In self-publishing news…

My very first novel, Bethany Caleb, is now available!  So is The Art Kids!  It’s ridiculously easy to publish a book on Kindle.  Too easy.  Have I made a mistake?  Are there typos?  Probably…  It’s a scary thing to send your creations out there.  While in the privacy of my own home I love them and feel so confident, then I hit the “publish” button and I get worried.

Both books will be free on June 1st… I’m working on the actual print editions via Createspace which is a bit longer of a process, but I will run another free promotion once I have print copies in hand!

In writing news…

I started a new story about the aftermath of a nuclear war, and as I was describing the plot to my brother he informed me that it sounded exactly like the video game Fallout…

Also, I finally got over the hump in Dreamwalkers where Daniel’s story ends and intersects back with Kayla’s story… now maybe I can make some headway with it.

In reading news…

I was about halfway through Joe Hill’s new book, NOS4A2, when I saw that he was going to be here in Nashua for a book signing!  I was psyched to get to meet him, since the last time he toured around my area, I was on vacation in Jamaica (don’t worry, I sent my parents down to the Toadstool Bookshop with my copy of Heart-Shaped Box and a gift certificate to buy Horns and had them get both signed!).  He was fun to listen to and I read about a quarter more of the book while waiting in line… NOS4A2 is really good and I highly recommend it!  I think every book I’m in the middle of right now is approximately 800 pages long (the Anita Shreve book just FEELS 800 pages long) so I feel a little like I’ve been in a reading slump of late, but I haven’t really.  I’m just in the middle of four 800-page novels…

In circus news…

I caught my new trick in flying trapeze last week – it’s called a full twisting straight jump.  It’s pretty hard, and I’ve been working on it for, oh, a few months now.  Finally I was ready to try catching it, and got it on my second attempt!  No video yet, but I’ll be throwing this trick in the show on June 8th, so perhaps then…

In aerial silks, I’ve been working on putting together a routine to Bjork’s “Hyperballad.”  You can see a video or two on my Youtube page.  Last class I was also able to do several meathooks in a controlled way… If you don’t know what a meathook is, Google it – the pictures are mostly on trapeze because it’s not commonly done on silks.  But it is definitely a power move and I feel pretty badass that I can do it!