Q&A on EndlesS

What is EndlesS?
A softcover collection of 50 or so of my poems. Here's what Gloria Williams of Wry Words said about it: "… an unexpected little book of treasures … EndlesS is full of riches that even a person not fond of poetry will enjoy and a poetry lover will be thrilled by it. I highly recommend it."

Where can I buy it?
EndlesS is available exclusively on Lulu.com. Here's the link. It's $9.99 (plus shipping & handling).

Will it be available on Amazon.com?
No. I investigated placing it with the other online retailers, but with their markup, the book would be prohibitively priced. I don't think people should have to sell a kidney to buy one of my books -- although, of course, if they want to, that's okay.

Will it be available in hardcover?
Yes. In June, I'm going to publish a library edition. Unfortunately the cost of hardcovers makes it less attractive than I would hope. (It's going to cost around $20 just to produce it.) I'm going to publish that version so that I can donate hardcovers to the libraries that support me.

Will you have book signings for EndlesS?
No, not by itself. It will be available at the book signings for Murder by the Acre, which will be published later this summer.

Can I preview the book?
Yes. If you go to the purchase page, there is a small preview of the book. It includes the poems: "Creationsong," "Sky," and "Torrent" (on the back cover).

You've left out several poems you've featured on 51313 Harbor Street. Will they be collected in a book?
Maybe. I'd like to do two other poetry collections, Undying, a collection of fantasy and science fiction poems, and Quicksilver, a collection of spiritual poems. But both will depend on the response to EndlesS. Publishing a book is a labor-intensive, and while I certainly don't expect anywhere near the sales of Murder by Dewey Decimal, it would be nice if people bought a few copies to enjoy or give as gifts or use as coasters. I don't care as long as they buy them, but I do think that reading EndlesS is the best use for it.

I read a proof copy of EndlesS, but the published version lists poems that weren't in the proof. What gives?
Depending on which proof you read, anywhere from two to 10 poems were switched out for other poems. I tried to provide a variety of moods and subjects in EndlesS. Some poems made the cut, and others will have to wait for the appropriate collection.

May I review EndlesS?
Certainly. I welcome your input, whether it be good or bad. And if you say bad things about it, I promise to not hate you forever … only while you live, which regrettably will not be long.

You cover a vast range of subjects and situations in EndlesS. Are these all from your life?
Well, yes and no. Many of the poems in EndlesS are what I call "poetic fiction," which means I attempt to adopt the persona of someone experiencing what I'm writing about. The emotion is real even if the situation is not. However, many of the situations are from my life. After all, I'm in my forties now. I've lived a bit of life and picked a few scars, emotional and otherwise.

What's your favorite poem in EndlesS?
I'm glad you asked that. All my poems are my "children," and it's hard to pick a favorite, but I do have one. In the comments, you pick what you think my favorite poem is. If more than one person picks correctly, I will draw one winner from the correct entries. The winner will receive: a Murder by the Acre t-shirt (available in small to extra-large), a signed hardcover of Murder by Dewey Decimal, a Murder by the Acre kitchen magnet, and a set of EndlesS note cards (10 cards and envelopes). This contest will end June 30th. If no one has picked the correct poem by that time, I will draw from one winner from all the entries. By the way, the poem "EndlesS" is not my favorite, although it is one of my favorites.

That's all the time we have. Anything else you'd like to add?
Just that EndlesS is on sale now at Lulu.com for $9.99 (plus shipping and handling). You can find it here.

EndlesS on sale today!

      Yes, that's right. EndlesS is on sale now! Everything came together over the weekend, and this afternoon the link to purchase EndlesS went live.
      I'm excited about this first collection of poetry, so much so that I've planned two others, Undying, which will be poems of fantasy and science fiction; and Quicksilver, which will be spiritual poems. One of those will be out in 2009.
      But it's May 2008 right now, and you can be one of the first to own Endless. I am offering signature labels that I will be signing to everyone who purchases a copy online. Just email me your name and address after you've received your copy, and I'll send a signature label right out.
      And the first five people who purchase EndlesS will receive a Murder by the Acre kitchen magnet! As soon as you've purchased the book and received your "thank you note" from Lulu, email me with your name and address. I'll send you a MBTA kitchen magnet, but remember, it's only the first five people so don't delay. (My email address is issacskye at gmail dot com.)
      I'm excited that EndlesS is available now. I hope you enjoy it. Here's the link to it again.

