Happy to report that ONE FOR THE ARK was named a finalist in the International Book Awards for General Fiction, sponsored by the American Book Fest. I enter contests in hopes that an agent/major publisher will notice, and to be able to offer this kind of “endorsement” to my indie-published works. I lose more than...Read More
Congratulations to David Robson of Robson Design and Susie Isaacs of publisher Ampersand, Inc., on Third Place in the Colorado Independent Press Association’s EVVY Awards for Best Cover. One for the Ark was the only fiction cover to place in this category in this twenty-five year old contest. David also designed the cover of Saluting...Read More
Just wanted to share “Five Reasons” on why Chicago is a great place for writers. I’d add a 6th reason: we have a great pro bono organization called Lawyers for the Creative Arts, which provides free guidance and legal help to emerging authors on their rights and responsibilities. ...Read More
One for the Ark is a Round One Finalist in the 2017 Illinois Soon To Be Famous Author Project sponsored by the Illinois Library Association. Got my fingers crossed for the March 6 announcement of the 3 Finalists. My second novel, Warming Up, was a Top 3 Finalist in the inaugural STBF Project in 2013. I...Read More
Thank you, Cubbies, for this lesson in authorship and how to create something great: STAY IN THE MOMENT. Now might be a good time, too, to read a baseball-themed mystery. How about something by G.W. Kennedy? Read More
We had the chance this week to celebrate with Erin Goseer Mitchell the publication of her second book, From Colored to Black, A Bittersweet Journey (Ampersand, 2016). At a reading we hosted for her, one guest called it a chance to meet “living history.” She read a story called “Grandma Tucker’s Red Piano,” and he...Read More
I’m so grateful to so many who have written me to tell me how much you enjoyed ONE FOR THE ARK. So I am reluctant to ask for a smidge more of your time, but it would really help me (or so the industry wisdom has it) if you would review OFTA at amazon.com and/or...Read More
I recently attended the Oswego Literary Festival at the beautiful Oswego Library District Oswego Campus. Forty-six authors were there to hawk their works, but I doubt that we sold 46 books among us. This could be depressing. OK, it is depressing. But we still made lemonade.Read More
I doubt that any of my books will ever be banned–what a boost to sales that would be!–but over the course of our history, some classics, such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Grapes of Wrath and Moby Dick...Read More
