We're busy here at Katzenhaus, redesigning the website and making sure that eager readers will be able to find the new book easily.  Are you getting curious?  Want to take a look at the paperback edition? Ready to order your copy?  Then all you have to do is PRESS THE PAW.

With just three days to go, I've been busy all day punching buttons.  I've given the "PRINT IT" word to CreateSpace, and they in turn have created my "Damned Yankee" book page for their own site, so if you want to order a print copy, the book is technically available, although you wouldn't receive it until May 1 or thereafter.  CreateSpace has also forwarded the book to Amazon, and the word on that is that the paperback book will become available in 3 to 5 days.  It may appear in their listings earlier, but again, it will take a couple of days to fulfill any orders.

My next project was to prepare the Kindle edition.  That one took most of the morning because of all the details that needed to be filled in.  Then I started the upload process, which involves letting the upload take place, followed by formatting checks, spell checks, etc.  The file was rejected once because of three spelling errors.  To correct them, I had to resubmit the entire file.  Then, with the second round of checks, I realized that there was an error in the ISBN, which required a third upload.  Everything is set to go now, but because Kindle publication takes only 4 to 6 hours, I won't give the final "OK, publish it" command until Wednesday evening.  It should be there when you wake up Thursday morning.

I'm pretty well satisfied by now that the Kindle version will be as good as it can possibly be.  But of course, in the process, I had to realize that those same three typos will appear in the print edition, and I'm obsessing over them.  It's too late to stop the print editions, of course, so I just have to hope that most readers will not notice 3 types in a book of 105,000 words. As a percentage, that works out to 0.0000285% of the words are incorrectly spelled. Maybe I should offer a prize for the person who spots them all!

What's next? Well, among other things, the Katzenhaus website needs to be re-worked to take into account this latest publication.  But that's a project for another day.  For tonight, I'm off to a dinner meeting -- if the tornado warnings don't get us first!

It's 1:00 PM on a very rainy Sunday, and we just returned home from hosting the 2014 Tennessee Lions State Convention.  Despite a number of annoying glitches that were beyond our control, everything went well, and everyone except for a couple of perennial grinches seemed to enjoy their weekend. As for Floyd and me . . .  we are footsore and weary, but relieved to have finally put the whole thing behind us.  Our car on the way home was so overloaded with signage, left-over canned drinks, luggage, and other paraphernalia hat we kept expecting to be pulled over on the interstate as tail-dragging drug-transporters. 

But now, for a few days we can relax  --  or maybe not! First of all, we returned to dire warnings about massive tornado outbreaks headed our way and flood warnings from the expected 5 inches of rain.  I'm dying for a nap, but the thunder outside says "NO!"

Beyond that, a glance at the calendar tells me there is no time for being lazy! In the next four days, I need to give Damned Yankee that final once-over check, format the manuscript for Kindle,  and then punch the button that says PRINT IT.

Once again Glogirly and Katzenhaus are on the same count-down.  I still don't know what she has in store for you all, but I'll be launching the fifth book in my series on the Civil War in South Carolina's Low Country. Stay tuned.  A book trailer may appear in the next couple of days.

With apologies to all of you book people, I am signing off here until I can put the weekend behind me.  I'll be in town, but spending every waking hour helping my husband run a Lions Convention for 150 people from all over the state of Tennessee.  We're providing all the printed materials (from name tags to individual meal programs), the entertainers, the menus, the schedules, the registration packets, and the hospitality suite, plus hosting a guest speaker from Belgium and a past president of Lions International.

Please don't call or message me unless the house is burning down -- and even then, try the garden hose first!

I'll be back on Monday with news of the book launch and a book tour to South Carolina.  Until then, I hope you find something fun to read!