Review of EndlesS

(My good friend Gloria Williams wrote the following review of EndlesS, my first collection of poetry. My thanks to her for allowing me to post it here. It is also posted on her blog Wry Words.)

By Gloria Williams

I received an advance copy of EndlesS, a collection of poems by Stephen B. Bagley. While I’m a fan of Stephen’s writings – particularly his humor and his mysteries – I’m not a fan of poetry. Still, I had enjoyed the poems on his blog so when he asked if I wanted to read an advance copy and review it, I decided to take the chance.

What an unexpected little book of treasures! The poems cover emotions from joy to sorrow to passion to bitterness to grief to rebirth. I particularly liked “Creationsong” and “Quicksilver,” two decidedly religious poems that surprised me with their joy and power, respectively. “Last Poem For Jenny” has to be one of the most touching poems I’ve ever read, and “Endless,” the title poem, is simply stunning, particularly its last line. “Passion” is certainly passionate as the writer reveals a love in his life and has to be one of the sexiest poems ever.

Not that the poems shy away from the dark events of life. “Non-Communion” is a strong, unflinching look at divorce, and “Hush” gives us the multiple stories of people that society would like to ignore. I wouldn’t have liked to have been the subject of “Dismissal” or the recipient of “You & Me.”

EndlesS also takes a look at the end of the world (“No One Expected It to Happen”), the lure of a mermaid (“Undertow”), paganism (appropriately titled “Pagan”), the marriage problems of a Native American couple (“Wounded Needs”), and many other subjects.

The poems are clear and understandable even on first reading, but as I re-read the poems to write this review, I was impressed and intrigued by the hidden meanings that occurred to me. All in all, EndlesS is full of riches that even a person not fond of poetry will enjoy and a poetry lover will be thrilled by it. I highly recommend it.

(EndlesS will go on sale June 1st exclusively at Lulu.com)

EndlesS goes on sale June 1st

       EndlesS, my first collection of poetry, goes on sale June 1st at Lulu.com. From the back cover:

Enjoy over 50 sensual and moving poems from the prize-winning Oklahoma poet Stephen B. Bagley, including "Passion," "Non-Communion," "Creationsong," and many other reader favorites.

      Also from the back cover, one of the poems from the book:

Torrent

Your love on me lies
sunbright glistening
on the waters of
my cascading soul
as it tumbles through
the lichen-covered
rocks of pain and hope.

And sometimes you ask
why I love only
you as if rivers
could somehow choose the
paths of their journeys
to the sun-touched sea.

Copyright 2008 by Stephen B. Bagley. All rights reserved.

      I hope you enjoy the collection, which will be available exclusively at Lulu.com.

Things to chat about

      Crystal's on her way back from Florida now. I don't know why. Florida sounds wonderful. I think she should stay there and buy a huge house where we could all go and live. Doesn't that sound nice?
      Last night, I'd like to say that I worked on MBTA, but I didn't. I took the night off. Sue me. I did have a nice meal with TL and Kyra at a local Italian restaurant. TL moves to Texas this weekend. His lovely and talented wife Mel couldn't join us because she was sick. I suspect she's ill because she's leaving me -- my town, I mean. I'll miss both of them and wish them well.
      Kent is in Atlanta today. He was in Cleveland a couple of days back. About once a year, his job takes him to various cities. These are business trips so he doesn't get to sight see. Most he's stuck in the hotel or conference room. Not much fun.
      I've been trying to develop a friends list on my MySpace page. Slow going. I find MySpace confusing. It seems to take a lot of work to change layouts and produce good copy. I'll keep working on it. The potential audience is huge, but reaching them is the problem. You can visit my page by clicking here.
      Kristen received her Murder by the Acre t-shirt. She says she will produce a photo of her wearing it some time soon. I'm looking forward to seeing what she will do. I looked at her photos on her Flickr account and discovered she's an excellent photographer. She and Michelle have real talent with a camera. Wish I was so gifted.
      Trixie gave us two posts Tuesday. A long one and a short one, but both were interesting. I mention this because A) we've all been a bit slack in posting and B) I've always admired her ability to keep moving forward despite what life throws at her. If I'm the original bounce-n-go boy, she's the original get-back-up-n-go girl.
      I'm placing the following here because I found it interesting and helpful. These "laws" won't be in MBTA, but they'll make an appearance in MBTM, I bet. Thanks to Kristen for featuring them on her other blog.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

S. R. Ranganathan, known as the "the father of library science in India," and respected by librarians all over the world, proposed five laws of library science. Most librarians worldwide accept them as the foundations of their philosophy.

