Griffie World Happenings

The answer to the “Where in the World?” question can now be answered, with Garden Grove, CA. The first copy of Misfit McCabe which will be traveling has finally arrived.  I have never been a patient person, and I thought I was going to wear a path between my desk and the mail room over the past couple days as I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of Book 1 (Purple).  i couldn’t believe it when it was actually here and I could open it up and look at my novel in hard bound version for the first time.  Fortunately everything looks good and there is no white border on the cover since I have already ordered the other copies to be shipped to their starting points.  I didn’t want to wait until I had the first copy since the production time is 10-15 days for hard bound books.  I want the books to get out there and start traveling around.

I am working on the press release, so I can announce the start of the “Where in the World is Misfit McCabe?” campaign and I am now working on packages to send out to schools to get them involved in the project.  Now is the time, because soon we will start to see the movement of the books.

All for now.
I briefly mentioned Where in the World is Misfit McCabe? in my last post and I thought now would be a good time to elaborate a little more on the concept and what I expect to accomplish with this project.

I normally am an inveterate book keeper and re-reader. Books are like friends and I enjoy reading an old favorite from time to time. Or, I’ll re-read a book because I really enjoyed the language, or appreciate how the author structured the book. I also read every night to help me relax enough so that I can drift off to sleep and for that process, reading a new book is not always helpful because I will always want to turn the next page to find out what happens, where with a previously read book I know what happens, so my mind can relax. So, for me the concept of reading a book and passing it on to someone else is a little foreign, but I know several people who do that very thing. They enjoy reading, but don’t keep any of the books to re-read. If they enjoy a book, they’ll recommend it to a friend and pass it along.

These thoughts were passing through my head as I was looking at my copy of Stealing Wishes by Shannon Yarbrough, who has said on more than one occasion that the saddest thing for a book is to be unread. I had read and reviewed the book and was considering sending it on to some friends who might enjoy it as much as I did. (Sorry Shannon, I still haven’t won the battle with sending it on.) At this point, I had the thought that it would be really fun to be able to track a book as it is passed from reader to reader. It would be interesting to see all of the places that the book has been and wonder about the people who had read it.

When I was young, not quite back to the point of dinosaurs, but definitely before the age of email, I used to get chain letters sent to me. It captured my imagination to wonder about the people who had received the letter before me and wonder about who it would go to in the future. Of course, any chain letter sent to me with the instructions to copy it out by hand 10 times and send it on were doomed to die by sudden death because while I loved to think about the possibilities, I never actually sent one on. I am glad to say that none of the dire predictions for breaking the chain ever came true. So, then the thought about having a book chain came to mind, without the peskiness of having to copy it out 10 times before sending it on.

At that point, the floodgates opened and ideas kept coming. I’d put together a website so that people could register that they had the book and where they were. Ooh - it would be neat to have a map to put markers on so that each location would be highlighted. The markers should be color coded so that each book line could be tracked, because why stop with just one book. Which one would go the farthest? Which would be read by more people? I could put a page to track all of the locations, so that everyone coming to the site could learn about the places, and post their own comments. What if someone didn’t have anyone to pass it on to? I could create a page so that people could register to receive one of the copies if that happened.

It took me awhile to catch up with all of the ideas the kept pouring forth, plus, I had to create the book in a hard bound edition, re-design the cover to meet the new specifications and wait for the books to start shipping. The production time frame for hard bound books is much longer than for paperbacks, so the waiting has been absolute torture for me. I continue to think of ideas for the site, but want to hold back and wait to see what happens organically.

You are welcome to stop by and see the website and drop me a comment on it. Where in the World is Misfit McCabe?

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LK Gardner-Griffie
Visit me at Griffie World
To buy Misfit McCabe, visit my store at Lulu.com or purchase at Amazon.com
To track Misfit McCabe across the country, visit:
Where in the World is Misfit McCabe?
Own a Kindle? Download Misfit McCabe in an instant.

I briefly mentioned Where in the World is Misfit McCabe? in my last post and I thought now would be a good time to elaborate a little more on the concept and what I expect to accomplish with this project.

