stuff

I had relay for life yesterday. I am a cancer survivor as is my best friend and I've lost family to cancer. anyways, what was supposed to be four hour turn for team turned into ten hours!! Was not planned well. Our captain left at 4pm never to return. And apparently she hadn't made it clear to everyone that they didn't have to stay for whole time so some didn't show up because of heat sickness and other things. Everyone was little cranky to say the least. I didn't get to work on my final. Now I'm really pressured and it's not going well. I mean lots of paint has been applied but I'm soooo not happy with it.

One gal was a real trooper though and stayed the whole time. I'm making a special painting for her in thanks. Thanks Betsy!! You are awesome!

Thanks!!

Thanks to everyone who has offered congrats and/or bought books already! Anyone who buys direct of the website, I will sign your copy. Just let me know. Those that are family on Knoll/Hanks side, I will be signing at the reunion in July. Best to order it sooner rather than later to make sure it gets here in time :) For those local, Borders has promised me a signing and I will be sure to post it when it happens!! Otherwise, I will find a place and time to sign if you let me know you've purchased a copy. Thanks everyone!!! Here's to the success of Rebellion on Piza 7 and the creation of the sequel, Blood Traitors.

press release

The official press release has happened, but after a bit of scuffle with publisher, you still can't get it escept through their website for another month! I asked for phone number or something because Borders can't order from the site they've allowed (Payment by paypal or credit card by fax! only!) they were willing to call so I could have my signing on their busiest day of the summer, but NOOOOO> no phone number nothing. Just the same old crap I recieved in letter first time around. I told them I know you said won't show up for weeks is their way to process faster or phone number borders can call to do order? Got the first email quoted back to me. I told my husband that is what would happen!!!!! Everyone by my book it'll be first edition collectible. I'm planning on going places, like Stephen King or JD Robb (AKA Nora Roberts)

Rebellion on Piza 7

I am royally peeved. I am at Borders trying to set the book signing and they can't find my book. Come to find out it could be another four weeks before it's available on the sites Borders uses for ordering. I am going to miss out on their biggest weekend of the summer because the book isn't "findable" ooooh. I'm sending a letter. We'll see what happens there. I may just tell them I'm going Kindle version. (It's up and running by the way!) It's cheaper faster and you can actually read it now not two months from now. I am so pissed!!!! Anyways, I'll let you know how it goes. Bye for now.

Rebellion on Piza 7

I'm in art and math this quarter. It's the last two weeks and everyone is stressing. I'm doing a 40" x 48" painting of a dragon. Silly me. I know little about dragons. Anyways, I've shown my book in my classes and people are excited. They love the cover. Now to convince borders to order a slew of them. I'm sure they don't know how many they are really going to need. I know they'll carry five, but there's five in my math class alone!

It's exciting! The neighborhood store might carry them. I've promised to sign any books he orders. I have to take my copy into him. I'm starting to fell like a REAL author (as opposed to a fake one?)

Exciting time for me, and I hope for my fans that believed in me. Thanks to you all for the confidence to continue to grow!! Remember, it's on Kindle now too, under
Rebellion on Piza 7. Only 1.99 there for limited time :)

I'm writing other stories as well as the sequel to this. I've been inspired and managed to write lots on it, especially since my internet is being stupid. Yeah yeah I know, quite the bitching. However, I'll quite when I've sold enough books to buy myself a new Router!!

Rebellion on Piza 7

Kindle is ready!! Type in Rebellion on Piza 7 in their search bar and Bam! there it is for 1.99 lol. I set it for 2.49 so it's on sale through Amazon and you don't want to miss it!!

Kindle

Recently, a day in this author's life hasn't included writing on the sequel!! Not good. Will do some writing/editing today. Also need tp finish portraits i've been commissioned to do. Busy, busy.

Kindle is loaded and Rebellion on Piza 7 should be up and running in one to two hours. Yeah! Now we shall see if it was worth the time it took to convert the book to kindle form.

Rebellion on Piza 7

So, I have lot's of people ready for the book and no way to get it just yet. Although it is my understanding that bookstores can order through the ISBN # as previously posted. In the next day or so, my website from the publisher should be up and running so you can order it from there. As soon as it works when I click on it, I'll pass the info along!

Bad news is that places like Amazon and Barnes and Noble online gigs might not show it for 8 weeks, so your best bet is the book store or my site.

TTYL
Leona Bushman

Life

So, baby and I have some mild form of the flu or something, but whatever this is it's caused me to lose weight. I've lost 4 inches of my stomache and around 10 pounds this last three days. I felt better for little while yesterday, but I think stress has made it worst.

I'm very stressed over the success of my book. As I've read it, I've found errors that make me angry because I'm sure they were fixed, or I asked them to be fixed in production. Problem is, sometime, I would forget to save after a little fix and at the time I was editing, My main comp crashed, my back up "family" computer is OLD and slow. I actually type faster than that old POC can keep up with!! Me, and my husband have been through that manuscript more times than I want to think about. He's a pretty good editor, but after so many times through, you start to miss things.

