New Book - A Visit to the Farm

I've returned to the third book in The Adventures of Curtis, Connie, and Cosmic Cat. I need to get through the last section and get the drawings done. I'm about two months behind where I should be. Two months probably isn't too bad. I'm going to send the first three chapters of the science fiction book, "Charlet," off to agents this next week. In case any of you are interested I've inserted a short section of the third book about Curtis, Connie, and Cosmic Cat below. If you want more let me know. I'll not put the entire book up but enough to give you a good idea of what's happening. Have fun.

“Remember when Cosmic Cat killed the chicken at Grandma and Grandpa’s farm when it was attacking Connie?” Curtis asked her.
“Yeah, I do, but I didn’t see him do it,” Mom answered.
“Well, the big red rooster got out of the chicken pen somehow. We haven’t been able to find out how,” Curtis said.
“I think he flew out,” Connie said.
“What happened? Did Cosmic Cat kill it?”
“No, he didn’t. That’s what made it so fantastic,” Curtis said.
“Cosmic Cat knocked it down,” Connie said.
“Yeah, the rooster was running across the yard like he wanted to get somewhere fast. Cosmic Cat shot out from the shade of the bush he was sitting under when you got onto Speckles. We tried to get him to ride the horse when we rode it but neither Speckles nor Cosmic Cat thought it was a good idea.”
“Yeah, I don’t think they like each other,” Connie said.
“So, are you going to tell me about the rooster or not?” Mom asked them.
“Yeah, it was neat. Every time the rooster started to run away from the chicken pen Cosmic Cat hit him hard and knocked him down,” Curtis said.
“Yeah, the first time was really interesting,” Connie said. “Cosmic Cat knocked the rooster’s legs out from under him. He was going at least a hundred miles an hour. The rooster turned head over heals. When he got up he was hit again,” as she talked she gestured with her arms and hands.
“I think Cosmic Cat remembers the last time they got together when he ended up hanging from the chicken wire around the chicken pen,” Curtis said. “He also learned from his time at the farm. The only time the chicken wasn’t knocked down was when he moved towards the chicken pen. After a while, he was walking back and forth in front of the gate trying to get back into the pen. Cosmic Cat was sitting a little ways away watching him. It was fantastic.”
“Yeah, I think we have a herding cat,” said Connie.
“I let the rooster back into the pen and Cosmic Cat moved back into the shade of the bush he was under earlier. He’s still there and seems to be watching the chicken pen,” Curtis said.
“I’d like to have had that on a movie camera. Oh, Curtis, did you know you can take short movies with your digital camera?” Mom asked him.
“No, I didn’t. How do you do it?”
“Come on let’s go back to the house and I’ll show you. We’ll find something to give Cosmic Cat as a special treat for his work. A herding cat, what will happen next?” she asked herself.

Charlet, a Science Fiction Novel

Thought I'd get back to writing on my blog. I've been busy writing on the third episode of The Adventures of Curtis, Connie, and Cosmic Cat. I have to cut it in half and make two books out of it. I didn't want to break it into two but the story line commands it. I'm also doing the final rewrite on a full length science fiction novel about a young woman with significant paranormal powers that out of desperation drags humanity into space. She has to find a place that she can live and fights Earth for the moon. A short excerpt from the first few chapters:

Chandra didn’t take very much with her when she left. She had to call on all of her resolve. She was only a nine-year-old girl and weighed about fifty pounds. She took a small backpack, a change of clothes, a little bit of money she had squirreled away, some snacks and her gold locket and left. Her most prized possession was the small locket. She turned right at the end of the walkway and went seven blocks until she got to the city bus stop where she waited patiently for the bus. She got on the bus and told the driver to ignore her. She moved into a seat directly behind him and waited for a few minutes until the rest of the passengers left the bus. Looking at the back of the bus driver’s head she said, “Mister, listen to me and understand what I say, you won’t remember me when I get off but for the next few minutes you and I will talk. I gave you a twenty dollar bill when I got on, I need my change and directions to the bus station where I can get a bus out of town.” She didn’t like doing this but she needed to have some more money with her and felt this would be a good time to get some.
“Yes, miss, here’s your change,” the bus driver said as he pulled some money out of his wallet and some out of a change receptacle and handed it over to her. “This bus doesn’t go to the bus station you need. You will need to get off at the next bus stop and catch bus number 201 to get to the main bus station. Be careful it’s getting late in the afternoon and it’s not safe for a little girl like you to be out alone.”
“Thanks, I’ll be careful, but don’t worry about me. Now, when I step off the bus you will forget you ever saw me. I don’t exist.”
From this point on Chandra Letty Parker disappeared for a long number of years, as far as John Fario and the rest of the world were concerned. She just walked out of the foster home and vanished. He spent a number of days and fruitless telephone calls trying to find her but to no avail. She couldn’t be found. He fretted over this for many weeks, when the weeks dragged into months and nobody asked about her he quit being concerned and moved on with his life. At least he tried to.

New Book - A Vist to Dad's

Just thought I'd give you another sample from the third book. I hope you like it. I've got two more chapters or sections to write then I'll go back through it and flesh it up a bit. As I'm doing it I may rearrange it a little bit as some of the sections are a little too tame.

The bear reared up on its hind legs and growled at them. Curtis told Connie not to move. The bear would chase them if they ran. The bear continued to stand on his hind legs and growled. Connie and Curtis stood where they were and watched the bear. They didn’t know what to do.
“Connie, hand me the string of fish. Do it slowly,” Curtis whispered.
“Here,” Connie said as she placed the string in Curtis left hand he had stretched back to her. When he got the string of fish, he slowly pulled it up where he could hold the string just a little ways above the fish with his right hand.
“If this works we’re going to turn around and climb up on top of one of these big rocks. Be ready when I say go,” Curtis said.
Curtis, without making too quick of a motion, flung the fish at the bear. The bear caught them in his mouth. At the very same moment, that the bear caught the fish, Cosmic Cat leapt off a tall rock beside the bear and landed on the bear’s head. The bear let out a tremendous roar, lowered his front paws to the ground and ran forward over Curtis and Connie with Cosmic Cat still on his head.

A Visit to Dad's

I thought that I'd start giving some short blups from the new book, "A Visit to Dad's, The Adventures of Curtis, Connie, and Cosmic Cat." As those of you that are following my work you know that this is the third book in the adventures. It may end up being called, "The Logging Camp." I'm not sure yet.

“Lunch will be in an hour or so,” Mom said. “Our clothes are together and washing. You all need to go outside and check the place over. Look around and make certain everything is in good shape—if you find something needs to be fixed or repaired do whatever needs to be done to correct it. Don’t leave anything to do later. While you’re at it make certain that all of the animals are in good condition, and ride Speckles. You’ve all been ignoring the horse for too long.”
They spent the rest of the day scurrying around and trying to decide what they could bring, staying out of Mom’s way when they could, and doing things Mom wanted done when they couldn’t. The kids each started to accumulate a pile of stuff that would prevent the other kids from taking anything. It took most of the day for them to decide what they absolutely had to have. This followed a lot of input from Mom, not always welcome, before they managed to reduce their piles to a reasonable size. When they had winnowed it down to what each of them thought was the bare minimum, Mom stepped in and pulled some things out to make room for their clothes. Only Connie and, with her help, Curtis had added more than the bare minimum of clothes to their pile.

Writing update

I'm 162 pages into the third book in The Adventures of Curtis, Connie, and Cosmic Cat. It's really going to be difficult to hold it the the 150 page goal. This is especially true as I'll have to add about 15 to 20 pages for illustrations and forward pages. I still have at least two more sections to write. I guess this will end up being closer to 200 pages when I'm finished. I'll have to go with what the characters and the story tell me to do. I'm still correcting and re-writing the first three chapters of The Next Step. This is a full length Science Fiction novel for young adults and older readers. I've got reviews for the first book, "Astronaut Training," on various sites such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I'd appreciate anybody who has read the book putting up a review.

I'm going to pass on the science snippet this time but I'll attempt to do one next time. I need to write my blog more often, at least once a week.

