Update on Parting Shot

Once again, I'm sorry it has been so long since I last wrote here. Life has an odd way of intruding on my intentions sometimes.

I hope you're doing well amid the chaos of our current lives. I find myself feeling a little like I've stepped into the pages of a novel ... and it's not one of mine! Whose novel is this and how do I get out? We need to have a few words about the writing style, I think.

Anyway, I do have some news! It definitely looks like I'm going to release the fifth novel, Parting Shot, this year.

I know it's hard to believe, since it's been four years since the last one and I've already said there would be a new one this year, followed by mostly silence. I don't blame you for feeling skeptical. I'm trying not to be skeptical.

I really thought it would be sooner, because I had the text ready to go in February, but then the coronavirus decided to get into the act. My artist and I were affected in different ways, but we both got sidetracked and delayed. We did the whole thing remotely, which is a testament to her creativity and patience because I found I don't always excel at describing what I want/expect in an image. We kept working, though, and I think you're going to like the result.

Here's where I am: I have uploaded the whole interior of the novel and the cover image to KDP. Both have been accepted, so I ordered a proof copy. (The Other Side taught me how crucial it is to do that every time.) The proof should get to me in a little over a week (because I'm too cheap to pay to expedite it), so we'll see what happens then. If the proof copy looks good, I'll be able to publish Parting Shot. Sometime in there, I'll also get the Kindle version available.

The end is in sight! I will keep you updated, I promise.

Thank you for your patience. Stay safe.

What to Expect

Now that The Other Side is published, I thought I'd tell you a little more about it. (Don't worry, I won't tell everything! There are some spoilers here, though, so read on at your own discretion.)

First of all, I have a new cover artist. Her name is Nicole Smith, of Jasper Design Studio. I wanted to try something new for this cover and she was eager to oblige. I think the resulting image captures some of what goes on in this novel.

So what does go on in this novel? Well, first of all, I want to caution you that this one is a little "out there." What I mean by that is that I stretched a bit, I pushed myself a little further than I thought I would.

When I wrote Outsider, I resolved that I would try to avoid certain "cliches" of science fiction. I even had Sean come up with some ideas about space ("purple aliens, flashy spaceships soaring past brilliant planets, glittering asteroid showers") and then I wrote "but he had yet to actually see any of it" because I didn't think any of my characters would. Some writers are able to make the more common aspects of sci-fi work admirably, but I was afraid I didn't have the skill to do so. Because of that, I vowed I'd never have humanoid aliens, gigantic spaceships or a huge evil empire ruling the universe. I mostly managed to avoid those, but I didn't manage to avoid one topic that I didn't think I'd ever approach: alien life.

I guess I should have known better when I had to come up with an explanation for the wormhole construction. Obviously, humans in the near future wouldn't have the capability for such a project, so I just wrote it off as aliens building them. That sealed my fate. I thought I could just ignore the builders, because they were too far away or too ancient, but it didn't work out that way. (Besides, there was the enigmatic Chapter 8 of Another Shot.) After a great deal of struggle, I decided to confront them ... which meant I had to figure out who/what they were.

How many books and movies have been created about aliens? How could I possibly do anything new with the idea? What did I want to do with them? I don't even know if I consciously thought all of these questions, but they were certainly present when I tackled this subject. I can't say I've done anything remarkably different, but I tried to avoid some of the worst cliches. Some of the problems I have with aliens in movies is that they're all humanoid, often cute (or murderous) and easily able to converse with humans. The two species interact with no trouble whatsoever. I realize that this is all creative license and I don't blame the moviemakers because a lot of those movies are entertaining to watch, but I didn't think I could write something like that. I didn't want E.T. or the face-grabbers of "Aliens." I didn't want Superman or little gray beings.

I'll leave it to you, the reader, to decide if I came up with something that works.

I will tell you this: I gave a nod to two of my favorite sci-fi movies in The Other Side, so see if you can find both of the references!

There are a few other things in this novel that I didn't expect when I wrote Outsider, but I'll leave it to you to discover the rest.

I hope you'll enjoy the novel! (If you buy it on Amazon, please be kind enough to leave a review.)

Thanks for reading!

The Other Side

If you scrolled down the page on my blog in the past few days, you might have noticed that there's a new book cover in the lower right. That's right: The Other Side is now published! It's available in paperback on Amazon: The Other Side  I hope to have it available for Kindle by next week.

What a process this one has been! It really tested my patience (which was probably good for me), but I'm so glad I stuck with it.

I want to thank Nicole Smith, the artist who created the cover image, for her patience and willingness to work with me to get the image right. She put up with a lot of emails from me and she was always gracious and helpful in response. Thanks, Nicole.

I also want to thank everyone who put up with my hand-wringing and eye-rolling throughout the long journey that led to this novel. You were all very kind not to tell me to shut up and get control of myself.

Now I hope at least a few people will read it ... and like it! Please spread the word that the fourth novel in the Penumbra series is out: no one will read it if they don't hear about it. (And if you buy the novel from Amazon, please write a review.)

Thanks for your help!

Out of the Habit

Some habits are bad (like that mid-afternoon snack of Pringles chips I just had). Some habits are good (such as using a seatbelt or brushing one's teeth). It seems to be easy to fall into a habit if you don't want it, and hard if you do want it. (For example, regular exercise is difficult for me, although I've been working on that lately with more walking.)

I've had habits come and go throughout my life. Some of them are pretty weird: when I take a carrot stick from the refrigerator, I always tap it twice against the rim of the container and then shake it once over the sink to get the excess water off. At bedtime, I start by lying on my left side and then turn over onto my right side when I'm ready to sleep. I'm sure there are others I'm not even aware of.

Could I break these habits if I wanted to? Yes, if I put my mind to it ... but there seem to be more important things to worry about than these little quirks.

However, I find I've lost one habit that I had for a long time: writing. I think I need to clarify that: writing fiction. For years, it seemed the most natural thing in the world for me to be working on two or three novels at the same time. Short stories also swirled through my brain. I was always scribbling down ideas or daydreaming to bring the ideas into better focus.

Then I got my first novel published. Suddenly I had to concentrate on the details of the novel (fonts, front pages, title, back cover text, etc.). Then I had to worry about book signings, copyright protection, marketing and social media. So I worked feverishly on all of those things.

Somewhere along the way, I stopped writing. I've done plenty of rewriting (enough for a while!), but the ideas have dried up. I'm pretty sure it's just because I got out of the habit. Unfortunately, this isn't a habit that comes easily, at least not this time. I've been trying, but there aren't any ideas in my head yet. It's going to take some practice. I'll have to get into the habit of putting myself in front of a keyboard and forcing myself to find words to put on the page. (I think that short story I wrote last Halloween was a good beginning.)

I know it will come back sooner or later. There are hints of images or considerations in my head. I just need to tease them out and turn them into something resembling a story. I'll probably write some pretty terrible stuff before I get something good.

Don't get me wrong: I'm very glad I published my novels. It's been an exciting ride, and I'm not done yet. It's just that I'm ready to get back to creating more of them!

Update on The Other Side: the artist is working to make the cover image a little lighter. I expect to hear from her in the next few days. After that, I'll submit the new version and order a new proof copy. (I'm getting into the habit of patience, not entirely by choice. Ha!) Stay tuned, and thanks for your patience.

Getting Closer

I got the proof copy of The Other Side two days early ... and I was afraid to open the package! I know it's silly, but so much has happened to delay this novel that I didn't think I could stand to see another cover that's too dark. It was Schrodinger's cat! As long as I didn't open the package, the proof copy could be good to go, or not.

I finally opened it. The verdict: the cover is still dark, but not as dark as the first one. My husband thinks it's okay. I'm not sure. The silhouette is now visible, but it's not obvious. The image also seems bluer than the original. I emailed the artist and asked if she wants to look at it before I release the novel. If she does, I'll see what she thinks. If she doesn't (she's quite busy these days), I think I'm going to go with this version.

That leaves a final run-through of proofreading, which I will try to begin in the next day or so. (I confess that I've been a little busy birding: the warblers are coming through SE Kansas so I've been trying to see as many of them as possible. I've also been watching the NHL playoffs. Tomorrow night the Cubs are on ESPN, so forget about me getting anything else done that evening!)

Thanks so much for your patience. We're a lot closer than we were last week!

And Happy May!

Try Again

Things are moving on The Other Side again. As you know, there was a delay because there was a problem with the cover image being too dark, but once again the artist has come through for me and provided me with a revised image. We really hope this one will work!

I made a few tweaks to the story and resubmitted the cover image. After about twelve or so hours, CreateSpace gave me the go-ahead on the files, so I ordered another proof copy today. The ETA is May 2, but I'm hopeful it might arrive a little before that. Then ... cross your fingers that the cover will be okay!

I find it a little hard to believe that it's almost May and my novel isn't out yet. I never would have imagined that it would be delayed this long, but that's how things go. At least you know I'm trying very hard to get it right!

Once I get the proof copy, I'll have to read it one more time, just in case there's one last thing I missed. If nothing horrible jumps out at me and the cover is okay, this novel might finally see the light of day!

Thanks for your patience. While you're waiting, please spread the word about the series and consider writing a review on Amazon for one of the novels. I'd really appreciate it!

Park

I'm afraid I don't have much to report about The Other Side. The cover image continues to be an issue, but I'm hopeful we can get that fixed soon. I'll keep you updated.

In the meantime, the pleasant weather has prompted me to take a few more walks in the wooded park north of town. (This is the one whose skeleton I enjoyed earlier in the year.) I'm happy to report that the yellow-rumped warblers are back! I heard a faint buzzy sound and followed it around with binoculars for a while before I spotted the first warbler. Then I saw several others in the same area. Despite their rather ungainly name, they really are beautiful birds and I was happy to get a chance to see them as they pass through this area. If you want to see a photo or learn more about them, here's a good site: All About Birds-YR Warbler

I also had a rather startling encounter as I was walking toward the parking lot. My mind was wandering but it vaguely noticed a rather long reed or piece of grass that was draped across the path. As I started to step over it, however, I suddenly realized it wasn't a piece of grass, just as it realized I was rather large and close. You would have laughed to see it because we both recoiled, just like in a cartoon. I stepped back and it slid into the nearest patch of grass, where I couldn't see it anymore. My initial look, though, has me convinced that it was a rough green snake. I'm sorry I didn't get a better look because it was a lovely shade of green and I would have liked to admire it. Maybe next time.

Already the leaves are starting to come out in the trees. As much as I like being surrounded by green as I walk, it makes birding a lot more difficult. I had trouble with some unknown bird calls today: the birds easily disappeared amid the canopy ... and then they sang and called just to taunt me, I suspect. "Ha, ha, I'm in here somewhere, but you can't see me!" I suppose birds aren't really that mean-spirited, but it sure seems like they are sometimes.

That's all I have to report for now. I've done a little rewriting on The Other Side and it's mostly ready to go, so once we get the cover problem solved, things should move along. (I'll be able to take it out of park and get it in gear.) Fingers crossed!

Small Setback

I have a proof copy of The Other Side in my hands! (Well, not while I'm typing, but you get the idea.)

It came two days early, so I thank CreateSpace for that. Also, I see exactly why it's important to order a proof copy because there's a small problem with the cover: the image is darker than expected so a silhouette in the image hardly shows at all. Thank goodness I had a chance to see this before the book officially comes out!

I've already notified the artist and she's working on it, so I'm sure we can get this fixed. She's done a great job so far and has always been very patient and willing to make adjustments. (I'll tell you more about her when the novel actually comes out.) Meanwhile, I'm proofreading the text to check for any typos or stray things that need to be fixed.

I have given you some teasers for this novel, but I thought I'd give you a first look at the cover blurb:
       Reggie Hawkins has been in some bad situations ... and being confined to his
     house for weeks has to be in the top five. No appliance is safe when a mechanic
     gets bored.
       Things are about to change, though: a messenger with a warning is on the way
     and gunmen are storming his brother's law firm. Hawkins will have to act quickly
     to rescue his kidnapped brother.
       What he learns about who's behind all this will lead him and the crew of
     Penumbra on a quest to the far reaches of space, where they'll make their
     most stunning discovery yet.

I hope that will pique your interest! It's never too early to start spreading the word about the new novel coming out soon, so we can build interest for it. I'll be sure to keep you updated on its progress.

Stages

Remember that skeletal park I visited in February? I finally got a chance to go back today ... and it's certainly not skeletal now.

The trees are still mostly bare, but there's an undercurrent of green across the ground. Here and there I caught pale purple flowers or the bright pink of redbud trees. One bush had delicate white blossoms. The park isn't fully dressed yet, but she's starting to put on the initial layers of finery.

The birds are arriving, too. The air was punctuated by titmice calling everywhere I went. Carolina wrens tried to fool me into thinking all that noise couldn't come from such a diminutive bird. A barred owl made me smile with its call of "Who cooks for you? Who cooks for YOU??" Throw in a few cardinals, a fish crow and some goldfinches, and it was almost a symphony.

The bare bones were fascinating, but I have to admit that I like the dressed-up version better.

I'm getting close on The Other Side. I have an ISBN. The interior has been submitted and accepted. However, there's a slight problem with the cover image so I'm working on that with the artist. I'm hoping we can get it figured out quickly so I can move on and get to the proof copy stage. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for reading my blog! Please spread the word about the Penumbra series and leave a comment if the mood strikes you.

And happy spring!

Escape

I had an interesting vision the other day while I was sitting at work, wishing I could be at home working on The Other Side. I pictured my purple three-ring binder, which holds that tale, on the table next to the computer. Then, unexpectedly, I saw the binder flip open and my characters start to climb out.

It was kind of fun, a bit of whimsy to break up the workday. It also reminded me of two important facts:

1. My characters do not only live in that binder. They live in my head, in the novels published so far, in novels yet to come and in the heads of my readers. (It means a lot to me that they live in someone else's head now, too.) I need to keep in mind that they're "real" characters and they need to be portrayed as such, not as cardboard cutouts. I need to stay true to each of them.

2. What is in that binder is a story, not just a lot of words that I have to shepherd into place. I might write the greatest scene ever, but if it doesn't belong in the story, out it goes. Once I've made sure I have everything worded the way I want, I need to double-check to make sure I still have a story that's fun to read and worth the time.

All of that from one little fantasy! That's one of the fun things about being a writer: you can have crazy little random thoughts ... and then you get to interpret them so you can make something out of them.

How I Made a Video

I hope you've seen my video for Outsider by now. Please share it with your friends: you can either send them a link, or you can go to Youtube, find the video and click on "Share." Then you can choose Facebook, Google+ or wherever you wish to share it.

Here's the link again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VihpR0pKQXE

I'd been wanting to make a video for quite some time, but I wasn't sure how to do it until I learned about Windows Movie Maker. I threw together a little test video to see how the software works, but I knew I couldn't get away with making a video using others' photos or drawings, so that was my first hurdle.

To solve it, I bought some Crayola markers and cut some sheets of paper into fourths. Each quarter was one of the images. I drew up a little storyboard so I would know what images I needed. Then I drew images on the paper and scanned them into my computer. Since they looked a little raw, I fixed them up using Paint. (This was the most time-consuming process of the whole video.)

Once I had my bundle of images, I imported them into Windows Movie Maker. I arranged them on the timeline at the bottom, and then I began adding effects and transitions. This took a while because there are an amazing number of these available! At first I only used fades, but then I began experimenting with dissolves, peels and other effects. It was kind of fun. (The most important thing I learned was to Save Project, so I could save my changes but I didn't have to finalize the video.)

Then I hit another snag: what music to use? I knew I couldn't use someone else's music any more than I could use someone else's images, so I was stuck. (I had some music lined up but couldn't use it because of copyright.) Fortunately, Youtube has free music available in their Audio Library, so I spent quite a bit of time going through that until I found something I liked. Actually, I found two songs and it took me several play-throughs before I could pick one that fit better with the video images. (I chose "Warrior Strife" by Jingle Punks. Great band name!)

