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The second batch of print books arrived on friday and some have been sold already. I spent some time tidying up things that needed fixing in the first run of the books and after tinkering with the cover to make the back more read-able, I had just one line to fix in the front page endorsements. That has been done, so I should see the results of that with the next batch of books I get.

 

I do have some issues with this website in that I can Google myself and a bunch of things come up, including this site with the ability of anyone to enter it and change or write whatever they wish. That’s odd and thus far I can’t find a way to prevent that. Webroot has not been helpful.

Well, I spent last Wednesday night correcting and adjusting stuff that needed tweaking–this, after I received my copies of “The First”. Adjusting 8 1/2×11 that was OK for Kindle and online to 6×9 format for print book saw some odd things like sentences that were not connected, missed quotation marks and italics and a few odd dots here and there. That means the people who bought the first batch of my books have a rarity, for whatever that’s worth. Meanwhile, sales of both the Kindle books and the print book (“The First”) have been clicking along. even though I have not unleashed any media publicity about having those stories in print.

 

It’s raining today, so I just might be able to get to continuing work on the next story, “In The Eye Of The Beholder”. We shall see.

Today I was able to hold in my hand for the first time a copy of my print book. The next task is to go through it carefully and note things to adjust and correct for the next printings. I’m talking about things like closed quotes that got missed, a dot that’s out of place, words that should have been in italics and so forth. This is the equivalent of the author’s proof and I’m grateful that I can do that electronically from my cozy office.

 

I’m at an age where I don’t demonstrate excitement as obviously as when I was younger, but I must say that holding my book makes me excited. What a nice milestone!

 

Again, the book is available through Amazon.com. It’s called “The First Gathering of The Break Time Stories” and people tell me they can pull it up on Amazon either by the title or by my writing name, Mark Hayes Peacock.

My paperback book, “The First Gathering of The Break Time Stories”, is published and is available now through Amazon.com. First reports are that simply entering the title brings up the book quite quickly. Yay!

My print book collection of the three published Amazon Kindle short story books is in review. Copies should be available soon through Amazon.com. I will have a few at my public readings. The book sells for $15 and is called “The First Gathering of The Break Time Stories”. Obviously, I’m hoping for a good reception. I have two invitations so far to read from the book, the first in July for the Osceola Seniors and the second on a Thursday evening in September to be selected at the St.Croix Falls Public Library.

The date of my reading from “The First Gathering of the Break Time Stories” has been changed to Wednesday, July 12th at the Party Room of the Third Street Apartments in Osceola, WI.

 

As for the coming edition of that print book, I’m in the process of fussing with the cover. That done, we should be able to print quite soon. LaMoine MacLaughlin, Jade Ring Prize winner for fiction and Amery’s First Poet Laureate and Judy Breuer, Duluth Budgeteer’s lifestyle columnist both have written some nice things about my stories and give good reasons for people to read the book. I appreciate their willingness to do that, as well as the fact that they said nice things. (Not to LOL!)

I’ve begun the process of converting to a single print volume the three short story collections (Four Break Time Stories, More Break Time Stories, Yet More Break Time Stories) that have been on Amazon Kindle, beginning in 2015. The volume will be called “The First Gathering of The Break Time Stories” and it will run about 185 pages, which seems respectable. For the cover I’ll use Aaron’s painting of the cooking utensils that I used for “Yet”. Fellow writers LaMoine MacLaughlin and Judy Breuer will contribute some comments for the back cover. I appreciate very much their willingness to do that. At the end of the book I have a long list of people that helped contribute to the stories; you’ll just have to guess which person or institution identifies with which story.

Finally, my computer is back and doing well! I fell for a con and knew better than to do that, but the warning came up and I couldn’t get it off my browser. So, as directed, I called Apple, which–of course–was not Apple at all. And I got so far into the mess that I ended up giving them not just my credit information, but three iTune cards. They were able to cash one of them; the other two were invalid, which is but a small consolation. I still don’t know quite how people can cash in those iTune cards and not leave a trace. Anyhow, Apple’s legal people have all the information I had and the Easy IT Guys in St.Croix Falls did a fine job with restoring my computer.  That means that in the next few days I can proceed with transforming the three online Kindle short story books to a single print book.

 

I’ve begun the next short story called “Eye Of The Beholder”. All I’ll disclose at this point is that Osceola’s Police Chief Ron Pedrys has been very helpful. And in the next weeks I think I’ll need to take some painting instruction from some of the good artists I know.

As of today, March 29, 2017, my newest short story collection, “Yet More Break Time Stories”, now is available on Amazon Kindle.

I am in the process of compiling all three e-book short story collections into a print version. I’m anticipating publication for that in mid-to late April. Avery’s poet laureate, editor/publisher of “Soundings” and Jade Ring Fiction Award winner LaMoine MacLaughlin has agreed to write :something nice” for the back cover of the print book. Thanks, LaMoine!

I should mention that the cover art for “Yet More Break Time Stories” is a painting done by my son, Mark Aaron Peacock. It’s a surreal table setting with a large fork, a knife and spoon and I’ve used it because the first story in this third story collection is “I’ll Cook For You!”. I’ll probably use this artwork for the cover of the print book, which may or may not be titled “The First Gathering of Break Time Stories”.

Although there are several possible public readings coming in the near future, one in June seems fairly certain and that will be a short story reading for the Osceola Seniors Association in early June, 2017. I’ve not decided which story to read. By that time, the third short story collection, “Yet More Break Time Stories” will have been published on Amazon Kindle and I may have all three story collections compiled in a single print paperback that will be available.

Perhaps we’ll see you in Osceola the first Wednesday in June?