Desultory Remarks IV

On Saturday I attended my first Author Fair, this one hosted by Atkinson Memorial Church, a mere thirteen blocks away from my house in Oregon City. There were about forty local authors there from a variety of genres, and a few less than forty attendees if my guesstimates are correct. I didn't sell a truckload of books (ok, let's be honest--I sold one copy of I Serve), but I had lots of fun chatting with the other authors about books, the publishing industry, politics, religion, and all sorts of other topics not recommended for polite conversation.

Would I do it again? Probably. Although I must admit that it was the first time I had abandoned Marcus for more than an hour or two. He was fine and had lots of fun with his dad and brothers, but I missed him....

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Last September, when Road from the West was released, we bought three advertising spots for it in Kindle Nation Daily, a website for Amazon e-book promotion. Funny thing is, it's been so long since then that I completely forgot we had our last ad coming out today. Good thing they e-mailed me to let me know.

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Now that David is out of school until September, our summer has officially begun. I'm determined to finish the first draft of Flower of the Desert: Book II of the Chronicles of Tancred before summer is over. I've set myself a writing goal of 5,000 words a week. Week 1 was tough but I made it. My strategy? Not allowing myself to go to bed until I've written 1,000 words for the day. Week 2 sleep deprivation overcame my good intentions, and for the sake of my sanity (and my children's wellbeing) I was about 1,500 words short. Week 3 is currently underway. It's Thursday morning and I'm at 2,854 words. Will I make my goal? It's anyone's guess. 

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Despite a bizarre plummet to almost freezing last night, the weather has been absolutely beautiful this week. The boys have been enjoying the outdoors to no end, and we've all been enjoying the garden that David's labored so long to create.

Our cherry tree and tulips

The sidewalk got the best of Adam 

Playing on the swingset at Aunt Amy's 

Three Reviews + Kindle Nation Daily

I neglected to post yesterday, so today I have three new blog reviews of Road from the West to tell you about. The first is over at A Few More Pages:

....I definitely would like to continue reading about Tancred's adventures, and since this book only takes us part-way on the Crusaders' journey to Jerusalem, I am looking forward to picking up the next book in the series. There are too many questions still left to be answered: Will Tancred make it to Jerusalem? Will Alexandra win his heart? Will Bohemond gain the riches and power he is after? I must find out what happens!

The second review is at By the By Books:

Lortz's narrative is wonderfully written. The writing is very simple, but in a good way. I felt that this section of history, which is almost 1000 years old, was fresh and easily understandable for today's reader....

And the third review is over at The Owl Bookmark Blog, a website which has the most whimsically delightful header:

It is very obvious right off the bat that Lortz did her research and probably is as familiar with the Crusades (all of them)as she is with the back of her hand.  This novel is full of historical facts and anecdotes as well as a very realistic setting that allows Lortz's historical prowess to show....

 In other news, Road from the West is the featured sponsor over at Kindle Nation Daily today. KND is a website with a large e-mail subscriber list that alerts Kindle owners about great finds in the e-book world. The site owner, Stephen Windwalker, is a pleasure to work with, and we've really enjoyed the ads that he's put together for both I Serve and Road from the West.