I saw offered to me a chance to introduce myself to a whole new audience, and tell them something about myself as an author. It seemed to me that if they better understood my approach to writing in general, it would encourage interest in finding out about all my titles – after all, I figured the readers would be smart enough to go look up my name at various stores and take action, and my Author Spotlight also provided some contact information. The only marketing related hint I provided was a link to a site about information for my upcoming next release to try and build some buzz, but it was not the primary focus of the piece.

Personally, I really like the way it turned out and think that guest blogging is a great opportunity. I haven’t seen any dramatic effects just one day later, but since guest blogging’s main thrust is word of mouth – people see something there they may not have known about an author, and then tell their friends either in social media or in person what they learned – my thought is that this venue could take several days at least to show any results back to an author. At the very least, it allows an author a voice to a potential audience that otherwise might not know about them and perhaps get them engaged in what the author has to offer.

When I decided to collect my second novella sized anthology, AT THE END OF INNOCENCE’S ROAD: AN ANTHOLOGY OF STORIES AND POEMS COVERING THE JOURNEY FROM CHILDHOOD TO OLD AGE – available in ebook form from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon Italy, Amazon France, Amazon Spain, NOOK, Smashwords, iBookstore, KOBO, Diesel Ebook, and Sony – I realized the daughter’s story fit perfectly into my grander theme and introduced it there. I’m also pleased to say that a sale of this anthology represented my first sale ever at the Kindle store internationally, in the UK. Here is the opening of “What Goes Around” as featured in that collection.

—

Jo Ithaca – born JoBeth but no one called her that – held a profession as a social worker but her own share of personal dramas nearly got her kicked out of the profession. Her son, Seth, had twins at the age of 18 with a much older woman. Now her daughter Amy, about eight years younger, was about to reach adulthood a decade later.

Right now they had regular visits from a young man in college who delivered pizza. The driver’s name was Alain, and he’d started delivering pizzas here about a year ago after Jo had a really bad breakup with a boyfriend and Jo couldn’t focus on making meals for her family. Amy developed quite a crush on Alain but was only seventeen then. Amy encouraged her mother not to cook so she had multiple opportunities to see Alain. Besides, with her limp and cane no boys wanted her in high school and because of it she couldn’t be terribly athletic.  Jo saw Amy blossom as she did in high school in terms of the pounds, and both she and her grandmother counseled Amy of dangers but Amy reassured them she was fine.

After Amy’s 18th birthday, Jo let her daughter start to order pizza whenever she felt like it, all for herself if she wanted, which meant visits from the beau multiple nights a week.  Jo just ate the leftovers. While Jo did approve of Alain in Amy’s life she did encourage caution.

“You’re getting bigger, lover,” Alain said to Amy as Jo saw the two of them come back into the living room.

“Just weighed in at 240,” Amy said, leaning on her cane.  Her too tight buttoned shirt showed the results of her recent efforts.

“But maybe I should up your two large supreme pizzas each time to three so you don’t have to wait as long to hit 300.”

“But two’s such a good deal!” she squealed.

“Maybe I’ll deliver four pizzas twice a week. A little more expensive but you definitely won’t starve.”

“And see you less?” Amy whined. 

“I still have a couple year of school.  You can still stuff on campus at lunch every day and have the boys watch you.”

“You get large meals at school now too?” Jo couldn’t help but butt in.

“It’s fine, Jo,” Alain reassured her.  “She doesn’t skip class or anything.  Besides her other boyfriends enjoy watching her pig out in their dorm rooms.”

“Alain, how do you dare even tease me so?” Amy cried out.  “I need you!  They just love my body.”

“How can you not see what you’re doing as exploiting my daughter?” Jo said, horrified as these new revelations about her daughter’s life were shared.

“Who are you to judge? You did similar things before you had me!”

Sadly Amy was right. A neighbor seduced her into doing some reckless things.

“You’re right I can’t judge, Amy. But I can advise you not to repeat my mistakes.”

Jo turned to Amy’s beau.

“Help her realize her potential in all ways and just take care of her.  Don’t let her turn wheelchair bound but make sure she’s happy.  I’m so glad you fell in love with my daughter for her mind first and then her body, but help her stay healthy.”

Amy joined them, clutching her stuffed belly with one hand and using her cane with the other.  That plus her large breasts – Jo wondered if they ran in her father Ryman’s family – made her look pregnant.

“Would Daddy be ashamed of me?” Jo’s daughter asked. Her father, Ryman Weir, worked as a personal trainer that Jo got to know at a gym. Not long into their relationship, Ryman’s body was found by police, dead under mysterious circumstances. Eight years later, the whole situation remained a cold case. As a product of the foster system, Ryman had no known family who cared about him – save his daughter Amy who never knew him.

“I don’t know the answer to that.  He was an athlete and personal trainer.  I wish I’d known him better before he died.”

—

Copyright 2012 Shannon Muir. All rights reserved. Please do not copy this post without permission but please feel free to link to it.

Then there’s the added life benefits that I’m finding in reading books on a timeframe. Being out of work now for almost six months (it’ll be six months on Thursday), the structure and routine in my life hasn’t been all that stable while I look for full time work. Setting a schedule for books to be read and reviewed gives me deadlines and goals to work for. I am trying to instinstitute stricter writing guideline goals as well in order to keep myself motivated, engaged and active. If I find myself drained, I honestly believe it will come through as lesser quality work as a writer.

Reading and reviewing as mental health and wellness for the writer… an interesting thought.

—

Jessica Bremerton, just having turned eighteen, walked alongside her mother Kristine David through a Los Angeles outdoor shopping plaza. Even though some time passed since their reunion, the relationship between them still remained awkward. Also, Jessica having been raised in the Midwest, never still really acclimated to Los Angeles. Everything seemed too big and overwhelming.

Jessica knew that her mother Kristine David still remained haunted by many of the choices that she’d made over the years, some of which she didn’t even realize she made until after the fact. Kristine hid so many secrets she did not want people to know about her, including about the birth of her daughter Jessica back in some town in the Midwest she rarely let people know she was from, who was later adopted by Kristine’s mother and stepfather. Jessica knew of her mother’s turbulent heart, and that fact she didn’t hesitate to use against her mother now.

As they walked together along the street, Jessica noticed a Latina woman glaring at them.  She stood a bit petite, and stocky as one would be from frequent regular exercise.

“What’s up with that lady over there?” Jessica asked her mother without trying to point in a too obvious way. Kristine looked in that direction.

“Keep moving, quick,” Kristine said as her pace increased. Jessica became even more confused, and quickly looked back to see the woman followed them.

“She’s coming after us,” Jessica tried not to shout ahead to her mother. “What is going on here?”

“I promise, I’ll explain later,” Kristine called back.

The woman caught up to both of them and nimbly stepped in front before they could get much farther.

“I am a trained officer of the law, Ms. David,” said the woman. “You really thought you could outrun me? You are so out of shape. And having all those children certainly could not have helped.”

“Carmen,” Jessica noticed her mother being as graceful to the woman as she could through gritted teeth. “What a surprise to see you.”

“It’s a free city. I am guessing this is your oldest daughter then? The one I first found out about when my brother’s kidnapping was investigated, along with so much other ridiculous nonsense a couple of years ago.”

“Yes, that is right. Carmen Mendoza, this is my daughter Jessica Bremerton. Jessica, this is Carmen Mendoza,” then Kristine swallowed hard before finishing, “my ex-husband’s twin sister.”

“Oh,” Jessica said, still sort of stunned by the whole thing. She knew bits and pieces of what happened but not the whole story. She didn’t know what in particular this Carmen woman was upset about.

“I was there in the interrogation room when you told your story. At that point you said you didn’t know if you would be having children. But from the time frame and your experience, and how healthy they were when they were born, you almost certainly had to know. I’m convinced you lied under oath in a police station, which makes me wonder what else you’ve lied about.”

“You’re off duty, Officer Mendoza, and that was a long time ago. Let it go.”

“Captain Mendoza to you, Ms. David. I presume it is still Ms. David, and no one has stepped up to marry you after?”

Carmen did get that right. Though Markus came back into her life, they hadn’t made it down the aisle yet. Too many excuses, just like before when he went to Japan, something Jessica also vaguely knew only a little about. Sometimes it seemed like her mother’s assistant Law Howard filled in where needed and picked up the pieces more and more, and even started showing up more at the house. Jessica wasn’t sure what to make of that at all.

