a social media maven, by all means look up Five Rivers through any or all of the following: