The Journey... Earth

When I began this Blog, I didn't know exactly where it would take me. Yes, my intention was to feature the 'journey' of my novel, Pursuit of the Golden Lily. I wanted to record the actual physical landscape of the story and visit the places that had lived solely in my imagination for so long. Miraculously, along with my two dear friends and travel companions, Marjorie and Ruby, I was able to achieve that, and experienced the trip of  a lifetime -  a journey close to my heart, that allowed me to return my father's precious diary to the place where it was written while he was a prisoner of the Japanese during WWII. It was phenomenal. But now what? The book is finished, the task of marketing it to the world has begun and once again, I find myself reflecting on the metaphor of the 'Journey'.

In truth, the journey began a long time ago, when a little girl who grew up in a magic kingdom, called Sherwood Forest, was allowed to roam freely. She made friends with the animals, the birds, the trees, the people. Her imagination flourished. It was there that she learned to have empathy with all living creatures and promised herself, that in her lifetime she would do what she could, whenever she could, to help those in need. She understood that somehow all things are connected. 

So today, as I reflected on what direction to take with this Blog - just one tiny voice amongst millions - I decided to continue writing about issues of importance to me. Fortuitously some of those same concerns are referenced in Pursuit of the Golden Lily, so I'm still on topic! I'm not heading off on a narcissistic tangent, but merely wish to map out the route, guide my thoughts and seek subjects which might be of interest to others and at the same time raise awareness. If any of these topics are of interest to you, then I hope you will join my email list and ride along with me.

I begin with the Earth; this perfect planet that gives us life. For the next couple of posts, I'm going to explore biodiversity and examine why it is so important. In the book, and on the journey, we travelled through several areas of immense biological diversity. Some were thriving, others not so much. The trunk emerging from the water in the above photo, is the ghostly reminder of a former rainforest canopy giant. That photo, the one at the top, and the one below were all taken at Khao Sok National Park, in Thailand.

Formerly an ancient rainforest dating back millions of years, the area was flooded in the 1980s when the Klong Saeng River was blocked to create the Ratchaprapha Dam. While there was much controversy back when the dam was first built, today the surrounding forests would probably be threatened by logging if it were not for the protection afforded by the national park designation, ushered in by Royal decree.
Biodiversity - the existence of many different kinds of plants and animals in an environment - is something we are really only just beginning to understand. For the next couple of posts I'll share some of the examples of biodiversity encountered on this journey.
Stay tuned!

Bloggers and Book Clubs... the new frontiers of book marketing.

So, my new novel is published. The long-anticipated moment has arrived. Now what? OK., in the interest of transparency, let me clarify. My book is self-published. What this means, in this wonderful era of publishing democratization, is that if I want anyone to read my lovingly penned tome, I will have to spend a considerable amount of time marketing it!

I knew this, of course. What I didn't know until I began this latest journey, was the importance and prevalence of both book clubs and book bloggers. The good news is that with some perseverance, I am gradually sifting through the latter and finding a wonderful array of literary enthusiasts ready to read your book and post their opinion if you politely ask them to. I also have some book club contacts, thanks to supportive friends who've already read and enjoyed my book.

Of course, the question begs... who exactly is this person who is going to hold sway over your literary manifesto? Ah, well that is where the research comes in... you know, the hours and hours of combing through the 'About' section of someone's Blog, checking out what books they liked, or not; reading the reviews. As the saying goes, 'No pain, no gain'. And then, there are the night terrors... what will they write about mine? What if they hate it? What if... blah, blah. Sigh. I know, there are much worse things to keep one awake at night but ego occasionally vies for attention. I'm actually REALLY grateful to all these diligent and enthusiastic readers who offer their services, because quite frankly in this new frontier of book marketing, they are often the ones who can make or break your work. So,

thank you Bloggers for your dedication to reading. I've already begun compiling my list and as soon as Pursuit of the Golden Lily is up on Amazon and Kindle, I shall take a deep breath and hit send on my first email of inquiry!

And thank you Book Clubs - if you know of one you think might enjoy the book, please let me know.

In the meantime, you can download the first couple of chapters for free HERE

or HERE - it is also available on iBooks.