“I believe it isn’t your business,” Kristine defended. “I’m not your husband’s wife anymore. We had a prenup agreement  plus got all the proper paperwork in the eyes of the Catholic church so I didn’t dig him for money or any other support. We’ll be on our way now.”

Carmen, still rather unpleasant looking, stepped aside.

“I’m betting your daughter turns out to be every bit of a rotten apple as you, with you and your stepfather as influences,” Carmen said. “Now get out of my sight.”

Jessica noted her mother looked more than happy to move on.

“What that woman said, about having lied to the police? Is it true?”

Jessica watched her mother for a reaction. Her mother Kristine stayed quiet and still, making no comment or motion.

“You can’t just let a challenge like that go unanswered,” Jessica told her mother. “It’s a big deal.”

“Would you love me any less?” Kristine asked Jessica after a long awkward silence.

“It sounds like you’re going to make your answer based upon mine. That doesn’t seem very fair.”

Kristine put her hands in her pockets and started to walk forward again.

“Come on, I think you owe me. It’s bad enough I grew up without you. How am I supposed to get to know you if you shut down at any question or idea that makes you seem less than perfect. News flash, you dumped me on your mother after your loser philandering boyfriend got you pregnant as a senior in high school. Hello?”

“It was a mistake,” Kristine told her.

“What was? Fooling around with your stepfather again after having my two older brothers, or what?”

“What I did in the police station. I didn’t say the truth. I did know I that I was already expecting, but I think I just didn’t want to believe. Some days I kept trying to convince myself I might be wrong and they were Juan Luis’ children, and that I’d get the fairytale ending I’d sought after. But in my logical mind I knew different, and I also couldn’t stop thinking of Samuel which made it all the crazier.  I just couldn’t face telling anyone else the truth. If I told them then what I knew, it would have put it on the record. It would have made it all feel way too real. My moral choices weren’t what they should have been focusing on then, I wanted them to find Juan Luis, and that only would have distracted from it all. They might have lost precious time.”

“Still, you weren’t honest,” Jessica pointed out.

“That I won’t deny, Jessica,” Kristine told her daughter. “Some days I still don’t know if I made the right choice.”

“That was several years ago. You mean to tell me you really still think about back then?”

“More than you know,” Kristine replied as she continued to walk on through the outdoor mall.

—

Copyright 2012 Shannon Muir. All rights reserved. Do not repost without permission, but please feel free to link to this post.

A sequel short story to THE HEART’S DUTY, which is available:  in ebook on Kindle for the US, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Germany in English  language; NOOK; Smashwords; KOBO; Diesel ebooks; Sony; and also in print through Amazon.

All the same I decided to give this concept of a publication calendar a shot. So I set up an Excel file and then looked at the status of all the manuscripts I have around – many started but not completed in NaNoWriMo, some written or completed but not during that challenge, and a couple not started – and placed them in what seemed like a realistic pace to finish them. As of now, I may already be adjusting that as I was sick most of the first week of January and didn’t get the momentum on the projects I wanted. I totally am going into the idea that a publishing calendar is a guide to help me pick and prioritze but for a variety of reasons is not set in stone.

There are three major categories – writing, editing/revising, and publishing. My hope is to publish at least every other month. Let’s see how real that all turns out to be in the end. I’ll revisit it by the end of the year blogwise and let you know how my initial gameplan compared with the end result.

—

Nora Harrison adjusted her swimsuit bottom as best she could not unbuckle.  Riding all the way over the pass from Eastern to Western Washington in nothing but a stretchy paisley one piece proved both uncomfortable and liberating.  Especially with the giant firm belly it surrounded carrying her sons. 

The day was July 15, 1976.  The forecasters expected a high of 84 in Seattle, unusually high for the month.  Nora wished the trip could have been delayed but they were running out of time.

“Arthur,” she begged.  “Pull into that truck stop up coming up in a few miles.  I’m starving.”

“That’s not a code word for anything is it?  I’m sure he won’t be able to keep his hands off you once we get there.”

Nora noticed how Arthur never would use the name of his work associate who impregnated her while he traveled on business.  It angered her because he’d given them permission before he left to be together, so she didn’t understand why he punished her now. Arthur knew how insatiable she was before they married, and at least wanted a steady lover for her, not to mention he was Black which Arthur knew she preferred though he was not – or at least tried to deny the Black generations back in his heritage.