These laws are:

Books are for use.
Every reader his [or her] book.
Every book its reader.
Save the time of the User.
The library is a growing organism.

       And now I have to get ready for work. Talk to y'all later.

Loons & other things

      I've been thinking recently about my failures with relationships with women, and I think it boils down to this: Women are universally insane. Bonkers. Loony tunes. Nuts. Several bricks shy of a load. A bunch of bananas from the crazy tree. Mad as hatters. Batty as bats. Steeples without bells. Bells without clappers. Clappers without hands. Hands without fingers. Fingers without prints. Prints without ink. Ink without cartridges. Cartridges without guns. Guns without triggers. Trigger without Roy. Roy without Dale. Dale without a valley. Valleys without a river. Rivers without water. Water without wet. Wet without a suit. Suits without a tie. Ties without a knot. Knots without a rope. You get the point, right?
      Now here's the craziest, looniest, maddest, most insane thing of all: I like 'em. I want 'em. I gotta have 'em. It's obvious that I'm perfect for them because I'm as bonkers -- or even more bonkers -- than they are. So what I'm really looking for, what I need, is a woman to be crazy along with me. We could wear our clown suits as we skip happily through life, throwing pies, spraying seltzer water, tripping people with our huge shoes. We could have lots of kids and get one of those tiny cars and travel around the country spreading happy insanity as we go. There are worse lives, you know.

*

      I've been working on the back cover copy for Murder by the Acre. What do you think of the following?

The librarian and the reporter are back! This time Bernard and Lisa stumble on a body in an underground house. As they and Police Chief Donaldson investigate, they're drawn into a confusing mystery of lies and alibis that involve the upper crust of Ryton, Oklahoma. Questions abound: Why doesn't the wife of the dead man seem to care that he's dead? Why doesn't his mistress? How was he killed and why? What does the Aventura Corporation have to do with the murder? Soon the mystery spirals out-of-control as the murderer strikes again and again. As the three dig deeper, they upset powerful people. The chief might lose his job, but Bernard and Lisa may lose their lives in Murder by the Acre.

*

       Crystal and her son are enjoying the beaches of Florida this week. She's been calling and torturing -- uh -- giving me updates on their vacation. They're visiting family and generally having a great vacation. Someday I'll have a vacation again. Someday.

*

       I will be traveling this Friday up to see my second oldest niece graduate from high school. I'm very proud of her. My whole family will be up there to see this milestone in her life. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone.

*

      I've been attempting to use my recumbent bike again. My legs hate me. They're quite bitter about it. I keep telling them that it's good for us. They are not convinced. My arms make fun of them. My arms don't know that we're about to start using hand weights. Poor, silly arms.

*

       I have a MySpace page now. It's www.myspace.com/harborstreet. Drop by and give it a look. I intend to keep blogging here, though. I'm going to use it for publicity for MBTA. We'll see how it goes.

*

      And now it's time to get ready for work. Have a great day!

