Bragging Time!

2,000 hits! Wow. I didn't expect that so soon.

I SIGNED A BOOK CONTRACT! 
There's a bit of a story to this. I had a contract with Virtual Tales for my novel, SONORA SYMPHONY. However, they went out of business so the rights reverted back to me. I sucked it in and went on another query session - to publishers. Not that I'm not thrilled with agents - which I'm not - but none of them have seemed to see the value of the story. Then, I found three publishers who asked me for a complete manuscript of the novel. One said they would publish it if I submitted the manuscript and the submission would serve as the binding contract. That bothered me.


So, yesterday, I received an offer to sign a contract with XOXO Publishing of Montreal, Canada. [One of the other publishers is in Australia!] So, I did some checking and they appear to be a legitimate operation. I also found another individual who had a book published by them and it appeared to be a solid operation.


So now, I'll wait and see how smoothly this goes.

And, for those of you who are reading this, here's an excerpt:

Ray’s nostrils still seemed filled with the sanitizing stuff they used to clean the hospital wards. But, he couldn’t miss the strange smells that wafted to him on the light breeze. He heard grunts and squeals of creatures moving towards them in the gulley.

“What on earth is that?”

Joe smiled. “Javelinas.”

“Huh?”

“Some people call ‘em musk hogs, but their proper name is collared peccary.”

A grizzled black and gray alpha male appeared first, the dark dorsal stripe, showing his status. Four females followed, their pig-like snouts seeking insects. Two young animals stayed near their mothers and another male brought up the rear.

“Pigs? Wild pigs?”

“Not really. They’re a species all to themselves, but are very loosely related to hippopotami.”

“Hippos? Those monstrous things in African rivers.”

They spoke low. but the lead javelina stopped to search for their voices. They shut up and watched the animals continue up the gulley.

The javelinas reached a stand of plants with thick broad pancake like leaves covered with spines. Joe told him, “That’s prickly pear. You don’t want to try to pick one up with your bare hands. Or even brush against it.”

“They eat those things?” Ray whispered.

“It’s their favorite food,” Joe replied.

“How on earth …?”

 “They have a very tough, grooved palate that keeps the spines from damaging their mouth.”

“The male’s tusks are quite big. Or do you call him a boar? Anyhow, they sure look sharp.” “And,” Ray added, “they point down and not up like a wild pig’s I‘ve seen in books.”

Joe grinned. “That’s a blessing The Creator gave them. They’re sharpened every time they open and close their mouths.”

The herd happily fed.