This week – during the Holidays- my son and I stole away from our new lives to return to our old neighborhood. David had promised to point out to me which houses were anointed ‘haunted’ by the throngs of children who grew up in our Seattle Greenwood neighborhood.

I didn’t realize until this past week that in the 1980s even the neighborhood children – my son included – believed that several of the houses on our street were haunted.

Visit http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Beyond-Suspense-Horror-ebook/dp/B0069E851C/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325344994&sr=1-1 for details that reveal the hauntings that took place in our Seattle neighborhood.

Of course I was keenly aware of the startling, and scary incidents that I, myself, experienced, but it never occurred to me to ask my son if he felt a presence ‘from beyond the grave’ during the thirteen years we lived in our little Greenwood cottage.

The cottage, which we lived in for thirteen years (from 1986 to 1999) was razed two years ago in favor of a lovely multi-story residence, favored with a new street address. However ‘708’ – our address – still tattles the existence of our former home.
I asked my son yesterday whether he remembered any frightening, or unusual things happening in our little house when he was growing up. He said, ‘the kitchen cupboards would swing open and then close while I sat at the kitchen table doing my homework’.

I was totally unaware that David, now 36 and raising his own family, had experienced any unsettling incidents as a child growing up in our Seattle Greenwood District vintage home.
“Weren’t you frightened?” he told me that he dismissed the ghostly occurrences because he never felt threatened while alone in the cottage.

By contrast, the house three down, to the east, did frighten neighborhood children. “That was the house all the kids said was haunted,” he revealed to me.

The house he pointed to sits directly across the street from the house once occupied by Kirby Wilbur, former radio personality. Mr. Wilbur had more sinister difficulties with hauntings. He has since moved from the neighborhood and is reticent to speak of the things that occurred in his former Seattle home.

Well! Can you imagine my total thrill when I checked on how 'Ghost Stories From Beyond The Grave: Book Two' was doing on Amazon Kindle and discovered that one of my readers had compared my collection of short stories to Alfred Hitchcock's movies? here's the review:

Brilliant Collection of Short Stories--for a Steal!, November 20, 2011 By MardyB.

I just devoured this over the weekend. Hill does a fantastic job creating punchy short-stories that deliver every time. Unlike other titles in this genre, she does not rely on gratuitous bloodshed and cheap tricks, but writes in the vein that Hitchcock made films: Disturbing and uncomfortable situations that could, and have, happened to average people. This is what makes it truly frightening.

And...following up on THAT 5-Star review was one from a woman I look to for feedback, and avid-reader acceptance, Lynnette Phillips, Book Marketer Extraordinaire!

Here's what Lynnette had to say about 'Terror: Book Two':

Emily Has Found Her Niche! November 20, 2011
By Lynnette A. Phillips

I first fell in love with Emily's writing, her meticulous research skills and natural storytelling telling abilities when I read her historical novel, Jenkins: Confederate Blockade Runner.

I have to admit now though that I have a new love - I'm amazed at the skill Emily shows when drawing you into the story; at the involvement you feel. If you enjoyed her first journey into the unexplained you'll be overwhelmed at the sheer terror she leads you into with this volume.
***

Indeed, it might be, as Lynnette predicts...that I have found my niche in ghost stories and paranormal writing. Certainly being the daughter of a Ghost Chaser helps - A Lot! ;D (Read Book One about me Mum, if you're the curious sort!)

After I published 'Ghost Stories and The Unexplained: Book One' of the Suspense and Horror Series and realized that a book COULD become a Kindle Best Seller when four elements come together (a) fabulous book cover [Kathi Humphries Design] (b) great editing [House of Words, Gretchen Houser] (c) aggressive marketing and (d) timing.

Thank you to my reviewers, my friends, and my fans who have become friends! Don't we have fun with books!?

Pinch me! A British Best Seller!

'Ghost Stories And The Unexplained' which released on Kindle on 23 September took one month and one day to make it to the Best Seller List. Categorized as folklore/memoir, the Brits seem to enjoy a little 'Terror with their Tea'!

'Ghost Stories' is a seven story collection of a rather ordinary family with an extraordinary secret: A colorful, eccentric matriarch who encourages The Unexplained into the lives of her family members.

I am delighting with the news that readers are taking to my ghost stories with such good spirits. This is encouraging as I get ready for the release of Book Two of a four-part series: this one, 'Ghost Stories And Tales of Terror' in which the fright-dial is turned up just a bit. (well, actually, a whole bunch!)

The 'Ghost Story' series is edited by 'House of Words' owner, Gretchen Houser of Edmonds, Washington; and designed by 'Kathi Humphries Design & New Media' owner, Kathi Humphries of Seattle, Washington.

Ghost Stories! Every family has them, not every family reveals them.

I’ve spent the past year trying to determine what writing style and what genre feels best to me for the long run – because writing is a ‘long run’ endeavor. My debut novel was an act of compulsion. I couldn’t stop writing and found myself writing, at one in the morning, revealing the lives of my well-behaved ancestors – the ones who do NOT come back and haunt.

“Now”, my inner voice told me “it is time to write about the ancestors who DO come back and haunt. And so I began recalling the experiences that my mother and I have had with ghosts and the supernatural over our respective lives. I didn’t realize until I looked over my list that I have experienced, or heard about, well over a dozen experiences with the supernatural. From the time I was seven years old and experienced my grandfather – the one I knew – crossing back over - through to a recent levitation phenomena; my life has been dotted with sudden, unexpected paranormal experiences. Why? I know some of the answers to ‘Why’, but not all of them.

The biggest reason why I think I experience paranormal phenomena is that I listen to my intuition. Keenly aware of what is going on around me – heightened awareness – I sense ‘things’ and don’t discount them. The sound of a jug falling and hitting the floor, a cupboard door slamming, all the things that happen when I am the sole occupant of the house. My experiences have led me to believe that I live on my own plane, and another realm – powerful and mysterious – lives on another overlapping plane. There are a lot of people who believe in ‘The Other Side’, ‘The Unexplained’, ‘The World Beyond’ I am learning since publishing the first book of my ghost stories series.

In the two weeks since ‘Ghost Stories And The Unexplained’ (based on true events in my life) published, some of these people have contacted me. It’s like being in a ‘whisper club’. Not everyone tolerates ghost stories and the retelling of one’s paranormal experiences. But enough of us do to make it interesting, and affirming to ‘the others’.
I’m thrilled with the reception that ‘Ghost Stories And The Unexplained’ has received – worldwide. This is my fifth book (not counting adaptations to Jenkins) and the first one that has sold significantly in the UK and Germany. Ghost stories are, I am learning, universal. So this is what I am writing about now – this is what readers want to hear about – the snarling dogs, the dragging chains, the apparitions that materialize and then disappear as mysteriously as they arrived.

And as people come forward to tell me about their experiences, I will collect those stories and write about them. So…how about You? Have You seen a ghost? Or Two? Tell me about it! I’m dying to know.

Contact me at ‘info@AVHarrison-Publishing.com’. I am waiting to have a spirited good discussion with you!

Ghost Stories? Yes, it's true! My first collection of stories of The Unexplained will be released in time for Halloween - in fact just one month from now.

GHOST STORIES...And The Unexplained ~ Synopsis

Imagine that you are seven years old – and alone in the house after your parents leave for work. The clock on the mantle ticks loudly, ominously counting off the seconds. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Quite suddenly, your ears are pricked by the sound of chains dragging heavily across the floor and down the long hallway of your parent’s home. The chains clank as they tangle crossing the threshold from The Beyond. Terror surges through your body, you are barely breathing. You watch as a milky translucent image begins to materialize down the dark hallway leading to your parent’s bedroom. You recognize the manifestation as your grandfather who has passed over. Shrinking away from the vision you gaze with fascination as the specter roams the house, one room at a time, through the living room and each bedroom. It is seemingly unaware of your existence – as though it is on a plane wholly separate from yours. Has the spirit of your grandfather come back to reassure himself that all he has left behind is secure? How soon will he depart, and release you from the terror you feel over the possibility that he may have left the portal open to the world beyond?

On your sixteenth birthday you hold the clammy fingertips of your classmates at a slumber party séance, having waited until midnight to summon the power of The Ouija. Your friends gasp as the candles that throw shadows across the room flicker and the lens into The Other World begins to sweep across the board.

In the vault-like quiet that follows midnight you watching from across your room as the doorknob of your bedroom door turns, almost imperceptivity. It creaks ever so slightly, rattling in its casing. You know that it is not a human presence that has come a'callin' – a human would most certainly would have been caught by the alarm system.

You don’t think these occurrences could ever happen? Think again. Because they do happen; and they have happened to me. I remember each incident vividly.

GHOST STORIES…And The Unexplained, is a collection of contemporary ghost stories that recount my own experiences with The Unexplained supernatural occurrences in my life.

Available on 01 October 2011 on Kindle and Nook.

NEWS RELEASE 26 July 2011

“It takes hard work, perseverance, and perfection to get one’s self-published debut novel accepted into a town’s library system. From my point of view it’s the step beyond bookstore placements, and book signings” stated writer Emily Hill recently. But Ms. Hill, author of ‘Jenkins: Confederate Blockade Runner’ was able to attain just that milestone when the Fair Haven Free Library in Fair Haven, Vermont picked up the debut novel. The St. Petersburg, Florida library system also includes ‘Jenkins: Confederate Blockade Runner’ in its collection.

