Sometimes as an author I feel a bit like a lizard. The story grows in the back of my head like a tail, it is a part of me, but then I write it down and shed it when the conditions are right. It looks like this little guy had a near miss recently and almost lost his tail so now he has a tail and a nub. 

Have a great weekend everyone and remember to stop and lick the dirty socks! (No really, the common name for  Eriogonum pyrolifolium is Dirty Socks). 

In the high alpine meadows of North America the flower season is literally in full bloom. Every plant that can cram in a growing season in the few months that the ground is snow free is signaling to every pollinator available that it has precious cargo to ship as far as possible. This also signals to the more....interesting people that it is time to go camping. Today's real life inspired characters are a pair of little old women. They have been friends from childhood. One has a nervous and quiet disposition and they decide to go up to the mountains to relax in her European RV. The other has a wide range of knives, hatchets, firearms, and a 3lb shih tzu. Hilarity ensues. 

Whether you are self published, traditionally published, or somewhere in between getting your book out into the market is very dependent on getting reviews. Of course you want positive reviews but any honest review is publicity and any publicity is good publicity. Traditional publisher handle most of the contacting reviewers and shipping the books with the self published have to do it themselves. This author has the takes of managing most of her own marketing campaign so while my publisher handles things like contacting the New York Times and other such institutions. Meanwhile I contact the roughly 300 bloggers necessary to garner a few dozen reviews.