“No, Arthur. I just need to eat.  That’s it.  Besides we’re almost divorced.  And you gave him permission to spend time with me.”

“I’d mainly meant that so that someone made sure you and Belinda were ok since I don’t have any family nearby, and yours threw you out years ago.  I’d truly hoped you’d restrain yourself.  But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised with your track record.”

“You haven’t told me much about your family,” she said.  “I know they live in the South on some estate.”

“Yeah, my parents and brother are there.  It’s all still so foreign.  A distant relative with no heirs died and left it to them because they’d had so much trouble keeping their own housing.  Historically a plantation or something like that.  We totally had no idea our family’s roots went back into that kind of thing.”

As Arthur continued to drive, Nora couldn’t forget her Black high school sweetheart taking her virginity the night before he shipped out to ‘Nam, promising his return and that they’d wed properly.  Instead what she’d gotten was word of his death and a very very pregnant belly as she learned of her family’s genetic predisposition to multiple babies. 

She remembered how her own grandparents wanted to discard her after the news.  Her mother, Angelica, died in childbirth leaving her to be raised by her Russian grandparents since her father, Roswell Cunningham, remarried and wanted no reminders of his old life.  Her grandparents worked hard to keep their farm going, but paid little attention to the child they blamed for their daughter’s death – even though it was in fact her three siblings trapped inside and that should have followed that killed Angelica.  Instead of embracing Nora as a living hope, they rejected her, even more so when she turned out heavily pregnant like her mother.

“You shame us,” were the last words Nora’s grandmother ever told her as she slammed the farmhouse door in her face.

Fortunately the young soldier’s family proved somewhat more compassionate. She still had the letter memorized that she kept with his photos in a locked box.

“Dear Nora, I am sorry to hear of your parents’ lack of support regarding our late son’s children.  They should feel more blessed their daughter will be giving them grandchildren then caught up in issues of race and heritage.  Our son died for his country hoping to provide for a family he looked forward to. Please honor him by coming to live with us.”

Nora could never thank them enough for taking them in and raising his children.  That said, she wasn’t prepared for things to turn darker when his younger brother hired her as a live-in help for their home.  They became involved and Nora became pregnant, much to his wife’s anger.

“You were seducing my husband,” the wife said. “Just like his brother!”

“No!” Sobbed Nora.  “I loved his brother.  And your husband lied to me.  He said you were getting a divorce.”

“I may now that he’s gotten the help knocked up,” grumbled back the wife.  “You’re only nineteen, little girl.  What do you know about really being a mother?”

“Nothing! Nothing! Oh I miss my love so much! Being pregnant takes away the emptiness and gives me purpose! I’m creating life!”

In present day, Nora patted her current load, Xavier’s wonderful gift.  Xavier transferred to Arthur’s office and he and Nora immediately hit it off.  The well sculpted Black man embodied everything Nora wanted in a man – wealthy and successful, plus her race of choice.  He spoke smooth and suave, and well-mannered.

“Arthur’s lucky to have you,” he told her at a company social function where Arthur brought her along around the holiday season, while Arthur went to grab some drinks for them.

“I’d be lucky to have you, if you’ll have me,” she whispered back, much to Xavier’s surprise.

Ladies’ man Xavier more than volunteered to bed Nora not much later.  When she told him about her background, Xavier started asking questions.

“I heard your daughter is not your first child,” he asked her that night.

“You hear right,” Nora confirmed. “Years before I met Arthur.  You have good sources.”

“That I do.  I also hear,” Xavier said, nibbling on her ear, “that the little one is not Arthur’s, though you have made no effort to make people think otherwise.  Everyone believes she is his daughter.”

“Again true,” Nora admitted.  “I’d been sleeping with my landlord when Arthur and I met, to keep him from evicting me.  Arthur wasn’t too happy about the arrangement, especially when he found out how the fellow made a little side business off me at a real estate convention.  I was a desperate girl.”

“Now for the real kicker,” he said, pausing.  “Excepting the landlord, which was a situation of desperation, all your suitors have been of my race and all your children save of that union conceived with Black men.  If you truly do carry such a preference, why marry one who isn’t?  Are you ashamed?”