Visit http://www.amazon.com/Jenkins-Confederate-Blockade-Runner-ebook/dp/B004E10X9O/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1311613264&sr=1-1 for details.

Carol Scott, director of the Fair Haven library (which contains over 16,000 volumes) noticed the historical novel on Ingram several months ago and made a decision to add the novel to her collection based upon the novel’s inclusion of Fair Haven history.

“It’s receiving very good reviews,” remarked Ms. Scott when she and the author met for the first time while Ms. Hill was vacationing in Vermont.

Visit http://www.librarytechnology.org/lwc-displaylibrary.pl?RC=25249 for details.

“Amazon readers have given the novel ten five-star reviews,” Hill informed the Director of the Fair Haven library. The book’s inclusion into the Fair Haven Free Library collection was the result of a full-time 30-hour a week, seven month, process by the IndieAuthor. Ms. Hill self-publishes and coaches other IndieAuthors under the banner A. V. Harrison Publishing.

Visit http://www.avharrison-publishing.com/ for details.

The original edition of the novel, published in December 2010, was designed with a striking black and tan cover that offset a vintage photograph of the main character, Confederate Colonel, C. T. Jenkins. In January 2011 the author set out on a book tour to Florida, where the novel is set. She had fifteen copies of the novel in the trunk of her rental car. "I sold out from just chatting the book up in diners. I'd start conversations with other folks on the road and within five or ten minutes I'd be running out to my trunk to grab a copy of the book! It was fun!"

At the same time ‘Jenkins: Confederate Blockade Runner’ was available only on Amazon and Goodreads.com.

“I learned a college degree worth of information on that self-designed book tour; including book store placements, media and book reviewer relations, inventory, book design, and editing.” The author came home to one Goodreads.com review that chastised the author for editing errors. Although the novel had been professionally edited, she knew she had to start over.

“No book can go to bookstore shelves, or even on-line in eBook format, with typos and grammatical errors. Hiring the wrong editor for my book cost me a lot more than the $900 I had paid for editing services. You lose so much momentum if you don’t have your books looked at by two additional word-by-word ‘readers’ after its formal editing. If you are a serious writer, you’ll heed this advice.”

In February 2011 with her debut novel redesigned in a Civil War motif and properly edited, the author started over. This time she decided to expand the novel’s distribution to Ingram.
“The decision to expand distribution to Ingram was made after I read a recommendation by another IndieAuthor. Indies usually learn from each other – and have a great generosity toward one another. I knew that if I was going to continue coaching other writers I would need the experience of expanded distribution and ‘Jenkins: Confederate Blockade Runner’ was the perfect choice.” Ingram distributes to libraries, as well as independent bookstores, which interested the author.

“Jenkins: Confederate Blockade Runner’ is a historical novel that has been vetted by Florida historians. Because of its academic and historical content it allows readers a view of The South’s perspectives in the lead up to the Civil War. I feel this makes the novel particularly worthwhile.”
“Staying true to my character’s political and emotional perspective, based on family letters and news accounts from vintage newspapers, was my prime objective. The novel gives readers a perspective of the looming war from a Southerner’s perspective, which I believe will be helpful for young readers interested in how The South felt about Lincoln’s policies and states’ rights issues” notes Ms. Hill.

Based on a true story ‘Jenkins: Confederate Blockade Runner’ features a young ingénue from Fair Haven, Vermont, Eliza Colburn, who vacations in Florida in 1858 and makes the acquaintance of Colonel C. T. Jenkins. Colonel Jenkins, the product of a prosperous Baltimore family has made his home in Florida, far from northern winters. A marriage of convenience is arranged by Miss Colburn’s strong-willed mother. Just as the couple settle down to pineapple farming on the Homosassa River, Lincoln is elected President. Florida secedes from the Union; thus challenging Colonel Jenkins to choose between loyalty to the newly formed Confederacy and concentrating on his December-May marriage. Colonel Jenkins chooses the Confederate Cause as his first calling and participates in getting Confederate goods and supplies through the Union’s blockade of the Southern States. His decision sets a precarious course for his Vermont-reared wife life after his capture by Lincoln’s forces.

Visit http://www.amazon.com/Jenkins-Confederate-Blockade-Runner-ebook/dp/B004E10X9O/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1311613264&sr=1-1 for details.

“I am thrilled that my novel is being picked up by libraries now. It’s intended as a lesson in history and choices, which makes it perfect for library placement,” Emily Hill adds.

A movie came out several years ago that features a scene in which an author boards a downtown commuter bus during peak hours and every single person on the bus is reading the author’s book. This would be a writer’s dream come true! Has it, or something similar ever happened to you? Today, as I visit the location where ‘Eliza of Fair Haven’ is set, something similar happened to me.

Those of you who follow my blog (first of all…Thank You!) know that I am on a ‘See The USA (and Canada) Tour’. This morning I left Montreal, the ancestral home of my grandmother. I arrived in Fair Haven, Vermont – home of The Colburn’s – this afternoon. The Colburn’s of Vermont married into the Jenkins family near the outset of the Civil War. The stunningly beautiful Eliza Colburn met the mature, sophisticated Colonel Jenkins and a wedding followed as the Colonel followed Miss Colburn from the comforting warmth of Florida to Vermont’s winter to marry on the brides twenty-seventh birthday – December 9, 1858. The details of their courtship are in the novel Eliza of Fair Haven; which I hope you will read.

One of the first things I did upon arriving Fair Haven was to wander into the Fair Haven Free Library. The postcard-perfect tan and white building houses the library established at the turn of the twentieth century. Upon entering the library I was asked the nature of my visit. I explained that I wanted to do some family history research. The circulation librarian turned me over to a very capable Head Librarian, who showed me to The Vermont Room. Being a ‘chatter’ I explained to the Head Librarian, Carol Scott, that I was on a road trip. I went on to detail that I had quite a bit of interest in the history of Fair Haven as I had been left family papers indicating that my ancestors had been involved in Fair Haven’s establishment as a township during the early 1800s. (I should mention that I just happened to have a copy of Jenkins: Confederate Blockade Runner under my arm.) At a certain moment in our ‘getting to know you’ exchange Ms. Scott glanced at my copy of Jenkins and exclaimed that she had bought “that” book.

At that moment I congratulated myself for having published Jenkins with Lightning Source, the printing vendor of Ingram – source and supplier of books to libraries. I had made this decision to pursue publishing with Ingram because Jenkins had received such high praise as a history book. And, of course, it had been vetted by the Hernando County Historical Association.

“I’m the author!” or some such, was my reaction to Ms. Scott’s disclosure.

“It’s getting good reviews!” she went on.

Imagine! I am in a library over three thousand miles from my hometown and have just met a librarian who, on her own volition has added my novel to her library’s inventory. I am thrilled! Truly, it doesn’t get any better than this. A librarian! Likes my book! I’m doing head-trip cartwheels! Can she tell?

After we chatted for a few moments longer I settle down to my work and the afternoon advances into the pages of Vermont history. After a little while Ms. Scott comes over with the Library’s copy of Jenkins. The novel has, just that moment, been returned by a patron. While I am in the library!

“Would you sign our copy?” I am asked. Ms. Scott shows me the check-out card. My novel has been checked out of the library … hmmm…seven times since May 11, 2011. “The reviews are very good,” she reminds me.

I have a new friend. Her name is Carol Scott. She has been the capable, wonderful, generous Head Librarian of the Fair Haven Free Library for the past fifteen years.

I will return to this sweet little town after this visit.

How can I not?


[Copy and Past Link]
http://www.amazon.com/Eliza-Fair-Haven-Jenkins-ebook/dp/B004QX06ZG/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1311212732&sr=1-1 [click for Amazon]

Eliza of Fair Haven - an adaptation of Jenkins - was written under a nom de plume, Alexa Lee.

Note: This summer I am setting aside marketing, marketing, marketing to 'See the USA'. My book sales have dropped by 50% at June's end; but the experiences of the blast furnace of Lubbock, Texas; the music of Nashville; the beauty of the Smokey Mountains have made it all worthwhile. However! This is a testament that a non-marketed book will NOT sell! So, now that I have stated the obvious, I offer the following:

On 'The Back Porch' of the Carolina's

It is summer 2011 and I am sitting on the back porch of my sister-in-law Susan’s home in North Carolina; which is a ritual not unlike sitting on the back porch of Anywhere, USA. Pine needles have scattered across the outer deck of her porch and four talisman pine cones point out a haphazard design. It’s taken me and my husband three weeks of driving, hoteling, and reunions to get to this family respite – an unexpected surprise. Susan and her husband, Drew, were scheduled to be in the Great Lakes as we passed through their Carolina hometown. Just a few days ago we realized that they would be flying back home to New Bern from their own summer getaway just as we were passing through town, so a visit was quickly put together and yesterday we drove up their driveway to hugs and welcomes.

