Uncategorized

First, I am deeply saddened.  On Saturday past, a dear friend of mine was laid to rest after a valiant fight with an aggressive form of cancer.  Duane Schwartz was a creative and caring man, and an author like myself.  I am left with wonderful memories of our few times together–talking about writing in general and our books in particular.  My condolences are with Duane’s widow, Betty–the two of them had a marvelous relationship.  Also, my sympathies to the Schwartz children and their families.  We will miss you, Duane.  May God bless you with eternal life.  (On this website, Duane Schwartz has a link that you are able to access).

And, to balance my sadness, there is an air of expectancy as I look forward to the week, and weeks, ahead.  At the end of this week my new novel, ‘A Passage of Redemption’ will be released.  With publication begins a busy schedule of book-signings, readings, and related events. I’m very optimistic that the book will be well received by my readers, many of them have been waiting nearly five years for the next Moran story.  My seventh novel has a doppelganger twist and sweeps from frigid northern Minnesota to balmy southern Florida. Enough said!  My growing calendar for November already includes numerous events:

Tues:  Oct. 30 (2:00–4:00) Howard Street Booksellers . . . Hibbing

Fri: Nov. 2 (3:00–5:00) Hibbing Public Library

Mon: Nov. 5 (5:00–7:00) Eveleth Public Library

Thurs: Nov. 8 (                      Virginia Public Library

Sat. Nov. 10 (Noon–2:00)  Howard Street Booksellers . . . Hibbing

Tues. Nov. 13 (1:00–3:00) Irma’s Finland House . . . Virginia (My east Range outlet)

Wed. Nov. 14   KAXE Radio with Heidi Holtan

Tues. Nov. 15 (5:00–7:00) Hoyt Lakes Public Library

Sat. Nov. 17 (Noon–2:00)  Village Book Store . . . Grand Rapids

Mon. Nov. 19 (                  ) Grand Rapids Public Library  (Times pending.  I will give a presentation of early Iron Range immigration and mining.)

I hope to see you at any one of these events and personalize a book for you.  If you are reading this blogI’m quite certain that you realize what a cherished gift (Christmas or other) a book can be.

As of this writing, I continue to seek opportunities to read from and/or discuss ‘A Passage of Redemption’, and I remain open to scheduling any event that fits in the available time slots.  I will be off to Florida for the winter months where I hope to establish some new markets.  In the meantime, if you wish to order an autographed copy of any of my ten books you may order from this website or contact me at the address listed below.  To order the new book please send a check for $18.95 ($14.95 plud $4.00 S/H) to PJM Publishing:

PJM Publishing (Pat McGauley) ,2808 Fifth Ave. West, Hibbing, MN 55746 (218-262-3935 or 218-969-4212).  My Florida address will be published in December.

Lastly, I will have another posting soon.  Probably more commercial than personal.  I want to invite you to respond to this or any of my blog postings.  If you’ve read my books, I always enjoy a critique.  I have thick skin!  If you have any writing or author-related questions, I’d enjoy providing any insights I’ve picked up over the years.  I further invite you to check out the several links that this site offers.  On occasion I’m  asked–in one manner or another– “What’s the best book on writing that you’ve ever read?” My response might surprise you.  Check out ‘On Writing’ by Steven King–yes, that Steven King!  ‘Til next time, God bless.

 

Finally!

My new novel–A Passage of Redemption–sailed  off to the publishing house last Friday.  The manuscript  passed its final round of format editing and the cover design has been done to perfection.  Compliments to Renee Anderson.  From the first words of the story in December (2011) until now is just over nine months . . . my anticipation must be like that of a woman in the last days of her pregnancy.  (That analogy could only come from a man–a naive and grossly witless man at that).  Something related must be lingering in the back of my thoughts–more on that later.

Anyhow, I am expecting the delivery date of the new book to be in early November–perfectly timed for Christmas shoppers.  As I’ve mentioned in a previous blog, I hope to have the new book available as an ‘ebook’ as well as a trade paperback edition.   More on that later, too.

Now I can focus more attention on the next story.  My protagonist is anxious to take my readers on another adventure.  I think–hope and pray– that A Passage of Redemption will add to my following.  And, I hope further to carve a market in Florida where I spend a part of the winter.

file://localhost/Users/shatiferin/Desktop/Passage_Cover_Layout.pdf

It was the kind of day that stirs the river that runs inside of me.  Deeply emotional and heavy with nostalgia.  The first day of autumn came in with a second heavy frost  igniting resplendent coloration to the northern forests.

