Well, I wish I had some really exciting news to post, but I don't. Sales are continuing, but slowly and I havent had much of a chance to push the book, trying to get ready for the arts festival instead. I plan to be signing books at the Utah Arts Festival next week June 25-28 at Library Square as well as selling my pots and garden ornaments.

Getting ready for the art fest is a daunting task. It nearly consumes me. I have already spent hundreds of hours getting ready for this one and I still have a week left which means I will probably spend another hundred hours before I am set up and ready to go. This show is four days long with super long hours 12 Noon- 11pm. There is not a longer art festival this side of the Mississippi and for good reason. But I love this show. It gets me in front of lots of folks that have supported me over the years gives me a chance to show my new work, which this year includes Remembering Isaac.

I also have my first appointment to speak to a book club. This will be taking place next month, July 7. I am looking for more opportunities to speak and share my message. I'll speak to a group of any size(preferably more than three).

The

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

So, book sales are going very well considering that I have only one public outlet, Amazon, and then my studio which now has only 1350 books left. Thats right, I have sold over 150 books in not quite a month! I am still waiting to hear something negative...everyone seems to like it which is really encouraging. I spoke to two of the youngest readers last night, ages 15 and 17. They loved the book and are looking forward to volume 2. I got a call today from a man whose wife recieved the book as a gift and made the mistake of leaving it on the kitchen counter where he found it and wouldnt let her have it until he was done with it! He too said he is anxious to read volume two and lamented the news that it wouldnt be finished until November.

Things are actually progressing quite well with volume 2. I am just finishing chapter 15 and things are exciting. Jake is in the hospital after an accident, and the book is leading in me in directions I didnt know it would go. I am having a great time. I have been working hard in the studio, trying to get orders off so I have not had the time to write as I wish I could. I have decided to have a studio open house on the Saturday before Mothers Day and do a book signing. I will be mailing out a newsletter in conjunction with that.

We are headed to California for a much needed vacation. I'll try to drop a note soon. Ben

One week after recieving the first books from the printer, I have sold over 90 copies. Only 1410 left! I met with Brigham Distributing in Brigham City yesterday to begin the process of getting by book distributed. So far, I have heard from about 30 folks who have read the book and love it. I have yet to hear anything negative, but I am sure it is coming.

I am trying to figure out why I am so restless. I have been working on Volume 2 of the series, Discovering Isaac, which I hope will be ready for sale in December. As I mentioned before, I am not very good at being patient. Barry at Brigham Distributing suggested it would take two weeks for him to give me an answer. I have no idea how long it will take after that to get my books into the stores so for the time being, people are coming to me. You can reach me at 801-883-0146 to arrange to stop by. I am nearly always here inasmuch as I live here and work here.

I am attaching a the pictures of the front and back cover of the book. This was designed by Bert Compton and myself.

AFTER TEN LONG YEARS, THE BOOK IS FINALLY DONE. The books were printed at Alexander's in Lindon, Utah and delivered on Monday night at about 5:30. Our Friends, Jason and Meghan Castleton were the first to stop by the purchase a signed copy. I was in a hurry to get them done in time for Art and Soup, an annual fundraiser that I have participated for the last ten years. That started last night. So far, I have sold exactly 20 copies, which is 1.25% of the 1500 copies I had printed.

I am excited to finally have it done. The book looks great. The self-propelled movie works very well and the layout makes it fun and exciting. I hope to meet with a distributor next week and get the ball rolling on. So far, I have found two small typos, but it still looks good. I am excited to start hearing from people and their comments about the book.

If you have purchased the book and would like to leave a post or send me an email, I would love to hear from you. Thanks. Ben

The image to the right is a picture of some of Isaac's planters on the front steps of #6 Muellstrasse. I really like the cobblestone pattern here.

The Horror, The Horror! I am not a patient person. That is one of my many faults. I finished writing several weeks ago. I have done several rounds of edits and now I am waiting. Waiting. WAITING! for things beyond my control. Bert Compton, my friend and layout engineer extraordinaire has been working hard and just finished the layout last night, or at 4 am this morning, rather. I am exceedingly excited! This has been a long time coming.

