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.

It's not always about me

It’s time to get out of the funk. It’s time to concentrate on my writing work – the thing I always turn to get me out of the deep mud.

Last week I began working on my novel again and I’m fulfilling my goal of writing about 300 words a day. That’s just about enough since I still am writing my own blog plus pieces for other sites. I just love having so much writing work to do. I can’t think of a better way for me to spend my time.

But my life isn’t all about work. Last weekend we saw Mozart’s “Cos Fan Tutte” (Women Are All Alike). It is categorized as opera buppa – comical opera. And it fits that definition perfectly. The most comical parts for me were the five characters singing all at once but singing different words with Mozart’s brilliant score keeping up with them. The plot is hysterical though at times uncomfortable. The two main male characters are convinced that they must test their lover’s fidelity, but in finding out that the women, who are “all alike,” can be enticed to be unfaithful, are being unfaithful themselves. So in reality the joke is on them. And by the end it is never clear if the women end up marrying their original lovers or the ones they are unfaithful with.  What is clear is that they all are reminded to look at life’s realities and be able to live with them.

http://www.laopera.com/season/cosi/

Also, it’s time to think of others: my friend Jerry who has a neurological problem that is robbing him of his ability to walk, my friend Linda whose brain, which isn’t working properly and is currently being tested for cause, is scaring her to death, and Jason, Alice and Richard’s son, who is waiting for a heart transplant. In this week of the Jewish High Holidays and beyond, these folks need good healing thoughts that they will all be perfectly well by this time next year, and hopefully before.

Another person constantly in this mix, is my husband, Bob. While we were traveling last month he experienced a lot of back and neck pain – we think caused by the wet climates and salty food. However since we’ve been home he’s had a sprained back and just this past weekend a swollen and stiff knee. Ice and rest are helping. But to have his knee spontaneously swell up for no obvious reason is very distressing.

So here are good healing thoughts for a happy, healthy, and sweet new year. Flowers are healing too, like the stargazers Sheila and Tom sent us last week.

Stargazer Lilies - so beautifully fragrant

September 23 is never a good day

Paul, 1992 - before bipolar

This is probably my worst day of the year. It’s Paul’s death day. And today it is twelve years since he died.

I’ve been up since 4:30 this morning, not even able to sleep in to my usual 5:30 or 6:00. I finally got up around 5:30 and went to the gym. That I worked out was a good thing. Working up a good sweat is always cleansing.

I also did a couple of things I’ve been meaning to do for a long time. I replaced his photo we’ve had fading on our mantle for the last twelve years with a new vibrantly colored copy. And, after Bob and I went to visit Paul's grave this morning, we stopped into the cemetery’s administrative office to make sure his gravestone is cleaned before our next planned visit on his birthday, December 31. Today, we saw a very dirty stone with grass growing over it. Still, as is our tradition, we each left a stone.

Other than that I am just hanging out – not doing much of anything. Not able to concentrate very well. But I didn’t want the day to go by without a post about him and how I feel today.

I also don’t want to forget all the love and caring that has come to us today from as far away as Berlin, Lake Oswego, and Cambridge England by phone, text, Facebook posts on my wall and Putting a Face on Suicide’s wall, and a flower delivery.  I can really feel the love. And, it sure helps knowing that Paul has not been forgotten. I thank you all for that.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.120373504711365.29514.109654835783232

My sister-in-law wrote in an email this week that it doesn’t get any better. And she’s absolutely right.

Welcome, Kathy Handley, author of Birds of Paradise

I am so pleased to host Kathy Handley today on her WOW – Women on Writing Blog tour and chat with her about her novel Birds of Paradise. Her subject matter is sad and powerful – about homeless teenagers in Hollywood California. 

Here is a brief synopsis:

When trucker Joe-Mack picks up a runaway in Vegas and drops him in 
Hollywood, he offers to help him. When the call comes, he reaches out to the boy and becomes embroiled in Freddie’s life along with Starlet, the homeless girl who desires stardom. The three have in common a search for love and for a place to belong. 
Set in California’s beautiful, yet challenging neighborhoods, the characters, like lost Birds of Paradise, take on risks and maintain thin threads of dignity amidst troubling situations with surprising twists along the way.

A recent reviewer said:

I read Birds of Paradise while on vacation in L.A.-- the perfect place to experience Kathy Handley's powerful portraits of young street people lost and found. Walking around Hollywood I saw her characters in the faces of the crowds and in the slumped figures in silent back alleys. She captures the rhythms, dangers, and dreams of Southern California -- dreams that are hard-wired in many an American soul and have pulled people West since the country's first inhabitants wondered what was on the other side of the mountains.

