I took my book south in March. More Than You Think You Know is set along the rivers between Chicago and Mobile Bay, but the characters have Florida on the brain and so do I. The Association and Writers and Writing Programs, aka AWP, was in Tampa this year. It was (another!) dream come true to dwell amongst the literati, with my own Beating Windward Press publishing house offering me a home base with the Litlando contingent at the largest book fair in North America, where I communed with 12,000 other attendees.
The thing about conferences is that the impact is residual and can never be fully conveyed to the folks back home who ask, “how was it?” Conferences are a marinade that you steep in. Good ones penetrate the marrow, and forever flavor you. Awkward networking eventually gave way to spontaneous exchanges: dinner with a young poet who wrote his list of must-read scribes on the back of a credit card slip; a sister from Detroit whose life and writing journey was a mirror into what could be; Jane Friedman on my Facebook Live; and yoga with a working writer who graced the class with authorly wisdom (and moves for sore shoulders from carrying around book bags full of swag). It was also an opportunity to get an author portrait taken by Adrianne Mathiowetz, a Boston-based portrait and editorial photographer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Wired and Entertainment Weekly.
Author Cyndi Perkins, writer, editor and journalist.
After the Tampa adventure, I traveled to the Atlantic side of the Sunshine State to see my family, and stopped by North Indian River County Library in Sebastian. It’s a welcoming, wonderful facility. Thanks to Taylor Iachini and her colleagues for listening to my pitch—and what a comfort to know that my bookmarks will be put to good use! Taylor says the library will carry my novel. Yay!
I want every library to carry More Than You Think You Know, so that everyone who wants to read my has access to it. The themes of freedom and journeys within and without (because some of the biggest trips we take are interior) deserve to be shared without limits.
Libraries saved my sanity when I was a young mother at home with no car, no income, two little babies and two big dogs. The brown zippered pouch that brought be Books By Mail from Portage Lake District Library to my mailbox were the best days.
That’s why you can also find print and/or ebook versions at Peter White Public Library in Marquette, Portage Lake District Library and the Van Pelt and Opie Library at Michigan Tech in Houghton and Calumet Public Library
If you do want to pick up a copy of my novel, there are a few more options, including Beyond Useless Boutique, 1125 US Highway 1, in beautiful Sebastian, Florida, and in the 906 section of Michigan Tech Campus Bookstore. Or get it on Kobo, the worldwide e-reader marketplace that goes to countries Amazon doesn’t, like the Netherlands and Japan.
Artist Lisanne Robinson, owner of cheeky, unique Beyond Useless Boutique, was sold when I told her my novel is about bad-ass women like her.
Check out the Upper Peninsula section at Michigan Tech’s campus bookstore—my alma mater takes good care of me!
Book reviews matter. I need your help.
Even if you don’t buy the book, please review it. I’ve had a few people confess they borrowed a copy of More Than You Think You Know, like I was going to get pissed at them for not buying it. That’s just silly! If you really want to do me a solid, whether you bought or borrowed the book, take a few minutes to put a review on Goodreads, Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble or wherever reviews are posted that’s easiest for you. Encourage others to do the same. Reviews are the only way for books to get noticed and reach a wider audience. It’s up to you, readers!
You’ll see me at Outback in Marquette this summer, and again at the Copper Harbor and Eagle Harbor art shows. On my next trip to Florida, I plan to range farther south, to visit more bookstores, give a library talk or two, and dig into my characters and their outrageous escapades in my next novel, working title Yoga for Smokers. Not sure how many of the usual suspects from the first novel will turn up. But I know one thing for sure:
These wild women are going to the Keys, and so am I.
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