Ten years ago I started writing a book about Isaac. Sometime next week, the ten years worth of labor and long nights and sweat will pay off when I pick up my first thousand copies from the printer. I am trying to decide if I should go with Alexander's in Lindon or with FC Printing here in Salt Lake. Alexander's is a digital press where FC Printing is offset printing. I am not sure what is better and I am waiting for a phone call from a friend in the printing business to inform me.

This has been an expensive venture. I hope that I will cover my costs at least and be able to find a good distributor and lots of bookstores that want to buy it. My dream right now is to get into Costco. If anyone out there has any pull, put in a good word for me. I have told the good people in Niederbipp to cross their fingers.

Art and Soup, my first show of the year, will begin in ten days. This is where I will be debuting my book. Am I excited? Heck yes. Am I nervous what the public will think? Absolutely, but I am thinking this will be a good thing. Those who have read the book so far are really liking it and are looking forward to volume two. I have to believe if a book about vampires can sell millions of copies, I will be able to sell at least a thousand.

Bert understands the book. He read it a few weeks ago which has been helpful for him as he has laid it out. He is an artist and a perfectionist and he has done some really cool things. There are lots of sketches throughout the book and a picture on every other page that creates a flash cartoon when you flip through the pages. It is really going to be an experience, not just a book. I am very happy with what I have seen so far.

My friend, Mike RAmsdell, who wrote the Train to Potevka is in California this week, working on the screenplay for his book. He told me in an email that Simon and Schuster just contacted him about his book. He has, to this point, been self-published and sold most of his 400,000 copies through costco. Simon and Schuster could do big things for him. Maybe that will be me in three years.

In my impatience, I have begun volume two. I hope it will go a lot faster. I am hoping to finish it by Christmas and have two book available at my Christmas Open house. I am spured on by the fact that those that have read the book want more. Zippideedoodah!

Well, I finally finished my re-write at noon. I am exhausted. I have been spending up to 12 hours a day on this project for the last three weeks and I just sent it off to my friend Melba Markham to edit. It feels good to be this far. The next book ought to go a lot faster. It better. I can't take another ten years.

Now the work begins. I still have a cover to design and the layout to complete. I have one month to get the rest of it done. I am excited to finish so I can start on the next book. What a crazy life this writing stuff is.

The picture above is of some of the tools in the Pottery. Isaac's apron is under them.

Well, the holidays are finally over. I have been busy trimming the fat out of the manuscript, trying to make it meaner and leaner. It has been time consuming and fun, but I am anxious to get moving.

I wanted to post another photo. This is another old photo we found in the cellar at Pottery Niederbipp. I am guessing these were made by Isaac, circa 1970. There was an article that ran in the Niederbipp Post that included some of these photos.

Happy 2009.

I haven't had much time in the last few days to think about the book, but I'm up late again, working on my last firing before christmas. I thought I'd just post a picture and say I'm working on the edit where and when I can. I plan to do a lot more of this in the next couple of days and beginning next week- everyday.

This picture was among those found in the clay cellar in Niederbipp shortly after Jake arrived. The hands seems to be of a man much younger than Isaac, but then the photo seems very old. I'll try to post others before Christmas. Ben

Well, I'm up late firing a kiln. If its true that a watched pot never boils, it seems to be even more true that a watched kiln never reaches temperature. The firing just passed the 12 hours point and is nearly done---about 2380 degrees-on its way to 2400 before it will be time to shut it down. This part always take the longest--Especially in the witching hour of 4 am.

So, I have been working on the book. Alot of things still have yet to be ironed out. I have been a little slow this month, trying to get my studio openhouses out of the way and working on last minute Christmas orders. I look forward to next week when I can spend more time editing.

I wanted to post a photo or two.

This is an old picture of Isaac, taken just outside of the Bergerhaus in Niederbipp, circa 1965, back before he bought the electric wheel and was still using the old kickwheel. We found this in the studio, in the clay cellar, stuffed into the middle of an old book. I wonder why the photo was taken. I have written an email to the Mayor to see if he might know.