Of course, the song I wanted was too short, so I had to paste it in there twice, cut off the excess and add a fade at the end so it didn't just end abruptly.

Then, after some hesitation, I pressed the "Publish" key and there was my video! I still had to upload it to Youtube, of course, but that wasn't so bad after the whole process of creating it.

In a way, this process was a lot like publishing Outsider itself. I created the story, spent a lot of time to format it the way I wanted, and then had to have the courage to press "Publish." I'm glad I did, in both cases.

I might make a video for Another Shot, but I think it will be a while before I have that much spare time, so don't hold your breath.

Thanks again for your support!

Another In The Shadows Update

Good news! I finally finished the blurb for In the Shadows, which means I was able to submit the whole book to CreateSpace.com for review. After waiting 24 hours, I got the word: it's good to go!

I've now ordered a proof copy that's supposed to arrive around January 5. (It's hard to wait!) Then I'll finally be able to hold my latest novel in my hands. What a feeling that is. (And it lasts until I start proofreading and find the inevitable mistake. Oh, well, that's part of the process.) I'll let you know how it goes.

Meanwhile, believe it or not, I've starting working on the next one! (It already has a rough draft.) This one will need A LOT of work: it doesn't have a title and it isn't even broken into chapters yet! (I think I have a good title in mind, though. I'll give it some thought and let you know once I'm sure.)

Remember to tell all of your friends and family members about the first two novels. They'd better hurry and read them before the third one is out, right?

I hope you had a peaceful holiday and will have a wonderful New Year. Look for the beauty that's around you, sometimes where you least expect it.


From Photography Workshop, November 2014

Thanks, as always, for your support.

In the Shadows Update

I've made more progress since last week, so here's the latest update.

On Monday, I got the final image from the artist for the cover. It's now on my hard drive, ready to be submitted.

On Wednesday, I registered In the Shadows with CreateSpace.com and received an ISBN for it. (That's always one of my favorite steps.) I then typed the ISBN on the copyright page.

On Thursday, I submitted the interior and it was accepted. Whew! I paged through their Interior Reviewer, which shows me what the interior will look like once it's printed, and it all looked pretty good. I also got some Likes for my posting about it on my Facebook page, which I really appreciated. Thanks for your support, everyone!

Now I'm frantically trying to write the cover blurb. I've told you a little about this in the past: I need two blurbs, one for the cover and one for the Amazon page. I think I've got the one for Amazon done, but the cover blurb is proving to be pesky. I'm getting some editorial help from my husband, who keeps telling me to "punch it up," so I'll work on it some more and try to get that finished today or tomorrow. Once that's done, I can start working on the cover at CreateSpace.com.

The book is starting to come together! Don't forget, though, that I'll have to order a proof copy and proofread the whole thing again, so we're still looking at January for a release date. I feel I'm getting closer, though!

Thanks again for your support.

Continuing to Format

I finally feel I'm making some progress on In The Shadows!

The artist and I have been meeting and emailing, and we're getting close to the finished product for the cover image. I think the black and white version is done, so now she'll add color to it and we'll see how that turns out.

Meanwhile, I've started to format the novel in earnest. I typed In The Shadows before I had the template that I used before, so there's a lot of work to be done. I already worked on the headers (which I talked about in a previous post), so now it's on to the rest.

First I worked on the margins. I use custom margins, which are set up in Page Layout in Word. Once I set it for mirror margins, I could set the margins for the top, bottom, inside and outside, using the guidelines from CreateSpace.com.

After that I justified everything except the chapter headings, so the text goes all the way to the edge both inside and outside. It looks a lot cleaner that way. I had to watch out for the last line of each paragraph, though: if I forgot to press Enter at the end of the line, it was all spread out and looked very odd!

Next I set the trim size, which is 5"x8". This is also set in Page Layout and is applied to the whole document.

