It gives me great pleasure today to host a lovely writer, Mariam Kobras, as she celebrates the launch of her book, Under The Same Sun. So without further ado, I will hand over to Mariam.
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| Mariam Kobras |
The Last Thing On My Mind
What was that again?
Don’t ever
fall into the trap of thinking that all an author does is write books and then
sits back and watches the money roll in!
So this is how it goes. I’m sitting here,
trying to think of original, witty and moderately intelligent things to say
about Under the Same Sun, and in pops the publisher.
“You can’t use that title for the book you’re
just writing,” they say.
What?
I try to come out of the muddle I’m in, caught
somewhere between the launch, the blog hop, and the writing of a new book.
“You can’t use Lavender Lemonade. It’s a
bit misleading. You’ll need to think of
something else!”
Right. Like I’m sitting here at my desk, and
brilliant titles just pop out of my head like soap bubbles. Like I need a new distraction right
now.
La di da! A new title, and pronto, since I’ve
been blasting the fact that I’m working on something new all over the internet.
I’m for something with “winter” in it, but my
favorite beta-reader tells me no, everything with “winter” in it sounds like
the title of a decorating magazine.
Gosh, I really don’t need this right now. How
to come up with a new title?
As if this isn’t enough, the publisher
announces they want to release the third book of the trilogy in fall 2013.
Uh, I might be dead by then? That’s so far in
the future I can’t even comprehend it. That’s so far in the future, who knows if the world will still be around?
It’s so far in the future that I’m sure I’ll
have to reread it, just to remember what I wrote. .
I tell them that I can’t wait that long. I’m
too old for that kind of planning, and I really wanted to make enough money
from the writing to be able to get in and out of the Porsche I want to buy with
my royalties. After having renovated and redecorated the house, taken the
family on a trip around the world and having hiring a housekeeper.
Oh wait—didn’t I say I wanted to move? Right.
So after having tossed all the old crap out of this place and finding a pretty
house with a porch somewhere in New England. Right.
Surprisingly, they don’t break out into
hysterical laughter at this argument of mine. They just shake their head with
an amused smirk on their face and say, we’ll see.
Seconds later, someone asks me to summarize Under the Same Sun in one tweet.
OY!
I don’t think so.
Authors are really lousy at summarizing their
own books, I think. What to pick, what’s important, what’s not?
I mean, I could go on and on about that lovely
part of Under the Same Sun where Jon
and Naomi go to Italy to meet Naomi’s maternal family.
It’s late summer, the heat has abated, and
there’s the azure Mediterranean, The green mountain slopes, the steep hills
that drop into the ocean. The family, living in a wonderful old house amid
cedar groves and olive trees, welcome them with open arms.
Jon, who until then always thought Naomi was
unique, sees her cousins—and they all look like her. For him, it’s almost
visual overkill.
He gets introduced to Naomi’s male cousin
Ferro, a talented painter who is working on murals in a pilgrimage chapel.
They spend a few wonderful, dreamy weeks in
that lovely setting before they have to return to New York and stark reality.
And I’m not going to tell you what happens
next, because you are of course supposed to buy the book (and the first one, The Distant Shore, too!) if I’m ever going to
get my Porsche.
But just so you know, the last book in the the Stone Trilogy: Song Of The Storm, will pick off right
where Under The Same Sun ends.
And now I’m going to have lunch and then get
back to writing of the now (thanks to my publisher) untitled book four.
This was the fifth stop in Mariam’s Blog Hop
celebrating the launch of her latest book, Under the Same Sun (Book II in the Stone Trilogy)
which hit the Amazon.com bestseller list on its first day on sale!
There’s only a few left, so order yours soon and while you’re waiting you
can go to our blog and click the link to read the
first two chapters for free. Before you leave, you will want to write a comment
below about this blog post for a chance to win one of three copies of Under the Same Sun
(plus
some pretty gosh, darn, yummy chocolate)! You can get additional chances by
following Mariam at every stop on her hop and leaving comments after each post.
And hey, while you’re here, why not follow this blog. You won’t regret it.
On Monday, 10/22, Mariam will be visiting Nita
Beshear’s blog, where Nita
will be reviewing Under the Same Sun. Join us there!
Check
our blog for the full calendar and more
details!