Vision

      I got asked if I was serious about only writing for cash as I said in a couple of posts back. That column was humor, so it was exaggerated for effect. Obviously, I have other reasons to write. (I write poetry, for instance, which has to be lowest paying writing out there other than fanfic.) But yes, cash is nice. Someday I hope to get a chance to really sell out, to throw aside all my artistic aspirations for tons of lovely cash.
      As I've said before, I've always had a pen in my hand as soon as I could make words. I remember spending a lot of my teenage years attempting to get some fairly dreadful short stories published by Asimov's Science Fiction magazine. I actually got a couple of handwritten rejection notes from George Scithers, ASFM's editor at the time. He was famous for encouraging young writers, and I appreciated his kind words even though he never published any of the thirty or so stories I sent him.
      I still have all of those odd stories in my files. Almost all of them are science fiction; I hadn't discovered my love of fantasy yet. I wouldn't read Tolkien until my first year in college; that was life-changing event. Of course, I had read Andre Norton's fantasies for years, but she had never had approached the sweep of Tolkien. This is not to disparage Norton. She wrote some fantastically entertaining books and was the master of space opera, long before anyone thought to give it that term. But it was Tolkien who would send me into fantasy, and Tolkien who would also stop me from writing fiction for years.
      The Lord of Rings trilogy simply overwhelmed me. I was stunned by his vision and the scope of his world. The books were loaded with fictional riches. And I realized that I could never match his skill or talent. I wasn't around other writers so I had no one to tell me that I wasn't supposed to match his skill, that writing isn't a competition, that my vision might not be as clear as his but that didn't mean I couldn't pursue it. Instead, I wrote non-fiction.
      I was a journalism major and had worked for various newspapers and magazines since I was 15. These included: Big Basin Herald, Muldrow Times-Record, The Bulldog (high school paper), Lion's Pride (community college newspaper), The Daily O'Collegian (Oklahoma State University's newspaper), The Weatherford Daily News, Your Country Music Magazine, OKmagazine, Nautilus Magazine, Wildlife Magazine, Pontotoc Country Chronicles, etc. I spent a lot of words on those articles. I even attempted to seize the golden ring of journalism: National Geographic Magazine. (They sent me a very nice rejection slip.)
      During all that non-fiction, I had continued to write poetry and to play with the idea of series of mystery novels. Eventually that idea would lead to Murder by Dewey Decimal. I've already told its story before so we won't repeat that here. The Measurements of Murder Mystery™ series is set in a small town because that's what I know best. I had also learned that the huge sweeping novel should have characters at its heart, and I know the people in Ryton. They're all part of me -- Bernard's love of books and his desire to not be a spectator on life, Lisa's love of words and her fears that her talent isn't enough to lead to success, the chief's love of justice and his desire to protect the people he loves -- I understand them and can clearly see where their motivations will lead them.
      Not that I gave up the hope of writing a fantasy. Dragons Gather is loaded with magic and even a dragon, but once again, its characters are people I know, aspects of me and my fears, hopes, and desires. Darkness, Oklahoma is a small town, just like Ryton or what Ryton would be if witches, beasts, and monsters roamed its streets along with the folks I know and grew up with.
      In other words, I'm not JRR Tolkien, Holly Lisle, Stephen R. Donaldson, Andre Norton, Jim Butcher, Glen Cook, Wilbur Smith, Stephen King, or any of other many authors whose work I admire and collect. (By the way, have you purchased Holly Lisle's The Ruby Key yet? Go buy it now. You absolutely won't be sorry.) Of course, I'd like to have the success of those authors, but I can't be them. I can only pursue my visions, such as they might be.
      Visions need to be fed, though. And when people buy my books and share my visions, it encourages me to keep writing and attempting to share the worlds I can see. So when someone buys one of my books, I feel like they've joined me. It validates my vision, and that's a good feeling, one that cash doesn't ever give me.

4th Harbor Street Podcast

       Click the below link to listen to the fourth Harbor Street podcast. (I finally got WildVoice to work again.)

Harbor Street Podcast 4

      I hope you enjoy the show.

