Tricks, treats, and I AM A PUBLISHED AUTHOR!!

Today, I am officially an author! As of today, Monday November 1, I now have a published novel on the market, on Amazon, ready to go! And, according to the sales ranking, Max and Menna is not doing half bad.

Now, for those of you unfamiliar, you may look at Amazon.com and see that my sales rank is upwards of 300,000 and think “that’s not bad??” But no, it isn’t! Keep in mind that 300,000 is out of 8,000,000, which means that I am in the top 5% of books being sold on Amazon right now.

I had an odd memory pop into my head yesterday, that ties well to this. I was out taking my nephew trick-or-treating and one of my parent’s neighbors opened the door and froze. She then told me sister and I that she was trying to collect herself, because she had this really strong memory of when we moved in and our first year trick-or-treating. It was so odd to her to see the two of us with my nephew in comparison.

I remember that Halloween well. I was ten and dressed up like Louisa May Alcott. I’m not kidding. In actuality, I donned one of my mom’s old homecoming dresses, which was blue lace, dragged the ground when I walked, and actually in no way resembled the garb Louis May Alcott may in fact have worn when writing Little Women. But if my parents needed evidence of what my chosen vocation would be, that probably provided it.

Even at age 10, I was mystified by the world of books and the way they crawl inside you as you crawl inside them. And so, I want to commemorate this rather exciting day in my life with an homage to a book that crawled so deep inside of me that I have not yet (nor do I want to) shaken the feeling it left me with. This may be my second homage, but if it is, I cannot think of a more deserving title.

Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie is the fodder for these accolades. If any of you have not yet read Alexie, I encourage you to at this very moment stop reading this and go to Amazon to buy Indian Killer, Reservation Blues, and Flight at the very least.

Reservation Blues by far holds one of the most startling moments I have ever experienced in literature. It happens near the end of the book and since I am encouraging you all to read it (READ IT READ IT), I won’t ruin it. But there is a scene in this book that left me, mouth gaping, appalled and awe-struck by Alexie’s ability to create something so poignant and so powerful merely in words.

It’s a skill I hope to one day emulate with more practice!

And so, I sign off from my first blog entry as “officially” a published writer. I wish you all well, and if and when you read Max and Menna (currently available for sale on Amazon.com J) please share your thoughts. I love hearing people’s reactions, regardless of whether they are good or bad!