It doesn't help that I scratched an idea that was all the way through the book and wrote a new one in. That meant big changes and lots of new edits!! I have parts that I won't change, but for the most part I'm open to suggestions or "this has to be longer" ideas. I'm strange in that area, but so far, most of the ideas brought forth by those helping me edit, were ones I had thought about anyway, so it followed my instincts.

This has really been a family project! Thanks guys for your help.

Down Syndrome

Okay, I need to clarify, my son is 100% Down Syndrome. I meant he is only in the 1% for his age. He isn't gainging weight like he should and today he isn't feeling well. Part of the reason I want this to work so much is so I can be home with him, so it increases my frustration that things have taken so much longer than the original plan. It's been a long time since i approved the cover. I checked the dates.

Anyways, he is so precious and I love watching his daddy hold him. Love you all xxoo

Rebellion on Piza 7

I want to be high on the SEOs. I'll have to make that my goal for next week. This week it will have to be to get signings set up. My publishers website for authors says something about local tours, but they seem a bit slow on the uptake. I want things set up soon. Maybe I can catch a few looking for graduation presents. Or maybe people who are booking trips and looking for something new and exciting to read. I don't know. But I do know that I want to make this work as much as possible this month. If I don't I will have to go get a full time job and not only will that take away my ability to do promotions, but means I will have to be away from my 1% Down Syndrome baby. My goal is to have more freedom to stay home and encourage him to be the best he's capable of. Not have him in some daycare that doesn't have time to cater to his needs.

Problem is, it's looking more and more like I need a slew of money to make any, even on my books. Seems rather silly to me. I have to put out the money for posters and such? I should only have to pay for my percentage (i.e if you get ten percent you should only have to pay ten percent) maybe I'm reading the material wrong. I don't know for sure, since this is my first book.

I'll keep everyone posted.

ISBN AND SKU

Rebellion on Piza 7 by Leona Bushman has been released to sales and distribution. Those whom I have emails for will directly receive order info. Those who I don't know or don't have info for, no worries, I will post it here, LOL. In fact, I will post it now. ISBN # is 978-1-60860-012-0 and SKU # is 1-60860-012-2. they are building my website and as soon as its ready I will post my site address here. You can order directly off my site.

Now to the fun stuff. the cover is cool. It will help the book to sell, that's for sure. Now the trick will be to get it out there for people to see. I don't mind talking so that's not a problem. It's convincing people to spend their hard earned money in the middle of a recession. I think it's worth it. You will want to read the book over and over. Yeah, I know, tooting my own horn, but as an author, you can't afford the modesty avenue. I don't want to be the epitome of the poor starving writer, that's for sure!!

The making of Piza Seven

As my publicist recommends, I'm going to tell how my story, Rebellion on Piza 7 and the sequels came about. I lost my job a year and a half ago. I started writing to pass the time until I found a new job or got published. I love to write and my favorite genre really is mysteries. I've been reading mysteries since I discovered The Hardyboys and Nancy Drew and Agatha Christie's Hercule Poroit and Miss Marple.

I mainly started writing romantic mysteries with a couple of paranormals started when I had this dream. It was more like a nightmare, but it was definitely different. I remembered it in vivid detail and it wouldn't leave me alone. The problem with it is it was Science Fiction type of dream and I wasn't writing science fiction, I was writing mysteries.

Two weeks later, I went online, found a science fiction short story contest, and wrote the story to fit the guidelines. I had to get the story out of my head so I could concentrate on my other stories. I gave it to my husband to proof read and he said "this needs to be longer, and this is at least six paragraphs long not one..." you get the idea. No amount of "but it's a short story!" whining persuaded him it was okay as a short story.

He was right. Until I had a full length story, I couldn't get the dream to leave me alone. Aliens, far off worlds, psychics, it plagued me until the story was finished, if not polished.

I suck at query letters. Any would be authors and published authors know what I'm talking about. That VERY short letter where you have to manage to imbue your words with character, convince some agent your worthy of a second look, and make yourself look good. I suck.

My voice is my characters. When I write a query letter, I get something worst than writers block. I turn into a cement block incapable of creativity and sink my chances. Rebellion on Piza 7 was different. I wasn't nervous and didn't have my hopes up just sent the query out because I had a finished manuscript. Well it worked!

From oversized, larger than life spiders, crystal lasers, alien creatures, maniacal, bigoted people, and humanoids from another planet, you will be kept on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next.

Rebellion on Piza Seven

My proof copy has arrived and its beautiful! I'm obviously excited!! Trying to proof it and finish emails for those who want an official press release announcement by end of today. Book should be available for purchase by Monday :)

Here it comes!

My proof book of Rebellion on Piza 7 is due here at the house any day now! After I've read it in book form and checked for problems, it will be 2-3 days for availability. My target date is May 27 if it gets here when it's supposed to. This has taken a lot longer than expected! All of you who have watched my facebook and myspace know that! Now my publicist down south has made me take a walk into the 21st century and I'm really blogging. We are trying to work on twitter too but my internet isn't loading anymore new pages, especially twitter! The only reason I have even heard of twitter is reading agent blogs, and now she's making me do one. I know it's part of the modern day process, but can't I just have my trusty pencil and a notebook?