A Very Good Week

I made two sales this week:

"I'll Love Ya Forever, But" to Eric's Hysterics

and

"Todd Nathaniel's Last Case" to Ephemera

That brings up my total sales this year to five!

Now I have to write some more stories to send out...

A Beautiful Cover for my novel

I am so delighted with the work Amanda Kelsey has done on the Chasing the Trickster cover. Whoo-Hoo!

The End of the World as I know it (and I feel fine)

In the past year our local Barnes and Noble closed, leaving us to retreat to Borders. Then Borders went out of business. And then The NYC Opera left Lincoln Center.I already miss our local (within walking distance) bookstores, and NYC Opera; it's a shame but DH and I can still walk to the Met.

And I also decided to go with an e-publisher for my novel. That's the only change which I feel good about. I'd thought long and hard about this, not wanting to have my books get maybe three weeks time in a bookstore before being returned to the warehouse, or wind up somewhere coverless and forlorn. I love books, the feel of them, the smell, bookmarks, everything. But I do most of my reading on the computer. I even have Kindle for the PC. I'm a traitor to the big brick and mortar bookstores.

I have bought from Amazon for years now, usually just out of print books, though. Most of the time I did buy my hard copies from B&N or Borders. But my bookcases are out of space, so it feels right to download what I want to read. Saves paper, saves physical space.

Yet, I keep wondering what will happen after an apocalypse? If we don't forget how to read, will we be able to gain access to information stored on computers? If the upcoming destruction of the world is really bad, will there be anyone left to read at all?

Not to be all gloom and doom, but I really like the idea of having a few hard copies around, just in case we wind up back in the dark ages again.

Sure, this probably won't happen in my time. But I still like to imagine there's some huge vault somewhere where all the great books will be kept safe for future generations.

Just in case.

What a Weekend!

Here in Hell's Kitchen we have a yearly arts festival and studio tour called "Artists in the Kitchen." As I did last year, I participated in the activities by giving a reading from my works.

Yesterday and today, I read the first chapter from Chasing the Trickster to a small, but appreciative audience at the Oasis Community Garden. It felt great. I love reading from this novel.

Also, my collection of short stories, "The Fairy Cake Bake Shoppe and 13 Other Weird Tales" is now available from Smashwords.

For readers of this blog I have a discount coupon code:PJ45N - good until July 7th.

Please head over and download your copy. And please let me know what you think.

If you are in Manhattan this Sat.

I'll be giving a reading from my novel, Chasing The Trickster this Sat.@ Artists in the Kitchen Studio Tour

Location: Oasis Community Garden, 52nd St. and Tenth Avenue.

Time: 12:00PM Saturday, June 25th.

I'm set to read first. I might also give a second reading on Sunday.

Come on by!

Wonderful Weekend!

I was at the Stoker Weekend, given by the Horror Writers Association.

It was great meeting many fellow horror writers, and the panels and workshops were very informative.

The Smashwords manual also took up much of my time this weekend. In honor of my selling Chasing the Trickster to Eternal Press, I'm going to release my previously published short stories in a collection: "The Fairy Cake Bake Shoppe and 13 Other Weird Tales."

I totally love the artwork produced by Dirk Strangely and am very grateful to have his talent for my cover.

The Fairy Cake Bake Shoppe and 13 Other Weird Tales

More good news!

I'm going to be releasing a collection of my short stories on Smashwords in honor of this terrific news.