I love bookstores.
So it is with great pride that I've unlocked this newest achievement in writing. My 1st novel is now being carried by one of my favorite bookstores, anywhere in the world: Pageturners Bookstore in Indianola, Iowa. I was extremely humbled when Kathy Magruder (owner) & Karisa (manager) were willing to take a chance on this "noob" novelist. At the moment, they are carrying paperback copies. Here's a link to the store: https://pageturnersbookstore.com Today I received my 200th review on Amazon for my 1st published novel, Blue-Collar Noble: Here Be Dragons. It is a noteworthy achievement for many reasons. I'm humbled that so many people were willing to give my book a chance and leave a review. It means a great deal to me professionally. Thank you!!!
************* This past weekend I got to do 2 things that I've been dreaming about for a long time. The first - and most important - was getting to see lots of family and friends. Some of whom I hadn't seen in nearly 14 years! Many of whom were supportive of my new novel, even after all these years. It was great catching up with them. Having people in your corner makes all the difference. Especially when you're taking a risk (ex. being a new author). The other thing I got to do was join a balloon chase crew. I was humbled and honored to be asked to come along. The balloon is owned and piloted by a great family clan that you never want to get into a pun contest with. I've got no ambition to fly in a balloon these days, but I've wanted to be on a chase crew since I was a young teen. Being on the Chase Crew means you help unpack and inflate the balloon. Then hop in a vehicle and literally chase the balloon until it lands and pack it back up. Pilots pick the sites to take off from and they aim for certain spots to land, based on the wind direction and speed. Ballooning is arguably one of the more faithful acts you can do in life. It's like performing a trust fall with mother nature. There are certainly things you can do to help or hurt as a balloon pilot. But at the end of the day (from my perspective), as long as your balloon is in good shape, location and weather matter a great deal. The best pilots know that mother nature is the one in charge. Getting up is the easy part...but that landing is an open question. Even when it goes well, it usually is ending in a controlled crash. Luckily the flight went well for my tag-along (see pics). It was a perfect fall weather evening in the Midwest U.S. and the wind wasn't too bad. If it hadn't been for some powerlines, the pilot would have gotten to where she was aiming for. But it all turned out okay with a tiny overshoot and landing on nearby good ground. The crew and I helped to quickly pack up the balloon and afterwards, the fun clan that owns the balloon celebrated with dinner at a local restaurant. It was a great weekend. I recently attended a Ren Faire. For author's like me who write in Fantasy, Ren Faires are a gold mine of inspiration. I must have written down 2 dozen ideas that day for my future books because of what I saw, heard, or experienced.
One of the coolest things was running into this blue-monkey-cat-fairy: Chimdera. Chimdera was totally full-immersion at the faire. Unique accent and way of speaking in a simple 3rd person kind of way. They carried shiny "jewels" which they handed out to kids and those offering donations. Chimdera throughout the day was climbing on trees (and other high-up places) and would call/meow at you from above. For donations you could get pictures with this elusive blue-monkey-cat-fairy (yes, I did left Chimdera with a good-sized donation). So if you see a blue-monkey-cat humanoid mentioned in one of my future books, you'll know what inspired it. Though I will say that Chimdera is definitely one of a kind and could never be properly replicated upon the page. |
AuthorT.S. Gray is the author of the LitRPG / GameLit book series: Archives
September 2023
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