I’m happy to report that I am not the only one who has noticed this is definitely a weird time of year. I’ve been struggling with productivity for weeks now. I can spend hours at my desk and then discover that I’ve accomplished absolutely nothing. I have deadlines looming, but that doesn’t make me work any faster. I keep a calendar in front of me, but I more often look at the pictures than the dates. Oh, and the deskpad one with its “color-me” border! Whatever made me think it would be a good idea to have coloring book access at my fingertips all day long, along with a whole mug full of pretty colored pencils.

 

So, is there an explanation for all of this silliness (or sheer laziness)? Well, a friend in England tells me it’s because of Mercury being in retrograde for almost the entire month of March. And what does that mean? I’m not sure I understand it myself but it has to do with the planet Mercury appearing to move backward in the sky. No, it’s not defying the laws of the universe. It’s the same phenomenon that sometimes makes the wheels of a car appear to be turning backward while the car is actually moving forward—something about the speed at which our brains can assimilate visual data, I suppose.  Still, it’s discombobulating and confusing, and throws our reasoning abilities into a tailspin.

 

Then there’s the equinox theory offered recently by a well-known blogging superstar. She insists that twice a year, during the spring and fall equinox periods, she experiences a burning in her chest that warns of disruptive life changes.  The theory there? Something about the seasons. In the middle of summer, days seem to last forever, and the bright sun lets us know we should be busily planting corn, or whatever. And in the midst of deep winter, the days are short. We can almost pull the drapes in mid-afternoon, light a candle or two, and then hurry off to bed for a long winter’s nap because only a silly old man in a red suit would go out with a troop of reindeer in that kind of weather. But during an equinox, the day and night are about the same length, and who knows what we are supposed to be doing? Confusion reigns, and we feel torn between two opposite desires—to sunbathe or hibernate.

 

Now imagine what happens when the equinox and Mercury in Retrograde occur in the same two-week period! No wonder I’m not getting much done. I have my excuses all lined up and I’m sticking to them. However, I’m going out on a limb here and making a couple of announcements about what I intend to be doing in the next few weeks. First, I’ve set the date for the launch of my new book, “Henrietta’s Legacy,” for Thursday, April 18. That’s just five weeks from tomorrow. And between now and then I’ll be tempting you with tidbits of information designed to make you want to buy it. We’ll start with a cover reveal—currently scheduled for tomorrow!

is now available on Amazon. 

Author Carolyn Schriber takes a closer look at recent self-publishing innovations that have opened the gates to mainstream book publication.

Pre-Orders available now, with Kindle release date: Wednesday, November 15. Print version should be ready by Friday, November 17

While this blog has been out of service, I've been busy getting ready to publish a new version of my "how-to" guide for self-publishers. The launch day is a week from today, so, for the next few days,  I want to catch you up on the book details and give you a glimpse of the contents. 

We begin with an imaginary conversation between Second Mouse and a budding writer who is considering what kind of publication would be best for her particular book idea. They discuss the various publishing options available today, along with their advantages and drawbacks of each one. Then Second Mouse offers a set of self-evaluation questions to help the writer determine where her strengths and weaknesses lie. Finally, they touch on one of the keys to a successful career in any field—giving the customer what he is looking for.

The Second Mouse is again the guide as she leads the writer through the story of her own experience as a writer and the factors that convinced her to become an indie author. They look at the lessons she learned the hard way as she tried to find an agent or publisher—what it means to have a “platform” and the importance of the internet.

In this chapter, the guide is Beatrix Potter’s Mrs. Tittlemouse. She discusses the need for a business plan, the importance of tax considerations, the process of setting up a home office, hiring an office staff, and establishing a website for your new business. These are the housekeeping details that can get you off to a solid start.

Yesterday, I tried to give you an idea of what “Henrietta’s Journal” is all about. Today, here are the answers to a couple of questions that keep popping  up.

 

Q. Are these all new characters, or is there a connection to your other books?

 

A. For the most part, the Beauchenes are an entirely new family. However, it helps me to visualize the story if I can relate it to others I’ve written, so there’s at least one connection. Sharp eyes will recognize Elizabeth Dubois, whom you have met before in “Damned Yankee” and “Yankee Reconstructed.” In those books she was an old lady, the widowed mother of Susan Grenville, and grandmother to the Grenville children. In this story she is still a young woman in her thirties, and her daughter Susan appears briefly at age seven. Elizabeth befriends Henrietta early in the new book, helps her adjust to life in Charleston, and serves as godmother to Henrietta’s children.