I normally am an inveterate book keeper and re-reader.  Books are like friends and I enjoy reading an old favorite from time to time.  Or, I’ll re-read a book because I really enjoyed the language, or appreciate how the author structured the book.  I also read every night to help me relax enough so that I can drift off to sleep and for that process, reading a new book is not always helpful because I will always want to turn the next page to find out what happens, where with a previously read book I know what happens, so my mind can relax.  So, for me the concept of reading a book and passing it on to someone else is a little foreign, but I know several people who do that very thing.  They enjoy reading, but don’t keep any of the books to re-read.  If they enjoy a book, they’ll recommend it to a friend and pass it along.

These thoughts were passing through my head as I was looking at my copy of Stealing Wishes by Shannon Yarbrough, who has said on more than one occasion that the saddest thing for a book is to be unread.  I had read and reviewed the book and was considering sending it on to some friends who might enjoy it as much as I did.  (Sorry Shannon, I still haven’t won the battle with sending it on.)  At this point, I had the thought that it would be really fun to be able to track a book as it is passed from reader to reader.  It would be interesting to see all of the places that the book has been and wonder about the people who had read it. 

When I was young, not quite back to the point of dinosaurs, but definitely before the age of email, I used to get chain letters sent to me.  It captured my imagination to wonder about the people who had received the letter before me and wonder about who it would go to in the future.  Of course, any chain letter sent to me with the instructions to copy it out by hand 10 times and send it on were doomed to die by sudden death because while I loved to think about the possibilities, I never actually sent one on.  I am glad to say that none of the dire predictions for breaking the chain ever came true.  So, then the thought about having a book chain came to mind, without the peskiness of having to copy it out 10 times before sending it on. 

At that point, the floodgates opened and ideas kept coming.  I’d put together a website so that people could register that they had the book and where they were.  Ooh - it would be neat to have a map to put markers on so that each location would be highlighted.  The markers should be color coded so that each book line could be tracked, because why stop with just one book.  Which one would go the farthest?  Which would be read by more people?  I could put a page to track all of the locations, so that everyone coming to the site could learn about the places, and post their own comments.  What if someone didn’t have anyone to pass it on to?  I could create a page so that people could register to receive one of the copies if that happened.

It took me awhile to catch up with all of the ideas the kept pouring forth, plus, I had to create the book in a hard bound edition, re-design the cover to meet the new specifications and wait for the books to start shipping.  The production time frame for hard bound books is much longer than for paperbacks, so the waiting has been absolute torture for me.  I continue to think of ideas for the site, but want to hold back and wait to see what happens organically.

You are welcome to stop by and see the website and drop me a comment on it.  Where in the World is Misfit McCabe? 

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LK Gardner-Griffie
Visit me at Griffie World
To buy Misfit McCabe, visit my store at Lulu.com or purchase at Amazon.com
To track Misfit McCabe across the country, visit: 
Where in the World is Misfit McCabe?
Own a Kindle? Download Misfit McCabe in an instant.

Today was a red letter day for me. A long awaited copy of Misfit McCabe has finally shipped. I will be getting the copy next week and will have the first hard bound edition in my hot little hands. What makes this one so special?

The completion of the production process on this special edition book marks the beginning of the of the companion project that I have been spending a lot of my “spare” time getting off the ground. While it will still be a couple of weeks for the remainder of the books to ship, Book 1 shipping out is a major milestone.

Some of you may be asking yourselves, so what is this big project anyway? “Where in the World is Misfit McCabe?” has been set up to chronicle the travels of 8 special edition copies of Misfit McCabe as they are passed from person to person. For a sneak peek while we are waiting for the remainder of the books to ship, please check out Where in the World is Misfit McCabe?
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LK Gardner-Griffie
Visit me at Griffie World
To buy Misfit McCabe, visit my store at Lulu.com or purchase at Amazon.com
Own a Kindle? Download Misfit McCabe in an instant.

I have been quite tied up lately with a new project that I have been working on for Misfit McCabe and as a result, I haven’t had as much time to devote to the writing process or to keep up with you here on this blog.

I am getting very close to the launch of my latest idea, so will be posting very soon about the exciting new way in which Misfit McCabe will be going out into the world. Imagine if you will, a book that is traveling around the world, being passed from reader to reader. That type of idea would have captured me as a young adult, to spend some time daydreaming about the places the book had been as well as who the people were who had the opportunity to read it and what their reactions were. Well, I have figured out a way to make that happen and to be able to track it all on a map!

