Patchwork of Images

Color One, Shades of Green and Gold:

Thanks to those of you who took advantage of the sale for Changer in e-book form.�� On April 30th alone, over 1,400 copies were sold, just on Amazon.com.�� This enabled me to recoup my advertising investment with a little left over.

Shidoni’s Timeless Gardens

However, even more important to me was that now more people know that both Changer and Changer���s Daughter (previously released as Legends Walking) are available.�� For those of you who prefer print books ��� as I do myself ��� they���re also available as trade paperbacks via Amazon Create Space.

I was particularly thrilled when, on their own initiative, both Charles deLint and Terri Windling helped push out the signal.�� Since they���re pretty much the gods of Urban Fantasy (old form), this was the sort of shout-out guaranteed to leave a smile.

One thing this adventure into advertising taught me is how hard it is to get out the word that a book exists.�� Over and over again, via both social media and e-mail, people thanked me for making Changer available again ��� as if this was a newly released reprint.

The thing is, I first released Changer as an e-book back late in 2011.�� It has been there for the searching but, like so many things, out of sight, out of mind.�� The advertisement brought it back into sight ��� although, apparently only for a short period.�� Although discount continued for a couple more days, the bulk of the sales were on that first day.

Then, I guess, it drifted back out of sight.�� An interesting experiment, but definitely not a way to keep people buying���

Color Two, Bright and Multi-hued, with Buttons:

What else did I do this week?�� Hmm����� I finished the rough draft of a short story.�� I���ll tell you more when it���s not rough.�� I���m a bit superstitious that way.

I also wrote an amazing amount of non-fiction on topics as widely varied as elves and dental implants.

Color Three, Bronze and Bright Orange:

I spent a day in Santa Fe, celebrating Jim���s birthday.�� We went with friends out to Shidoni foundry.�� They pour bronze sculptures and have an amazing sculpture garden.

There���s an associated glassblowing studio.�� We were lucky enough to arrive just as one of the artists was beginning a piece.�� Although the studio got pretty hot, we stayed for a long while, watching molten glass turn into a vase.�� While I watched, I thought about Kai Wren, the protagonist of Lord Demon, one of the two novels I finished for Roger Zelazny.

I thought a bit about Roger, too, since the first time I went to Shidoni was with him, nearly twenty years ago.�� Shidoni is a sort of timeless place.�� Hard to imagine so much time has passed.

Color Four, Business Casual Meets Santa Fe Style:

Later, Jim and I got dressed up and went to the grand opening celebrations for the new Drury hotel in Santa Fe.�� Jim had been in charge of the archeological clearance for the site, in the course of which he and his crew found, among other things, remnants of one of the oldest roads in Santa Fe, pre-dating 1680.

I was pleased ��� although not very surprised, since I have a high opinion of Jim ��� that everyone we met whom he had worked with greeted him with enthusiasm and wanted to chat.�� It became obvious that, among all these hard-working, dedicated, and talented people, Jim stood out as something of a magician.�� They were remodeling a landmark building into a high end hotel.�� He was pulling the past out of the ground and making them see the shadows of events gone by.

Quilt Completed:

Out of this busy week, I patch together a quilt, a bit chaotic in pattern, and yet, as I spread it out and study the elements, a very attractive array indeed!