Yes, this is one of those novels where you can't help but imagine the big screen version. 
And the truck driver hero--he's good-hearted, but mighty complicated. 
Hmmm...I could see Chris Cooper playing him...or perhaps a young Harry Dean Stanton. 
What a wonderful and mesmerizing ride this novel takes us on-- 
through the back roads of Hollywood and the wide open highways. 
This story is brimming with beauty, heart and wisdom. I absolutely loved this book!

Kathy was pleased to answer a few of my questions about her book and her writing career.

Choices: How long have you been writing? What else have you published?

Kathy: Madeline, I started late in my life with formal writing.  My daughter tells me I was always a storyteller and I have memories of writing very sad and horrible poetry during my teens and college years. At the tender age of 58, I joined a writing group and from there attended conferences at Wesleyan, Grub Street classes, individual tutoring and mentoring with the fine writer, Bruce Machart, author of The Wake of Forgiveness (a must read!)  Inside the cover of my collection, there is a list of published work and contest placements that include Page to Screen judged by Sara Gruen, Press 53 2010 Flash Fiction, Istanbul Literary Review, and others. I encourage my writer friends to submit widely and enter all levels of contests.

My collection, A World of Love and Envy, Short Stories, Flash Fiction and Poetry was published in tandem with the novel, Birds of Paradise. I loved gathering a decade’s worth of work; the subtitles, love, yesterdays, envy, Irish voices and California Lost fell naturally into place.

Choices: Kathy, Do you have a day job?

Kathy: I’m chuckling at your question- do you have a day job? Now Madeline, I’m a woman of a certain age, retired from teaching and busier than ever. I have pawned off a few household chores on my hubby while I write and I’d recommend that.

Choices: Well, I can certainly relate to that. How many different ways are you putting the Internet to work to promote your book besides this WOW blog tour? Do you think this blog tour is helpful in promoting your book and encouraging sales?

Kathy: Since I’ve lived in CT, CA, MI and now MA, I love connecting through email and Facebook. My blog tour with WOW-Woman on Writing looks promising. I follow many writers, noting they work totally hard and express gratitude for readers.

Choices: What advice would you give a writer just starting a novel?

Kathy: If one is considering publishing, it’s important to review past work while following your own vision. If one is starting a novel, be sure to love your characters and the settings. You’ll spend a lot of time with them. Take classes and continue craft study.

Choices: Even though your book is a work of fiction, it has a very powerful message. What drew you to the subject of homeless teenagers in Hollywood California? What advice do you have for these young people?

Kathy: Rather than advice to the homeless teens, I would encourage folks to reach out and become involved with organizations that help them, such as My Friends Place in Hollywood. Now, my biggest passion involves helping children with cerebral palsy. My grandson, Eric, born at 2 pounds and now 12, is my inspiration. He and I may write a book this year.

Choices: Oh, I can’t wait to read that book when it comes out. 

Are any of the characters in Birds of Paradise based on people you know? How did you research your material?

Kathy: I start with images for my characters and write a lot about them- their backstories, and then, I put them in a scene and the magic happens. My 20 years in California helped me with the settings. I did research some things like the Getty Museum and desert flowers.

Choices: I’m most curious about Katha, aging actress? How did you create her?

Kathy: A dear friend, in Los Angeles, Molly, taught me a lot about older ladies, thus Katha, was born.

Choice: One last question. I’ve heard comments about making a film version of your story. Is a film in the works yet?

Kathy: I’d love to see Birds of Paradise on the big screen, as my friend, Jamie Cat Callan, Bonjour, Happiness, envisions it. It was considered when I won the Page-To-Screen, but no word yet. I’m hopeful and writers live with hope.

Choices: Thanks so much Kathy. We can’t wait to see Birds of Paradise on the big screen. Much luck with that.

About Kathy:

Author Kathy Handley

Kathy Handley’s grandfather entertained his family with stories and dancing, her father quoted Shakespeare and her mother was known as “Mary the Poet” so naturally Kathryn would become a writer…eventually!

Now a published novelist at age 71, Kathy’s short fiction has appeared in many literary magazines. She recently won Word Hustler’s Page-to-Screen Contest (2011) and currently serves as Prose Poetry Judge for the National League of American Pen Women Soul-Making Contest. A collection of her short fiction, flash-fiction, and poetry has also been released under the title A World of Love and Envy. 

Websites:                                                   

Kathryn Handley’s Website:

www.kathyhandley.com

Publisher’s Website:

www.riverhavenbooks.com

Hashtag: #BirdsParadise

Birds of Paradise is available as eBook for Kindle or soft cover.

