* * Publishing my two books: the time is near!

Two years ago I began the research and writing process that I hoped would lead to my first published book.  Several times along the way, knowledgeable people said to me, “The writing is just the beginning.”  How prophetic those words have become!

This journey led to a book that has come to be titled, The Spine of the Virginias.  This nonfiction book is about the people, history, places, and culture along the border between Virginia and West Virginia.  In the process of writing this book, I interviewed upwards of 150 people and traveled uncountable hundreds of miles.  Ultimately, a 400,000 word manuscript was whittled down to 133,000 and was ready for publication last summer.  At that point, I began the process of searching for a suitable publisher.

Meanwhile, I began to write a novella about a Civil War soldier who became the model for a monument in Union, Monroe County, West Virginia.  My original plan was to embed this novella within The Spine of the Virginias.  But I quickly decided that this was not appropriate for two reasons.  One, The Spine of the Virginias was already too long and this novella was an easy thing to cut away.  Second, having a fiction embedded within a nonfiction was quirky, and my early readers were confused by it.  So I removed it and set it aside.  However, as the months went by I began to resurrect the story and ended up writing a full novel located in contemporary Union where the novella was told to my protagonist by an elderly great uncle.

At that point, I had two books awaiting publication.

Within the past couple of months, I have entered negotiations with Pocahontas Press, a publishing house in my town of Blacksburg.  Pocahontas specializes in nonfiction history and culture.  I have reached contractual terms with the principal of Pocahontas Press, Mary Holliman.  Mary has assigned the work of editing and page layout of the book to a Virginia Tech student intern.  Her work is now underway.  The book will be printed in a hardcover 6 x 9 format and will hopefully go into print production within the next couple of months.

Because Pocahontas Press does not typically work with fiction, I have decided to publish Union, WV through one of the Internet-based self-publishing companies.  This company works with "print on demand," meaning that books are printed digitally, one at a time.  While the cost per copy to me is slightly higher, this means that I will not be forced to speculate on buying a large quantity of books that may or may not sell.

Hopefully, Union, WV, will be in production within the next few weeks, meaning what started out as my second book may actually reach publication first.

I appreciate the patience shown by everyone who has expressed his or her interest in my books.  Hopefully the time when you can own your copy is near.  When I actually have books available to sell, I will make a general announcement through my website, through Facebook, and through press releases.

Again, I appreciate your support and welcome your feedback.  Please stay tuned for further announcements.