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Aug. 26, 2018:
San Diego Festival of Books
The San Diego Union Tribune were sponsors a second year for the festival at upscale, rennovated Liberty Station (just beyond the end of the airport runway, so that conversations consist of interrupted two-minute fragments as everybody waits for the next takeoff to complete). The San Diego Book Awards Assoication purchased a table in "Author Alley," and graciously invited past winners for one-hour slots. My strategy was to give away books, on the promise that the giftee would post a review (good or bad) when/if finished. I only managed to give away three books. I suspect that people have grown wary of "Free!" offers. This would be a healthy approach, and good overall for society, but unfortunate for me. On the other hand, it could be that people had decided that, as adults, they were through with homework.
Here I am, trying my best to give away books. The enthusiastic gal on the left is Tiffany Vakilian, SDBA president.
And here I am with my charming table companion, J. Dylan Yates, author of The Belief in Angels, attempting to convince her to stop writing if she's going to hog the SDBA's Geisel award (for "best of the best" book for the year--I didn't even have an entry the year she won, but jealousy wields neither logic nor mercy).
May 26, 2017:
Trifecta
MOONSTROKE made the finalist list for the Eric Hoffer Award, and ELECTRIC SAVVY was a winner (actually, an Honorable Mention, but they refer to that as a winner). Meanwhile, POWDERHOLE made the finalists list in the International Book Awards.
=> Eric Hoffer Award. <=
=> International Book Awards. <=
April 3, 2017:
I'm blushing
=> Indie Reader review. <=
March 16, 2017:
Foreword INDIES finalist
MOONSTROKE has made the finalist list for Forword Review's Indies Best Book of the Year award. The winners will be announced in June at the 2017 American Library Association Annual Conference in Chicago.
I'll let you know if I win.
=> I'm not making this up. <=
Last Day in February, 2017:
The Purple Owl and Me
Rachel Noel (of Purple Owl Review) posted a review of MOONSTROKE on Feb. 18 (I'm asleep at the wheel).
Rachel, like other book review bloggers, do these without remuneration, and we the literary public (readers and authors alike) owe them a word of thanks. If you think it's easy writing a fair and balanced review each week, while often raising a family or working full time (or both!), then I highly encourage you to try it.
Writing novels is easy compared to this.
So, thanks, Rachel.
=> Read the Three-and-a-half Hoot Review <=
Late February, 2017:
Isaac Asimov and Me
I was going through an old memorabilia box, looking for a couple of Solidarnosc buttons I brought back from Germany in 1982 (from Lech Walesa's struggle with Breshnev), when I found a cassette tape in a paper carton labeled "Asimov." This was from a lecture he gave at Wilkes College (now Wilkes University) in 1977 that I (probably illegally) taped. As it happens, a younger version of me offered a question in the Q/A session, to which he responded, "Ah! A very interesting question!" and then proceeded to answer in the usual enthralling Asimovic style. The entire lecture is too large to post here (and still probably illegal), but I've snipped just my question. The quality is spotty, and his response is cut off as the tape reached the end, but the proof is here for all to hear that I AND ISAAC ASIMOV HAD A (public) CONVERSATION!
=> Listen to the Historical Watermark <=
February, 2017:
Three Novels as Promised
POWDERHOLE, MOONSTROKE, and ELECTRIC SAVVY are published and available for your purchase, both hardcopy and eBook. Reviews are in, and all received four or five stars -- you can link to them from the "book" page. Of the three, MOONSTROKE seemed to be the more popular, so we've focused the marketing money on that nail-biting moon-ride of a story. Consequently, a video was created -- again, accessible on the book page -- and the eBook versions (ePub, Mobi, and PDF) posted on NetGalley (available for free download to qualified reviewers, librarians, and media professionals). As of today, 114 people have downloaded MOONSTROKE from NetGalley, and sixty list themselves as Reviewers. Just four have provided reviews so far. I have faith that the other fifty-six didn't sign up just to grab free books (on the slim chance that faith can influence fate).
I have had no contact from the Pulitzer committee as of yet. Come to think of it . . . okay, I just checked, and have found that books have to be submitted. Never mind.
January, 2017:
UPDATE
I'm back. I spent the last few years trying to snag an agent and traditional publisher, and in the process have written five
novels and a non-fiction book. Finally admitting that it's not fair to make the world wait, I've reverted back to publishing the
backlog via the micro-publiser, Full Arc Press. First out are POWDERHOLE, MOONSTROKE, and ELECTRIC SAVVY. These will be followed
by CRUSHER, and then . . . I don't know yet. But in the meantime, I need to start a new novel -- it's been over two months since
I finished CRUSHER, and my fingers are beginning to atrophy.
Stay tuned.
November, 2013:
USA BOOK NEWS ANNOUNCES WINNERS AND FINALISTS OF THE 2013 USA BEST BOOK AWARDS,
Winner, Best Science-fiction: THE COLONY
Click Here to Read Announcement
September 1, 2013:
2013 Reader’s Favorite Award Contest Winners announced,
THE COLONY wins a Silver Medal in Science-Fiction
Click Here to Read Announcement
June 22, 2013:
San Diego Book Awards ceremony,
Best SciFi Fantasy and Horror: THE COLONY
Click Here to Read Announcement
April, 2013:
Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPYs) Results announced,
THE COLONY wins a Bronze Medal in Fantasy/Science Fiction
Click Here to Read Announcement
April 15, 2013:
Beverly Hills Book Awards announces 2013 winners,
Winner, Science Fiction: THE COLONY
Click Here to Read Announcement
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