Being on Susan and Drew’s screened back porch I am reminded of the love of my life – Louisiana. All the dammed up memories of my life in The Pelican State well up and spill over like this season’s misbehaving Mississippi. The steam bath heat with the sound of thunder rolling across the distant sky is promising a tropical downpour by evening.
How exciting to sit out here waiting patiently for its arrival as the wind rustles through the pines and the heavy branches brush against each other. The birds now caw their warning that storm clouds are gathering. The finches call back and forth to other finches, canopied by the call of Blue Jays. One lone squirrel scratches the ground and moves pine needles around just beyond the grassy edge of the yard. The furry creature seems completely unaware of the Carolina Wrens that loop and swirl in the air just above its head.

The air is filling with that musky smell that permeates everything right before a dramatic storm. And a branch cracks and breaks in the distant woods as the sound of thunder again rolls through the yard without its companion – a bolt of lightning. One without the other seems impotent. What I am waiting for is that thunderous clap that splits the skies wide open, lights the darkness, and silences the scampering wildlife with its stunning show. This rumble, without its sharp bolt of lightning is so empty. And so I return to my memories of Louisiana and wait.

It is the Louisiana of 1963 that calls to me. Having arrived New Orleans at the age of 13 I was charmed by The South and the song, House of the Rising Sun. I was charmed by the inclusive friendliness of Southern Girls; and the ease of the Southern drawl. I was charmed by sarsaparilla and sweet tea, Maison Blanche and ballet class. Like this Carolina back porch of today, our New Orleans back porch faced a thick wooded swamp. It was teeming with alligators and other creatures that could skitter across the lawn and snatch up bad children, according to my mother - who has now departed this Earth. I study an egret standing on the other side of the waterway as it preens its feathers. It uses its beak to pick and peck at its unseen torments. I watch from the comfort of my shaded roost. I’m not going anywhere – neither is the egret. It snaps to attention and holds its pose as another thunderous boom sounds in the distance. The sun is now brightening the back yard, the pine branches are throwing shadows across the deck. Light and shadow challenge each other – as always.

As it nears five o’clock in the early evening a covey of Canada Geese float by. How majestic they look with their black heads and white Roaring Twenties side-set caps. The current carries them past my deck effortlessly. And the wind picks up again making it seem that the geese are the wind’s escort up the waterway.

I’m realizing, as the thunder grows near again in its relentless wax and wane, that it may be another fifty years before I can reach back for the memory of this afternoon – on the back porch of a Southern home. But I hope not.

Is it true? Could it be? I am reacting in this week’s blog entry to the headlines racing through the internet that ‘The Anti Self-Publishing Movement Is Dead’; that ‘Self-Publishing Writers are at the cutting edge of The Brave New World’. Why, I can just feel it in the air – can’t you?

With very few exceptions, most smart, and savvy, publishing-industry followers acknowledge that every single hurdle that would have held back an emerging author from going IndiePub three years ago has been toppled. Oh, there are hold-outs, like agent-wired Nathan Bransford who is still – this week – advising followers how to psychologically survive the endless series of agent-rejections. How? By simply writing a better query letter, he advises. But, for the most part, we whose rallying cry is something like, “if you’re not going to help me, move out of my way!” are dusting off our hands and surveying the new publishing landscape. And, from my perch, here is what I see:

According to Bowker, “Ten times as many independent authors were published last year as those published by mainstream publishers”. Well, that explains the phenomenal rise in published titles which went from something like 550,000 titles published in 2009, which rose 5% in 2010 and is expected to rise another 5% by the close of 2011 [606,000 titles; IndiePub, TradPub, eBooks, POD, etc. i.e. ‘all’ titles!]

Obviously I, and my writing circle friends, are not the only emerging authors who squared their shoulders during the past three years and stopped asking ‘permission to publish’ of beleaguered agents. According to the informal survey that Bob Dugoni conducted at the PNWA conference last year 1% of emerging writers were hooking up with agents and publishers between August 2009 and August 2010 (the circumstances of which are explained in my “All Smart Cookies Can Self-Publish: 2011 update). The trend only worsened for emerging writers the second half of 2010 as Kristin Nelson (The Nelson Literary Agency) admitted that she was placing 3:36,000 odds for her off-Broadway finds. Oh, she’s good! Kristin and Lindsay, of course, picked up author Jaime Ford (The Corner of Bitter and Sweet) and touted that find – from their perspective – as a sign that author-agent pairing was working. But what about the 35,997 authors who queried her agency and weren’t picked up by any agency? From their perspective, life was the pits! Those 35,997 authors surely felt they were ready to publish! And so, according to Bowker, for every one author picked up for agency representation, ten authors side-stepped TradPub, embraced Self-Pub and began making some level of ‘instant money’.

I call it ‘instant money’ because relatively speaking, that is what it is when one self-publishes. A TradPub author may wait up to eighteen months for the house to publish a manuscript; and six months later the ledger countdown of what ISN’T owed-back from an advance will tick away. Considering that only 10% of the TradPub authors ‘earn-out’ their advances (Alan Rinzler) advances have become considerably smaller during this publishing revolution. And the marketing efforts of publishers on behalf of mid-list authors are also considerably smaller, or may not exist at all. This diminished marketing effort, of course, affects whether an author can earn-out their advance within the contract terms. Read this next sentence carefully: An author can be billed by a publisher the difference between what their book advance is and what their book doesn’t earn. You receive a $10,000 advance, you’d better hope that your book earns $11,000 within the terms of the contract, or you’ll be writing somebody a big, fat check! You hear me, Amanda?

By contrast, an IndieAuthor will receive their Amazon paycheck within sixty days of publishing – and their only hold back is how truly good their book is, and how well it is marketed (i.e. how strong their social networking system is). But, just like a traditional published book one still has to (a) have a compelling, well-edited story; and (b) put huge effort into marketing, to hold onto visibility as the numbers of titles published rise.

Meanwhile, as the TradPub author is waiting for their book to land in the windows of so many bookstores, the IndiePub author is releasing timely topical tomes, based on this month’s current events. Like, say, Urdu Books, which published their viewpoint of bin Laden’s demise within weeks of the shoot out in Abbottabad. Or, the prolific, much-published Michael Scheuer (who has never let the Big Six, or their opinions, stand in his way) who published his retrospective within a month of bid Laden's death. Look for a spate of books regarding Osama bin Laden to complete their plod to bookstores in time for, say, New Year’s 2013. In the meantime, Smart Cookies will have said it all – via their IndiePub channels. Thus leaving TradPubs on the commerce battlefield.

But getting back to the question at hand…Is the TradPubs versus the IndiePubs war over? The two sides seem to be shaking hands, right? Barry Eisler and JA Konrath blogging as a team! Self-Pub royalty Amanda Hocking and St. Martin’s sharing Madelleine's in Manhattan! But, is the tail wagging the dog? According to Rinzler one battle in the TradPub/IndiePub war was whether authors should even seek agents; or when agents should seek out authors. Through time it has been the former, but now that the battle is won - it’s the latter. An agent used to shun ‘spoiled goods’ – those authors who had already revealed themselves to their readers. Gosh, has that chaste practice fallen. An agent expects authors to burlesque their way into the 5,000-reader range before that agent will drop a dime and get in touch with a promising author. Follow David Kazzie’s story if you want the backdrop on how that battle was won! Now authors sniff the air to see which way the wind is blowing before they decide whether or not to peel off 85% of their royalties to a publisher. (Good) authors are shaking hands with readers (sans agents); and agents are actually courting (good) authors. And no one is turning up their nose at the nuveau riche author – particularly not the embattled agents.

All Smart Cookies Can Self Publish; Available on Amazon.com. 50% OFF (soft cover) Promo Code is 48296S3P.

Next Blog: What ingredients make a good, marketable book that attracts readership. Style, Cover, Following.

Promoting You And Your Music! published yesterday on Amazon.com in eBook format. The soft cover format will release, on Amazon, within the next month.

Being an Indie Musician has never been as exhilarating, or as challenging, as it is right now. In the post-Napster years the landscape of music availability, distribution, and promotion has become, in a word, wild, observes Emily Hill, author of Promoting You And Your Music!

Visit http://www.amazon.com/Promoting-You-Your-Music-ebook/dp/ ... for details.

In releasing her fifteenth title on Amazon.com, IndieAuthor, Hill, adds that, musicians have available a wider range of promotional tools, platforms, and possibilities than ever before.

Promoting You And Your Music! is written with those artists in mind who have the vision, and drive, to go one-step further in promoting themselves and their music. It links the web tools that have been set up by ingenious, forward-thinking music enthusiasts and marketing experts…to YOU…the entertainer! The progression suggested in Promoting You And Your Music! should launch your career (or revitalize it) in the best, most efficient manner possible.

With essays on how to present yourself professionally, how to brand you and your music, links to building fan base, uploading and distributing your music, how to create buzz - this is the most comprehensive fingertips-guide to keep you at the forefront of the music and entertainment scene, explains Ms. Hill, as she releases her fifteenth Amazon.com title.

Promoting You And Your Music! includes marketing techniques, tips on how to develop a professional image, staying connected in the music industry; and building a fan base. The author has included links to getting gigs, social networking, where to sell, and how to effective use such channels as BlogTV.

Married to a classical musician and Music Educator, Ms. Hill feels that she has insights into the realm of music and performance that artists may not have the benefit of. The forest for the trees thing, she observes. It's very hard to see yourself objectively, if you are an entertainer. Most people on stage need a coach who sees them and their career from the standpoint of the audience. With my background in marketing, publishing, and performance - I am that coach.

