Well, it’s been released and it can be purchased from Amazon.com (currently for 99 cents) here:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006FRAUZW
If you previously ‘purchased’ the free pre-release version through Smashwords, you can now download the final version just as freely.
My A Dream Apart should be released by the end of the month–that’s my hope. If not, a week or so later. But, I’ve discovered that I’m not the first person to use that title. So, to give complete credit to those who before me…
All I know is that it’s a paperback from 1981 and it was written by Lesley Egan. There’s no description, although the cover with both a cat and a pair of scissors perhaps implies something nasty. Or maybe that’s just me.
The image is small, but it sure looks sultry. Originally published in 1995, here’s the blurb from Amazon: “Refusing to believe stories that credit her with being a descendant of a mystical race, Molly Sheridan meets mythology professor Matthew Redtree and finds her dreams transporting her to another time. Original.”
And last but not least…
And this is not a book, but a bootleg live recording of Paul McCartney from 1992 of a concert from 1990. Not sure why it’s called “A Dream Apart”.
So in summary, something about a cat and scissors, a romance novel, and a Beatle. I feel like I’m in good company.
The finishing touches are being applied to my new novel. I’m applying caulking along the corners of the counters, installing the baseboards, painting the trim, fussing with the landscaping, sweeping out rooms, applying a few more coats of paint, and checking all the light switches. Do they all work? It should be out in November at some point. If you want it for free, I will include a link to the Smashwords version in the coming weeks here when it becomes available.
Elliot Bergeron has just graduated from university and is falling in love with a young woman. Elliot Bergeron is a disheartened thirty year-old elementary school teacher counting down the years to his pension. Elliot Bergeron’s life is wide open. Elliot Bergeron’s life is sealed shut. Elliot Bergeron has dreams of his future. Elliot Bergeron has dreams of his past. Elliot Bergeron is living two parts of his own life at the same time and doesn’t know who he is, what he controls, who he loves, what will happen next, or what happened before.
I haven’t been updating this blog nearly as much of late, because, well, I don’t think I’ve had much to say. But now, finally, I think I have something to say. Not much, but something.
Today I finished the draft of a new novel, A Dream Apart, which I started in October but put on hold for several months while busily polishing up The Redemption of Mr. Sturlubok for it’s April 30th release (which, in retrospect, was probably a little too rushed. I’m happy with the end result for Sturlubok, but it was too much work with everything else going on). After The Redemption of Mr. Sturlubok was released, I went back to what I’d written of this new novel, unsure if I was going to be able to finish it. I’m not sure how other authors work, but when I’m working on something remotely dramatic, I am always unsure about whether I’ll be able to finish it, whether or not it will work, whether or not I’ll like it in a few months. I’ve had many false starts in the last ten years, and even a few completed drafts that upon typing that last sentence, I knew it wasn’t going to go beyond that.
With this, right now, I feel pretty good. Sometimes I think it’s great. Sometimes I think I should keep it to myself. Finishing a draft is always a wonderful, but also slightly anti-climactic day for me. There is a great sense of accomplishment upon hitting SAVE and sitting back. But that’s it. I hit save and then sit back. And then what?
A Dream Apart is right now about 65 000 words. It’s about a man who’s living two parts of his own life at the same time, and falls for two women at the same time. I guess that describes it, at least in a single sentence. Compared to The Year We Finally Solved Everything, it’s a little more character drive, personal and compassionate, with a greater emphasis on dialogue. At least right now. A lot can change int he revision stage. The Year We Finally Solved Everything was once twice the length it ended up being, but I don’t want this new book to have the same tone. I want it to be a little less formal and more loose. I’ll see.
I hope to have it released by the end of the year, which should be very doable as long as I still like it by the end of the year.
I’m currently in Winnipeg, a city where people tell you it’s balmy when it’s -15 degrees Celsius.
I’m thinking about 2011, my sophomore year. My two previous books were both written before I knew about ebook publishing, and both were books that I tried, unsuccessfully, to get publishing through traditional presses. In 2011, I’m not even trying to do that. I won’t send out a single query letter. I won’t write up a single synopsis. I won’t wait expectantly for the mail every day, for month, awaiting the eventual rejection letter. I won’t mail out a single manuscript or excerpt. As expensive as KindleNationDaily daily sponsorship may seem, $80 is what it costs to mail out just a few complete manuscripts. Those are things I will not miss.
I hope to release two books next year, the first being a new choose your own adventure book, co-written by Daniel Pitts. We’ll be done the draft in a couple of weeks, and the release date is already set for April 30th, 2011. I have both KND sponsorship and KindleBoards Banner Ad scheduled for that day, and the plan is to have them promote the grand release of the new book. Considering I want to have the month of April to send out advance copies, that gives us two and a half months to thoroughly edit. It should be enough time, and the deadline has definitely motivated us both not to slack. It’s all self-imposed, of course, but it keeps us working, and I think when self-publishing, these self-imposes deadlines ares important. I’m very excited about this, the prospect of building up some hype, creating a proper release for a book.
I also hope to release another solo-work next year, but I’m working on it more slowly and right now am focused on “The Redemption of Mr. Sturlubok.” I hope to release it, tentatively titled, “A Dream Apart,” in the summer.
In the late winter I’ll detail my plans for releasing “The Redemption…” and I will be offering free copies to people. So, if you liked Whatley Tupper, and you’re actually reading this blog, well, keep checking this site… all four of you.
The Most Boring Blog Ever Written 