A Snippet and Insight

I read this headline on-line this morning: “Critics say Florida aims to rewrite history by rejecting African American studies.” Click this link for the article.

And here’s a snippet from my latest novel.

          “And now, it’s illegal in this country to talk about our ethnicity,” Ellen was the first to sober. “Or about anything which makes us different from each other.”

“Which is why the government has sent us on this stupid mission,” Kimberly replied.

“I wish they weren’t rewriting history this way.”  

Michael laid a hand on Ellen’s arm. “Others may do it, but we aren’t going to rewrite history.”

“That’s right,” Kimberly hadn’t wiped the grin from her face. “But we can rewrite the now.”

The original working title for this book was “Save Our School”. I know. Dumb. But my working title usually is; the words all have to be written before a few stand out and ask to grace the cover.

My next title was: “Rewrite the Now”, which came, obviously from these lines. Much better than the first title, but still not the zinger.

On one of my blog posts about the book a while back, when I was asking about possible covers and titles, one of Hubby’s cousins came up with “Prior to Now”. Love, love, love it. Perfect. Says it all.

When I came up with the name for the town where the story takes place – Prior Gulch – I didn’t plan on using it in the title. I guess it all works out.

So there’s a little book background for you as well as insight into why this story is prevalent today.

Dred Scott and his wife outside the courthouse in St Louis. Have you all read his story? Or has it already been erased from our history books?  

Click this link to order your copy of “Prior to Now”. Once you’ve read it, I would really appreciate your review on Amazon. Thanks a million. 

FINALLY!!!

On December 5, I released the e-version of my latest novel, “Prior to Now”. I planned on releasing the print version just a few weeks later. It was basically ready to go, only needed work on formatting.

But as you may recall, my laptop died and I had to borrow my daughter’s for a few weeks. Our internet went out shortly before that, came back on for nearly a month and then went down again. The entire time, I continued trying to get the darn thing formatted on Amazon’s platform. My son worked with me on it for hours; we were getting so close.

Finally, last Wednesday, I thought it looked pretty good online and ordered a second proof. The first proof, which I received on December 16, had two unforgiveable mistakes. I quickly fixed them and suddenly everything went awry. Two little mistakes! And I wasted a month getting the stupid manuscript formatted again. I don’t know what happened, and I nearly gave up on it a few times.

Sure, the e-book was languishing out in cyber-space and hopefully on the electronic devices of a few readers, and I can’t explain all the mistakes in that version! I need to redo it, but as you can imagine, I am pretty gun-shy about touching anything anymore.

Sorry to ramble. Last Wednesday, shortly after ordering that latest proof of the paperback, my laptop ran aground again. This time with what I feared was a virus, an insidious worm crawling into the very meat of the device, tearing at the fabric of everything I had stored on it. My overactive imagination pictured all of my writing – including that final copy of “Prior to Now” – becoming infected with smut and profanity. My beloved characters bleeding out and never realizing the dreams they had been striving to achieve.

Oh, my goodness, no wonder I don’t sleep at night!

Anyway, Hubby and I broke down and took both our computers to a computer doctor. Hubby’s desktop was released back to us after a cursory exam, but they admitted my laptop for complete testing – I imagine things like an MRI and complete lab work. Okay, not really.

When I picked it up this past Wednesday and Dr. Kyle gave it a clean bill of health, tears sprung into my eyes. I told Kyle that this was even better news than when they told me my colonoscopy was normal. I know – I’m the one who needs to see a doctor, the kind commonly called a shrink.

Oh, and while, the laptop was in the hospital, I got a message on my phone saying that my Amazon book order couldn’t be delivered on Monday. Well, we were in the middle of an ice storm that day, so I wasn’t surprised, but was still disappointed that the copy of my book was waylaid two more days. 

When it finally arrived in my mailbox, shortly after I picked up the laptop, I thought that maybe, just maybe, things had turned around. That I would be able to release the paper version yet this week.

And – ta-da – there it is! With two tiny little errors which I just did not have the strength to fix. Find the errors and I’ll give you a prize. Maybe one of my other books. But you have to buy “Prior to Now” first. And after you’ve read it, a review would be awesome. I need the money to pay for my counseling sessions. 

Fresh out of high school in the late 1850s, Emma Thomas becomes the schoolmarm in the small town of Prior Gulch. She is devoted to the students she teaches but has also been entrusted with keeping a secret about her schoolhouse.

Sarah Ford is in her thirties and recently divorced. Nearly two hundred years after the schoolhouse was built, Sarah moves into the house next door and soon learns of the old building’s secret.

Pushing sixty, Ellen Jenkins has been working for the federal government for ten years. She and her team are sent to the schoolhouse to destroy it because of its secret, but she will do anything to save it.

What is the secret of this small brick building? And will these three committed women be able to save its history?

"Prior to Now" available now in e-book and paper version on Amazon.com. 

Click here to order yours. 

I'll have signed copies available also in a week or two. 

Still Struggling

 My apologies that it has been nearly a month since I posted an update on my latest novel, “Prior to Now.” The technological setbacks have snowballed, and though the e-version is available (despite its imperfections), the print version is still a nightmare.

I’ve lost track of how many versions of it I have uploaded to Amazon and after hours of reviewing each, have still found formatting errors. I don’t remember having any of these problems with the last book, “The Truth Beyond the River.” I think it took two run-throughs for me to be satisfied with it.

Anyway, with any amount of luck, I’ll get the latest copy approved by today or tomorrow and make it available for purchase.  

In the meantime, here’s another excerpt. It’s short, but I share it to remind myself – to remind us all – that we really don’t have that much to complain about.

Emma dressed the injuries of field hands whose backs were covered with fresh wounds on top of jagged scars. She comforted crying babies when their mothers drifted off to sleep, too exhausted to hold them after their exodus. The men and women had marched through woods and fields for several nights in a row, hiding during the day in dried-up river beds or abandoned sheds or in the mire under the feet of lowing cattle in barns.

Click on this link to download the e-book, or maybe, by the time you read this, the print version will be there as well. Chris 

Prior to Now by Chris Loehmer Kincaid