“No!” Nora insisted.  “Arthur has his secrets too.  Beneath that lighter skin of his is the descendant of slaves and masters.  When he offered to marry me, he told me that about his background in case I might hold it against him.  He doesn’t know it’s the only reason I married him.  When we’re together, I just think of the blood in his veins.   Yet somehow we’ve never had children together.  I think Belinda keeps him occupied and he loves her as his own, but he so desperately wants children he fathered himself.”

Xavier played with Nora’s breast.

“You are a very curious woman, Nora Harrison.  What you’re asking me to do could take that away from him.”

Nora stroked his chest in return.

“I’m beginning to realize I may have settled for less than what I deserve,” she’d whispered back.  “Now show me what my sources tell me will be quite the thrill!”

Back in present day, Arthur pulled into the truck stop as Nora requested.

“I don’t think we’re in danger of men hitting on me in there.  They may not get a lot of action, but some big bloated pregnant lady I sincerely doubt,” Nora told Arthur, but deep down she at least hoped she’d get some glances.   Nora loved getting attention, even if what thrilled her most about her situation still remained a secret until she gave birth. 

“We’ll see,” Arthur answered doubtfully, but came around and opened the door for Nora, who stepped out in her swimsuit and sandals and tried to get her balance.

“You don’t have to be so kind to your nearly ex-wife,” she pointed out.

“You’re still pregnant, and still a woman, and I still feel I owe you courtesy that I would show anyone else like you regardless what I knew about her history.”

Nora to her surprise actually felt slightly touched.  Dear, sweet, Arthur who despite all his frustrations didn’t compromise his integrity.  Nora asked for divorce to be liberated from him.  While Arthur admitted his disappointment, because of her own past history he tried to be more accepting and tried to get Nora not to file for divorce.  However, if everything stayed in Arthur’s court, they’d still be married.  Nora wished Arthur wasn’t contesting so hard.  She’d hoped he’d be so embarrassed he’d just throw in the towel; however, she’d grossly misjudged Arthur’s character. 

Nora wanted all men to be as her father had,  uncaring and unforgiving, and only doing things when it was convenient.  She’d only seen an exception to that once in her life and now he was gone.  At first Nora wanted to believe there would be others like her fallen Viet Nam soldier, and that’s why she’d gotten so close to his brother, only to end up shamed and ridiculed.  That look on life allowed her to let her landlord do as he pleased while not caring, though frustrated when the birth control failed her.  If Nora had only her way, Belinda would never have been born (her other siblings in utero didn’t survive so that turned out to be of little consequence), but the landlord refused to let her take care of things planning to profit from a private adoption – definitely a man who cared little, forgave little, and saw only his own convenience in events.  However, as much as Nora wanted all men to be this way, she still wanted to be in control.  Being forced to have children she did not want took away that control.

—

Excerpt from “Blurring Lines,” a story that appears in SEARCH FOR A WOMAN: AN ANTHOLOGY OF STORIES AND POEMS LOOKING AT WOMEN FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE, Copyright 2011 Shannon Muir, All Rights Reserved. Please do not repost any of this without permission but feel free to link to this blog post.

New Year’s Day, I got an amazing present in the fact this reader also posted a review! That means a lot to me, not only in that people visiting the page can see that someone cared enough to post a review, but that someone who respects me but isn’t close to me personally was willing to share their thoughts. While I have asked my friends to “post reviews if they are able” I am never aggressive about it, particularly because they know me so well. The reviews I want to see are people who may have communicated with me but don’t know me as strongly, or impartial reviewers who don’t know me from a lot of other folks that cross the desk. That to me as a true test of how a book may or may not succeed. Also, of course, each different reader comes with a different perspective, so someone can really like a book and others not so much.

So if you got one of my titles – especially this is true of any of you who received free copies of THE HEART’S DUTY in November 2011 where I gave away over 80 copies - if you can take the time for a honest review too, that would be greatly appreciated, whether Amazon, Smashwords, or Goodreads. Even if it is 2 or 3 (or even 1!) stars. They don’t all have to be 4 or 5s if they’re not meant to me. The dialogue and feedback from readers to writer and other readers is the most valuable thing.

Hoping for a great 2012 for us all!

—

TOUCH THE STARS and THE HEART’S DUTY, along with other titles, are available around the globe at various ebook retailers.