Update on Writing

It seems like forever since I've last visited this page. It has been awhile. I've been revising the third book in, "The Adventures of Curtis, Connie, and Cosmic Cat." I've also been working on getting reviews of the first book, "Astronaut Training." Anybody want to do a review? I expect to have some additional reviews start showing up in the very near future. Anybody that has read my book hopefully will do a review.

As long as I'm here I might as well insert one of my Science Snippets.

Why does a refrigerator get cold?

When a liquid is forced through a small hole (orifice) into an area of reduced pressure the liquid expands and usually turns into a gas or at least into a cloud of droplets. It takes work for this to happen. Work is a form of energy which is taken out of the closed system. The result is that the gas is at a significantly lower temperature than the initial liquid. The resulting cold gas is circulated through the refrigerator coils and cools the refrigerator. Excess heat is transferred to the air around the refrigerator by external coils. The transfer of heat to the air allows the circulating gas turns back into a liquid to continue to get colder and subsequently cooling the refrigerator.

Third Book in The Adventures of Curtis, Connie, and Cosmic Cat

I'm about ninety pages into my eighty page third book in The Adventures of Curtis, Connie, and Cosmic Cat. When reduced to its six by nine inch format and add the drawings this will be about fifteen pages over the hundred and fifty I was shooting for. I still have about ten more pages to write. I'll either have to make this book longer or cut some things out. It's better than having to add something in.

Science Snippet for today:

When an astronaut is launched into space it is during a window—what is meant by this?

A launch window is determined by the relative velocity and position of the object in space that the astronaut is attempting to reach. Most space launches are limited in their ability to reach a desired target. This is because of the limitation of thrust and fuel carrying ability. A rocket must be launched within a certain time or it won’t have enough fuel to reach the place in space it is trying to get to. This is sort of like when an athlete is running a relay race. The athlete must start out, at the correct time, and get to the other racer at the correct time with the correct velocity or the baton won’t be passed correctly.

Rewriting book and Science Snippets

I've pulled a science fiction book out that I completed a number of weeks ago after about six rewrites. I believe that a person's writing gets better with age--age of the book being written and not necessarily the age of the person writing it. I've had time to write a number of other things and have returned to the book with a fresh mind and hopefully it won't require too much work. I've completed the first three chapters and it's not too bad yet. The dialogue needed some help but the book seems flow along as it should. I've started on my drawings for the third book in the Adventures of Curtis, Connie, and Cosmic Cat also. I'm trying to hold the length of this book oriented towards young readers down to around a hundred and fifty pages, but may have a difficult time, unless I let some of it spill over as part of second book. We'll see how it goes.

The new Science Snippet follows:

When an astronaut is launched into space it is during a window—what is meant by this?

A launch window is determined by the relative velocity and position of the object in space that the astronaut is attempting to reach. Most space launches are limited in their ability to reach a desired target. This is because of the limitation of thrust and fuel carrying ability. A rocket must be launched within a certain time or it won’t have enough fuel to reach the place in space it is trying to get to. This is sort of like when an athlete is running a relay race. The athlete must start out, at the correct time, and get to the other racer at the correct time with the correct velocity or the baton won’t be passed correctly.

New Science Snippet from Texas Author

For everybody's edification here's a science snippet:

Why is a total solar eclipse possible?

This is a bit of a tricky one and has to do with the relative sizes of the moon and the sun as seen from the earth. The sun appears to be the same size as the moon and is therefore able to completely block out the sun. If the moon were to be larger or smaller we wouldn't have the spectacular eclipses that we have. It turns out that both the sun and moon are about a 110 times their diameter away from the earth. Any round object that is 110 times away from the observer will appear to be the same size as the moon or the sun.

I'm a neophyte in doing this but if anybody needs an independent review of a work--preferably science or science fiction, or at least related to science or science fiction, I'll be glad to look at it. I have an extensive physical science background and have worked in many different areas of science. I'm currently writing science based study guides and science fiction novels. I have also published two books for young readers with a modicum of science in each of them. You have my permission to review them both. If you do I'd appreciate your sending me your review. The books are "Astronaut Training" and "A Visit to the Farm." Have a good day.