Stand by to learn more about this and how the whole thing will work. Then you’ll have to ask yourself, “Where in the World is Misfit McCabe?”
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LK Gardner-Griffie
Visit me at Griffie World
To buy Misfit McCabe, visit my store at Lulu.com or purchase at Amazon.com
Own a Kindle? Download Misfit McCabe in an instant.

I have a new activity that will be occupying part of my time, which is writing book reviews for the Lulu Book Review.  I always enjoy reading and this will give me an opportunity to read more and different types of work.  Another good thing is that I will be helping to promote self-published writing and will be able to give encouragement to my fellow authors.

How did this come about?  Well, as you know I submitted by book, Misfit McCabe for review and Shannon Yarbrough, Lulu Book Review owner and author of Stealing Wishes, gave it a very nice review.  Through that process, Shannon and I had several communications back and forth, both to do with the review itself plus winning the marketing book give away that the Lulu Book Review sponsored.  Shannon gave me a copy of Stealing Wishes along with the marketing book, so I wrote and posted a review here, as well as on Amazon.com and Lulu.com of Stealing Wishes, which prompted more correspondence back and forth.

I admire what Mr. Yarbrough has set out to do and has accomplished with the Lulu Book Review because I feel it is important to encourage my fellow authors and to help promote self-publishing as another means to getting your work published, while retaining control of your work.  Publishing is changing and there is definitely a place for the self-published within the publishing world.  So during the course of our correspondence, I offered to assist in writing some of the reviews for the Lulu Book Review and Mr. Yarbrough graciously accepted.  I think it will be an arrangement that will work out for both of us because I will have the opportunity to read and critique other work, which ultimately will serve to help me improve my own work, and the Lulu Book Review will benefit from having an additional “voice” for the reviews.

And so, I am now a part time book reviewer, in addition to all of the other projects I am working on.  So, stop on by the Lulu Book Review to check out the reviews, and if you are a fellow self-published author through Lulu, ask for a review.  I’d love to see your work.
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LK Gardner-Griffie
Visit me at Griffie World
To buy Misfit McCabe, visit my store at Lulu.com or purchase at Amazon.com
Own a Kindle? Download Misfit McCabe in an instant.

Mortal Ghost
by L. Lee Lowe
Copyright: © 2007
$12.11 Paperback
Free E-Book
379 Pages

Let’s go back in time to the hey-day of radio when stories were read on  a weekly basis and the family gathered around the radio to wait for the next installment.  Or when newspapers or magazines published novels a chapter at a time.  The speculation of what would happen next would be discussed with the anticipation mounting as you waited for the story to continue.  Author L. Lee Lowe has brought this concept back with her young adult fantasy novel, Mortal Ghost, by publishing it one chapter at a time via blog.  She then published the book in installments via podcast and as an e-book, and then finally as a POD with Lulu.

L. Lee Lowe believes that work should be made accessible to all, and therefore, there is no charge for the e-Book downloads, or reading from the blog, and the book published is priced at cost of printing.  Mortal Ghost is one that would not have been broadcast during family hour due to subject matter, and on the blog site Lowe advises it is not recommended for readers under 16, but is an excellent story for the intended readership.

I love the concept of the serialized novel.  The thought of being able to publish one chapter and have the opportunity of instantaneous feedback from your target readers is very attractive.  The only problem with that concept is that I tend to write - rewrite - rewrite - rewrite and have to force myself to stop and call it finished.  If I had feedback from all quarters saying what they liked, didn’t like, I would continue the tweaking process and never finish the book.  And let’s face it, not everyone is always going to agree, so there would always be a comment indicating something that might need to be tweaked.

I was also relieved to learn that Lowe had completed the book before starting to publish it online.  Think of the pressure if you didn’t have a completed novel to start with?  Would the next chapter be done in time to publish on the designated date?  Would your characters behave nicely and let you in on the secret of what happens next or turn ugly and refuse to speak to you until the deadline passed?  Would your readers get fed up with your incalculable schedule and never return to finish the book?  Speaking for myself, I find that I am unable to write under that kind of pressure.

The cover of Mortal Ghost is extremely eye-catching and provides a hint of what is to come inside.  The dramatic cover art is the work of Australian artist L.M. Noonan.  It is definitely better viewed in large size so that you get the full effect of the details which are on the torso behind the reflected light of the fire.  This cover is the essence of the book, distilled into an image, beautifully done.