Ms. Hill is IMDB listed and has appeared in a limited number of movies in walk-on parts. Formerly a contact for news media at Weyerhaeuser Company and the University of Washington, she includes such tips as how to time news releases to get the best coverage for you, or your band.

The title includes well over 100 live-link URLs, so you can click - and instantly connect with - fan blogs, distribution sites, promotions platforms, and much, much more! points out the author.

According to Emily Hill, Promoting You And Your Music! will update quarterly, just as is her self-publishing guide All Smart Cookies Can Self Publish!

Visit info@avharrison-publishing.com for details.

Emily Hill, author of Jenkins: Confederate Blockade Runner and a number of other titles, is proud to unveil the Mid-Year 2011 release of All Smart Cookies Can Self Publish. This comprehensive guide to independent publishing now expands to 82-pages and contains hundreds of up-to-date live link URLs.

This is the ONLY self-publishing guide that updates quarterly, an indication of Ms. Hill's commitment to her IndiePub community and IndiePub Coaching clients.

Under her marketing and promotions plan, Jenkins: Confederate Blockade Runner has sold over 300 copies in the past 6 months.
Available on Amazon.com, at all Barnes & Noble locations, as well as Nook.

http://www.avharrison-publishing.com

I love Goodreads and Goodreads loves Jenkins; or so it would appear. Seven days ago I entered Jenkins: Confederate Blockade Runner in its third Goodreads.com 'giveAway'. With six hours left on the 'giveAway' time clock over 700 readers have entered to win one of the two copies that will be mailed out Monday morning.

If you are a Goodreads member who missed winning a copy of Jenkins, don't despair. The publisher is running a PERPETUAL promotion on Amazon for the softcover version of Jenkins.

The promo code for 50% off is X5B9FSCF.

This promotional code is made possible through the generous support of A. V. Harrison Publishing, Edmonds, Washington.

5.0 out of 5 stars !!!

In her first big novel, Emily Hill hits it out of the park!

April 18, 2011

By Robert G. Martinez "Doctor of Rock" (Brooksville FL)

This review is for: Jenkins: Confederate Blockade Runner

As long-time publisher of a Florida history magazine and living only 18 miles from the Gulf coast town of Bayport, Fla, a port that was vital to the Civil War, it would only naturally pique my interest that a new novel featuring the idyllic lifestyle of that small town, set in the 19th Century called "Jenkins" would be released. I had never heard of Emily Hill (a popular writer from the great Northwest and related to CT Jenkins) until a few months ago, when I heard this book was first released. I was very much aware of CT Jenkins, truly a Renaissance man, who led an extraordinary life as an adventurer and Confederate hero. Jenkins has also been noted as this area's first historian as well, documenting early firsts that would have been lost forever if not for him. (He was one of Florida's Hernando County's first residents in 1842). Born in Baltimore in 1811, he defies his prosperous family and their business to go out on his own and finds his true soul mate Lucy Colburn from Vermont, (10 years his elder) leading to a sweeping romantic adventure with twists and turns which ultimately lead to Florida and Jenkins marrying Lucy's daughter Eliza in 1858 and to their location at Bayport. Emily Hill succeeds in her first big novel with a wondrous tale full of suspense, family, sorrow, intrigue, pageantry and romance woven around the Civil War's center stage, which led to Jenkins incarceration and ultimate 11th hour release from a Boston Federal prison. Bayport would be bombed by Federal troops in 1864. Jenkins would finally return back to Eliza at Bayport as their final chapters are both poignant and warm. The intimate passages are believable and done with class. CT Jenkins would pass on in 1893 and Eliza in 1904. The book's epilogue ends in St. Petersburg, Fla. 1932. What impressed me most about this novel was Hill's descriptive detail. You feel you are there with them having breakfast on a crisp, breezy morning at Bayport. Her character descriptions draws pictures and images that make them come alive on the page. This is an emotional book with many complex family issues. Emily Hill's writing reminds me of Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain in its detailed form. The book is a romantic tintype of a fascinating 19th Century American life. Exhaustive detail went into this. History lovers of a good story will adore it. In her first big novel, Emily Hill hits it out of the park! I look forward to more of her books in the future. Highly Recommended!

In response to Redford's new movie, 'The Conspirator', I thought I would post my own take on Civil War conspiracies by sharing an interior chapter to my novel, Jenkins: Confederate Blockade Runner. In this chapter the Confederates of Bay Port, Florida take up the challenge of running through the Union Blockade in order to get food and supplies for the Confederate cause. Jenkins is available at all Barnes & Noble stores, and Amazon.com.

Chapter Twenty-Two

War

C.T. called up to his cottage from the dock of his Homosassa River farm, “Eliza, I’ll return tomorrow afternoon! I’ll bring back whatever provisions I can find.” They had purchased land along the river from David Yulee upon returning to Florida after their wedding.
The cottage featured a wide plank porch, and a generous overhang that ran across the front of the house. The setting of their home was modest and the farm’s yield had become meager. Dinner consisted of figs and yams in small portions. The chickens had all been turned over to pay taxes to the Confederacy. And, the cattle had been driven inland toward Gainesville the previous year to feed the Confederate troops.
Eliza nodded and waved, acknowledging C.T. while cuddling their infant son, John-Colburn. Tossing the lines onto the dock that connected their property to the commerce opportunities of the Homosassa, C.T. sailed west to where the river spills into the gulf. He circumnavigated the marsh at Mason Creek, gliding past Porpoise Bay and crisscrossing the mud that was gorging from Gator Creek. He enjoyed every minute of the sail, remembering back to sailing on his grandfather’s schooner as the old man brought tobacco to market. Pulling in the sheets and setting the main as the wind rustled across the gulf was calming. C.T. nearly forgot the troubling circumstances of this particular trip.
There wasn’t anything noteworthy along the shore between the outlet of the Homosassa River and Bay Port; that is unless you were a Confederate who counted on the salt mines, the hidden inlets of the shallow gulf, the swamps, and the miles of sea grass along the coast where supplies could be tucked away by squads of soldiers operating silently and secretly in the tranquil environment.
C.T. had come to know every landmark, tiny cove and hidden lagoon between the Withlacoochee and Homosassa rivers. So much so that he could draw his own maps of the area. Maps that would be distributed that night, outlining every estuary, inlet and cypress grove along the gulf coast between Bay Port and Pensacola. Maps that had been carefully drawn and tucked into the hold of his twenty-six foot sloop.
He was resigned to the decisions that would have to be made that evening. C.T. tacked out past Pine Island, in at Coogler’s Beach, and through the maze of islands toward the welcoming outline of Bay Port’s dock facilities.
It was early evening by the time he moored his sloop at the dock adjacent to Kildall’s Reading Room, tying a cleat hitch at the fore and aft of his sloop. The water lapped softly, licking the faded hull.
Walking into Kildall’s, C.T. found the reading room quiet, the mood somber.
“Anaconda Plan! Ha! That’s real good,” Richard Hale scoffed and then looked around Kildall’s to see if anyone was listening. They were listening, but despondent, they weren’t responding.
“Colonel!” Kildall greeted his friend as C.T. strode in, recognized as one of the reading room’s most regular customers. That is, a regular customer up until his marriage two and a-half years earlier. It was seven o’clock in the evening when Joseph Kildall slid a shot of Evan Williams and a piping hot plate of cumin-flavored rice across the counter toward C.T.
“Thanks Joseph,” C.T. nodded to his friend. No money was exchanged. Kildall had stopped taking money for meals months ago and only collected for drinks on occasion, when a bill featuring Lady Liberty and an unfurled First National Confederate flag was pressed into his palm. The design on the currency reflected the confidence and swagger prevalent throughout the budding Confederacy at the time of its mint. C.T. fingered the Confederate bill. Our own currency. How affirming to have our own currency. Even if backing it to a funded Treasury has been impossible, C.T. thought.
One meager lantern lit the expansive space, compelling the men at Kildall’s to sit in dimmed lighting that cast deep shadows. Although C.T. could determine the identities of the men sitting beyond the pale circle of light, it would have been hard for a passerby looking in the window to determine who was at Kildall’s that evening. Eighteen men sat around in sets of twos and threes, talking quietly among themselves.
“Joseph,” recommended C.T., “let’s move to the back room. We can spread out the maps out better there.” Chairs and tables scraped and creaked as the men moved toward the back of Kildall’s business. Kildall picked up the lantern to bring up the rear, leaving the Reading Room dark and eerily empty.
Two more lanterns were lit and the men finally started working together, unrolling maps and setting paper weights at their corners. The charts which depicted the harbors, coves, and lagoons that encompassed Florida’s gulf coast.
“What do you think?” C.T. asked Johnny Johns. The swarthy young man was C.T.’s sounding board, and C.T. placed complete trust in the younger man.
“I think we’re going to be in desperate straits real soon,” Johns admitted. “The Union’s East Gulf blockading operation has been in place long enough to encumber any attempts of making it to Bermuda, or the Bahamas, or even Cuba. The simple effort of running the blockade isn’t going well. Revenue from the cotton crop is down ninety-five percent ‘cause of so many thousands of bales being confiscated, or burned, by Union forces. Ha! Our cotton farmers are getting…what?... one nickel off their crops in Confederate dollars for what they had received one dollar in U.S. Treasury dollars in 1859.”
“Well, the more cotton we can stockpile in the Keys, the more cotton can be shuttled to auction in Cuba,” offered Thomas Phillips. Funny how war drags some men into maturity, thought C.T.
“We’ll use Shriver’s Bay as the main collection point, then we can bring what we’ve collected in crops out on four or five sloops via the Little Homosassa or south around Tiger Tail Bay,” was M.A. Beck’s suggestion.
“If we have one look-out at Crystal Bay reporting back here every two or three days; and one look out at Fillman Bayou—same schedule—we should be able to pick up a pattern of when the Yanks are moving their squadrons,” again Johnny Johns, the strategist.
One speaker at a time, no speak-over. So far so good; men I can count on until the war is over and the South has won, C.T. thought, concentrating on the furrowed, thoughtful faces of men he would have to trust with his life and who would have to trust him with theirs.
Each Bay Port man concentrated on the instructions given. These first few months of war contrasted solemnly to the afternoon at Kildall’s when they were all boisterously discussing the outrage of heightened tariffs. The state militia hadn’t experienced any skirmishes, but the Union blockade was beginning to starve the families out—regardless of which side of the states’ rights and slavery issues they were on. The South was fighting starvation as much as the aggression.
“The sloops will get the bales to the steamers; the steamers will outrun the gunboats, right?” the men grumbled in agreement.
“Only between nightfall and pre-dawn,” were the instructions; then the words, “set fire to any bales that are unquestionably going to be confiscated. But, remember how much we are depending on getting the bales to the Keys, and across. Use good judgment.”
“Stay in your squads and be responsible for choosing your best shot from your assigned position.” were Beck’s final words before he lifted the paper weights and rolled the maps up, handing the heavy scrolls back to C.T.
Kildall blew out the lanterns as the men slipped out of the back room and into the reading room one, or two, at a time. Very little light came in through the windows, just a bit of moonlight onto the floor of the saloon. The men lined up along the wall and single file slipped out into the night, some nodding to the darkened room as they left.
Johnny Johns was in front of C.T. He slipped out first.
“My house,” he whispered over his shoulder. They would meet M.A. Beck and the other members of their unit at the Johns’ home to go over the specifics of their plan.
They would each leave Johns’ before dawn to return to their families. Then the men would impatiently wait for bales of cotton to be collected along the shallow backwater channels. The sloops and flat-bottomed barges would be loaded at night. The chore would be finished before dawn, when sloops laden with cotton and crops cargo would be poled through the shallow estuaries out to Cedar Keys. From there, they would make their way down the coast, toward the Caribbean markets upon which the Confederacy depended.