I had to wait until after I set the trim size to set the Drop Caps. I learned the hard way that these might look great in one size, but then look absolutely wrong in another size, so I don't set them until late in the process. If you don't know what Drop Caps are, that's okay (I didn't at first either). If you look at the first line of each chapter in either of my novels, you'll see that the first letter is much larger than the others and extends down to the next line. I set this to "drop" down two lines rather than three, because I think it looks better that way. I have to manually set this for every chapter.

Now the slow part: I need to scroll through the entire thing, looking out for bad page breaks, bad scene breaks, bad line breaks, etc. This takes quite a bit of time, but I don't mind. It's kind of an excuse to run through the story again, although I'm not rereading the whole thing. It gives me little reminders of scenes that I particularly like.

And that's where we are for now. I need to keep checking the format and the artist needs to apply color to the cover. After that, I'll be ready to try submitting the whole thing to CreateSpace.com. I'll let you know more about that when the time comes.

Onward!

Images

It's time to work on the image for the cover of In The Shadows. I met with the artist recently to discuss the image I'm seeking this time, as much as I could describe it. I had a pretty vague idea for Another Shot, but this time I have something a little more specific in mind. On one hand, that's good for the artist because she knows what I want, but on the other hand, it might be a drawback if my internal image is so specific that it's hard for her to match it.

I'm going to try to be flexible. I really like the image that's in my head, but I have to be willing to allow for her creativity and her own vision. I guess it's a lot like anything else you approach for the first time: you might have an idea of how it will go, but you can't ever know for sure. If you can adapt as you see the whole image taking shape, you'll be a lot better off than if you rigidly stick to your original plan. It's also true of life in general: my life now is certainly not how I envisioned it twenty, ten or even five years ago!

Stay tuned for updates.

Slow

These are certainly the lazy days of summer. Book sales seem to be at a standstill, and so is the third novel.

Slow sales are to be expected, at least until Oprah or some famous movie director discovers Outsider. In the meantime, I'd like to thank Amanda and Vintage Stock in Joplin for continuing to carry copies of both novels. I did sell one copy there last month and that's definitely better than none!

My vacation sort of threw a wrench into the progress I was making on the third novel. After you've been staring at mountains, it's harder to stare at paper (especially paper holding words you've seen several times before), so I'm a little slow on that. In order to keep from feeling stuck, I've been trying to work on what I might want for the cover image for this one. You would think it would be easier than the second novel, but it most certainly is not! I have a vague idea and I'll see if I can run it by the artist in the near future to see what she thinks. (I have a verbal agreement to work with the same artist who did the cover for Another Shot.) Let's hope she thinks my idea is feasible and not ridiculous.

In the meantime, I hope everyone in the U.S. had a fun and safe Independence Day. Everyone have a great summer!

Perspective

I've been spending too much time lately staring at the images produced by the cameras aboard the International Space Station.  Here's what I've learned about Earth:
1) It's beautiful.
2) There are a LOT of clouds.
3) The people living on it had enough ingenuity to put a station up there so I could see these amazing views. I'm so lucky!

Another thing I've learned is that no matter what my mood, I will feel better when I look at our blue and white planet from above. For one thing, darkness lasts less than an hour up there, so the sun is going to rise again soon.

And the funny thing is that this is a big theme in my third novel! It couldn't be more timely for me to see the embodiment of darkness giving way to light.

It's dark and scary over there to the left, but all of that is shrinking away against the returning light.

Darkness has its purpose and is not always bad, but it's only part of the equation. The trick is to pass through it without becoming part of it.

And down here on this part of the surface, the days are getting longer.
Enjoy your summer.

Recollection

Happy Memorial Weekend! It's the unofficial start of summer, but it's also a time to remember ...

I started to think about those I remember, and it saddens me that the list is longer than I expected. I guess we can't escape that unless we have no human contact whatsoever, which wouldn't be worth it. The sadness is accompanied by a feeling of gratitude to have known them as long as I did. Family and friends, you are not forgotten.