Where is the line between imagination and reality?  Can you be swallowed by a memory?  Are the memories that you hold, yours or do they belong to someone else?  Is it possible for a healer to kill?

Mortal Ghost is a magnificently descriptive novel which poses all of the above questions and more.  At the heart of the novel is a modern day teen-age love story, full of hesitancy, misunderstandings, and tenderness.  One might call it typical, except the love story is only one layer of a many-layered book.  Meet Jesse.  A sixteen year old runaway, who is living on the street and earns money doing odd jobs, like washing windows or mowing lawns, in order to buy food.  Jesse is far from your typical teen-ager.  In addition to being extremely well read, especially since he has been in and out of foster care from the age of 9 and on the street otherwise, Jesse has the power to heal wounded animals and is a fire-starter.  Jesse lost his entire family in a fire at the age of 9 and carries around the guilt of not being able to save his mother and younger sister from the fire.

Meet Sarah.  A self-assured, independent, ballet dancer, with a fiery temper who brings Jesse home to meet her family.  Her mother, Meg, a psychiatrist who works with troubled teens and “sees” things that haven’t happened yet or she hasn’t been told.  And her father, Finn, an international photographer, who uses that as a cover for another profession which his family knows nothing about.  Against Jesse’s inclinations, he ends up staying with the Andersen family and is learning to trust someone other than himself.  The Andersen’s see Jesse as the opportunity to redeem themselves for where they failed their own son, Peter, who left home and was not heard from until he died in suspicious circumstances.

The very core of the story revolves around Jesse - who is he and how did he come to have these powers?  No one seems to know, least of all Jesse himself.  He is shaken to his foundation by a discovery that Finn has made and reveals to him after taking him to a secret laboratory so that Jesse’s powers can be studied.

    ‘Tell him,’ Ayen said.
    ‘Tell me what?’ Jesse asked.
     Finn looked at him for a long while before answering. Finally he sighed. ‘You’ve told me about the fire that killed your family.’
     ‘And?’ Jesse’s voice was loud and angry.
     ‘And that no one survived the fire.’
     ‘How can you possibly think I need reminding? Get to the point.’
     ‘Jesse, no one survived the fire. We’ve checked the records. Not a single member of the household. Not even the boy.’
     Jesse stared at Finn, the colour draining from his face as he took in the import of Finn’s words.
     ‘That’s impossible. There must be some mistake,’ Jesse said.
     ‘Not unless you gave us false information.’
     ‘I’m no liar!’
      Ayen interposed in a tranquil tone. ‘There’s no error. We’ve seen copies of the coroner’s report, the police records, the death certificates. All records of Jesse Wright end with the fire-school, health, even church. Nor has social services ever heard of you.’

Now Jesse is struggling with the question of who he is and how he has memories of everything that has happened in addition to the other strange occurrences that continue to plague him.  While at the laboratory, he spends some time with something that is known as the prototype, a computer which has baffled the scientists working with it by creating things on its own.  The connection with the prototype haunts Jesse as it invades his thoughts, taunts him and tries to manipulate his actions.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Mortal Ghost and L. Lee Lowe’s love of words and the craft of writing comes shining through the descriptions that are beautiful to the point of poetic.  Her use of symbolism seeks to underscore the underlying theme of life and death.  My only criticism of the work is that with the continual shifts of point of view and changing between present and past tense, there are some transitions which are a little awkward, and caused me to have to reread in order to ensure that I understood what was happening.  Mortal Ghost has more twists and turns than an old-fashioned mountain road.  This book contains a love story, enemies, rape, dysfunctional families, glances at the drug culture, as well as paranormal abilities and a computer trying to gain control.  If you are someone who likes all of the questions answered and all of the story lines tied up in a nice bow by the end of the book, then Mortal Ghost is not for you.

However, if you are willing to open your mind to the possibilities where the lines between reality and fantasy are blurred, where a boy exists, but has died, where objects appear and disappear, and where at the end you have more questions than answers, then Mortal Ghost is well worth reading.  I look forward to L. Lee Lowe’s next novel, which is currently in progress, for the pure joy of the language as well as where the wings of fantasy will take the storyline.

Reviewed by LK Gardner-Griffie for the Lulu Book Review

Author of Misfit McCabe

Read the full review at The Lulu Book Review!