Science Snippet, Science fact and writing

I'm going to try to continue with my posting of short science snippets. If anybody gets tired of them or wants something explained please let me know. I'm also working on my writing. I'm trying to convince myself to teach for a short while. I haven't tried it before and I've had many people tell me it's something I should do. I can't know until I try it. We'll see what happens.

What is meant by low pressure and high pressure when it is talked about during a weather report?

Our atmosphere goes through various cycles of low and high pressure. When a weather reporter talks about high and low pressures they are usually in relation to a pressure front coming through the area. A high pressure front usually brings good and warming weather while a low pressure front usually brings cooler and often stormy weather. As the earth turns and weather patterns change winds change and bring a change in local atmospheric pressure. These are often associated with what is termed the jet stream. The jet stream is a band of high atmospheric winds that circumnavigate the earth and to a great extent determine local weather patterns.

Until later

Science Snippet or Science fact

My writing has been going a bit slow lately--too many other things going on. It's just part of life and happens. I believe that I'm going to start putting a little tidbit of science in my blogs. Let me know if there's any interest in these. An example is below:

What is barometric pressure?

Barometric Pressure is the pressure of the atmosphere and is usually measured by a mercury barometer. A mercury barometer is an instrument used to measure the pressure of the atmosphere as the pressure rises or falls. It consists of a glass tube, sealed on the upper end, with a mercury column inside of it. The column of mercury is positioned vertically, with the lower open end, in a container of mercury. Usually the mercury is in a sealed bulb of some type connected to the glass tube. As the pressure of the atmosphere changes the column of mercury rises or falls. This gives us a measure of the barometric pressure.

Maybe I should stick to my writing.

Second Book and other things

I've been a little bit busy and haven't done any writing on this blog. I need to be more proactive. I've been bringing my second book out in the "Adventures of Curtis, Connie, and Cosmic Cat." It's now out, or at least it's available through Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com. The second book is getting good reviews. I've been working on the third book in the collection but I'm a couple of months away from having it finished. I'm also working on my book about an elderly witch family. This book is oriented towards a slightly older reader--adolescent to late teens. It's a little bit complex in its name usage and will take the reader into a new land with a lot of people to keep track of. It too will include line drawings. I haven't advanced to color drawings as writing is what I'm concentrating on and not drawings. I hope to be able to start publishing some full-length science fiction novels in the not too distant future. I've also written a number of science based home study guides for young people. These are being sold on the web and cover a wide spectrum of basic science.

Writing among other things

Working on the third book in the "Adventures" books. I'm about a forth of the way through it. I seem to have too many other things to do. Writing gets to be secondary. Oh, well we can't have everything. It'll get done. My "Land of G'lop" is done except for the drawings. It'll be a while. I'm going over to a shopping center tomorrow and see how many people I can get to buy my work. It'll be interesting at least.

New Book - A Visit to the Farm

It seems like it's taking forever but the advance copies of the new book, "A Visit to the Farm," are in the mail but haven't arrived. Oh, well they'll get here when they get here. I have a lot of work to do on the next book. It's only roughed out and needs a lot of work as well as a lot of drawings. Hopefully I'll have it all together in the next couple of months. I'd like to get it out before Christmas. I still say that the hardest thing to do is to take time away from writing to market your work. Marketing is almost a full time job all by itself. Let me know what you think of my work. Helpful suggestions are always welcome--don't send any other kind. I need to write these blogs a little more often. If I was certain that somebody was looking at them I probably would. With constructive criticism and suggestions this blog might even grow into something useful.

Another Step in Publishing

I expect to receive the first shipment of my second book, "A Visit to the Farm" either tomorrow or the next day. I'll be giving a few of them away and using the others for publicity purposes. I'm about half way through rewriting the book, "The Land of G'lop," my book about a family of witches. I, like a lot of authors, am having trouble getting enough time to work on what I want to work on. I seem to write in short segments--almost on the go. I make it a point to take some of my writing with me wherever I go. This allows me to use my time as wisely as I can. I'm attempting to get a publicist interested in my work so I won't have to spend so much time doing it myself. We'll see what happens.

