My Amazon Author Page

Oh, wow.

Amazon informed me this morning that my Author Page is online and accessible.

http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003XJHLBG

Although the paperback version of The Corpse That Wasn’t There is not yet ready for purchase, there is a link to the Kindle version on that page.  In addition, if you go to the book’s Smashwords page, you can purchase it for any other eBook format.  I’m still waiting for word that it’s cleared the queue for Barnes and Noble, so I can purchase a direct copy for my nook.

My publisher tells me it’s only a matter of weeks before the paperback shipment comes in and they can mark it available on Amazon.com.  Once it’s “live”, you’ll be sure to hear about it (probably without me even having to write a post, LOL).

With each small step forward, I have to pinch myself, to try to register that this is for real.

To say that I’m excited about the publication of this book is a major understatement.  Though I have been a writer for decades, and have been published in short story and magazine format, this is my first novel-length book.  For many years, I had a wonderful agent who was circulating my novels amongst the major publishers, but it was at a time when “no one was buying fantasy”, and that was what I was writing … young adult fantasy.

It was shortly after I sort of left the writing arena, or at least the “desperate to market my writing arena”, that Harry Potter hit the shelves.

Timing was never my long suit.

This particular book has always been a labor of love.  Many years ago, with two friends who had already been running another list with me, I started an email discussion group for Junior Handlers, JrShow-L.  This was in the mid 1990s, and The Corpse That Wasn’t There was actually written, in first (second, third, fourth….) draft form during the heyday of that list, I believe around 1997 or ’8.  It sat quietly on my various hard drives for years, was moved from computer to computer as I upgraded, was revived briefly in a casual ebook form in ’03, and then went back into hibernation.

Then, when I was approached by two different people at the same time, saying that they were both starting independent publishing companies, one of those people…my dear, long-time friend (and, in the past, close writing comrade) Judy Simpson specifically asked about “my Junior Handler story”.

We were all set to fly with that, when dear Judy passed from this world, and Lost Bard Books folded.

In grief, I considered letting the idea fold with it.  However, remembering the other offer, I contacted them, knowing that Judy believed in this story.  For her, I took a chance.

It has been absolutely wonderful working with Fehrman Books … almost as good as it was with Judy.  I feel like I’m still working with Judy, in fact, as I talk to her, tell her aloud and in my heart about each step of progress, and I have dedicated the book to her memory, and to her friendship.  Cherie, the key editor and one of the senior publishing partners, is also a friend, and shares my love of animals.  The chance to open this story up to young readers, in the hopes that it will help to encourage the bond between kids and animals in some way, has been a great blessing. The fact that Fehrman Books donates a portion of all proceeds to animal welfare causes is just the icing on the cake.

Now, we’ve got a book!  So far, it’s an eBook, but very soon, I’ll hold the bound paperback in my hands.  When I do, I’ll raise it to the heavens and shout from the mountainside (I really do live on a mountainside, by the way) … “Judy!  This one’s for YOU!”

Related posts:

1. “Corpse” Author’s Copies are Here!
2. The Corpse That Wasn’t There — E-Book Available Now!
3. Lost Bard Books and My Novel