So, since this my last MentionMonday post of the year, I decided to take a look back at my adventures in writing over the year – the good and the bad.

My adventure actually starts in February 2011, though most of you reading this blog probably don’t know that.  The paperback of my 2005 National Novel Writing Month attempt, TOUCH THE STARS, was released to absolutely no fanfare and advertising. This was intentional, in part because I was not in a position to really advertise my work (had to do with where I was working at the time, for a variety of factors) and also I wanted to quietly learn what I was doing.  I had not heard about any of the networks for indie self-publishing in depth, just as occasional references from my fiance’. I spent money on three proofs of the paperback of TOUCH THE STARS. In the end, there are definitely things that could be improved – but truthfully, that can be said about a lot of works. We all have room to grow.

I encountered the Indie Book Collective for the first time on the Memorial Day Blog Tour de Troops, but not because of the blog tour. My fiance’ really mentioned liking a particular book by a particular writer on the tour and by going to her site I then learned about the tour. I visited a handful of the sites, commented as I could where I felt I could make relevant comments, and received books from those authors. Overall the tour impressed me and this was the bar that set my expectations.

Fast forward to mid-July. All of a sudden I found myself let go in a layoff after over three and a half years where I was. So I threw my focus back into writing, which has been a passion for me since my early years. Even though I searched for – and continue to search for – a full time job every day, I needed to anchor myself somewhere and find that sense of purpose. By the time the dust settled in early August, I heard about an opportunity through the Indie Book Collective that given my situation felt like something I just needed to do. Despite published and produced credentials in non-fiction textbooks and animated television, many people didn’t know of my interest in fiction writing. I knew I needed to change that. As much as I have many friends who are agented and belong to organizations such as the Science Fiction Writers of America and the Romance Writers of America, which you cannot get into with indie self-published works, I knew I had a mountain of a perception problem to climb and to take matters in my own hands would be the only way. You run your risks and pick your battles.

Note at this point I hadn’t assembled an ebook before in my entire life. I’d started reading through the Smashwords guide, and working on practicing on what would become the SEARCH FOR A WOMAN anthology but hadn’t the foggiest how to do the Kindle yet. The Indie Book Collective announced their first Book Blowout to happen over Labor Day, which was great timing for me and at a price I could afford a lot easier at that point. The big problem for me was that I needed to have a book turned in to them in under three weeks as I recall. I had two choices at this juncture. The first was to finish SEARCH FOR A WOMAN and  offer it at 99 cents which already had been the plan (since it consisted of quite of bit of previously written material); the other would have been to back up and figure out how to get TOUCH THE STARS done in time. I went with the former, and since it was featuring books all at 99 cents it seemed appropriate (I didn’t understand until during the event the intent was to reduce books normally meant for 2.99 and above to be reduced… if I had I would have gone all out to redo TOUCH THE STARS at that point).  So SEARCH FOR A WOMAN became the featured item of the Labor Day Book Blowout, and since there weren’t many in my category I purchased every one of the books and then engaged on a read and review marathon of them over the course of the whole weekend. Man was I tired at the end! However, I made a lot of interesting contacts. I also used August (when I had to have SEARCH FOR A WOMAN ready for in advance for the the Blowout) to finally learn Kindle formatting and also did Kindle formatting for TOUCH THE STARS.

Another thing near and dear to my heart is a webcomic I’ve worked on as co-writer and poetic “lyricist” called Flying Glory and the Hounds of Glory. It had always been my plan to do something for our 10th anniversary year which began in June 2011, but being unemployed gave me the freedom to put the wraps on the project. Again, several proofs in paperback were involved on this one because the webcomic artist and co-author (also my fiance’) created a cover for the first time versus me doing something in Photoshop or using the cover generator provided by Lulu (my paperback publisher). Right at the end of September, FLYING GLORY FLASHBACK appeared in print and Kindle. iBookstore took several weeks later, but for reasons still unexplained we have had issues getting placed at NOOK (maybe they think it’s too niche?). Anyway, as of December 16th, FLYING GLORY FLASHBACK – featuring full lyrics from everything over the last 10 years, along with a history of the webcomic storyline - is available at Smashwords comaptible for all other formats – NOOK, Sony, Kobo, Diesel. The delay on this was admittedly very frustrating but we are both glad everyone can access it now.

