It's been nearly two months since I last updated my blog. I've been busy working on book two, going on vacation to Southern Utah with my family and making pots to pay the bills, even though my heart would rather be writing. So far, I've sold over 600 copies, an knowing that many if not most of these books have been read by multiple people, I'm going to guess that Remembering Isaac has been read by over 1000 people. On Amazon.com, I now have reviews from 7 people, one as far away as the U.K.. Many who have read the book are returning to buy more copies to share with friends and family.
About three weeks ago, I signed a contract with Brigham Distributing in Brigham City, Utah to handle the distribution of my book. They have contacts with all of the LDS bookstores as well as Barnes and Noble, INgram and Costco. I have yet to hear anything more from them. I was told to expect at least a month. I am anxious to hear something.
Meanwhile, I continue to sell the book out of my studio and anywhere else I can. The Utah Arts Festival is coming up at the end of June. I hope many more people will have the chance to pick it up and enjoy it.
I had a book club from West Jordan recently order 28 copies for their members. I will be speaking to them in early July. Another woman asked if I'd be willing to come and speak to her congregation about the book. She is Unitarian. I informed her I was LDS and bishop just so she wouldn't be in an awkward situation when I showed up. I was surprised by her reaction. "Oh, that's even better!" she said. Cool. For those of you have read the book, you'll know that this is not a "Mormon Book". I have tried hard to make it applicable to all people, regardless of race, creed, religion or politcal pursuasion. I hope I have achieved that while focusing on the universal truths, those nuggets of truth that are being obsured in our fast-paced, growingly godless society.
I have also been thrilled by the age span of readers who are relating to this book. My oldest reader to date is a 91 year old woman who said she devoured the book her son ordered for himself from Amazon. She actually drove over to my house while I was away to try and purchase Volume 2 and was very disappointed to find out it is not yet available. My youngest reader, that I know of, is fourteen. She read the book in three days and said she loved it. Then she gave it to her sister, age 17 who read it in two days and also loved it. Since then their mother and grandmother have also read the same book and enjoyed it. It seems to have something for everyone. I am very pleased.
I felt like I was and continue to be inspired by the heavens in my writing. I am grateful I finally made the leap to finish it. I hoped I would feel some sense of peace once I completed it, that the voices that spoke to me as I worked and woke me from my sleep would give me a break. This has not happened. In fact, the voices seem only more persistant. Volume one took the better part of 10 years to complete. I am nearly half way through volume 2 after only a few months. I wish I could devote all my time to the project, but with orders and shows and resposibilities, things are going much slower than I hoped. I still plan to have the book done for my studio shows in November and December.
Volume 2 has some interesting twists and turns as Jake and Amy discover Isaac. Lynnette, my girlfriend of almost 12 years and the mother of my children is the only one who has been permitted to read what I've written so far. She's of course biased, but she said she likes it even more than the first. We'll see what ya'll have to say.
So, if you want updates more often, email me and tell me. I get busy and forget about this unreal world of cyberspace. Cheers. Ben
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