When I decided to publish an ebook book version of The Box I immediately uploaded it to Smashwords. Smashwords is an ebook publishing platform that converts your novel into all of the formats used by ereaders. It’s simple to use and pretty straight forward. Want to find out more? Check out this presentation.
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Ira Glass on Storytelling
I listen to This American Life on NPR every week without fail. Recently, I found these videos on YouTube where Ira Glass, the host of This American Life, talks about the art of storytelling. I think they’re fascinating so I thought I’d share them.
Starting Another Novel
I woke up the other day with the first chapter of my latest novel swirling in my head. True, I’m editing one already, but this new one has been on the back burner for years now. It needs to be started. So it looks like my story about the woman with no reflection and the man with no shadow will be put off for a little bit.
I love writing novels. It’s one of my favorite things to do. I love developing character and weaving the plot. I love having all that time and space to do it in. I think of it as a luxury.
I’m not going to tell you what this latest book is about. You’ll have to wait and see. I’m still editing Flying Lessons. That won’t be put on hold just because I’ve started a new book. My goal is to have Flying Lessons out by Christmas. That time schedule is dependent on how fast my first and second readers and my editor are. Now that I think about it maybe Christmas is a bit too ambitious. One of my readers is notoriously slow and he has another novel he’s supposed to be looking over soon. I should hurry my editing along so I can get my manuscript to him first.
Making Videos
I love making videos, but I’ve only just recently started putting them online. Here’s a video I made today.
Rain, Rain, Go Away
I moved to the UK about two and a half years ago from Florida. I knew that England was famous for its dreadful weather, but I really didn’t expect it to be this bad. When we first came here it was late March. I remember taking the train from the airport. When got to Victoria Station where we needed to transfer, my husband suggested that we go outside for a minute just to see London. We stepped out on to the street and were assaulted by icy rain and howling winds.
Whenever I tell people that I came here from Florida they seem quite confused. “Why would you leave Florida?” they ask truly confused. On weeks like this one when the clouds are hanging so low in the sky it seems like you could reach up and touch them and it seems to be raining constantly, I often wonder the same thing. Why would I leave sunny Florida for England? The short answer is work. My husband is English and a jazz musician. The gigs are a lot better in London than they are in the Tampa Bay area. That’s for sure. Financially we’re better off.
To be honest, I don’t really have anything to complain about. Sure it’s cloudy and rainy here some of the time but that just makes the good days seem so much better. When the sky is clear and the sun is out England is beautiful. The countryside is wide open. The landscape is so lush.
It cleared up at about seven o’clock tonight so we went for a walk. The sun was low in the sky bathing the clouds in orange light. I never seem to have my camera at those most beautiful moments. We went to a field by our flat. I took off my shoes and socks and did some sprinting through the grass. We talked and laughed and got pleasantly tired. It’s these moments when the sun comes out if only for a few moments before setting that I live for.