October became the month to release THE HEART’S DUTY, originally in a shortened form on Goodreads as a mini-story at the start of the year, but I’d had to abandon due to work constraints. The driving factor here was I needed the book ready in time for a November promotion. I also ended up  formatting TOUCH THE STARS via Smashwords to end up on Sony, Diesel, and Kobo once I found out that was the only avenue to reach those platforms. Lulu struck a deal with Barnes and Noble that got the book on NOOK as well as iBookstore, so that was handled. I also started assembling more short pieces – stories and poems – for a second anthology, but a final pass and formatting wasn’t a priority. Pieces of my works in progress were shared as part of #SampleSunday on Twitter.

November showcased for me what many other authors embark on, National Novel Writing Month. My goal was to knock out a first draft in 30 days or less for the seventh year running. Still being unemployed, I pulled this off before Thanksgiving, a first for me. Also in an unusual twist of promotion, Smashwords – although not an official sponsor – allowed books in NaNoWriMo to be uploaded as Works in Progress. I uploaded my work roughly every day or every other day, warts and all, allowing people the opportunity to be betareaders as things were happening and maybe change the course of things if feedback warranted (I did not get any such feedback, in fact I got no real feedback this way, but it was an interesting experiment). This left me in an interesting predicament, as I knew a number of people downloaded throughout the month and it remains though not by much my highest downloaded item on Smashwords as of this writing. Did silence mean apathy or that they simply had no comment? After some aggressive Twittering for feedback over the next couple of  weeks as I madly rewrote and re-evaluated, I went ahead and published HALF TRUTH AND FULL LYE to Amazon and Smashwords. It does not have a paperback version planned at this moment; possibly in the new year but I have priorites.

Because I couldn’t focus on HALF TRUTH AND FULL LYE 24/7, I also wrapped up the end of the month doing final formatting on my second anthology, AT THE END OF INNOCENCE’S ROAD, which released to Amazon and Smashwords only on November 30th. It has  just now made its way through Smashwords distribution channels to places like NOOK.

Also, in the middle of that, came the Veterans’ Day version of Blog Tour de Troops. I’d been so impressed on Memorial Day I signed up as soon as I heard about it. THE HEART’S DUTY became the book that I signed up for this promotion and led to the hard and fast date for its completion. I gave away over 80 copies of the book with a matching number going to support troops. Also, it turned out to be an incredible opportunity to talk about veterans with my father, who was a career Navy warrant officer when I was growing up. My email interview of him, posted as my blog entry for the tour, elicited a lot of positive response.

As I said, December not only completed with finally getting FLYING GLORY FLASHBACK in a format for ebook readers that don’t use Kindle to be able to enjoy it, but the 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS INDIE BOOK BLOWOUT sale is still going on the day this blog is being written through 12/24. In a strange way of coming full circle, TOUCH THE STARS has been my featured book in this sale, offered in the Mainstream area for 99 cents. It will return to 2.99 after Christmas. So if you want to grab this chance to take a look at my earliest indie self-published fiction work for a reasonable price, there’s no better time than now.

As of this blog, I’m still looking for full time work as I am currently not in a position to live solely on my writing, as much as I’d love to.  It’s been an interesting year. I’ve much to offer, and also much to learn. I’m still amazed at the things I’ve learned to do in just this short time, how many varities I’ve made available (the novel, the short story, and the poem/lyric), the genres I’ve tried, and that I’ve become proficient enough in this short time to format ebooks that other people have hired me to help with their works – such as Richard Mueller for DEATH ON THE PRAIRIE,  and to a lesser extent, Kevin Paul Shaw Broden and THE CLOCKWORK GENIE.

Most of all, it’s been the greatest adventure. Here’s hoping 2012 will bring even more.

The first draft of TOUCH THE STARS I wrote in National Novel Writing Month 2005, which I have since won for seven years running. HALF TRUTH AND FULL LYE (discussed in yesterday’s blog post, as well as frequently in November) was my most recent completed manuscript for National Novel Writing Month, and released as soon as it was only because of the betareader opportunities provided by offering it as a work in progress through Smashwords. Coming in at just over 50,000 words, TOUCH THE STARS features a lead character trying to discover what the meaning of her life should be after her mother dies after spending many years emotionally distancing herself from life through her work. It is a romance in a subtle sense as she must choose between a man from her past and a new possibility right before her eyes, but is classified in the Mainstream Fiction section of the Indie Book Blowout since the romance is secondary to her personal journey of discovery. I didn’t want to get lost in the books where romance is primary. We’ll see how that marketing strategy plays out.

