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Happy New Year
I decided to come to the surface in order to wish everyone a Happy New Year. It’s been a busy month since Urban Mermaid was released back on Saint Andrew’s Day.(Nov. 30th)
It used to be that the only time people wanted my autograph was on cheques and credit card receipts. Now they want them on copies of Urban Mermaid, too.
I’ve spent a good part of the Holidaze adding content to ColonyIsland.com. There have already been three new entries added to the FAQ page with more to come next week. Madison, from the Colony Chronicle, has supplied a new letter to a disgruntled resident and she’s hinting there may be one or two juicy ones in the coming weeks. Be sure to check out the Ask Madison tab when you have the time.
I’m starting to crank up the publicity machine. I’m planning to work with a publicist after the first of the year and Urban Mermaid will be featured in the Book Life supplement to Publisher’s Weekly. Theoretically, it’s to be the January 18th edition but it could be later.
I’ve already submitted Urban Mermaid to a book competition – Best general fiction from an emerging author at a Micro Press – and I’m considering submitting the book to Publisher’s weekly for review. Meanwhile, there’s a big box of bookmarks on its way to my Hopewell, VA residence.
I’ll be running some give-aways here at ColonyIsland.com throughout the month of January with some serious swag to be handed out towards the end of the month. I’m also scheduled to make appearances on a couple of book blogs – my own mini blog tour.
Who knows, I might even find the time to work on the sequel.
Now for a special request. At the moment, my main commercial outlet is Amazon.com. The unfortunate thing is that there is only one review associated with Urban Mermaid. Although it is a super-duper review, I could use a few more. I’ve received a good number of positive reviews – some of them quite touching – but they have yet to appear on Amazon.
If you’ve read Urban Mermaid and enjoyed it, please consider leaving a review for UM – either print or e-book – on Amazon. If you’ve already written a review but haven’t gotten around to posting it, please do so if you can. The reviews don’t have to be deathless prose, just a few sentences telling the reading public how great you think the story is.
That’s all for now.
We thank you for your support.
H.P.
Happy Holidays
Happy Hanukkah
The story thus far . . .
Urban Mermaid has been on the market for less than a week and I’m starting to see a few sales. Since book publicists cost an arm and a leg – I’m sure they earn every penny of their fees – I’ll be doing a lot of the publicity myself.
There’s a perfect opportunity to do this in Greensboro, NC on Jan. 2 & 3, 2016 and I’m going to have to miss it because of my regular job. I will go into work around 10:30 PM on Jan. 1st and will not be done until 3 or 4 AM. Driving directly to Greensboro from Richmond, VA might have been an option in my college days but it’s definitely off the table now.
The event in Greensboro is a sort of mermaid convention and is an ideal place to stir up interest and maybe even some sales. There’s bound to be other opportunities in other towns . . . just none as good as this one.
Besides putting up the tree and baking gingerbread cookies over the holidays, I’ll also be devoting a good bit of my time to working on publicity and getting the word out. After the first of the year, I’ll be running a series of give-aways here on ColonyIsland.com and plan to have some serious swag up for grabs towards the end of January. Just one more reason to stop by and see what’s happening.
Now Available
Happy St. Andrews Day!
I am pleased to announce Urban Mermaid, the first installment in the Tails From Colony Island series, is now available for purchase in both paperback and e-book editions. The book is published by Moonlight Gardens Publications, an imprint of Gazebo Gardens Publishing, LLC.
I would like to thank Shelly & Caitlyn Moore at Gazebo Gardens for all their hard work in getting this book ready for publication, Ilsie Om at The Woodsy Fawn for her wonderful cover design, Emm Cole, S.K. Munt, Pete Tarsi, and everyone else who contributed in one way or another to the pre-publication process.
Finally, I would like to thank Judi, my bride of 40 years for all of her encouragement and ongoing support as well as reading the first draft, even when fantasy books just aren’t her thing.
Given that the holidaze are upon us, I am forgoing the traditional launch parties, blog tours, etc. until after the first of the year. Everyone has so much to do between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day . . . including me.
Stop by colonyisland.com to keep up with The Latest.
ISBN
978-1-938281-72-3 Paperback
978-1-938281-73-0 E-Book
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel
Oh rapture! Oh bliss!
Seriously, I’ve discovered that there is light at the end of the tunnel and it’s not merely an oncoming train. Urban Mermaid now has a firm release date – November, 30th, 2015. Be still, my heart!
The thirtieth of November is St. Andrew’s Day. For those of ye wha’ may no ken, Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland and since one of the main characters is named Macpherson, I think that the 30th is quite appropriate.
I had originally planned to hold a launch party on the release day but the Holiday season will be in full swing a week from today. Trying to shoehorn a launch party in everything involved with the run-up to Hanukkah, Christmas, and the feast of Mithras is a non-starter. Instead, I’m going to try and see if I can get something going on January 30th – maybe a launch party/book signing at Barnes and Noble in Charlottesville.
Meanwhile, there’s fruitcakes to bake and gifts to buy. Yes, Virginia, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
By The Way, I’ll make a formal announcement on the 30th of November. Stay tuned.
Asking Madison
There’s a feature here on the Colony Island website called ‘Ask Madison‘. Madison is named for Daryl Hannah’s character in the movie, Splash and in this incarnation, she is the ‘agony aunt’ – advice columnist – for The Colony Chronicle, the island’s bi-weekly newspaper.
I thought this would be a fun way to discuss and flesh out plot points as the series progresses as well as give background on life as a mer on Colony Island.
At this point, I cannot say how often Madison will reprint letters from her column in the Chronicle. I will say, however, that I plan to continue this feature throughout the series. I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy creating it.
A New Addition
Awake with nothing to do at 5:30 AM on a rainy Thursday morning, I finally added a contact form to this site. The page is called “Contact The Author” and you’ll find it under the “All About The Author” tab.
Please Release Me, Let Me Go . . .
Well, the final edits are done and final manuscript awaits my review. Once that happens, proof copies will be ordered and Urban Mermaid will finally be released.
The main hurdle will be finding time to review the final proof. I’ve got a book review to write and fruitcakes to bake. Two batches of fruitcakes, mind you. The next four days should be . . . well . . . interesting.
If I don’t respond to your e-mails or phone calls for a while, please try and understand.