*****

Life On The Homosassa, 1862

Eliza came out to the sun porch with two year old Annie on her hip. Mrs. Colburn was sitting with her embroidery, enjoying the morning sun.

From Kim and Larry Lemon, Brooksville to Bob Martinez:
Today, after seeing an ad in your most recent edition about The Jenkins book, we bought a copy from the Heritage Museum. Larry and I are fighting about who can read it first, He read some and now I am reading, but when he comes home I will have to give it back to him! So far it's a great book!!

Thanks for bringing it to the attention of people who appreciate the historic value of this kind of publication. Let us know of any other works about our beloved Hernando County!!

Don Morrissey on Amazon:
From the prologue to the marvelously written epilogue, you will be swept up into this fascinating story of
C.T.Jenkins's challenging, suspense-filled adventures and ultimate survival. A truly intriguing read!

From Johnny Flora, New Jersey:
JENKINS is a great book for sure. I'm very impressed with the formatting and print patterns. With the spacing and medium/heavy print it is easy on the eyes, this is a class production.

Karl Ehrlich, on Amazon:
In her masterful debut novel, Emily Hill explores the legend of her most famous relative, CT Jenkins, whose larger-than-life exploits before, during and after the Southern Rebellion, are celebrated to this day in the South, but largely forgotten in his home town of Baltimore. In chronicling the events that made CT Jenkins a hero to some and a traitor in the eyes of others, Emily Hill is at her best when she describes the personal ordeals and aspirations of the women behind the man, sharing intimate details about their private lives gleaned from personal letters and stories passed down for generations in her family. But, like any true family history, CT Jenkins' life story is filled with contradictions, inter-generational disputes, family heroism and cowardice, redemption and repentance. Who was CT Jenkins? A damned Yankee, a traitor or the Confederate hero so many revere today? The answers will surprise you.

AvidReaderBookBlogger, Lynnette Phillips:
...an innate storyteller.

John Owen, columnist, Edmonds Beacon
Emily Hill is a Civil War Lady.. (with generous comparisons to Margaret Mitchell.)

Yes! That's the news.

Jenkins: Confederate Blockade Runner is now available at Barnes and Noble stores across the United States. A.V. Harrison Publishing has been accepted as a micro-publisher in the Ingram's family and YippEE!...Readers can walk into any (a) Barnes and Noble; (b) IndieBound bookstore (c) Public Library and get a copy of this impeccably researched, peer reviewed, historic fiction novel.

The reviews have been over-the-top complimentary on Goodreads and Amazon. AvidReader BookReviews lady, Lynnette Phillips, is my new BFF - we were introduced by the Colonel himself!

On Ingram's. Full Distribution. In the catalog. I'm totally in Freak-out Land! ;D

X5B9FSCF is the 'Perpetual-Promotion Code' I invite you to use for your Amazon purchase of JENKINS: Confederate Blockade Runner in soft cover format. This Promotion Code is offered as a 'Thank you' for visiting my page and following my blog - and is redeemable - forever! ;D

Of course, JENKINS, and its adaptations, are available for a less-expensive price of $2.99 on Amazon's Kindle.

Eliza of Fair Haven, by Alexa Lee
Begin the story of Eliza and Col. Jenkins from Eliza's point of view, in Vermont. A softer, more feminine perspective.

The Jenkins of Baltimore, by Mary Wells Jenkins
Same facts, but traces the story of the prominent Jenkins family from a Baltimoreans outlook.

In forty-eight hours I am leaving for Washington, D.C. to sit down and review documents that are maintained by the Special Collections division of Georgetown University’s library. Of course, these are very special documents. These are papers that have been protected by Georgetown University’s librarians for well over a hundred years, and may reveal a long-held family secret of the Jenkins family of Baltimore – my ancestors. The opulent lives of these family members were the basis of my debut novel, Jenkins: Confederate Blockade Runner, which centers around the life decisions and traitorous acts of Baltimore-born Confederate, C.T. Jenkins.

A small box of personal correspondence penned by the Jenkins family between 1820 and the early 1900s was bequeathed by Mr. George O’Shea to the university, to my great fortune. During my fifteen year search for all things Jenkins, in preparation for writing my novel, I somehow stumbled upon the existence of these (now coveted) letters. I vaguely remember a late night session of web-searches through library accessions, reading hundreds of line-entries. The existence of these invaluable (to me) letters came up in that nocturnal search. What joy! What bittersweet outpouring of emotion! I paced my study, wrung my hands – I’m sure I cried out and shouted with thrill at the discovery that something, anything, still existed that I might touch that had been touched by my far distant ancestors. It sounds melodramatic, but that is very likely the reaction of most historians upon the discovery of a valuable trinket from the past. The documents that I am being given an opportunity to view, touch, and read have been painstaking maintained for me – and others – through the dedication of decades of Georgetown University librarians.

But the Georgetown University librarians are not the only librarians I have to thank for the thousands of documents I’ve located, and logged into my archives, while penning Jenkins. Last year I had the wonderful pleasure of meeting the research librarians of St. Petersburg, Florida’s Mirror Lake and Main Branch libraries. JoAnne Balistreri, head of the research department of St. Petersburg’s library system was the wonderful delight who placed in front of me folder after folder of documents representing the hard work and dedication of my ancestral aunt, Margaret Howell Jenkins, when I was there researching my novel fourteen months ago. My Aunt Margaret was a book lover, you see, a precocious early-reader, and one of St. Petersburg’s first librarians. The documents I was allowed to view dated from 1898 through 1929 and represented Margaret’s efforts as she planned, stocked, and inventoried the accessions of St. Petersburg’s first reading rooms. I read page after brittle, yellowed page of historic documents representing Margaret’s itemization of books purchased, and notations on the annual increased use of the city’s reading rooms. It was Margaret Jenkins, and suffragette librarians who lobbied for Carnegie Funds so that St. Petersburg could enjoy its first full-service library, located on 5th Street North. And because generation after generation of librarians had preserved the documents representing Margaret’s administration of the Mirror Lake Library, I was able to savor my aunt’s Victorian style handwriting, and even read her words revealing worry over the fate of her beloved reading rooms during the Spanish-American War.

Novelists, genealogists, academics, and researchers all enjoy the pleasures of their avocation because of the dedication of librarians. I am no exception. So, as I get on the plane this Saturday morning it is in the deepest gratitude to the dedication of generations of librarians from Vermont to Maryland, to Florida. That I have the privilege of piecing together one more chapter in the lives, now historic, of my ancestral family – the Jenkins of Baltimore – brings me more joy than I can describe. ~*~ webstarts

It's impossible to imagine that I was in Florida only six weeks ago with book store visits scheduled and 'Jenkins in a box' in the trunk of my rental car. ;D But that's how long its been and so much has happened to the positive for, actually, all of my writing projects, but particular Jenkins.