Why I write

       “I’m sure that seeing your book in print is enough,” the sweet, elderly lady said. “If you don’t sell another single copy in your entire life, you will have a book to cherish.”
       We were at my first book signing, and I looked up at her, having just signed her book, and then I leaped the table and wrapped my hands around her throat and choked her until she turned purple. No, that’s not what I did. I simply smiled at her and took her money. Later I pushed her down some stairs. She broke a hip and was there three days fighting off rats and insurance salesmen before they found her.
       No, I didn’t do that, either. For one thing, I’m not that kind of person, and for another, she was a jogger and outran me.
       But she was wrong. I wrote my book to sell it. Yes, it’s incredibly cool to have a book in print, one of the best experiences of my life, but if no one bought it, I wouldn’t keep writing. I’m not bright, but even I realize when it’s time to stop hitting your head against a brick wall. If only Hillary understood that.
       Fortunately, Murder by Dewey Decimal has sold. To friends, family, and — importantly — people who don’t even know me and thus aren’t afraid that I’ll ruthlessly hunt them down. Which is funny, really, because I’d be more inclined to hunt strangers because I know where my friends and family are every single minute of the day.
       And now in June I’ll have two books out that you’ll be forced — uh — will be able to buy. We’ll have EndlesS, a collection of my favorite poetry, and Murder by the Acre, the sequel to Murder by Dewey Decimal in which Bernard, Lisa, and the chief once again show us why Ryton is one of the most dangerous small towns in Oklahoma. And yes, EndlesS has that capital ‘S’ at the end of it. Don’t ask. It’s a deep poetic reason that I can’t really explain, but might be the result of childhood brain trauma.
       Ryton is, of course, the fictional town that the Measurements of Murder Mystery™ series is set in. And it is a dangerous place, particularly if you know Lisa and Bernard who seem to have the knack of finding dead bodies. At least, they say they “find” them. Frankly, I’d be suspicious of them. They’re a lot like Jessica Fletcher of ‘Murder She Wrote’ fame. Everywhere she goes, people die. I wouldn’t invite that psycho broad anywhere near my house.
       EndlesS isn’t that dangerous, although to see people’s faces when I tell them that it’s poetry, you’d think it was a box of snakes. I end up saying things like, ‘It won’t hurt you,’ and ‘Don’t be afraid.’ Several people have timidly told me that they will buy EndlesS to support me, but they probably won’t read it. They always apologize, not realizing that I’m happy as long as I get their cash so they’re safe.
       Anyway, two books in one month. I won’t do that again. Until next year, of course, when I’ll put out Murder by the Mile and Floozy. Just think of all that good money — uh — reading. Sigh.

Energy crisis

      Stressful days at work the past few days. Taking a lot out of me. I come home and grimly attempt to get some words. Writing takes energy; as much as I love it, I don’t have enough for it, too.
      Fulltime writers have problems. I can see that easily. No steady paychecks, constant worry about the next book, fretting over sales numbers, isolation from other people -- I can see all those drawbacks. Nothing is easy. I know that. But still … to stop having each book feel like a marathon. To be able to devote energy easily instead of stealing it from tomorrow. I now have a sleep debt that stretches into the next century.
      No complaints. After all, no one is making me do this. There is no gun to my head. I could stop. I could walk away. I have a job. I have a life, neglected as it may be lately. But I don’t. I don’t stop. It makes me crazy, this refusal to give up, this need to keep trying, this drive that brooks no refusal, that doesn’t care how sick I am or how tired or lonely or sad. Driven.
      So here I am. Thought I’d blog while I attempt to work out a scene. I have a character who is not behaving as he should. This is the last chapter. We don’t need any more false clues. It’s time for the end game. The payoff.
      Anyway, that’s what I’m doing. Murder by the Acre is coming along. I don’t think it will be finished this weekend, but maybe. Crystal has finished proofing everything except this last chapter. I’m still aiming for a publication date of June 30. And I’m waiting for another proof of EndlesS. It will be on sale June 1. I mailed the first proof copy to Trixie Tuesday. She should be receiving it soon.
      So I’ll close and go wrestle with the words. Hope things are going well in your world. Talk to you later.

Latest news

      No podcast this last weekend if you didn't notice. WildVoice, the free podcast program I was using, stopped working. I uninstalled it and reinstalled it several times, but no go. I'm looking for another solution and hope to podcast again this weekend.
      However, I did have the drawing for the proof copy of EndlesS, the collection of some of my poems. And the winner is (imagine DRUMROLL here) Trixie! (Imagine CROWD APPLAUSE here) That's right, Trixie, you won the proof copy of EndlesS! Just email me your mailing address, and I'll get it sent right out to you!
      The writing is going slowly on Murder by the Acre. This is the nitty-gritty time where I work to make to everything fit and settle all the questions raised by the book -- or at least enough to them to satisfy most of the readers. (After all, it is a series. I need to leave a couple of things unsettled so that I can build on them next time.) Between writing spells, I'm entering in the many corrections that Crystal found for me. She'd done a great job, and only lacks the last chapter, the one I'm working on now. Sometime next week, the book will go to the second proofreader, the lovely and lively Frenzied Feline.
      Speaking of next week, my second oldest niece J-May will graduate from high school next weekend. I'll be traveling up there to witness her walking across the stage. She has won a lot of scholarships with her high grades and vocal talent, and is excited about attending college. My sibs and their families will be at the graduation, too. I'm looking forward to it.
      I'm still fighting a spring cold. Or maybe it's allergies. Hard to tell since the meds are the same either way, for the most part.
      I slept badly last night. Or maybe just not enough. I seem to have a sleep deficit most days. I once actually fell asleep at my desk. Slow, boring day, and I closed my eyes and was out. Woke up a few minutes later disoriented. Very weird. It all has to do with giving up caffeine for the most part.
      I'll close now and get ready for work. I hope you have a great day and week. Talk to you later.