Please comment and ask Kathy Handley your own questions. She’ll be stopping by today to respond.

Company is coming tomorrow

I'm excited to interview Kathy Handley here tomorrow while she's on her WOW Women on Writing blog tour. Kathy is the author of Birds of Paradise and A World of Love and Envy (short fiction, flash-fiction, and poetry).

Birds of Paradise Front Cover

What is most exciting about Kathy and her newly 
published writing is that she, like I, started her writing career late in life. She was seventy-one years old when her novel, Birds of Paradise was released. 


For more information about Kathy and her work, click on these websites.


Kathryn Handley’s Website:

www.kathyhandley.com

Publisher’s Website:

www.riverhavenbooks.com

Hashtag: #BirdsParadise

And please join me here tomorrow to read what she has to say about her books, her writing career, and what she is most passionate about now.

September dreams and wishes

As it gets closer to the anniversary of Paul's death day, my dreams about him become more vivid. It's happened like this for twelve years. I also think about all the things he's missed in all that time. Here are a few poems on those subjects written in years past and photos in his memory.

Wishing Dreams

I used to think when I dreamed about him

He was near. That if I reached out far enough

I could touch him. That if I looked hard enough

I could see him.  Last night

The tears streaming out of his eyes

Were so real I could taste them

And I knew

They were mine.

Paul's Bench

September 23, 2002

The phone rang once

Startling me awake

From a deep sleep

I jumped out of bed to answer it

Knocking over the Waterford

Crystal perfume bottle

On the way.

And to naught –

There was no one on the line.

I looked over at the clock

Only 5 a.m. but I was up for

This day, September 23, 2002,

The third anniversary of Paul’s death

A day that I dreaded for so long

And all I could think

Paul was calling to check in

Letting us know he was still around

Somewhere, And somehow

That one ring was a comfort rather

Than a wake up call.

The Wishing Dream

I startled and opened my eyes

Wide in disbelief

There was Paul

Standing by my bed

Calm, quiet, his lips turned up in

The little smile I remembered so well.

I reached up to touch him

His pale skin was cool, dry and very real,

Very much alive.

Mom, I’m back, I’ve come back

I really didn’t mean to leave forever

Two years ago.

And as he spoke the tears began

Pouring from my eyes

I was crying for all the days

I’d missed him, mourned him, looked for him

How I scoured the faces of all the

Young men who passed by.

The ones with short blonde hair,

Beautiful blue eyes

Fringed in black lashes

How I listened for his music

Every time I heard a jazz piano tune

In a bar, on the radio, on a CD

How I remembered him everywhere I went

Under the pier in Manhattan Beach

On the wide red-tile stoop outside Starbucks

In a dingy piano bar on Avenue A in New York’s lower East side

In the kitchen chomping on a handful of almonds

In his room where his jazz records still stand

In neat ordered rows on the shelf.

I got up and went to him

Giving him a welcoming hug

Never wanting to let him go again.

September 29, 2001

 Paul's Tree

Thank you for sharing my memory of Paul

A big thank you to all of you who have donated and/or signed up to join me on September 25 for the Didi Hirsch annual suicide prevention Alive and Running 5K. 

Now that I'm on the 5K committee I was asked to set a fundraising goal. And at the outset I set my goal only at $500. But thanks to you I just upped it to $1000.00 and I'm only $48.00 short of reaching that because so many of you responded to my Ask. 


Just to give you a little background, I first discovered Didi Hirsch after Paul died. My husband and I participated in their eight-week Survivors after Suicide workshop. And as depressing as those sessions were, they had a lasting effect on me. I also found out that as horrific a story of  loss as mine was, it could always be worse. 


I also reconnected with a person I've known since grade school in Glencoe, IL through my involvement with Didi Hirsch. Stan Lelewer's son killed himself about six years before Paul, and when he heard about Paul through a mutual friend he was at our home comforting us within an hour. Stan's work at Didi Hirsch has been non-stop: a volunteer at its suicide prevention hotline, chair of the Board of Directors, and now a first responder with the police when a call comes in about a suicide. He also encouraged me to get involved, so of course, as soon as I was able, I joined in. I have found that one of the best ways to keep my son's memory alive is to volunteer in his behalf. 


Again, I hope you'll sign up or donate - you've got about a week left. Click here to visit my personal page. -- to sign up or donate. (If you sign up be sure to join Team Lelewer.) 

If you can't make it, please join me in spirit. And if you can join me, you'll easily find me in the crowd. Just look for this sign on my back.

In Memory of Paul