Podcast contest

Well, I didn't win, but I came in 5th out of 22 independently published books. Not bad, but I am grateful to all those who voted for my book to be a part of the Podcast. My thanks go out to all of you!

Jeff

Podcast contest

I am involved in a podcast contest where the author who receives the most votes gets a podcast interview. Please go to:  book podcast.com/pol and vote for my book, The Devil's Kettle by Jeffrey Ollman. I am not going to win the contest, but I may get a shoutout if I finish in the top five. Right now I am number 4 out of 22 authors, but a few are close behind. I believe voting closes Friday night, December 15, 2017.

Please vote for my book!

Editorial from Charla White-Words a Plenty

This is not just your ordinary missing person, serial killer, and mystery. Ollman makes it so much more when he keeps throwing in twists that keep you sitting on the edge of your chair with the turn of each page. Just when you think you have it figured out – wham! He does it again. Even with the barrage of twists and turns in the mystery, Ollman keeps the story clear and flowing. The reader never becomes confused about what’s going on - the story flows so well that the reader can do nothing but sit back and wait for the next twist knowing it is coming but not just when or how!

A new bookstore

I just dropped off some copies of The Devil's Kettle at the gift shop in Bluefin Bay Resort. This is my first connection on the North Shore.

Billings

Sitting here in Billings, Montana sipping a glass of Markham cabernet, reading a few chapters in Sanford's Golden Prey, and thinking about my next novel featuring Gerald Hodges. It will take place in Vancouver. I'm sketching out the beginning and plot in my mind---also thinking of organizing my nonfiction-Growing Up Atheist book into time periods.  Ah...but back  to the wine. It's wonderful!

A beginning snippet

Growing Up Atheist

Well, where to begin? I am a sixty-six year old atheist, and was brought up that way. I suppose that I and my brothers and sister are fairly unique in America. My parents were atheists, and my father’s parents were atheists-don’t know about our background before that. My mother was brought up in the church and attended various services until she met my dad and married him at the age of nineteen. That’s when she got religion, or should I say not. All of her sisters and brothers stayed in the church, including the ones who upon marrying into another family discovered their new in-law’s Native American heritage. They embraced their new heritage wholeheartedly. My folks and I even went to one of their ceremonies—very interesting, but that is another story. Even with all the wild religionists in our extended family, none of them has ever held our atheism against us. We were as embraced as any other member of the family at large.

When I first mentioned to my mother that I was going to write a book about our family and atheism (she was 88 at the time-now going on 92) she said, “Wait until I’m dead. I really don’t want you to open up a can of worms.”

Well, she relented about a year ago. She seems more confident now that somehow it’s okay to lay it all out there. Kind of like a gay person having the confidence to finally come out of the closet and let the world know. It does seem liberating, because all of my life-mostly from the time I was of elementary school age, I was aware enough to know that our family was different than the vast majority of Americans.

So, again, where do I go from here? I’ve decided that I’m just going to ramble—it’s easier. I might go back and forth a little bit so it might get a little confusing. I apologize, but I will try to make everything clear!

I might talk to myself here a little, so please indulge me. I’m going to loosely construct the tale of my atheist family from childhood to the present, although, as I commented above, I might switch time frames just a little.

Starting a new book-----nonfiction

I have started writing a book about growing up as an atheist---a fairly unique situation. I am still a non-believer in a deity and want to give my perspective and help dispel myths about atheists and provide background about what it was like to be in my position throughout life. I will post snippets as I write.

Sweet Reads book store

I just returned from Sweet Reads where we discussed my new book, The Devil's Kettle. We had a real nice turnout on a warm, sunny day. (I'm surprised so many people decided to come and discuss my book rather than enjoy the great outdoors).
Besides a great discussion, we enjoyed cookies, coffee and pretzels. It was a great time.
So many thanks to Lisa Deyo, owner of Sweet Reads who has been so accommodating to our local Minnesota authors.  Thanks again, Lisa!!

Up and Running

The Devil's Kettle is now available on amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com. I hope to have it available on Kobo soon, but there seem to be some technical difficulties in converting the manuscript into an ePub on the Kobo platform. The paperback should be ready in a about three weeks or shorter, I hope.

Right now, I'm traveling in the southwest around Flagstaff and Sedona, Arizona. Later, I hope to wrap up a couple of downhill skiing days in Winter Park and then head home.

Very very close

The Devil's Kettle has been uploaded to Kindle, Nook, and Kobo ebook formats. Paperback is in production through Outskirts Press and should be ready within the month. The Kindle will be available on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo within the week.

Thanks!

My thanks to Ricki Walters, www.rlweditorial.com. who finished editing, The Devil's Kettle, and the writers group that I am a member of. All involved have given me a lot of valuable feedback that I have incorporated into the book.
I am also grateful to the folks at Outskirtspress involved in production, cover design, interior design, and marketing.
The paperback will be available in 8-10 weeks. I hope sooner for the ebook version.

Edit

I received the edit back and am going through it now. A few days of reviewing it and considering changes and I'll send it off to the publisher for interior design. Getting closer to the finish line!

Link

I just added my blogs to my Author Central page on Amazon. If you are perusing my books please visit my author page.

Recently visited with John Haymond and Curt Rude, authors and members of the writers group I belong to. Cracked back a few brews before getting together with the rest of the group and evaluating work of other members.

A face shot from my camera of the front cover of my latest book.

I hope to be publishing the edited copy by mid-March in e-book and paperback form. It will be available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Kindle and Nook copies.

First time ever!

I have uploaded my manuscript to the Nook and expect to publish there when I'm ready. Their site needs getting used to and isn't as intuitive as Createspace or KDP, but I eventually figured things out. It's another option in the independent author's arsenal of sales and marketing.
I also sent out half a dozen queries to agents last week and haven't heard anything back from them. The previous week I heard from one agent who said he thought my project was strong, but, he still didn't think it was for him. Oh well!
I am up to a dozen rejections now, so am feeling like a REAL author.

Here is the back cover copy of my new book, The Devil's Kettle.

Three missing persons cases over a two-year period collide in this novel.  The most recent person gone missing, Seth Tryton, has friends in low places that won’t let the case stand as is. Placing his freedom in peril, fugitive from the law, Gerald Hodges, returns to Minnesota to help find out what happened, A couple of associates accompany him as they roam the streets of Duluth and travel the North Shore in search of clues to his disappearance.

They discover that Peter Karonen, a local man living in the small town of Finland may hold the key to all three disappearances.   He is a man who has lost everything important in his life—his wife to cancer, and a daughter mired in a persistent vegetative state. His dark journey leads him on a collision course with Gerald Hodges and his crew. Complicating matters, the local police discover that Hodges is in the vicinity and pursue him with vigor. Hodges must not only find his friend, but dodge the police in the process.

Beaver's Pond Press

I met with Hanna Kjeldbjerg in her office at Beaver's Pond Press and came away very impressed by their publishing services.  Also browsed titles within their office and reviewed cover art and interior formatting samples. Very, very nice!

On the way home I surfed the internet and looked at Mill Street Publishing and checked them out online when I got home. Both presses offer  a la carte services so you pick and choose what you need from them. The range is from cover service to full blown beginning to end of process publishing. Of course it all costs money, but it is the rare author who can get by without any type of service whether it is editing or book design.

We'll see what happens.

bad roads!

Pushed back my meeting with a publisher until next week. Roads are too slippery for me today!

Visit with a publisher

I'll be visiting with a publisher in Minneapolis next Wednesday.

Query letters

I sent off two query letters to small publishers on the east coast today.  Probably won't hear anything for two months.