Inevitable

      A certain amount of inevitability travels with you when you're writing the end of a book. The story comes to a destination, and all the side trips are over. I find myself writing slowly and more carefully, trying to make sure that all the questions are answered, that the story is going to end as it should with only the planned plot surprises.
      Murder by the Acre is at over 64,000 now. I think it will come in around 75,000 or so. It can't go any longer than that or the price would increase substantially. So the story has to end at 75,000 words, even if that means I have to back up and cut scenes out of earlier chapters. I'm going to try to avoid that. Did I mention that May 18 is the deadline? On that date -- or sooner depending on what the story needs -- MBTA will be finished.
      Crystal has the corrections about finished on Chapters 1-6. She should be sending them to me Thursday. I'll enter them into the manuscript, and then send the whole thing back to her, including the infamous Chapter 7. Chapter 8 will complete the book. These are longer chapters than in the first book. Don't know why, other than that's what seemed to work.
      Not much else to tell you. The second proof copy of EndlesS is on its way. I'm really curious to see how the new cover looks when published. EndlesS will be available from Lulu.com in both softcover and hardcover. The softcover may be available on the on-line retailers, but I'm going to have to see how much that costs. Both versions will available at my book signings.
      Murder by the Acre will available in softcover at Lulu.com at first, but I intend to submit it also to the online retailers, once again depending on what it costs. By that, I mean what the online retailers will charge for it. I want the book there, but if it's at some ridiculous price like $30 or so, I don't think many people will buy it. $30 is lot of money for a book from a relative unknown, and when you consider it will be a softcover version, well, I think that would be the end of that. So this may mean that MBTA will only available on Lulu and at my book signings. I thought I might do some mail order myself, but I can't supply books any cheaper than Lulu does so folks might as well order it from them. I might offer some signed copies by mail. I'll have to wait to see.
      What other news do I have? Well, I might be getting myself a Wii. No, I've not got the video game bug. I'm not a video game fan, but apparently the Wii has some games that have exercise components to them. No, I don't know what they are yet. I'll know more this weekend when I and my roomie go to look at one. Should be interesting.
      Yeah, I'm still trying to lose weight. Not trying very hard, but trying nonetheless. When the book is over, I'm going to devote some time to it. That's the rub right now. I can't spare an hour or two every day to exercise. Not if I intend to have MBTA out by the end of June. And that’s what I intend.
      Do you like authors' photos on books? I can't say it matters much to me either way, but I've been told by a few people that I should put my photo on the back of the book. (Small photo, of course.) I've thought about it and don't feel inclined to do so, but what do you think? Good idea or bad? (And yes, I'd be wearing clothes, Crystal.) Either way, it won't be on this book, but maybe Murder by the Mile. That's next year's problem.
      In bad news, my good friends TL and his lovely wife Mel are going to be moving to Texas. I'm going to miss them terribly. My little town will never grow into its dreams until it is able to provide good paying jobs to bright, entergetic young people like TL and Mel.
      And now I'm going to get ready for work. Have a great day.

Home stretch

      Kirsten won the Murder by the Acre t-shirt! I've already ordered it, and it's on the way to her. (In fact, it shipped today. If you didn't know, Cafepress makes it very easy to send out gift purchases.) Kirsten writes the Now or Never blog. Stop by and say hi.
      I'm on the home stretch on Murder by the Acre. We're only a few thousand away from 68,500, but it doesn't look like the book is going to come in that total. I think it's going to be between 70,000 and 75,000. I'm not sure exactly, but sometime between now and May 18, this "final" rewrite will be done. I'll be glad to be done with it, but I will also be a bit sad. It's like leaving a friend.
      Besides writing and housework, I worked on the May family newsletter. I hope to finish it tonight or mostly finish it. I've been printing excerpts from the first chapter in the newsletter. I'll be finished with the first chapter in the June newsletter, which is good timing since the book will come out the last week of June or the first week of July.
       I'm waiting for the next proof copy of EndlesS. It has the new cover on it and has several formatting changes. I think there will be one more proof as I want to make a couple of more changes in it, but it should go on sale in June, barring unforeseen circumstances. By the way, you can enter a drawing to win the first proof copy of EndlesS by listening to the 3rd 51313 Harbor Street Podcast and following the simple instructions. We'll be announcing the winner this weekend at during the 4th 51313 Harbor Street Podcast this weekend.
      Well, I have to get to MBTA. Hope you're having a great day. Night!

