Good News, and a Reminder

To start with the good news, Ashford has been selected as a B.R.A.G. Medallion honoree.  B.R.A.G. stands for Book Readers Appreciation Group, and they focus on indie books.  Books are nominated, then read carefully by the member readers before being selected or denied.  I'm very pleased that they have chosen Ashford to be a Medallion winner.  Groups like this really help separate the good from the bad when it comes to independently-published books.  Click on the link for more information: http://www.bragmedallion.com/  


So that's the good news.  Huzzah!  


A reminder: we only have a few more days left in June, so only a little bit longer to buy a copy of Ashford and have 75% of the proceeds go to the Union for International Cancer Control.  If you missed the first post, you can find it below.  Click on the link to the right to find out more about the UICC and what they do.  And thank you so much to the people who have already helped out!


Cheers!

An Update (Or Two) And a Princess

I really must apologize (again) for my recent comparative silence on this blog.  Our show on the 10th was a rousing success.  We were only a few tickets away from selling out, and we got a standing ovation.  Pleased?  Yes!  But I'm also going through withdrawals because I can't do it again tomorrow.

Aaron and I have added a new family member (photos below).  His name is Leo, and he claimed my heart the minute I saw him in a bin at the feed store waiting for someone to take him home.  As you can see from the photo on the right, he and Ferdinand are not yet the best of friends, but they are developing a mutual respect.

Thank you so much to everyone who has purchased my book in June, shared my last blog post, or in other ways helped to spread the word about my ten-year celebration plans.  I have not brought in as much as I hoped, but neither have I done as badly as I feared, and there is still the second half of the month to go.  I really am very grateful for everyone's continued support and encouragement.  I really believe in the UICC and what they do, and would be honored to contribute to their cause.  I'll leave you with a speech by Princess Dina Mired of Jordan, whose son had leukemia at the age of two, and who works with the UICC, as well as setting up and directing a cancer care center in Jordan.  A wonderful example of a powerful woman using her position for the greater good.

Celebrating Ten Years in June

This is it.  I've been thinking and planning, and now it's happening.  This month I'm officially celebrating my 10th anniversary of being cancer-free, and for all sales of Ashford reported this month I will be donating 75% of my proceeds to the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC).  


UICC is a global cancer-fighting organization, and they work with smaller member organizations throughout the world, including the American Cancer Society.  I am truly impressed by their scope and the work they have done, particularly with their efforts to provide treatment and pain medication in developing countries.  I am thoroughly aware of the fact that I would not be alive today if I had not had the good fortune to live in a place where treatment was readily available.  Whatever my thoughts on our health care system (and most of you know what those are) I am very grateful for the care I received.  I have been blessed, and I would like to share that.  To learn more about UICC and what they do, follow the nifty link on the upper right side of this page.  Look at their website, sign the declaration, watch some of their videos...


This goes for paperback, Kindle, sales online through Amazon, or sales through a physical bookstore.  For those of you who live near me, Ashford is in stock at Flowery Trail Coffeehouse and Valley Drug in Chewelah, or Coffee and Books in Town Center in Colville.  It is also available by request wherever books are sold, and the Amazon.com link is to the right of this page, right under the UICC link.


For obvious reasons this is a cause which is very dear to me, and I would appreciate any assistance in spreading the word, whether you tell your friends verbally, share this link on your Facebook pages, tweet it, etc...  


I am also planning to shave my head the second week in July, and my sister is coming to cover it in henna tattoos.  Expect pictures.


Thank you all for reading my blog, and for the support you have already given me.  I would have loved to have Violet Shadows ready in time for this, but it was not to be.  Maybe a teaser in July?  Cheers!

Rainwater and the Human Eye

This afternoon I paid tribute to the first warm rain of the year, by cavorting through puddles in the streets of Chewelah.  There's something about a warm rain, about getting soaked to the skin, which makes me happy like a lunatic child.  And now my neighbors are probably even more thoroughly convinced than before of my state of insanity.  However, I have come to the conclusion that people will scrutinize you whatever you do, so why not do or wear or be something worth their while?  People watch the Kardashians.  They also watch Cirque du Soleil.  I'm pretty sure I know which one I'd rather be.