Worlds apart from Amanda Hocking in sales numbers, but I now have my own beautiful book blogger! Yes, AvidReaderBookReviews.com, Lynnette Phillips, found me - I don't know how - and we have struck up a wonderful, supportive friendship. She reviewed Jenkins for her blog followers, saying that I had the skill of 'an innate storyteller', and proclaiming to me that she 'had no choice' but to give Jenkins a 5-star review on Goodreads.com and Amazon. It is such an affirming thrill, after researching, rewriting, editing, endless midnight flurries and visits from ghosts and ancestors, to have the praise of someone as well-read as Ms. Phillips.

I'm sure I've mentioned that Jenkins is now available at Edmonds Bookshop, Elliott Bay Book Company, and will soon be distributed through Ingram's to all Barnes and Noble stores.

In addition, Sarah Schumacher, Teaching American History, has extended an invitation to me to address her class of history teachers on the topic of researching a historical novel; and of course, my BizArt 2011 workshop is fast approaching! Eight days away!

I have three PubCoach clients with amazing projects - each one wildly different from the other. And my own writing is branching out toward errr...shall we say...a more 'frisky' style.

Jenkins has been entered in the IPPY 2011 Regionals - oh please - keep your fingers crossed for this journey-rich little project that keeps my friendship with my Uncle Andy so alive for me.

Warmest Regards to All who stop by EmilyHillWriter.com - and beyond.

More Celebrating! Jenkins is currently available at four Indie-Bound and museum locations–and I expect the locations where this well-received novel is available to grow. Nearly 300 writers/readers entered to win Jenkins in the Goodreads.com GiveAway last month and over 700 writers/readers entered to win ‘All Smart Cookies Can Self Publish!’. Those numbers are phenomenal in my book [right…no pun intended…really!] I’ve been working with the wonderfully creative Kat Marriner, Pineleaf Productions to re-design Jenkins and the novel’s ‘second run’ will begin on 14 February.
Florida: Ahhh…to be in Florida at this very moment. Jenkins is now available in St. Petersburg at Haslam’s, thanks in great part to my having name-dropped the name of my lunch buddy and mentor, James Sheehan. [Two publishing houses are competing over his third novel – who’s surprised?] We all know it will be snapped up [wink] the minute it hits the shelves. My homecoming in Brooksville was so wonderful – Thank You to my Hernando Historical Museum Association friends. I am gifting to the Association twelve copies of the newly-designed JENKINS – so please participate in that fund raiser which will benefit the Association’s efforts to build a replica of an 1800s school house. Patricia Correa, owner of Enchilada’s flattered me by having a photo taken of the two of us as she is holding her autographed copy of JENKINS. She plans to have the photo framed for display at the restaurant…how sweet is that? I'm a very lucky person when it comes to friends.
Well…lots of work still to be done. BizArt 2011 will include my ‘Smart Cookies’ workshop as well as a whole host of other wonderful workshop selections for artists and artisans. Remember! It’s March 25 and 26th at Edmonds Community College http://www.bizartinfo.com/. Then, author Mac Patrick and I are picking up production of his non-fiction photography collection, “Mexico on a Motorcycle: Riding out the Recession”. Expect that release by May 2011.
More later! Don’t forget to stop by the ‘Contact’ tab to leave a hello. Warm Regards to All.

Dear Friends, Family, Writers, and Readers,

What a whirlwind start to 2011. So much to update since my post-Thanksgiving note.

As most of you now know, I have been invited to teach at Edmonds Community College this spring. I will present an Indie-Pub class at the BizArt conference. Also... 'My Edmonds News' ran a feature on my work entitled, 'Edmonds writer uses family tree to research first novel' [Google it!]; the 2011 updated Guide to Smart Cookies is published and available at Amazon; Edmonds Bookstore is carrying my books; and I am now an affiliate bookseller on IndieBound.

Hmmmm..not a bad list of accomplishments since my last blog.

Oh! And the biggest lark of all is that I now have an Avatar selling Jenkins on YouTube. She is getting .01% of the impressions and 15% of the sales. Translation: for every 6,000 times the ad shows, 6 people click on it, and 2 people buy the book! Crazy, huh?

I leave for Florida in three weeks, to have dinner with old friends, drop books at St. Petersburg and visit Bay Port, and surrounds.

Happy New Year, and above all, may you have a year filled with Peace and Compassion,

Emily

Over the past year it has seemed that each month is meant to affirm what a good decision it was for me to retire from Corporate America. This past month being the penacle of that affirmation.
It's done! Jenkins: Confederate Blockade Runner is available to family members and interested public on Kindle, Amazon books, and the eReaders provided by Barnes and Noble and Borders. I hope you like the results.
Bill Dietrich, prolific writer, counselled that a writing career is credible after ten-thousand hours of effort. Well, I ticked off two thousand of those hours this past year in writing, and re-writing Jenkins. My debut novel ebbed and flowed from 20,000 words to 93,000 words; endured six re-writes and finally landed on the shore at 81,300 words. The novel that rocked my world by way of heart stopping discoveries is now published. A. V. Harrison - Publishing is the imprint that Jenkins carries, thus allowing for elements from both the Jenkins and the McNeir families to come together as two compounds of the same atom...errr..did I get that write?///scratch that...right? :) Anyway, at this blog posting, happy, very happy. I hope that you enjoy Jenkins and will look forward to The Tailors of Baltimore: A Civil War Story.

Has only one month gone by since my last post? Impossible! Well, the City of Edmonds Writers on the Sound 2010 conference was everything I hoped it would be - So Lucky! I went to the conference hoping to connect with local non-wiccan friends [long story] and met wonderful Paddy Eger, educator, writer, and long-time enthusiast of the Edmonds writer's community. I am now a member of her inspiring, talented, hilarious critique group which includes Nicole; Gretchen, Maureen, Paddy, and Me!

A One-Step-At-A-Time 2010 Guide to Independent Publishing is now available on Amazon.com. Next stop: A One-Step-At-A-Time 2011 Guide to Independent Publishing, of course. And, don't forget: Jenkins publishes on 18 January..a special date in my life.

A. V. Harrison ~ Publishing has developed three imprints that hopefully will accommodate ALL that my friends and family members would like to see in print: 'Legends' for memoirs and biographical fiction; the 'Smart Cookie' series for all those who have something to teach others; and 'Shared Space' for all of those delicious projects that need a kind, patient publisher.

More next month...

Less than one week to go before the affectionately coined WOTS Writers On The Sound literary conference, held in Edmonds, WA, begins keynoted by Natalie Goldberg http://www.nataliegoldberg.com/

The Friday, 01 October session begins with Robert Ray's presentation, Planning Your Novel Re-write. I've read that a good novel is re-written six times before publication. My writing coach, Jason Black, advises to step back from one's novel for at least three months before tackling your own edits after typing the words, The End. I didn't want to believe him; but followed his advice and what a difference taking a rest from my characters and their plot development has made! I figure I have typed over 300,000 words while penning Jenkins. So, it will be interesting to see what Mr. Ray advises about this part of the 'Novelista' process.

I'm grateful that WOTS contrasts its workshops against the PNWA early summer conference. WOTS seems to focus on writing technique whereas Pacific Northwest Writers Association seems to focus on the business management of writing.

It's my first attendance at both conferences - I'll let you know how it goes! ;0

I have just returned from two weeks on the road with my musically-in-demand traveling partner and have taken every possible opportunity to meet and talk with writers about the Sea Change taking place in publishing! Some doors are slowly closing, many doors are opening for those who want to get their books into the hands of their readers.

Stories from the road:

Evelyn Skye Ehrlich, my beautiful niece has woven a wonderful time-travel romance drawing on her Stanford University education and Russian Studies degree. She is going the 'traditional' route and waiting for an encouraging call back from one of the literary agents that she has hand selected to introduce to her lovely tale. When she 'hits' it's going to be big!

Kerry Alan Pohrman, talented songwriter from Oregon lists himself as 'unsigned' but that hasn't stopped him from being there for the downbeat when it comes to his songwriting and performing...on YouTube and at his own website he is making a fine name for himself.

Carlton Smith, PhD., generous, gregarious compatriot from the coffee shop in Morro Bay where we stopped for a series of much-needed java shots. Carlton overheard the 'promotion pitch' I was giving to my companion one morning and volunteered that his 'Home School Hippies' is being shopped for an agent. He has won literary accolades for his work - No Surprise! once you've met him. I'm encouraging him to 'Come Over To The Dark Side' ~ but as an academic that is a route switch that takes a lot of consideration.

Me? Bookstore open, affiliate partnership with A.V. Harrison of Baltimore announced. Happy, very Happy! Working feverishly on my new publishing house and getting 'The Year I Followed Death' ready to ePublish to my website on All Saints Day 2010.

A. V. Harrison of Baltimore is re-established:

I have made the decision to publish under the name of my great-uncle's publishing company: A.V. Harrison, Baltimore, MD.

Formed during the Civil War era this Baltimore-based publishing and printing company supported the careers of my great-grandfather and several uncles. I am proud to be able to carry this moniker forward with clean, well-edited publications that tell the Jenkins-McNeir story.