Science Based E-Books

I'm also writing and publishing science based ebooks. These can be found on two different sites:
http://www.currclick.com/index.php?filters=0_0_0&manufacturers_id=142 and
http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=139&zenid=35ad51bd8494d8e1f19ceaaa13e7d6dc&main_page=index.
I've got six on one site and seven on the other. I hope to have some more up and available before the year is over. I'd like to get back to my full-length science fiction novels. I'm afraid that they'll have to wait until next year. "Astronaut Training" is selling but not as well as I would wish. I have high hopes for the second book. Let me know what you think when you read it. With everything that a person has to do it's difficult getting time to write. It's probably the same for everybody. It forces us to make the most of what little time we have.

New Book - A Visit to the Farm

I uploaded the new book, "A Visit to the Farm, The Adventures of Curtis, Connie, and Cosmic Cat," for printing. I found a couple of errors and am preparing to upload it again. So goes the life of an author. The book is the same size as the previous one, "Astronaut Training," but has almost twice as many illustrations. The hardest part is getting the word out to everybody that the book is there. All I can do is keep trying.

Book Signing, Astronaut Training

My book signing for "Astronaut Training" was a little bit disappointing. It was in the middle of the afternoon and the outside temperature was over 100 degrees. Not many people showed up. Having a signing gets my work exposed to more people though. I spent the time doing what I shouldn't do. I went back through the first part of the book. I found a misspelled word. It doesn't distract significantly from the book but it bothered me to find it. I'm going to be ordering some more books shortly, but I think that I'll upload a corrected text. I'm going to read through the proof copy of "A Visit to the Farm" very carefully. I don't want to have to change the text after it's published.

Book Signing: Astronaut Training

My book signing for Astronaut Training is this Saturday from 2 to 4 P.M. at the Twig Book Shop. I've got the proof back for the second book, A Visit to the Farm. I didn't like how a couple of the drawings came out and have made corrections to them. Also the cover isn't as clear as I would like it. I'm going to redo it and upload the cover and the text this weekend. I need to be more active with my blog and work on it more than every few days. It's just difficult to take the time to do a really good job as I have so many different things going on. Any body need some tomato's? I made the mistake of planting about twenty tomato plants and now their producing. It's impossible for us to eat the tomatoes they are producing. Maybe the hot weather will bring us relief from the tomato attack. I guess it could be worse.

Finishing a Book

It's often difficult for authors to let go of a book and send it off to the publisher or printer. "I know that if I work on it for just a little longer I can make it better." We all have to adopt the same philosophy that poets have developed. You work on the manuscript (poem) until you're tired or sick of looking at it. At this point you send it off. It's complete. No book, no matter how perfect it is judged to be by others, is totally complete or perfect. An author, reading their own work many years after the work has been published, will often be heard to mutter something like, "I can't believe I got this published, it's terrible." Don't despair, just work, write, get tired of it, and send it off. It's good enough. There are those few of us who can't live with, "It's good enough." These writers will not publish very much. Write often, be prolific and put your work out to be read and looked at by others. So what if some of them don't like it or you have a dangling sentence once in awhile. Make it your style and work every day if it is possible as your work will get better. My set of children's books that I'm working on are an example. Writing a book and doing the illustrations takes me about four months. It takes another couple of months to edit it and do the corrections. I've published, "Astronaut Training," late last year and expect to receive the proof for, "A Visit to the Farm," today or tomorrow. I'm working on, "Moving." These are all in the book collection, "The Adventures of Curtis, Connie, and Cosmic Cat." The books are written for fourth and fifth grade readers. Are they any good? I''ve been told that they are and that I have a good sense of humor and style. Only time and my readers will tell.

Publishing second book, "A Visit to the Farm"

I took the plunge sent off to the printer. If all goes well I'll have the proof copy to review in the near future. I have the pleasant task of protesting my property taxes tomorrow. Just something to take me away from other things that I need to be doing. Oh, well we can't have it all. I need to make some telephone calls tomorrow to see if I can get, "Astronaut Training," out to a few more places before the next book comes out. My home page is ronaldcthompson.com. I'm going to posting a chapter out of the book, "Astronaut Training," on it. I think I'll go ahead a post a chapter out of the new book too. I think the next book will have Curtis, Connie, and Cosmic Cat move up the river to where Dad is working. The fourth book may have them all go camping for a few days.

