Exhibiting at the Sonoma County Book Festival!

It's been a while since I posted as I've been pretty busy traveling abroad for work and just plain working (not to mention dodging hurricanes in the Outer Banks for a friend's wedding last week and training for my third triathlon.)

So, I'm excited to finally have something new and book-related to post. I'll be attending and exhibiting at the Sonoma County Book Festival on September 24, 2011 in Santa Rosa, CA.

If you're in the area, I'll have a booth at the event and will be offering signed hardcovers of The Incredible Origins of the Onyx Sun. Come by and say hi. It's my brother's birthday that day too, which is a funny coincidence, and I'll be offering a 30% discount to mark the day.

In other book news, The Midwest Book Review gave my first book a nice review, saying it is "a fun entry into a brand new youth science fiction series, highly recommended!" although I wish they would have recognized it is more of an adventure novel set in space than true sci-fi. But that's a small point to quibble over. Thanks for the kind words MBR!

I also offered a free giveaway of my final paperback advance review copies on Goodreads.com. Although I only listed 150 books, I got over 1,100 requests! That was pretty exciting. I hope those who won them enjoy them as they are a rarefied version of my book now. I originally printed over 1,000 of them, gave about 700 away to kids, schools, and industry press and now only have about 50 left after the latest giveaway. If you were one of the winners, keep sending me your emails as feedback is key to me evolving the Onyx Sun series!

Lastly, since we're on the topic of the series, I have gotten a number of inquiries over the last few months about Book 2: The Wicked Adversaries of the Onyx Sun. Yes, I am working on it. I've got about 70 pages written so far and continue to chip away at it a few pages at a time. I did take a brief break to write a different novel - another book for younger readers but geared more firmly toward the YA crowd. Now that is done and out to agents for consideration, I am back to working on the Onyx Sun Book 2, while I promote Book 1.

Thanks again to all you who have supported me, sent letters from your children or students, or bought a book. I am much encouraged by all your positive support, words, and feedback.

Kalamazoo!




Christopher

Happy Birthday Aiden!

Wow, seven years old today. Happy birthday buddy! You're always in my thoughts.

Kalamazoo!



Christopher

For Aiden

(Note: I didn't originally write this blog post on the day indicated in the time-stamp, but it's important for me to add it retroactively because every day I've spent since on my book has been built upon the first day I wrote the first word for my son.)

I don't get to see my son, Aiden, as much as I'd like. There are a number of reasons for this I don't care to go into. I mention this more to introduce the idea that my book is - and has always been - a bridge for me to connect with Aiden when I can't see him.

It took me a long time to realize this was the purpose my book served. At first, I just thought I really loved what I was writing. There was some truth in that. I have always been passionate about space. But I have started several books in the past. Why did this one grab me so? What I realized, in my introspection, is a story unto itself. And like all stories, it starts at the beginning...

Genesis
I have never been the guy who wanted a family right away. I always loved my parents, and brother, and extended relations, but having my own family was tantamount to other ambitions.

I wanted to build companies.

I wanted to summit mountains.

I wanted to explore the world.

Those were my top priorities in life until that fateful day I held my son for the first time. People will tell you all kinds of things about what that moment is like for them, but for me, everything changed. Yes, I am prone exaggerations, but this isn't one of them.

Holding my tiny son - only a week old, his eyes shut to the world, his pink body quivering from the cold of life - changed me. Suddenly, there was someone on this Earth, I'd created. It was like building the greatest company in the world, summiting the highest mountain, and suddenly knowing the whole globe. I felt it within myself as clearly as I knew I drew breath. He shook me, and he did so even more because I had to come to terms with his birth very quickly.

So, my life changed. I became more about growing my own strength so Aiden could grow his. I wanted to give him everything he ever wanted as well as some things I never had. I supported him financially, intellectually, spiritually, and emotionally, but I wanted to give him something even more. Something that was unique between just us. So during the long weeks between our times together, I started a story. It was the story of a bright, young boy and his grandfather who he doesn't get to see very much. It was about a special time when they were able to escape reality and come together on a grand adventure. The grandfather taught the boy things. The boy taught the grandfather things.

I'm not sure when I wrote the first word. I know it was shortly before Aiden's second birthday, around the time his mother and my troubles began and it became harder for me to see him. I do remember where it was written and how I felt when I bolted out the first twenty pages in one sitting. I was at Peet's Coffee in Cambridge, MA and from the start I felt that first word form an intimate link to my son I became addicted to. Each word that met paper brought me closer to him. The dialog let me talk to my son when I couldn't. Grandfather hugging Zack became me hugging Aiden when I couldn't. I'd started nine stories before the Onyx Sun, but this was the first I completed, because I became addicted to our bond, our relationship, and our adventures.

Of course, a book is sad replacement for a son, but in a situation with few options, it became a treasured piece of my life. That first word became 80,000 more. Those 80,000 became Aiden and my connection - a connection I nurtured ritualistically, reading through the story twelve times and spending hundreds of hours editing.

That's why, through this entire three-year process, I have known the dedication for my book from the beginning - a dedication that states my son is still the end and beginning of all things for me:

"For my son, and illuminating inspiration, Aiden James."

This blog, this story, this adventure. Every word written, every dollar spent, every step taken. This entire effort is for Aiden. So one day he may hopefully appreciate we always had the most intimate of bonds, even if we weren't always together.

Kalamazoo!



Christopher