So how many more "acts" do I have left?

This has been a busy week. First thing Monday morning I received a note from my publisher, Lucky Press LLC, that it will submit my book to the ForeWord independent book award competition in January with awards are announced in June. That email definitely got my attention and my imagination percolating about what it must feel like to receive a book award.

Next I received a call from a member of our local American Association of University Women inviting me to speak at its November meeting on the subject of my memoir Leaving the Hall Light On. One of my former work colleagues suggested me. I’ll be expected to speak for about an hour, including time for questions and answers. And, needless to say I happily accepted. We discussed topics and settled on: 1) local help for mental illness and suicide prevention, and 2) how I used writing to help me survive after my son’s suicide. Of course writing or any other creative outlet can help assuage grief from any kind of trauma or loss.

I also had two blogs articles posted this week – besides my normal posts here. One is on:

PsychAlive

http://www.psychalive.org/2011/10/how-writing-helped-me-survive-my-son%E2%80%99s-suicide/

As PsychAlive says in its About statement: “Our desire to discover who we are – why we feel and act the ways we do – is what leads us to a meaningful and vital existence. PsychAlive was created to assist you in this personal journey by providing a place where people can learn to take an active, introspective approach to their lives.”

And my third post is now up on Naturally Savvy. I have my own blog there now called Savvy Over 60

http://www.naturallysavvy.com/savvy-over-60

I’ll post at both of these sites at least once a month.

Never in a million years would I have dreamed I’d be a web journalist at this stage in my life. This work is so fulfilling and fun. It’s as my friend Elizabeth says about me: “she proves that we can have as many acts as we want in life.”

Pirates and book sales - any connection?

October started out with a bang and a trip via the Catalina Express to Two Harbors for Lisa Smyth’s pirate birthday party. This was Buccaneer Days on the island and everyone came in costume. Lisa won the prize with seven costume changes. Bob and I bought pirate hats and he got a swashbuckler’s black velvet coat with brass buttons, while I mostly commandeered stuff hanging in my closet to bring for the festivities. Needless to say many people we met enjoyed themselves with their brains thoroughly adjusted by pirate’s rum. I stuck with my usual red wine.

 The Birthday Wench

As you can see the Two Harbors (formerly called Isthmus) village of Catalina is almost barren – one hotel, one restaurant and bar, lots of camp grounds, boating and other water activities, about 300 locals, and lots of buffalos left over from an old Tom Mix movie. It was absolutely beautiful this past weekend.

 Gorgeous Harbor

And now that that not-to-be-missed experience is over it’s back to work and perhaps a review of how it’s going with my memoir, Leaving the Hall Light On.

People ask me all the time how my book is selling and although it is selling, it is selling slowly. And with all the social networking I’m doing every day, I wonder why sales aren’t happening in a steady stream.

From what I read Facebook is the most important network, and I’m there with both friend and fan pages. I also connect through Twitter, LinkedIn, and Goodreads. And of course I blog here and on Red Room with my Choices posts connecting to Open Salon.

That seems like a lot of connections, but obviously I’m not doing what I need to be doing to get people to my networks and interested in buying my book.

I am, however, very stoked that in the last week four new reviews went up on Amazon praising my book. http://www.amazon.com/Leaving-Hall-Light-Madeline-Sharples/product-reviews/0984631720/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

Goodreads folks posted two great reviews last week as well. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11240888-leaving-the-hall-light-on

Also I have contributed blog posts to Huffington Post and Naturally Savvy . And just today, I was asked to contribute to PsychAlive http://www.psychalive.org/  Please check out the site.

Bottom line is I’m busy and writing. That’s a good thing. Perhaps, as my very wise publisher Janice Phelps Williams at Lucky Press LLC says, it takes time. All this hard work is called Development. I’m developing a base that is sure to branch out in the near future.