Tuesday, August 30, 2016

My Book is on an Alaskan Cruise by Carla Damron

My book is on an Alaskan cruise. Without me, but that’s okay.

I found out when I heard from a reader, who said a plot point “spoke to a current thread in my life.” He read my book, The Stone Necklace, on the cruise ship, and decided to leave the novel in the ship library. “You never know who will pick it up next.”




This made me happy. While The Stone Necklace has done well in South Carolina, especially after the “One Book, One Community” gig, I want the momentum to spread. I want people everywhere to appreciate my literary offspring. Hey, I can be delusional if I want to.

I know it made it to Israel. A high school friend lives there and messaged me that he was reading the book while enjoying a shot of tequila (lime chaser, of course). I thought that an interesting pairing. How would it read with a nice cabernet?

During a business meeting for the pesky day job that I attended in DC, I learned that my book has been passed around the office there.  A few appearances this fall should give it more exposure. I’ll be in Nashville for the Southern Festival of the Book in October, and Charlotte in November.  A friend sent it to her nephew in California. So the book is trickling out of SC.

The hard thing is, what happens next is pretty much out of my control, something I HATE. Honestly, I’d like to be put in charge of my whole world, including the economy, the weather, and of course, national politics. Sadly, my power ends at the top of my driveway. Hell, who am I kidding? I have very little control over what happens in my own house (thanks to a self-assured husband and four independently-minded pets). 

And now, I have no control over the success of the book. I make myself available for appearances, respond to queries, and fill my calendar with book club appearances. I maintain a strong social media presence.  I’m not sure what else I can do. Burn incense? Attempt a voodoo chant? Pray to St. Francis de Sales, the patron saint of writers?



No, I have to do the hardest thing. The almost impossible thing for this particular control- freak. I have to wait. I have to let things unfold as they are supposed to.  It may happen: The Stone Necklace may take flight. Or it may not. I live, and maybe I grow, in this excruciating truth: it’s out of my hands now.


You know, like the weather. And national politics.



How do you handle the waiting game?






10 comments:

  1. Looks like your book has found a pretty nice home on that cruise ship ;)
    I'm new to this writing game; right now I am waiting to hear how/if my editor likes my manuscript. Waiting is excruciating! I feel your pain! But I am sure that a fine book like The Stone Necklace will find its way into readers' hearts.

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  2. I feel your pain, too. Please, editor, contact Shari soon!!!

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  3. How exciting to get fan mail!! And, what better place to read a book than on a cruise ship--lots of hours sitting on the deck in a lounge chair. Paired with a good book, it's perfect. I read and enjoyed "The Stone Necklace" and know whoever has the good fortune to come across it on the ship is in for a good read.

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  4. Fan mail is fun to receive -- let's you know SOMEONE is reading your book.

    For the first three Seamus McCree novels I obsessed over Amazon rankings, sales, etc. This time I hardly check. I do what I can do, and the result will be what it will be. I can’t control the result, I can only control my efforts.

    Makes me more sane (but there is still great room for improvement!).

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  5. Carla, that's so exciting to have your book on a cruise ship. I loved your book and when one of my book clubs gets together in December to plan the books that are to be read in 2017, I'll
    recommend your book.

    A friend of my sister's conducts cruise's sometimes, and she took one of my books on the cruise to finish reading it, and then passed it around. The cruise she was conducting lasted several months because it went around the coast of Africa. I know she said one cruise member hadn't finished it and took it home to finish it and then passed it on. I found out one of the teachers I used to teach with has bought all of my books and passed them on to other teachers, and only found it out when I went to a retired teacher luncheon for the first time and found out half of them there had been reading my books.

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  6. That is so cool, Gloria! And Jim, I admire your quest for sanity!

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  7. Waiting is so hard, Carla. How fantastic that your book is making some amazing journeys! I'm seeing a movie from the Stone Necklace. The waiting game is always hard, time to dig in on the next book. People always tell me that, makes me wonder if they are sadists. Do they think the next book will be any easier! Usually handle the wait with chocolate, and writing.

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  8. It's a good thing we all write because we love to write, and want to share our work with other people. How "well" they do is secondary.

    How wonderful to find out your book ended up on a cruise ship! And it's fun to get fan mail.

    I'm not sure what you mean by having your book "take flight." When I checked on Amazon, it looks to me like it's doing very well, so it seems to me it has already "taken flight."

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  9. Sounds super. I hope to meet you at the Southern Festival of Books. I'm doing some speaking time there through my Sisters in Crime group and I'm on an author panel for Sunday afternoon. I will look for you.

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