​                                                     April Events
 
Wisconsin authors and readers celebrate spring by having a series of events in April.  April is going to be a busy month for me.
 
April 12-15, 2018 Wisconsin Writer’s Institute – Madison, Wisconsin
https://uwwritersinstitute.wisc.edu/    
 
Success Panel April 13  5:20 pm
 
 
April 19-22, 2018 Untitled Town Book and Author Festival – Green Bay
https://2018.untitledtown.org/
April 21, 2018 2:00 pm “Where Art & History Meet-Historical Fiction”
April 22, 2018 2:00 pm Panel:  “Writing – Beginnings, Middles & Ends”
 
April 24, 2018  Dead Reckoning Book Launch Blog Visit with Valerie Biel
 
April 24, 2018 6:30 pm  Dead Reckoning Book Launch – Sun Prairie Public Library with homemade tea cake, Irish tea and book give away.
 

Several years ago I was asked to lead one of our Library’s book clubs because there previous leader was moving to Arizona.  I asked to attend several book club sessions to learn how the group worked together.  The librarian told me the group had many challenges in the past and that the leader moving out of state was an opportunity to make a few changes.

The first meeting I attended there were three members and the leader.  Rather than a discussion the leader gave a detailed review of the book based on multiple sources and then offered her own review.  The book club members sat and listened.

I attended a second session to learn if the same format was followed for every meeting.  It was.  My decision was easy.  I told the librarian that I would try on a trial basis but the format needed to change drastically.  I wanted true discussion.

The group welcomed me with some apprehension.  It took a lot to coax comments from them.  When I asked them to recommend books for the next year they were petrified.  They had never been given any choice.  They said they didn’t know how to choose a book to read.  I suggested it was easy – suggest a book you’ve read before that you enjoyed so much you would read it again.  The first year it didn’t work.  The second year there were a few more recommendations and a members that had dropped out of the group returned. This is the third year and we’ve grown to sixteen members and they selected half the books to read. 

Every author should either lead or be a member of a book club.  I learn something about every book we read from the club members.  Everyone brings a unique perspective and life history that allows for exciting discussion.  We often go beyond the hour allotted to us.
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If you want to write – join a book club.  How many of you reading this blog are in a book club?    

Both publisher Kira Henschel and I have completed our edits of the proof for Dead Reckoning and it has been sent to the typesetter.  There were more typesetting errors edits which I found both disheartening and encouraging.  It was disheartening because typesetting errors and technical and indicates a lack of attention to detail.  Writing edits never end, that’s the truth, you just stop at some point to get the book out to readers.

The original plan was to send Advance Reader Copies to both individuals and book reviewers to solicit those wonderful comments on the cover and sometimes the interior page of the book.  Comments like – “damn good writing” or “a fitting conclusion to the Irish Troubles series . . .”    

We have run out of time.  I have four author events in April, the first on April 7th at the Milwaukee MATC and I will need books to sell.  Kira and I had a frank discussion and decided that the initial printing will be a “first edition” – enough books to get me through at least April and most likely May.  Kira still plans to send out Advance Reader Copies to a list of folks I provided and will include their comments on subsequent editions.
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As a stopgap, I contacted my editor Christine Keleny of CK Books, https://ckbookspublishing.com/ her for an enticing sentence or two about the book.  She did a great job and it can now appear on the “first edition”.
So for now, I’m waiting in the wings, the theatrical analogy is perfect.  I hate waiting.  How many of you hate waiting?  

​I’m going to digress from writing about publishing Dead Reckoning this week.  It is in the typesetter’s hands and there is nothing I can do but wait.
Recently our local library joined the Rotary Club and as Board President I was invited to participate in the induction ceremony.  I learned the Rotary has the Four Way Test
Of the things we think, say or do . . .

1. Is it the Truth?
2. Is it Fair to all concerned?
3. Will it build Goodwill and Better friendships?
4. Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?

I was so impressed with this test.  There is no creed or belief system that you must accept to be a Rotarian, just the Four Way Test.
I found myself thinking that if each of us in our everyday living used the Four Way Test we would create an open, civil, empathetic culture and cast away the divisive culture we tolerate currently.
I now challenge myself every single day in everything I do with The Four Way test.  Try it.  Watch how it changes your life.