Growing up, I always thought that nobody noticed me.  Not to pine, or say, "Oh poor me!"  It was a simple fact in my mind.  I did not think myself very noticeable, so I assumed that I was not noticed.  Gradually, as I opened my eyes a bit more, I realized that I was noticed, not necessarily because I was noticeable, but because people will look at anything.  Car wrecks or cathedrals...it doesn't really matter.


Aaron and I often walk about town.  (A boring sentence, as walking about town is a perfectly normal thing to do.)  But we are constantly amazed by the number of people who will go out of their way to stare at us...as in full-on neck-crane out the car window.  Granted, sometimes we are doing strange things, but as often as not we're just...walking.  No toilet paper stuck to our shoes, no disfiguring scars, no strange behavior...


So, for a while the realization that people watch you no matter what you do made me curl up inside myself, made me afraid to do anything that might seem unusual.  Then, gradually, I came to the decision that if people are going to watch me anyway, I'd rather give them something interesting to look at.  Don't misunderstand me.  I still have inhibitions.  Some fairly major ones.  But I'd rather be the person you see traipsing through the puddles with a ridiculous smile on her face than the one hunched over with her head down.  I'd rather be Cirque du Soleil than the Kardashians.  I'd rather be a cathedral than a car wreck.

Happy Mother's Day!

Wishing everyone a very happy Mother's Day!  Ashford is free on Kindle today, so if you'd like to pick up a copy for your mother...


Aaron and I spent last night at a book fair in support of the Libraries of Stevens County.  The turnout was not quite so nice as we could have hoped, but it was enjoyable, and I had the chance to meet other local authors.  As an afterthought I threw in our remaining copies of An Amazing Alphabetic Anthology, the book which I wrote and my mother illustrated years ago, and it turned into the surprise hit of the night, with nearly everybody toting them around.  My mother and I have been scheming for some time about putting out a new edition, redoing some of the letters we weren't as happy with and putting it out in paperback to reduce the expense.  Look for it sometime in the coming year.  I'm posting a link below for Aaron's music page, where he just added a new song, Dying Day, which he wrote for his parents.  Seems appropriate for today.  Cheers!  Now go spoil your mothers.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Aaron-Huff-SingerSongwriter/137392933016776?sk=app_182222305144028

Short Review: Walk to Paradise Garden, By John Campbell

Walk to Paradise Garden, by John Campbell, was a very enjoyable read, with an attention to historical detail which left me feeling as I do when I walk through a nice antiques shop, full of snapshots of lives which make me curious to know more.  The story follows the life of humanitarian John Armitage, from his early twenties as a stretcher-bearer in Belgium during the first world war, to his death.  Without spoilers, I can say this is a story which takes you all over the globe.  The novel is episodic, almost giving the impression of a collection of short stories, but with continuous threads running through which keep you going from one to the next.  The writing style is fairly smooth and old-fashioned, which I like, with a good balance between active scenes and scenes of a more personal nature.  Altogether, a book for the head and the heart, with a healthy dose of nostalgia thrown in.

http://www.amazon.com/Walk-to-Paradise-Garden-ebook/dp/B007BGZN30/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

Chewelah in the Spring: Earth and Inspiration

I took a walk through town today.  May is probably my favorite month out of the whole year.  I love watching the colors suddenly explode.  There is a wind blowing today, and you can smell all the flowering trees at once wherever you go.  Our garden is getting better by degrees each year, and the berry bushes are thriving.  We take Ferdy out in the grass sometimes and let him run around.  He likes to snuffle about for a while, then always ends up nosing around in our clothing.

I've had a writing surge lately, and am hoping to finish my first draft of Violet Shadows by early June.  Then comes the rewriting and editing process.  I'm hoping to publish in the autumn again, around October sometime if all goes well and my characters don't decide to do something outlandish out of the blue.  On Saturday I'm taking part in a book fair with the Libraries of Stevens County.  It's being held at the golf course.  A good venue, but it does feel a little strange after last summer to be going up there in a capacity that doesn't involve serving beer.