'Jenkins' will be my first release, followed in early 2012 with 'Tailors of Baltimore' and then 'Margaret and Elizabeth'.

WoW! Incredible learning experience. I met the nicest, most generously open people over the past three days. Peter Stockwell, author of 'Motive' and 'Roger and Victoria' shared his acerbic wit and over-the-top charm - I am so pleased to have met him. My best new conference-attending friend, Kendra Hall, author of 'Joan of Arc: Gabriella's Story' won First Place in the 2010 Writer's Contest for her category - A well-deserved win. The presenters were so smart, driven and insightful ~ and those from 'the dark side of publishing' were sure convincing!

...and, ultimately,a follow-up with the two generous New York agents who liked my pitch ;D

The Pacific Northwest Writers Association Summer Conference begins tomorrow, 22 July! I'm as delightedly prepared as I can possibly be with my 'pitch sheet' ~ which I believe James Sheehan [Law of Second Chances] would approve of [as my unwitting pitch coach, Tangelo's ~ St. Pete, January 2010].

If you've been following this blog ~ Wish me Luck and Lots of Worthwhile Learning ;D and a hook-up with someone who likes the vision of where I'd like to go with my writing.

The sincerest 'thank you' to the ten generous friends who tore the elements of Jenkins apart over the past three months so that it could be put back together in time for the conference.

In February the deadline loomed for this year's PNWA Literary Contest. I had just completed the first draft of 'Jenkins: Confederate Blockade Runner'. The results for the Literary Contest are in and although I did not win [that WOULD have been tough!] I did receive helpful criticism as well as encouraging compliments on my work:

"Liked the opening. Lots of tension..."
"Prologue is engrossing..."
"Each of the time vignettes is done well..."
"Well done and believable..."
"...good attention to the craft of writing..."
"The book is well-written..."

So, the next four weeks will be devoted to absolute final edits and getting ready for the PNWA 2010 Conference. Yippee! Finally!

Nothing pulls an aspiring writer along like their writing community and, a good book doctor. In anticipation of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association's summer conference I have turned my attention back to Jenkins which Jason Black, The Book Doctor, returned to me three weeks ago. See the updated-latest edited version of the Prologue to Jenkins in my 02 April 2010 post. 02 April ?!? Happy Birthday, Little Noah!

Thank you to my YA fantasy writer niece, Evelyn Ehrlich, for her moral support during the crisis of the ego that loomed as I opened Jason's report. Frankly, I like the results SO MUCH BETTER now that I have dutifully followed JB's recommendations.

Are you a writer? Our writer's circles ARE mandatory, but you are going to have to hire a professional editor [NOT your mother ;] if you aspire to have your work represented by an agent.

Well, I have begun my second novel in earnest after going back and forth for six weeks deciding whether I should take a flight of fancy to Baltimore; or choose NOT to sever my heartstrings with St. Petersburg. The heart always wins!...yes?

The story, Margaret and Elizabeth, is outlined on the Projects tab of my website. Here we go!

This Week's Hot News from Florida!


How fun is this! I was surfing/researching the dates that CT Jenkins, my protagonist for Jenkins: Biography of a Blockade Runner, served as a Florida State Senator and stumbled upon THIS link. Jenkins has been picked up under the WNN header...

This Week's Hot News from Florida!

I'm thrilled!!

http://upge.wn.com/?template=cheetah-photo-search/index.txt&action=search&query=CT Jenkins

Reviews are now coming in from Preview Readers of 'Jenkins: Biography of A Blockade Runner'. Some of the comments include, 'Gripping'; from Priya Cloutier, Attorney reading the Prologue; 'Spellbinding', from Sandra Anderson, School Principal and K-12 administrator, retired; 'I really CARE what happens to these characters!' Audrey Spurrier, millinery design; I loved it, offered Sandra Kelly about the novel, the three main characters are so well developed, she added.

Here is a sneak preview of the Prologue. The book has now been turned over to Jason Black, Plot to Punctuation, for editing. Enjoy!

Jenkins: Biography of A Confederate Blockade Runner Copyright 2010

Prologue The Seminole Wars

“Yah! Yah!” “Yee-haw!” Desperate cries, meant to spur on their beasts, punctuated the air as Newburne’s Company of Mounted Rifles raced toward the blockhouse on the edge of Green Swamp, near Hillsborough River, where eleven settlers were holding out against a Seminole war party.
The full company of men galloped hard toward the river, hoping to cross the turbulent currents in time. It was the second day of a three day ride. Hooves pounded against the hot Florida sand, kicking up sand fleas and burrs. The men, volunteers and militia members, had been driving their animals relentlessly since sunrise. It had been cooler when they started out, much cooler. Now mid-day their clothes stuck to them in the humid air, the sun baked the back of their necks, and their shoulders and backs burned from the miles they had covered.
C.T. Jenkins, a twenty-five year old Baltimorean was among the riders. Jenkins, a volunteer in Newburne’s Company, had jockeyed his Arabian stead one-third of the way back from the lead horse, having set a hard pace that morning an hour after the Company’s burst into the flat landscape.
By sunset the seventy-five horsemen paced the banks of the Hillsborough River, hoping to cross the next morning, not knowing what lay in store for them on the other side.
Waiting for Newburne’s company were eleven settlers, some injured, all of them starving. Some of them were starving to death. The air in the blockhouse was rank, hanging too heavy for the settlers to be able to breathe comfortably. The stench of sweat and the human experience was overpowering. For days there had been no wind, only the humid veil of summer.
Desperate, exhausted men sat next to each other crumpled along one wall of the blockhouse. The Florida settlers peered vacantly across the darkened room at the women folk who had scrambled into the blockhouse with them, amidst a melee of war cries and horses whinnying. They had made it out of the chaos into the silence of what might become their tomb. The door was now bolted from the inside. Dead calm had stretched through each day, past each sunset, and late into each night for days on end. Even the Indian whoops and war cries had died down. Settlers had been known to survive for up to two weeks under such conditions.
Two men lay just outside the entrance to the blockhouse – carcasses – their dried blood smeared over grotesque death masks. The expressions of pain and horror were frozen on the victims’ faces. It hadn’t taken long, after being scalped alive, for the two to die.
A third victim had been staked to a pine tree, one stake driven through his chest and one through his belly. He had gone into shock and lost consciousness before a torch held by a young warrior lit the stake embedded in his chest that burned him alive.
The settlers who had made it into the blockhouse could not hear the chirping of crickets outside the blockhouse, scurrying through the tall dry grass. Nor could they feel the burrs that had grabbed at the coarse broadcloth, clinging to their clothes as they ran for shelter. Their senses were dulled by the shock of their experience, and by exhaustion and hunger. They sat sweating in the blanket of heat nurturing the hope that word of their plight had somehow gotten to the outside world.
The morning of the third day C.T. Jenkins and his companions, soaked from fighting the currents of the Hillsborough River, approached the blockhouse, dreading the silence and the storm of sand flies; hoping to find at least one survivor


Chapter One Reminiscing ~ Baltimore 1821

Lucy Colburn, visiting Bay Port, Florida from her hometown of Fair Haven, Vermont, listened intently as C.T. Jenkins continued...
“It was one of the happiest moments I remember. I was ten years old at the time. Life became very difficult after that..."

---

A note on historical references used in Jenkins: Biography of a Blockade Runner, and Acknowledgements:

The two articles from The Baltimore Sun used in 'Jenkins' are as originally published, and are reprinted with permission.
The content of all other newspaper articles, obituaries, telegraphs is fictional, but attributed to newspapers in print ‘in the day’.
Although this is a work of fiction, the major characters; particularly the members of the Jenkins’ family all lived during the time and place of this novel. The conversations that take place between Jenkins’ family members and/or members of their communities are, however, fictional. Reverend Moore’s character is a work of fiction. However, Lucy Davey Colburn did have an older sister named MaryAnn who was married to a minister. Everything points to the conclusion that MaryAnn’s husband was a wonderful gentleman.
To the community of Brooksville and Bay Port Florida: I have taken the liberty to move residents of Bay Port along a timeline that does not exist so that I could include them earlier in CT’s life than fact would have allowed. Additionally, I have re-arranged the geography of Brooksville and Bay Port in order to facilitate the Jenkins’ and Ederington’s extended families being neighbors during the Civil War, which of course, was not the case.
Also, ‘Kildall’s Reading Room ~ for Gentlemen’ never existed – in Bay Port or anywhere else as far as I am aware; but I’d like to thank my good friends, Ruth and Bob Kildall, for allowing me to shine the spotlight on the Kildall name.
This novel is written in gratitude to the historians of Brooksville, Inverness and St. Petersburg, Florida, and to the generosity of Lydia Mackey, state archivist, Commonwealth of Vermont; and 'book doctor' Jason Black.
Many good friends, and certainly my family, support me financially, emotionally, and intellectually while I pursue my passion for writing novels. But, all of my work is done with my beautiful son in mind, and certainly this first work is intended as a legacy tale for his children, Noah and Natalie. To Julie and Al; stay close to me, my little dears. To my husband for whom the saying, ‘still waters run deep’ applies – thank you for agreeing to my flight from the mechanisms of ‘The Machine’ in order to pursue my dream of writing full time. To my beautiful bevy of gal pals – ‘Thank you for being my friend’- each one of you is a treasured gem in my jewel box. I also owe a debt of gratitude to my intellectual muse, William Taylor of Edmonds. Thank you, Bill, for keeping the coffee pot on for our Friday morning mutual-admiration meetings. To Leah Rei, Donna Biscay, Miss Zoe, Scott Donohoe, Bob Kildall and the incomparable Mme. Audrey Spurrier: What good sports you each have been in lending me your ‘personae’ in order to craft my characters.
"I'm lucky, and blessed, because of You" doesn't say quite enough.