Twice each year–in the late spring and again in the early fall–I journey to the little mining town where so much of my youth was spent.  Hoyt Lakes holds a raft of my early memories and today, without intending to, I touched many of them.  My dad and mom are buried there; on a green slope beneath an old birch tree.  I loaded the flower baskets into the trunk of my car and then spent several long minutes talking–first to my dad, and them my mother.  Pictures in my mind of dad have become kinda hazy with the years–more than forty already–but mom’s face is etched pretty deeply.  Good people, marvelous parents, one of God’s greatest gifts to me.  As I walked around the cemetery I paused at the gravestones of many people that were dear friends during my years there.  I left some tears behind and my prayers came through a throat  thick with the many sadnesses of memories.  One place I always visit is the grave of Father Thomas Stack, the priest that built the Queen of Peace Catholic Church that  casts a shadow over the hilltop where he rests in peace.

I drove past the house on Wyandotte Road where our family lived and my heart hurt at the sight of neglect.  Yet, the town has made it through the years in relatively good order.  The ballfields, Community Center, Shopping center and NorthStar Lanes (where I had one of my first jobs), Birchcove beach . . . my head swirled with old times never lost.

There is a beauty to the drive across the eastern Mesabi Range.  Aurora is a quiet old mining town that claims 1600 residents and boasts a multi-million dollar high school–Mesabi East.  My old high school is a minor part of the impressive campus.  The highway between Aurora and Biwabik passes one of the prettiest of many lakes  across the Range.  Lake Embarrass.  A few miles north is the recreation mecca of Giant’s Ridge.  Biwabik has taken on an Alpine motif that has a certain charm.  And, Vi’s pizza has moved from the Urich kitchen to a location on the main street.  Vi’s was my first pizza and remains my favorite–Sammy’s in Hibbing is a close second.  As I skirt Gilbert I always remember college friendships–several Gilbert guys went to Winona State College where I did my undergraduate work.

Enough of the travelogue.  The day was too gorgeous to be inside despite the Vikings on one channel and my beloved Twins on the other. When I got back to Hibbing I collected Gail and we drove south of town to a favorite fall color spot–Beauty Mountain Road.  I had just got my Ranger pickup out of the shop and wanted to give her some road miles–about 18 of them, south on #73 past the Silica fire station.  We were about one week too early to see all the panorama of colors but the hiking was fantastic!  Trees with southeastern exposures were showing reds and yellows and ambers that were in stark contrast with the dark greens of pines.  Beauty Lake was as clear and blue as the cloudless sky.

The Good Lord gave us a magnificent Sunday and I just had to share my part of it with you.  God bless.

Oh, a PS for you sports fans:  On the drive back I checked the postgame scores–Twins clobbered the Tigers and the Vikes beat the heavily favored 49’ers.  Add to that, our Gophers are 4-0!

I must first apologize for trying to be clever with my last posting.  In relating to you, my precious readers, that Doppleganger will not be published this fall I created no small measure of frustration.  Questions ranged from ‘Why’? ‘What happened’?  To ‘when will it be out? And comments ranged from mild disappointment to outrage.  Perhaps I exaggerate some.  What I meant  to convey was simply that the title of my new novel had been changed–that’s all.  Doppleganger has become ‘A Passage of Redemption’–same story, different title and cover. Speaking of covers, many potential readers DO judge a book by it’s cover.  I’m still working with Renee at Express Print LTD on the cover design.  The front cover will have a prominent church steeple (which will turn-off some people) and a dynamite ‘blurb’ on the back cover.  It will be striking!  I’m told that the story will be 300+ pages and it’s format will be identical to that of Saint Alban’s Day–it’s predecessor (2007). Hard to believe that it’s been five years since my last novel.  So, that’s what I mean by confusion.  Sorry.

Now, the frustration part of this blog’s title.  There are lots of hoops to go through with a new book.  Some can be very frustrating to a person who is computer challenged.  I am that.  The first step is the application for copyright.  This is relatively easy and not very expensive.  The app goes to the Library of Congress in DC.  One necessary component of the app is the books ISBN#–this will be the book’s official identification.  This is a tad more expensive but, for reasons I don’t understand, I purchased ten ISBN’s several years ago.  (With my new book I will have used every one of them.)  Anyhow, A Passage of Redemption will be 978-0-9724209-7-6 for its entire life as a book.  Kinda like our Social Security number.  Then, I reconnect with  the Library of Congress for another ID number: the LOC identification.  More paperwork and a forwarded copy of the book for the national archives.  Next are the forms necessary to have your title listed in ‘Books in Print’ (through Bowkerlink), so that book vendors can access the title if they are interested in selling it. And, in order for vendors to sell the book, a bar code must be purchased and displayed on the cover.  In that all of my titles are available through Amazon,  I must complete the necessary paperwork for their site–and, send them a copy so that potential readers can “Search inside the book” on the Amazon.com.  Oh, I failed to do this step with last year’s children’s Christmas story: The Midnight Hour.  I was rushed last winter and didn’t get through all the hoops.  I’ll get it on this year.  Thus, hours of frustration with the hoops.