 

Q. I want to know more about Henrietta’s later life as the Civil War draws nearer. Will there be a second book?

 

A. At the moment I am planning a second volume. Of course, I can’t promise anything, for, as Henrietta would be the first to tell you, life changes very rapidly. However, as my mother would have said, “I’ll do it, God willin’ an’ the creek don’t rise!” But here’s what I think will be coming a couple of years down the road.

 

The idea for “Henrietta’s Journal” came out of a rough sketch for a much larger book dealing with the beginning of the Civil War, its effect on the cotton trade, and some interesting but little-known facts about southern blockade runners, spies, and smugglers during the war. The diary Henrietta kept was originally going to hold some clues to a couple of mysterious happenings in the larger book. Then the diary took on something of a life of its own and became a stand-alone novel. The next book will take place some twenty-five years later. The main characters will be Henrietta’s children (now all grown up). They will solve some of their 1860s dilemmas by re-discovering the diary their mother wrote and uncovering the clues she left in the journal.

 

Eventually the two books will have close ties. I’m even considering an electronic edition for the two stories that would let the reader click back and forth between Civil War crises and  the unsolved issues in the 1830’s journal. I’m as curious to know what will happen as you are!

 

Want to know more? Pre-order the Kindle edition at https://www.amazon.com/Henriettas-Journal-Compromise-Carolyn-Schriber-ebook/dp/B074S97SVJ and receive your copy on September 19. (You’ll also save $2.00 off the list price if you order before Tuesday.)

 

The Amazon print version is now functional and available at: www.amazon.com/Henriettas-Journal-Compromise-Carolyn-Schriber/dp/0990797597. With luck, you could have your copy by Monday.

 

Or order a trade paper edition at https://www.createspace.com/745653

 

What’s more fun than peeking into someone’s diary and learning all their secrets? Well, how about an entire novel, written as diary entries that chronicle the story of a marriage?

 

Henrietta’s Journal is a historical romance. Henrietta is a 20-year-old English girl, raised among the sheltering walls and dreaming spires of Oxford. In 1832, her diary begins with the first day she meets Julien, a handsome and wealthy cotton broker from Charleston, South Carolina. The two could not be more unsuited to one another, but their attraction is immediate and unbreakable. A whirlwind courtship, a hasty marriage, and a stormy journey across the Atlantic-–and Henrietta finds herself in a strange new world.  Charleston in the 1830s is an insular society controlled by a small group of families who consider themselves a new aristocracy of culture, wealth, and refinement. Their public buildings are modeled on Greek and Roman styles. Their children receive classical educations. They spend their days recreating the past, while relying on black slaves to do the hard labor that makes such leisurely white lives possible. As a ruling social class, they do not welcome outsiders.

 

Henrietta declares she will never be a slave-owner. Julien replies by agreeing, because in South Carolina, a married woman is not allowed to own property of any kind. Henrietta tries to hold onto her independence; Julien and his father will not even allow her to choose the name of her first-born child. Henrietta’s every word and action are noted down for criticism and correction. Julien’s younger brother, a lecherous and vicious drunk, is forgiven for any misdeeds because he is still young. She soon gets the message. Men may do as they like. Women must do as they are told.

 

The book is a love story, but it also provides a revealing look into the contradictions and injustices of the South in the years leading up to the Civil War. The bonds between husband and wife are frequently tested by their differing value systems. Henrietta soon finds that she has compromised her own beliefs in order to keep the peace within her disapproving family. Then the principle of compromise takes on a life of its own, leading her further and further into a world where prostitution, rape, murder, opium addiction, and kidnapping are all excused as necessary evils.

 

Want to know more? Pre-order the Kindle edition at https://www.amazon.com/Henriettas-Journal-Compromise-Carolyn-Schriber-ebook/dp/B074S97SVJ and receive your copy on September 19. (You’ll also save $2.00 off the liest price if you order before Tuesday.)

 

The Amazon print version should be functional by the weekend.

 

Or order a trade paper edition at https://www.createspace.com/745653