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Hagar’s Mother coming soon

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Alas, Kindle Press took a pass on Hagar’s Mother (although their editors did pass on to me some rather complimentary and constructive comments).

No matter—I’ll be putting together Hagar’s Mother on my own and publish it soon on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback editions. Keep watching this space (and/or my Facebook and Twitter feeds) for news and updates.

Thank you for your support and patience with me over the past month during the Kindle Scout campaign. Book Two of the Bridge Daughter Cycle is on its way!

– Jim


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Author Q&A with Bookies: Monday, October 2nd

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I’ll be leading a Q&A on Bookies’ Facebook page this Monday, October 2nd, from 5pm to 7pm (Pacific time). The event is part of Bookies’ #Authorberfest, their yearly October event giving independent authors a chance to meet readers and answer their questions.

This year I will be discussing Bridge Daughter and its upcoming sequel, Hagar’s Mother. I’m also working on a giveaway as part of the Q&A, so come and check it out!

More information about the event is on my Facebook page. Learn more about #Authorberfest at Bookies. If you like and share their announcement, you’ll be entered in a drawing to receive a $10 Amazon gift card.


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Hagar’s Mother entering the home stretch

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It’s the final week for Hagar’s Mother on Kindle Scout!

If you’ve not nominated it yet, your last chance is Sunday, October 1st. Visit the campaign page and vote before it’s too late! At the campaign page you’ll have a chance to learn more about the book, download an excerpt, and read about its background.

And if Amazon selects the book for publication, you’ll receive a free digital copy.

New cover

If you nominated Hagar’s Mother earlier this month, you probably noticed the cover changed. The decision was mine and is purely cosmetic. Two weeks ago I decided to shake things up and offer readers a better idea of the book’s focus and subject matter.

Will I stick with the new cover in the final book? I’m not sure yet. I like the old one. It has a distant, almost whimsical feel to it, but am concerned that’s not the right message to convey.

At this moment, I’m simply eager to cross the finish line and hear back from Amazon their decision. Either way, I’m looking forward to getting the book into reader’s hands.


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Hagar’s Mother now on Kindle Scout!

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I’m pleased to announce that Hagar’s Mother, the sequel to Bridge Daughter, is now seeking nominations on Kindle Scout!

Amazon’s Kindle Scout program allows for readers like you to preview and evaluate unpublished books. Your nomination acts as a vote for Kindle Press editors to select the books you like.

If Hagar’s Mother receives enough nominations over the next 30 days, Amazon will publish and promote it across their site.

What’s more, if you vote for Hagar’s Mother and it’s published, you’ll receive a free digital copy! It costs nothing to vote and takes no more than a minute of your time.

Here’s how you can help:

  • Visit Hagar’s Mother at Amazon’s Kindle Scout site
  • Learn more about the book and read an excerpt
  • If you like what you see, click the blue Nominate Me button

That’s it!

The nomination period will be over before you know it, so please vote now.


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Update on Hagar’s Mother

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Many people have been asking me about the follow-up to Bridge Daughter…I’ve been pretty tight-lipped about the project, but did want to share that I finished the final draft tonight.

Hagar’s Mother clocks in around 90,000 words. It’s a not-quite-direct sequel, in the sense that the events of the book take place a generation later than Bridge Daughter. The history of bridge daughters is explored further as well as the story of Hanna’s family.

Quite exhausted at the moment. I have high hopes for this book. Wish me luck! More news coming soon.


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Margalit Fox & Bruce Weber, NY Times obituarists, on NPR’s Fresh Air

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In the comments for a previous post on Ann Wroe, obituary writer for The Economist, Peter Marinov helpfully pointed me to a recent NPR interview with two New York Times obituarists, Margalit Fox and Bruce Weber.

Margalit Fox wrote an eye-opening Times essay in 2014 on the art and craft of writing obituaries, so I’m familiar with her name and work. The recent NPR interview coincided with the release of a documentary on Fox and Weber, Obit: Life on Deadline, which I certainly look forward to seeing.

Obit: Life on Deadline, a film by Vanessa Gould

My own interest in all of this comes from a short story I published years back in the North American Review called “The Obituarist”. Researching and writing that story led to my own interest in this underappreciated field of journalism.

Like Ann Wroe’s thoughts on the profession, Fox and Weber share fascinating insights on this odd but rewarding career path. There’s a goldmine of wisdom in the interview, but it’s this observation that stood out for me:

And I think the other great attraction is we are the most purely narrative genre in any daily paper. If you think about how an obit is structured, we are taxed with taking our subjects from cradle to grave, and that gives obits a built-in narrative arc, the arc of how someone lived his or her life. And who doesn’t want to start the day reading a really good story?


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