A huge 'Thank You' goes out to my Preview Readers. I am so grateful to have such generous interest in 'Jenkins: A Biography'. The Preview Readers are: Vicki Meier of Federal Way, who is in retail merchandising; Helen Wattley-Ames of Seattle, commercial real estate; Sandy Kelley of Marysville, grant writer - Youth at Risk programs; and, Sandra Anderson of Newcastle, retired K-12 school principal who is a published author; also Dawn and Karl Ehrlich of San Mateo, CA; and Nicole Tumbleson, historian and marine archeaologist - Bay Port, Florida.

The ms will ship tomorrow and their reviews will be posted as they are received.

Dear Friends,

I will have preview copies of 'Jenkins: A Biography' ready on 29 March - We are going at this project at FULL STEAM! :)

?? Would you like a peek at the results...because I would LOVE your feedback!

If interested, let me know which of these three time blocks give you the most time to read a novel and return it with any comments you would like to make, and I will get a bound copy to You ~ Thank you so much for your interest...
(a) the first two weeks of April;
(b) the last two weeks of April;
(c) the first two weeks of May.

Well! Here we go! I got up in the middle of the night, last night, in one of those 'inspiration overloads' that other writers must experience and have composed the first one-thousand words for 'The Tailors of Baltimore' [uhhh...that's the first four pages, actually]. I had spent the past two weeks mapping out story sequence, characters, story-line arc, and placement.

Think Baltimore 1870 - 1900 and yes! one of my favorit-est characters DOES make an appearance in 'The Tailors of Baltimore'...can you guess who?

I think readers will be pleased that I am using a very different 'voice' and cadence to the story-telling style I used in 'Jenkins: A Biography'. And, this story line covers only Thirty Years - not One Hundred and Thirty; as 'Jenkins' does. There are strengths in expansive vistas; and likewise, strengths in shortened storylines.

I will share with my supportive, wonderful 'A-Team' over the next few months and hope for strong, critical feedback.

Completion is slated for 13 November 2011 [a special date for a particularly loved brother of mine ;o]

Having over 75,000 words of a clean draft novel behind me I feel confident enough to enter the PNWA Literary Contest of 2010, vying for the Pacific Northwest 'Zola Award'.

Entering the contest ensures two top-notch editors' critiques - and a chance at the Award itself! How exciting!

I'll attend the PNWA conference in July 2010...and meet all sorts of accomplished in-the-writing-business people!

In the meantime, my website is up and, in March, I will begin contacting Select Agents who I feel would be the best match for me, and my first novel!

Home again, settling down after my 'Significant Birthday Party' (I'm not 59 anymore ;o) and taking the advice of James Sheehan, "FINISH the book!" I go to my office every morning [and still slip downstairs after mid-night] and finish 'Jenkins: A Biography'.

Which brings me to this point. I realize poignantly that I have finished my first clean draft of
'Jenkins: A Biography' at 3AM on 14 February - Valentine's Day....

The birthday of William Valentine Jenkins [1783 - 1854] and Andrew Duncan McNeir [1925 - 2006].

Perfect!

Off to Inverness where Betty Cason-Snow has tipped me that a treasure trove of CT Jenkins material awaits me at the Inverness Courthouse and Historical Museum.

It is mandatory to meet Kathy Thompson while in Inverness - I did and WoW! what a ball of energy and enthusiasm. A delight!

Sherry Genung, of Inverness, magically located the CT Jenkins probate papers I had hoped to find this trip. That find, and also the marriage records that LYDIA MACKEY OF VERMONT had found several weeks earlier made ALL the difference to my recount of CT Jenkins' life.

Ahhhh...looking forward to five days in Brooksville - It feels like home. With Betty Cason-Snow and her gallant husband, Bobby Snow, there to greet me I am back among 'family'.

And, dependent upon Dennis Rhodes this trip, I linger at Brooksville's 'Depot' where Dennis is the curator, history-expert and sweetest host anyone could hope for. I consider Dennis, Betty and Bobby my Best Friends in Brooksville.

But, I was just as dependent upon Patricia Correa, owner of 'Enchilada's' who made sure I ate lunch each day and provided a quiet-supportive atmosphere at her family-run Brooksville restaurant.

Happy New Year, Everyone! I'm heading back to Florida!

With plans having been made to meet librarians, researchers, old friends and the Jenkins' family homestead sites...I'm off to Florida.

Day One: St. Petersburg and librarians JoAnne Balisteri and Sharon Coppola. What brilliant, accomplished women! With their interest, research results, humor and support they revealed to me the life of Margaret Jenkins, one of St. Petersburg's first librarians.

Day Two: Observation - unlike Seattle, St. Petersburg is NOT a restaurant town! But FINALLY I stumble onto Tangelo's, a colorful, friendly, caribbean styled restaurant on 1st Avenue North - try it! Yummy!

'talking All About Me, I mention that I'm writing a historical novel ....

...and the name of local author, James Sheehan comes up. Three hours later I'm talking to him on the phone! OhMiGosh, the author of 'Mayor of Lexington Avenue', 'Law of Second Chances' and who has just finished his third crime-courtroom novel is generous enough to call me and even agree to meet me the next night at Tangelo's for a 'Writers' Session'. Post note: What a helluva nice guy...over the top generous, insightful. I hope he didn't notice that I was so awe-struck that I dropped chips crumbs on my blouse as he recounted what a good writer [one who actually gets published] needs to know, and needs to do! Buy his books, follow his projects - he writes gripping, page-turner novels from a solid base of experience!

Nearing the completion of 'Jenkins: A Biography' I realized that I would need a good, solid copy editor. Who better than my trusted sister and Uber-poet, Juliana Hale. What a hilarious team! ...and she [also] knows intuitively where all the treasures are buried! We divide the work into 30-page batches and get to work.

**Update: On track (!) and slated to have a 'ready-to-ship' polished manuscript by March 16th**

Retirement Party behind me, my husband and I celebrated by doing what we do best together - travel! Off to Panama for nearly four weeks....as wonderous as the trip was, and in spite of my good company.....I missed my characters! My stellar intellectual-property attorney, Priya Cloutier, had advised against packing CT Jenkins and his family into my suitcase as I headed out of the protective net of the US copyright laws. But Panama in December was exactly what I needed to shake the corporate cobwebs out of my head.

From March 2009 (returning from my first research trip to Florida) to September 2009, I would slip downstairs to my office at/just after midnight and take up the weave of the Jenkins' story. Sometimes I would return to bed, take a nap, and then go to the office; sometimes I would find myself lost in the story until 6AM when I would hop into the shower, don an Alpha Suit ;o) and charge to work. Routinely I would regale the word count to friends as the proportions of the story grew from a little story for my grandchildren, to novel-proportions.

By September 2009 I realized that I just couldn't lead a double life any longer - I had to think, plan, research, and write full time. The tsunami-financed insurance industry would have to 'deal' without me!

With the support of my father ($$) and enthusiastic approval of my husband, I submitted my 'intention to retire' letter. Now I can write full-time!

In December I received a truly generous retirement party from my wonderful director, Todd Ringwood. The celebration, planned by my office friends was over the top! The 'Magic Writing Pen' from Dave Forsell is still on my desk, here at home; the roast I received from Joel Narva will remain a treasured memory, and the party planning by the effervescent Cathy Jean Donckers and Lisa Paquin was exquisite...forever treasured.

It was early spring 2009 on the porch of the May-Springer mansion in Brooksville, Florida when I realized that I was literally compelled to tell THIS Story. (I had just spent the afternoon with Dennis Rhodes, Roger Landers and, Frasier Mountain as they recounted the history of Bay Port and Brooksville, Florida.) This story though, had revealed itself to me over the previous sixteen years. I know that seems like a very long time; but in thinking back…it wasn’t really. This is genealogy and genealogy projects can sometimes span one's lifetime. Although Jenkins: A Biography is based on fact; it IS a work of fiction. I’ve embellished the facts (no big surprise to those who know me ;o) relating to the Jenkins' story to match what my familial instincts tell me what surely must have taken place. I hope that You; my 'new' cousins, my longtime friends, my supportive family, enjoy the results.

Beginning in 1993 my uncle and I started a genealogy project that would bring me to the achievement of finishing my first novel - it took seventeen years to get to this point. My Uncle Andy died in 2006; just days before his Valentine's Day birthdate; my father died on Christmas Day 2007. I have made many genealogy discoveries; particularly in the past four years concerning 'The Who' of the Jenkins and McNeir families that I would have loved to have shared with these two brothers. These discoveries, and my efforts, are dedicated to their memory:

David Jenkins McNeir [1921 - 2007]
Andrew Duncan McNeir [1925 - 2006]