Let me suggest that you reward my efforts and try using my website, rather than Amazon or Barnes and Noble,  to order my books.  I might suggest a few reasonably  good reasons. First, I would make a more reasonable, yet modest, profit from a website purchase.  With Amazon, I surrender 55% of the cover price right off the top and, in addition,  I must pay the shipping and handling of each copy (approximately $3.50 per order).  Consequently, my net profit becomes about 29 cents, give or take a dime. So what?  After all, I’m not writing to become rich like John Grisham or Steven King.  That being said, if you order from me you’ll get an autographed first edition copy. (I also autograph most book store copies.  Please do support your local book stores–Howard Street Booksellers in Hibbing, Village Books in Grand Rapids, and my books are available at Irma’s Finland House in Virginia, too.)

Now, you might ask: When can I expect to have an opportunity to purchase my copy of A Passage of Redemption?  If all goes well, I’m thinking the book will be published in early-to-mid October.  In plenty of time for Christmas gift-giving.   I’ll be more specific, and post a blog, as soon as I have an exact date.  However, it is not unheard of for those of you who want to be proactive Yes, it is perfectly legal to preorder–really!  In fact, I already have my first in-advance order.  The check is resting atop a stack of papers on my desk.  Yes, the purchasee is a member of my immediate family . . . but, it’s a start none-the-less.  While you are waiting for October, however, why not read the six novels leading up to the new story?  Each one of them is a remarkably engrossing reading experience.  And, with each book you will come to know more about the fabled Moran family’s roots–and some of northeastern Minnesota’s colorful history as well.  The last three: The Hibbing Hurt, Flag, and Saint Alban’s Day are especially relevant.  All are tastefully depicted on this web site.

There is more news to share.  I am hopeful that my books may soon be available to those of you who are E-readers–with your Kindles or Nooks or whatever.  I’ve asked my computer genius, Jeremy Hendrickson, to explore that possibility for me.  (Jeremy has a link on this website).  And, so do some of my writer friends; Duane Schwartz, Mark Munger and Aaron Brown.  Please check them out–they’ve written some mighty fine stories.  And, I’ve recently learned that another Hibbingite has  authored an ebook. She is Dianna Neary–her story -No Peacocks Please- is listed under the pen name Dianna Drown.  Believe me, if or when my books are available to e-readers, I’ll be the first to tell you how to get a download.  Until then, happy reading.  God bless.

Those of  you who have followed my blog over the past several months  may be expecting Doppelganger, my exciting new novel, to be published this fall.  Sadly, that’s not going to happen!

Let me tell you what’s happened.  Two weeks ago I was biking on a sunny Saturday morning and thinking of something that had to be added to the Epilogue of the story.  I had nearly completed the umteenth rewrite and was almost ready to send the manuscript on to the next step and then to the publishers.  In order to obtain the  copyright,  ISBN, LOC control number, and complete the other necessary steps, specific information had to be provided to the Library of  Congress.   Naturally the title of the story is near the top of the list of copyright requirements.  With the application form staring at me from my MacBook,  I simply could not type in Doppelganger.

Some history.  My first reader suggested that Doppelganger was an intriguing title, but it didn’t accurately capture what the story was about.  That paranormal concept was certainly an important element but the story was something much more than doppelganger.  At the time, months ago, I disagreed.  While on that Saturday bike ride, it struck me that he was right.  So was the character who was about to make his final bow in the epilogue.   One of my characters knew more about my story than I did–how can that happen?  The story is about a man’s journey– the man is a . . . . I’ve got to keep that to myself for now.  Anyhow, I felt compelled to rename my story.  Next, I contacted my reader primary readers, explained my dilemma, and solicited their input. They all agreed that ‘journey’, or something similar, should be reflected  in the title.  For three days we all went back and forth.  I received some really good feedback from each reader and pieced their ideas together.  (These are some very intelligent and persuasive people).

I think that you will agree with them and me when you read the book, A PASSAGE OF REDEMPTION, better captures the essence of the story.  That is not to say that the doppelganger thread is not a fascinating subplot–it is!  But, change can be upsetting and I had a loss of appetite and a bout of insomnia these past  few days.

