Happy New Year to all readers. It is not to late for that, is it? It seems like just yesterday I was ringing in the new year. Is it me, or is 2012 passing too quickly? I don’t know where the time is going. I haven’t slept one single night since the year began, yet the days are not long enough for all that I want to do.
Two days into 2012 I fell victim to a cold that knocked me out for more than a week. It is bad enough to start the year feeling miserable, but just as I was recovering I got a call informing me that my soon to be five year-old grandson was hospitalised with dengue—another torturous week for me. In Trinidad even grown-ups and teen-agers have succumbed to dengue over the years so when a child whose immune system is not as strong contracts dengue there is not much hope. Thank God the doctors were able to make an early diagnosis and treat him accordingly. Failure to make early detection have resulted in loss of lives in the past. Then, at the end of January I lost a half-sister to kidney failure. She was only thirty-one so her passing was another blow, especially since her birthday is a day before mine.
The middle of January I started preparing my novel for Amazon Kindle...not an easy task.
I finally managed to upload it on the 31st. The option to preview didn’t come up so I’m anxious to go to Trinidad where I can view the copy my son bought (if he ever gets around to reading it is another story) so that I can peruse for any formatting discrepancies in the conversion.
Apart from following the occasional carnival show online when access permitted (as I write this—Sun 26th ,there is no internet, lost it yesterday), February was devoted to formatting my novel for CreateSpace...whether I’ll be successful in that regard is left to be seen. My manuscript was nicely single-lined but when I put it in the template the spacing got out of whack so I’m working on that...wish me luck.
There’s a link to the Kindle version of my novel on the left. The first two chapters are available for reading. I would really appreciate it if readers would take a look and give me some feedback (whether good or bad). I have no qualms about open critique but PMs are welcome for those who prefer to do so privately. Thanks.
A Walrond ©2012
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Comments
I sat and read the two chapters. I felt her pain after being dumped and having to leave her home. by the cad and loved how you described the lunch and how she felt. easy to read and grabs the reader. That's all you need to sell a book. Glad she kept the jewelry..)
HUGGGGGGGG
My condolences on the loss of your half-sister and my best wishes for a swift recovery for your grandson. I had to look up "dengue" and see that it's nothing to mess with. Something with similar symptoms - probly a flu - has been making the rounds here, whacked my wife and me, no fun.
Hope things are better for you now. And, yes, happy new year to you!
I am looking forward to your opinion on the chapters. If it passes your inspection then I know I have nothing to worry about but if it doesn't, well...
I have one suggestion regarding the plot line: I know you must have a crisis for Lisa and Adam up ahead, probably on the boat in a storm or some other danger on the high seas. To help entice readers you might consider giving us a couple of chapters leading into that crisis instead of the openers. Your writing is stellar. That you can rely on.