"It's impossible to discourage the real writers; they don't give a damn what you say." Sinclair Lewis

Sunday, August 27, 2017

AND THEN IT GOT DARK. . .

Expect a few good stories to come of the Great American Eclipse of 2017. Any event so moving has to foster at least one novel or novella.
Blue Sage Writers took advantage of the influx of people into the Idaho area by gathering the authors and books together and marching down to the river to put up a tent and book display/signing table.
We sold books and enjoyed each other’s company. We talked to the general public—even those with sticky fingers and those holding those scary little children by the hand. Books don’t sell themselves. It’s a struggle to prod, push, and cajole people into putting that special book into a bag and forking over some funds. At the end of the day, we’d sold more books than most small book stores may shove off their shelves in a day.
Getting people to read—especially YOUR book—is always worth it. But it isn't about the ten dollar bill an author gets from a sale. That ten dollar bill represents the pat on the back for getting the book written in the first place. It's the time expended, the soul searching, the nights of staring at the computer keyboard wondering where those easy nouns and verbs disappeared to. And it's knowing that the encouragement of a sale keeps an author writing. After all, we have more more missing worthy words to round up, lasso and put down on on paper. We have stories to tell.

And one of those stories may even address “Where were you when the lights went out?”

Submitted by Mary Ann Cherry, author of Death on Canvas in awe of the Great American Eclipse of 2017