Today I finished getting my book, Affection for Crime, into its last eBook format. I began with iBook and used one of their recommended aggregators--Smashwords. They are free and relatively easy to use. I had to reformat my Word document. That was fun. For those of you who don't know me, that means it was not fun. I certainly wish I had known what I was doing earlier. While Smashwords is easy to use, they did have to keep sending my book to various electronic sites repeatedly--Apple, Barnes and Noble, and others. Eventually, Affection for Crime was up-and-running on the Smashwords retailer sites. Then, I had to ePub separately through Amazon to get my book into Kindle. That was a little trickier. Finally, I did Google because Eagle Harbor Book Co. on Bainbridge uses Google Play for eBooks. That was an experience. Their instructions and partner (i.e., publishing) site are confusing. Fortunately, they respond rapidly to emails and tell you what you are doing wrong. Apparently, English is not my strong suit because I kept misunderstanding the online directions. I hate it when you receive a polite email explaining in multiple detailed steps what you are doing wrong. I could hear them laughing.
Four months later, Affection for Crime is out there--somewhere. Like Pontius Pilate I am washing my hands of this novel and moving on to the next in the series. For those of you who liked Maggie Hall, you may now stand and cheer. For those of you who do not like her--I can hear you booing. As it may, I am in the midst of writing the second book of the series. And, yes, when I am finished and have once again maneuvered the tricky turns of self-publishing, I will ask you to buy this novel also.
I don't want to deceive you into thinking that I sat in my uncomfortable chair at my computer and worked endlessly for four months to publish my novel. Prepare for the orts, bits, and fragments of my life. Everyday after school, I see my grand daughters. We do homework (a task which will never get me Grandmother-of-the-year status with them), go to dance or theatre, or have multiple snacks. Kate, with slicked-back, gelled hair and a black leotard with tights will soon be in a recital. Zoe just had two performances of Chicken Little in which she was Cocky Locky, the peacock with attitude. It was type casting. Recently, Luis Anthony, oldest grandson and graduate of West Point, was assigned to Fort Lewis-McCord. He visits on weekends. Having come back from a year in South Korea, he is anxious to find something more dangerous than the base in Washington. I would like to see him take up knitting, which is deceptively dangerous, but he would rather go to Ranger training. Now that I think of it, his friend and fellow graduate, Adam, does origami but will soon go to Afghanistan. I suppose knitting and origami won't keep them out of harm's way. In addition to all this, I try to find time to work on fused glass projects in my studio. Lately, I have had a few disastrous projects. That takes up time because I have to smash the glass, clean the studio, wring my hands for hours, and sometimes drink or take pills to forget.
Having been so busy and retired, I did not write a blog for some time. My long-time friend--after I badgered her once more to buy my book--reminded me that I had not written a blog since March. I felt guilty and lazy; hence, this rambling blog. I know she doesn't read my blogs. She just looks at the dates. So, I think this new one will make us all happy. Since she is having a birthday this month--and we are getting up there in years--I am surprised that she remembers that I have a blog. Happy birthday Crystal, Penny, and Kathleen.