I’ve finally let go of A PASSAGE OF REDEMPTION.  It is now in the hands of the formatting people at Express Print in Hibbing; then it will have it’s final ‘passage’ to the publishing house.  If coming up with this new  title has been stressful, my next task is even more so.  The last thing I do is write the ‘BLURB’!  The blurb is the back cover text that must compel a potential reader to take this book off the shelf,  bring it to the clerk at the register, pay the $14.95  . . . and rush home to get started reading.  Those few words on the back cover are the most important that I will write.  They must grab like the talons of an eagle, or . . . dust will settle upon the book, the book will be unshelved and packaged, and returned to the author.  Then, more loss of appetite, insomnia, and the psychological punishments of shattered self-esteem.

So, back to my first two sentences, Doppelganger will not be published this fall.  God willing, A PASSAGE OF REDEMPTION, will be published this fall.  It is the same story.  To borrow an old cliche: a rose by any other name smells the same.  I’m thinking of sharing the ‘BLURB’ with those of you who follow my blog posts.  Let me know if you think that’s a good idea.

My next blog posting will have an update on the passage of  . . . A PASSAGE OF REDEMPTION.

 

 

How catchy is ‘The birds and the bees . . .?’  kinda makes you bubble over with curiosity, doesn’t it?

Well, to be honest, I really don’t have a lot to say about what you think is coming, but I haven’t posted anything on this site in weeks.  So, here goes nothing.

Do you give a tinkers d— (this site is for all ages) about fish?  Not fishing walleyes or bass and such, but koi and goldfish?  I’ve added life to a pond in my back yard:  seven goldfish and two koi are making their home here.  I enjoy watching them dart about, then hide when they see that they are being watched.  The pond is surrounded by bee balm (flowers) and huge hydrangia and Java red weigela shrubs–just to mention a few of many species of flowers.  So, as you might imagine, the hum of  bees is always in the air. Harmless creatures, I think, the bumble bees are too busy pollenating to pay any attention to anybody hanging around spying on them as they flitter about the garden.  In the apple tree nearby, the wrens who lived in my ornate birdhouse these past many weeks have already hatched their brood and flown off somewhere.  I’ve enjoyed watching them and the robins who nest in my pine tree every summer, too.  And, since I put out a thistle feeder, the finches–yellow and purple–are abundant, too.  Thistle is to a finch as honey is to Pooh.   So, to say that my life in historic Hibbing, Minnesota is stimulating is an understatement of fact.  It’s here where I’m finally learning about the mystery surrounding the birds and the bees.  (And ants, butterflies, frogs, and mosquitos.)

Now that you’re completely engrossed in this posting, I could move along to the Twins, our major league affiliated and minor league staffed, pro baseball team; or, to the Vikings who are assembling their talent down in Mankato, and hoping to post more than four wins this season.  But–I won’t touch either topic on this blog.   Nor will I make a sales pitch for books available on this website.  Great books, great prices . . . and soon to be collector items.  Enough said.

Speaking of books.  I think that I’ve mentioned Doppelganger once or twice in my blogs. Well, I have been going through the FINAL rewrite.  Norma Grant’s edited copy of my manuscript has been getting my full and daily attention–when I’m not watching my blended family of fish, the birds, and  bees.

I have to be careful to not ‘overwrite’ as I enhance some of the characters and tweak some of the  story’s subplots, and keep an eye on the word-count.  I want to be somewhere between 85 and 95 thousand words without infusing drivel that doesn’t move the plot forward.  It’s a challenging task but I’m having fun doing it.  At my current pace, I expect to get the manuscript to the publishing house by mid-August.  That means that there will be a new McGauley book on the market sometime in September.  It’s like having a pregnant computer with an approximate due date–or, is that too much of a stretch?  My books, however, are like children to me . . . kinda . . . each one has some of its father’s characteristics and all are ‘genetically linked’, yet each has a  unique personality. and none is loved more than any other.  I think I may be going off the deep end.  Too much writing and too much imagination can do a great injustice to someone, like myself, who is certifiably sane.

Anyhow, I’ve just gone over 600 words, in the past few minutes.  (You can count them to see if I’ve tried to snow you.)  I’ll let go of this posting now.  My next blog will be some day next month when I’ve finished all my work on Doppelganger.

P.S.  I’m thinking of allowing my website followers an opportunity to advance order an autographed copy. Wouldn’t that be simply wonderful?

God bless’

P