I plan to use this weekend to make as much progress as I can on my third novel. Yes, there is a third, and yes, I have a rough draft. I'm in the polishing stage. That's when I read over what I have and wonder, What was I thinking when I wrote that???
Then I fix it (at least I hope so). I enjoy jumping back into that world temporarily, especially when this "real" one gets a little hectic.

Speaking of different worlds, how would you like to know what it's like to be aboard the International Space Station, gliding peacefully over the Earth? I don't know about you, but I would spend the whole time staring out the window ... and now I have the chance to do that! No, NASA hasn't invited me up there (although I would accept the invitation, NASA! Call me anytime). Instead, the Internet has come up with yet another way to suck up my time. Look at this.

How would you like that view out your window? Here's your chance to see it! It's here: http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/HDEV/  (If you go there and the image is gray or black, give it about 30 minutes. The station orbits in and out of darkness several times a day. One orbit takes a little over 90 minutes.)

So while we remember the ones we've lost, we can also remember what an awesome planet we live on and how much it's worth saving.

Bookmarks & Spacesuits

I know that seems a rather unlikely combination, but I have news about both so that's the common denominator.

First of all, I have new bookmarks for Another Shot! The people who made the bookmarks for Outsider did such an excellent job that I went back to them ... and they didn't disappoint. They didn't need to change the design very much, but the color is royal purple instead of dark blue. I chose that because there's a tiny bit of purple in the cover image and the purple background really brings it out. I think it works. Unlike the first bookmarks, these include my blog address and Facebook page, so people can find me if they want to do that. (By the way, I tried to scan a bookmark so I could show part of it to you, but the scanner doesn't like it and keeps distorting the color.) I'll be handing out the bookmarks at various events and I'll probably donate some to the local library. What better place to find people who might use a bookmark?

I discovered the other news today on cnn.com: you can now vote for the design of the next NASA spacesuit! That's right: there are three potential designs and they want you to vote for one. However, when I read more carefully at the site, I learned that these suits will only be used for testing here on Earth, not in space. (So why call them spacesuits? Hmmmm... These will lead to the next design, which could be used in space, I guess.) Anyway, if you want to check out the three designs, they're here: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/z2/  (If you have trouble seeing the designs, refresh the page.) I'm leaning toward the Technology design, but I haven't voted yet. Feel free to leave a comment about which one you like or dislike the most. By the way, you can only vote until April 15, so vote soon!

Thanks again for your support.

Little-Known Facts about Another Shot

As you've probably noticed, Another Shot is a little longer than Outsider. That's partially because Another Shot started out as two novels. As you're reading it, see if you can tell where the original break was.

The first of the two novels wasn't bad, but the second one was too short and I didn't want to do some major padding, so that meant only one thing: major cutting. I must have cut almost 100 pages from them, which wasn't easy, believe me! It's seriously hard to cut a scene you love with your whole heart. I had a conversation between Booth and Hawkins that I still miss, but it just didn't work—so out it went.

I found the name of the series totally by accident. I was flipping through a dictionary when I stumbled upon a line drawing of the sun, Earth and the moon. There were intersecting lines drawn between the edges of the sun and Earth, and on the far side of Earth there were three shadows: one dark triangle in the middle with two lighter gray triangles on either side. These lighter triangles were labeled the penumbra, the area between the darkest shadow and the light. The area between the dark and the light!! That perfectly sums up one of the big images of my novels, where Lamont is trying to guide his crew closer to the light and farther from the darkness that threatens to engulf them. I still can't believe how lucky I was to discover that just by turning some pages of a rather large book.

I've partially recreated the image below, with color and without the moon. During a lunar eclipse, the moon would orbit around Earth and pass through the first penumbra, then the umbra, then the second penumbra before emerging into the light.

A version of this drawing is what I used to create my Penumbra Series logo, which you can see on my Facebook page. It will probably pop up in other places, too.

Unfortunately, I've discovered there's a Penumbra Series horror adventure game that gives you some pretty scary images if you Google "Penumbra," so beware of that. I am in no way associated with that game, just to be clear, and I named my novel series before I knew about it.

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