So check out TOUCH THE STARS and many other great ebooks normally priced higher but on sale at 99 cents – romance of all types, mainstream, literary, historical,  mystery, horror, thriller, adventure, urban fantasy, paranormal, non-fiction and more – all part of the Indie Book Blowout. Stock up for the holidays!

So, with those changes in hand and no comment from the over one hundred people that were reminded on Twitter – the same place they were originally notified of that same first draft – HALF TRUTH AND FULL LYE is now released in what will be at least two volumes. I wrote myself to a clear stop point, but there also clearly is more story to tell.

What follows is the sample of the prologue of the final release version of HALF TRUTH AND FULL LYE, available on Kindle for the US and Smashwords now - international versions to follow in a few days and other vendors in a few weeks. The series title is TRUTH REVEALED. Most of this content is new and sets up Truth’s obsession, the first two paragraphs originally played as the first two paragraphs of Chapter One in the Work in Progress.

Enjoy and thank you for your ongoing support.

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Truth Knox always knew she stood out. Her name didn’t help much either. In actuality, the name on her birth certificate read Firinne Solas Knox. Her mother explained that Truth’s grandmother came from a Gaelic background, and that her name meant Truth Light Knox. Of course no one could pronounce her name, so as she explained to people her name meant “Truth,” inevitably she would be called that. She didn’t know anything about her father or his side of the family.

It turned out Truth wasn’t sure what her mother’s real name was. She knew that Knox was her mother’s birth last name, and that her mother’s parents married and divorced. On all the paperwork sent home for parental permission, her mother’s signature scrawled so poorly Truth never could make it out. When she pressed, her mother found ways to dodge the question. Everyone in town just called her “the fortune teller lady”. For that, in fact, described Truth’s mother’s line of work. She specialized in tarot readings and palm readings, and might do other things but Truth wasn’t sure what. She sort of steered clear of all that.

Truth – Firinne – did have a special gift, but one she kept secret from her mother. Firinne could see into the pasts of other people. Either that or the little girl had a very active imagination. That was how everyone tried to explain everything away, including her mother. Yet Firinne knew, and so did her grandmother, who died when Firinne – Truth – was very young.

One scene she’d come to see at a young age was that of her own birth. At least, from the words exchanged, she believed it to be her birth. Everything Truth saw came from the perspective of someone else, though she could hear the person’s voice.

The perspective came from that of her father, whom Truth never met. Her mother would not even divulge his name. From his perspective her young mother – who wasn’t much over eighteen at the time – really struggled in pain as she labored. Sweat poured down her forehead. Her mother appeared to be laid back on a bed in bare minimum conditions, possibly even a mattress on the floor. She saw this play out many times over the years, her understanding deepening with each view.

“Come on, we need to go to the hospital,” she could hear him plead.

“We can’t afford it,” her mother said in strained breaths. “Besides, for generations women have given birth with minimal assistance. My mother is coming to bring our daughter into the world the old way.”

“I am willing to respect your faith but our daughter’s life may be at risk,” Truth’s father pleaded.

“So now you’re giving in to your old life? Are you siding with my father?” Truth’s mother spat out between angry huffed breaths.

“I’m getting pressure from people,” the man admitted. “Pressure to abandon you and my little girl.”

“From whom?”

“My family. They’re willing to speak to me again if I sign away my parental rights and disavow you.”

Truth’s mother gave a pained look.

“How does that help?”

“I have no steady income or means of support. This might land me in prison for failure to support you. Also if you are the sole income you can get her more help and services.”

“You’re a coward!” hissed Truth’s mother.

“Maybe I am,” he sadly replied.

She woke up sad and crying. When Truth was young, she would wake up her grandmother with the tears and tell her grandmother about a nightmare “where Mommy was mad” or “my Daddy doesn’t love me”.

As she grew up, this repeated vision became the mystery Truth wanted to figure out.

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Copyright 2011 Shannon Muir. All rights reserved. Please feel free to redistribute a link to this post but not to copy the post contents.