3rd Harbor Street Podcast!

       Click the below link to listen to the third Harbor Street podcast.

Harbor Street Podcast 3

      In this show, we
            1. announce the winner of the first Murder by the Acre t-shirt giveaway,
            2. announce a new contest where you can win a proof copy of EndlesS,
            3. enjoy a poetry reading from Frenzied Feline,
            4. and talk about how Murder by the Acre is going.
      I hope you enjoy the show.

     Did you see the cover for EndlesS in yesterday's post? I'm very pleased about how it turned out. That's my photo on the cover, by the way.
      I hope things are going well for you. I'm very busy with Murder by the Acre and with putting EndlesS to bed. That's about all I have time to do. Sometime in July, I'll get my life back for a couple of weeks before I plunge into Darkness, Oklahoma and plotting Murder by the Mile for National Novel Writing Month in November.
      Anyway, that's all I have to talk about today. Talk to you later. (And privately to J. Clayton of Greystroke. Yes, you're a real swinger, but that doesn't mean J. Porter is. Don't go ape on her. Just take it slow.)

EndlesS cover

      EndlesS should be on sale in June, too. It's a collection of some of my favorite poems.



      Tomorrow we have a full podcast. We'll be announcing the winner of the first MBTA contest (Have you went to the 2nd podcast post and entered yet?); special guest Jolene AKA Frenzied Feline will be reading one of the poems from EndlesS; we'll be announcing a new contest, this one for the EndlesS; and we'll be talking about Murder by the Acre, of course, and a few other things. Be sure to drop by and give it a listen.
      If you like Star Wars®, you can stop by here and get a free audio book download or electronic book download of Betrayal, the first book in the Star Wars: Legacy of the Force series. The offer ends May 13, so hurry on over if you're interested.
      And that's about all I have to tell you tonight. I hope things are going well for you. Have a great night and a wonderful tomorrow. Night!

Strange to think

      It's strange to think that sometime next week, Murder by the Acre will be finished. After all these months. Of course, I will still have the proofing to do and corrections to enter and the cover design to finish, etc., but still, the major writing and re-writing will be finished on it. Sometime in June or early July, we will have a book.
      Actually we will have two books. Endless, my collection of poetry, will be out in June or July, too. In fact, Lulu is producing a proof copy of Endless for me right now. I should get it this week or next week. I already know -- or think I know -- that I'm going to change the cover, but we'll see what it looks like when it arrives.
      What's after MBTA and Endless? Well, of course, I will be doing joint book signings for both and lots of publicity work and mailings. As for writing, I intend to return to Darkness, Oklahoma and get it ready to go out to an agent or publisher. I'm also going to work on getting Floozy ready to publish with Lulu. (Floozy is my collection of humor.) Then in October, I will spend it plotting Murder by the Mile and getting ready for National Novel Writing Month in November. I'll be writing MBTM for NaNoWriMo. Yes, I am crazy. And then we'll publish Floozy and MBTM in 2009. That's the plan, man.
      Did you listen to the blogcast and enter the contest yet? You still have two days (today and tomorrow because I intend to do the 3rd podcast Saturday) to do so. And no, you don't have to submit a photo of yourself wearing the shirt if you really don't want to. And if I don't have have the size you need, you can always give to your children, spouse, or friend. I just want the shirt worn so that it will advertise MBTA. Is that so much to ask? No, it isn't. (TL, you could win it for Mel. And Crystal, you could win it for M or his girlfriend or yourself. And ER, you could win it for ... uh ... Hmm. I don't know if Dr. ER would wear it or not. But you could wear it yourself. Or modify it into a flag to hang beside your Confederate flag.)
      Speaking of the podcast, I'm hoping that we will have a "surprise guest" this week. I'll let you know if I can work that out. EDITED TO ADD: Yes, we can work it out! Frenzied Feline will be reading one of my poems this week on the podcast. Awesome!