Gold Lame'

Many people are closet artists. They make a living doing one thing and make it worth their while by enjoying painting or making pottery as a hobby. For more than 30 years I have made a living as a visual artist while I have been writing in the background. I work with quite a few writers, poets, and actors all of whom have taught me how richly challenging these crafts can be. I have tended to keep my short stories and novels on the shelf, so to speak; with the excuse that I didn't know enough. Thing is, everything I do is self-invented, so the excuse really doesn't hold water. I've been exposing my creative expression to public scrutiny for so long that I decided my writing shouldn't be any different. When I decided I wanted to be a professional artist, my dad told me he thought I was a better writer than artist (see... that kind of scrutiny). Today I'm hoping he was at least half right.

I have been crafting Gold Lame' for 4 years. Given that there are references to political elections as well as summer picnics and fireworks as background for the mystery to unfold, I thought this was as good a time as any to finally let it go and see what happens. I have implemented the techno-skills I have developed over time as well as some new learnings to do this on-line in ebook and audiobook format with plans to eventually get it printed in perfect bound.

While I'm completing this process I am working on building a community of people who like the idea, want to support the process, and might even share it with their friends. So I have started this blog, posted previews of the book, and made a video trailer.

I am having a lot of fun getting to know the web-world in a whole new way and I'm hopeful that this venture may be a way for many others to enjoy these experiences too. So I'll be covering the book here, but also posting adventures in social networking.

If you don't know what Stumble Upon is, check it out. You join for free, download the toolbar which automatically shows up in your browser, check the categories that interest you, and click the stumble it button to be transported to cool sites recommended by other web travellers. This can be quite fun and interesting. Pandora.com is a cool website where you can start your own radio station that will play your favorite music...really cool. Facebook is a lot friendlier than I thought it would be and I have reconnected there with old friends.

The book samples I have posted are copyrighted with a Creative Commons license (one of those things I've learned about) which encourages sharing as long as everything remains the same. So feel free to print it out, send links to whomever you wish. The ebook has more pages in it than the audio book so, if you like what you hear you can read more.

I hope you'll become a part of this growing community and subscribe to be a part of the process and find out when the full version goes up. Thanks for visiting and sharing in my adventure!