Somewhere Over the Sun

Had to take down The Calvin Sky due to technical issues with the layout. My illustrator is fixing it and it should be back up shortly. Sorry for the inconvenience! 

Also, I still have postcards. Some are ready to be sent out, others need destinations. Message me an address and a one-word writing prompt if you’d like to receive one. 

Meaning, of course, my imminent return to the U.S., which has a better postal service than Mexico, and thus, the place from where I send all my postcards.

I have a few leftovers from my last stay, and I’m looking for people that want to receive a postcard. Message me your address if you’d like to receive one. And, like with my Before Sunrise challenge, include a one-word writing prompt, and your postcard will contain a story or poem or whatever using that word. 

And I intend to use them when I leave Mexico tomorrow. If you’d like to receive a postcard from the published author of a critically acclaimed but so far much-ignored novel, send me an e-mail with your address and a writing prompt.

Think of how much you could someday sell it for when I’m famous!

Also, if you click on the Amazon link to my book (you’ll find it the “much-ignored novel” section of this post), you can use Amazon’s Look Inside! feature to read the first 20% (about five chapters) of Somewhere Over the Sun.

Here’s an irrelevant picture of me. 

I wanted to write something lovely for you today; something that would make you smile and think of your love of reading. But, alas, inspiration has not come (though I’m sure it will moments after I post this and shut off my computer). 

However, I can tell you that any of you who have been looking forward to reading Somewhere Over the Sun might be getting some very good news. I don’t want to give it away quite yet, in case something comes up, but stay tuned next week and (hint, hint) your wallets may be very happy. 

Moving onto a little bit of groveling. If you have read Somewhere Over the Sun, pretty, pretty please post a review/rating on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Goodreads, if you have an account with them. Or post a review on your blog or just ‘like’ my Facebook author page. Every little bit of word-of-mouth helps. And if you haven’t read the book yet, take a peek at some of the praise it’s received. 

Since I never got around to figuring out how to hold a live chat session, I’d like to invite you, dear readers, to ask me questions for me to answer publicly on the blog. I’m all about being accessible to my readers, so please don’t be shy.

Lastly, some of you may remember how I was sending out postcards a couple of months ago during my travels. Well, in about a month I’ll be back in the U.S, and I’ve got some leftover postcards. If you’re interested in receiving one, you can e-mail me your address and, if you like, a writing prompt. A few examples of postcards sent out are: a story about a traveling suitcase, a story about sunbeams, and a yet-unfinished eight-part short story about a misplaced tattoo. 

BEA’s been, at the very least, a time-occupier.

So I won’t be sharing too much with you for now, but I wanted to remind all my readers of the ongoing writing contest. I’ve only received a couple entries, but I can imagine several of you are waiting until next week’s (May 31st) deadline. Again, the main gist is to write story you wish could come to life, much like my main character Alan does throughout the book. More info here.

Also, I have several postcards that have yet to be claimed. I’ve sent a few waves of them already (and if you haven’t received one yet, don’t fret, I’m on it. They’re stamped and everything, just waiting on my words), and will be continuing to do so until I leave the country at the end of June. If you’d like one sent to you, send me a message along with a writing prompt.

I’ve never been able
to make a poem
actually feel like
a poem.
All I get is
broken sentences,
a short story,
a complaint.

(but what clever line breaks!)

This non-poem poem originally appeared in The Vagus Nerve.

I can’t promise the kind of eloquence seen above, but if you’d like to receive a personal little somethin’ somethin’ from a published author, message me your address and I’ll send you a postcard! I’m accepting writing prompts and city requests (available city choices: Stratford, Canada; General Canada postcards; New York City; Las Vegas; Cleveland; Houston; Baltimore).

I’ve sent out three waves of postcards and I’m almost done checking everyone’s name off the list, so I’m more than happy to add more to the list.

Although this site’s main purpose is to promote my debut novel, Somewhere Over the Sun, I feel my marketing efforts have dropped off in the last couple of months. Mostly, this has to do with not a lot of book reviews or guest posts that I can link you to. Some of my readers may remember the writing contests, publicity contests, Quotation Fridays and other such shameless self-promoting to get people interested in my book. Well, I’m trying to think of more ways to get a large number of people to at the very least click on the About the Novel page on this site. Any ideas, dear readers?