Catching up after the summer of 2014

To catch up...on my trip to Yarmouth and Weymouth in August, I took 50 copies of Swamp Robin for my presentations in these two venues. They sold quickly especially when The Yarmouth Vanguard ran an article after the fact. Swamp Robin is doing quite well despite my negligence in marketing the book, part of the process I didlike the most.

In September, I met Ashley Bryan, the 90-year old, black artist on Little Cranberry Island, Maine; famous for his children's books and his puppets. His performance in Brunswick was inspiring and extremely entertaining.  It was a wonderful experience for me in that he accepted a gift copy of Swamp Robin and later wrote me a letter to say how much he enjoyed it, how powerful the story and how well written. He invited me to lunch with him in the near future, for us to talk about our work. I'm really looking forward to that occasion.

In the meantime, sales are trickling in and I'm hoping that a sensitive publisher will discover Swamp Robin and do the book justice and do the marketing that it deserves.

For the fall/winter season, I'm planning a group get-together for those local readers who have expressed interest in discussing Swamp Robin with the author in residence.

My next project

I've been thinking about my next project. I have a couple of short stories that would lend themselves beautifully to a full blown novel. I even have titles for both. Both are dark and I wonder why I'm leaning in that direction. I'll start writing notes and see where they lead. What fun!

 Any suggestions?

Off to Nova Scotia to two presentation venues for Swamp Robin

I have been invited to the Yarmouth County Museum in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, my home town, to present and discuss Swamp Robin, A Memoir. I'm looking forward to this experience inasmuch as part of the story takes place in Yarmouth, the town where I was conceived. Things have changed a great deal in the town and most of those who were peers of mine are either deceased or moved away long ago. Brown Street, where my grandparents and I lived, is still there although most of the building have been replaced by new structures, I can still walk down Brown and remember, somewhat sadly, the happy times spent on that street. This presentation willl take place on August 23rd, 2014.

Then, on August 25th I will travel to Weymouth, Digby County, where I spent the first three years of my life and do anothr presentation at the Sissiboo Landing Community Center. In Weymouth, folks live longer and many of my cousins, old and young, will be there and remember how I came to live among them.

My Nova Scotia trip in August will be most meaningful.

Stay tuned. Make a comment. Ask questions.

Rosemarie

During the month of June, we were fortunate to have a young woman from Bangkok, Thailand, a student of fashion design, staying with us. She was a most enjoyable friend who enjoyed telling us about her country and her studies in the fashion design school in Bangkok. She was a petite person of pretty features, an endearing personality and  who already displayed exceptional taste in clothing.

She talked lovingly of her parents, her sister and her life in general. It was a good life, she said. She is a most unusual young woman; one whose inspiration for a wonderful future is set stone. I gave her a copy of Swamp Robin for comparison.

Good luck and God speed, Dohla

I was very fortunate to have two major bookstores in Camden, The Owl and Turtle and Sherman's accept Swamp Robin for their shelves this summer.

Here's how it happened:  At least six very good friends were unaware that the books were not available at these shops at the time they visited. Consequently, after four of them requested the book on special order, both stores now carry Swamp Robin. The new owners of The Owl and Turtle, Selena and Ricky Sheaves, are lovely people who are interested in supporting local writers. And their coffee is excellent. What a great idea. Better than the fireplace at the old location.

Sherman's, too, even before opening their new shop in Portland is keen on doing their part. I walked into the Camden store the other day and was happy to see copies of Swamp Robin prominently displayed.

By the way, not only is Swamp Robin available at Amazon.com, but also Barnes and Noble, Goodreads, and for retailers, from the Ingram book catalogue.

Send comments. I'd love 'em.

Attended workshop with Unicorn For Writers LLC

On June 21st, 2014, I attended a workshop for writers, hosted by the Carver Memorial Library in Searsport, Maine. Jan L. Kardys, President and Jeanne E. Rogers, Vice President, Unicorn for Writers LLC,  gave a spirited discussion on self-publishing vs. traditional publishing. Neither was totally against either aspects of the publishing process. Each presented a worthwhile argument for their favorite method of publishing a book.

While Jan Kardys has 35 years of formal publishing experience with ten major publishing corporations, and  is now a freelance editor and publishing consultant who sponsors writer's conferences, Jeanne Rogers is a self-published author who has successfully self-published via CreateSpace, both in book and eBook format.
Jeanne is a prolific reader who reviews books and posts them to Amazon and Goodreads as well as her own blog, Australian Fantasy Adventures. She is always happy to share her experience with her fellow writers upon request.

I took the opportunity at the workshop in Searsport to ask Jeanne to review Swamp Robin. I received an email a week or so later to tell me that she took my book on vacation and that I should have my review by the end of July.

I can hardly wait.

We held a book launch on Sunday, May 18^th at the Hawthorne Inn in Camden where I presented my book, Swamp Robin, A Memoir to sixty invited guests.

I first introduced my manuscript five years ago at the Maine Literary Festival Ready-To-Publish Workshop in Camden where Ms. Maryanne Shanahan saw potential in Swamp Robin.  After superb editing by Maryanne and Kathleen Brandes, Swamp Robin was published on March 31^st, 2014.

Maryanne, owner of the Hawthorn Inn and hostess of the book launch, introduced Stan Calderwood, my Scottish nephew, and me.  Readers of Swamp Robin’s epilogue will discover how my nephew and I met serendipitously in Nova Scotia in 2008.

The room was filled with emotion when I read the prologue, and again when my nephew related the circumstances of his familial discovery.

I felt honored by the number of guests who attended the launch, some of whom had already read Swamp Robin. They were all enthusiastic about the future of the book and supportive of me personally as a new writer in the community.

It was a wonderful day for me as a writer and one that I’ll always remember.  I am grateful to Maryanne for her support, generosity, and friendship, and to all my friends who praised me for the courage that I truly needed to write this book.