A Note About My Book!

I thought I'd post in this thread that my book, "Kaleidoscope Memories: Childhood Stories That Celebrate Family Life" is now available to purchase.

My two sisters and I decided to share our memories of early childhood by putting together a book of short stories about our lives in a rural, midwestern subdivision in northern Illinois in the early 1950's. It was a joy to work with them on this project.

You can find it at www.tidedancer.com, www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com and www.booksamillion.com. I hope you can stop by and read more about it and if interested purchse a copy and take a journed through the kaleidoscope with us.

You can also read more about it at http://kaleidoscopememoriesbook.blogspot.com

Sandpiper, congratulations on getting your book published and for sale! best of luck with it

Congratulations Sandpiper. I love the title! And I added it to the list of books I MUST read!

CONGRATULATIONS Sandpiper, how exciting for you all. I certainly will make it a point to look for your book.

Sandpiper, congratulations! I'm thrilled for you!

I have read Sandpiper's Book, Kaleidescope Memories. It is full of warm-hearted family stories that will bring back so many of your own. Well worth reading. Great job, Cindy!

Just got a copy for the NABBW to review. I may have to review this one myself.

Thanks for all the kind thoughts everyone. I'm so pleased with how the book turned out. Very proud of it. We are getting readers from ages 10 to 90.

One of our goals was to have the stories help the reader to remember warm, wonderful memories of their own by reading ours. I think it's so important for us to remember our past in order to connect with the present and future.

I'm now beginning to work on putting together a workshop on how to write your memories. It's not hard, but for some reason people don't think they can do it or they don't have anything important to share with others. I hope the workshop will help them realize their stories are important and they have lived through very trying and wonderful times. Sorry, didn't mean to get on that so much, but I'm enjoying putting the workshop together also. I am, however, doing marketing for the book right now. Anyhow, thanks again for the warm thoughts and words. I hope you all like it.

Congratulations, Sandpiper. I'm so happy for you. That's an interesting workshop you're putting together. Great idea.

Thanks Saundra for the kind words. I am excited about the workshop. When my sisters and I began this journey, we originally wanted to just share out memories with our children because our parents didn't put their thoughts and memories down either on paper or tape for us. We had grown up listening to them but never having them on anything tangible. Now they are gone and the only stories are those we can remember them telling us.

We decided not to let that happen to our children so the stories came into being. Then, after having people be very interested in them, we found there was an audience for the book and here we are now. So far it's been a great journey.

You know, that workshop sounds ideal, if you ask me. I'm sitting here thinking that if I wanted to write down all the memories, I'd have to really ponder on even how to start. It's one thing to write an article, but a whole book that captured your life, hmm...that's another.

I think a workshop on "how to" is a great idea!

Thanks JJ, and I agree that doing a whole book is intimidating. Taking it in baby steps will allow it to happen. Many times when people write about their lives, they take one important event and basically do the book about that.

I think it's easier to break it off in small chunks of time and see what develops. My sisters and I decided to only take stories from a certain time in our lives. We liked the time that the book is written about. We lived in the neighborhood for several years and decided to concentrate on that time.The next book is about when we lived out in the country and went to a two room school. It was the best time we ever had at school, I believe.

Anyhow that's how I'm going to approach the workshop. Just trying to retrieve your memories and deciding which ones you want to share or keep. It's interesting putting it together. I'm trying to do it so it can be done either online somehow or in person as a workshop. Not sure yet how to do the online but will work it out.

I've written my memoir: Ghost Child to Triumph (from a child with no voice, to someone who speaks up against injustice); have been sitting on it for years. I plan to self-publish, but it is all so confusing. Anyone know of a good experience with a self-publishing company, or have any ideas who would be best to go with?
My story is one of overcoming....a lifetime of abuse (except for 3 years in the army)....along with poetry which dovetails with the story i am telling....stories of surviving extreme poverty, abuse......amazing people in my life....a prima ballerina, a woman colonel who took me under her wing, finding out her history'--that she was studying for her PhD in 1942, etc.....

Thank you to anyone who reads this...I have already met some fabulous women here!

(Such as JawJaw)

Smiles, Alice

Ahh now, go on with ya, Lassie. The women here are ALL phenomenal (or however you spell it)...believe me! And there are some writers in here who will gladly share their publishing experience with you.

I will say that asking for people who have had a good experience with a self-publishing company, or have any ideas who would be best to go with, is going to get you just enough responses to thoroughly confuse you and bring you back to ground zero...which is, it is ultimately up to you to do your homework, research companies and other writers, and make the decision as to who to go with (on self pubs).

With one book I was with a self pub, STAR. They are fine. And I recouped my investment within a month. But...they aren't cheap and most aren't, and you get what you pay for.

My advice would be to talk to hundreds of self-pub authors and then...digest it all and go from there. In the meantime, check out self-pub companies on the net and ALWAYS...ALWAYS go to Predators and Editors and see who is on the BAD BOYS list they keep. It will tell you who is running a scam and who to stay away from...some have lawsuits going on, others have shut down and reopened until a new name, etc.

Jaw-Jaw: You are amazing! Yes, I have been doing my homework for years (she sobs)......but still cannot decide which self-publisher to go with. I will go into the site you mentioned to see who the "bad boys" of publishing are.

Hugs and Love and Smiles, Alice (and Francesca, my evil twin)