Cosmic Cat and Astronaut Training

I attended a couple of short courses; one yesterday and one today. I'm obviously not networking enough and not using social networking to my best advantage. I also need to connect with more people that are blogging. I'm going to attempt to do it--it just takes time. One of the short courses was on social networking such as Facebook. I actually used Facebook once. I though that it was too much of an invasion of my privacy. I'm going to try it again and see what happens. I need to send out some press releases for the new book, "A Visit to the Farm." I sent out one yesterday but I need to get as many out as I can. I handed out a number of business cards at the meetings maybe one of the participants will check out my blog.

The Continuing Saga of Cosmic Cat

It still goes on. It's all ready but I haven't uploaded it to the printer. There's still some question as to the cover template. It should be straightened out tomorrow. What's another day. Has anybody read, "Astronaut Training," the first book in the "Adventures of Curtis, Connie, and Cosmic Cat?" Hopefully I'll get a report that somebody has before the second book, "A Visit to the Farm," is published. I'm working on the third book. It will be a trip to visit with Dad at the end of the summer just before school starts. They decide to go ahead and move before school starts. It's a very busy time. Getting packed, moved, and settled into a new town. Reading the first two books will better prepare you for the third one. It's not necessary, but it would be best. Each book will be able to stand on its own merits.

A Visit to the Farm Continued

I've redone the cover a little bit. Moved some words around and generally made it more balanced. I also found a drawing in the book that needed to be altered slightly. Writ ting a book is sort of like writing poetry. When is a poem done? When you get tired of working on it. There isn't any book that the author wouldn't change if given the chance. I hope that having a second book out there will help spur the sales of the first book, "Astronaut Training, The Adventures of Curtis, Connie, and Cosmic Cat." I talked the personnel at the U.S.S. Alabama today. She's supposed to send my a listing of her vendors. I'm going to try to get on their listing. Maybe this will get me into more markets. I printed out a short pile of bookmarks today. I've got to add some red to my printer. I'm trying to convince myself that I should start using things like, "Facebook." I'm not sure, I'll have to think about it. I have to get over my reluctance to send the book, "A Visit to the Farm," off to the printer. In case anybody is interested my email address is rct@ronaldcthompson. com and my home page is ronaldcthompson.com

New Book - A Visit to the Farm

I'm still pushing to make, "Astronaut Training, The Adventures of Curtis, Connie, and Cosmic Cat," a success but I need to bring the next book out also. I finished putting the cover together. I'll take one more review of the text and then send them both off to the printer. Hopefully, tomorrow will be the day. This second book should be better received than the first one as it will appeal to a more general audience. It doesn't involve any science or space activities. I'll have to get back to the book I'm working sporadically on, "The Land of G'lop." A witch, warlock, and wizard book. I'm also working on a third book of the "Adventures," group of books. This next one will involve their having to move up river to live where Dad is working. If they don't the dam being put across the river they live nearby will result in their drowning when the lake it forms covers their house.

Trip to Barnes & Noble

I went to Barnes & Noble at La Cantera here in San Antonio to discuss my book with them today. They are reluctant to list it in the store. I need to submit it to their Small Press Department. I will attempt to get the information ready tonight so I can post it tomorrow. They ask such things as is it with a wholesaler and is it listed with Bowker Books in Print. All of this information is available to them on their web page as the book is available for sale through Barnes & Noble. It's in the B&N near me at Bandera Point, but it's the only one. I'm going to upload the second book, "A Visit to the Farm," this weekend. Wish me luck on this new adventure of Curtis, Connie, and Cosmic Cat. I've added some ancillary drawings to it. I hope that they add to it and don't distract from it--only time will tell. I've also sent a list of addresses of people to send announcements to for my signing this next month at the Twig Bookstore, here in San Antonio.

Book Signing

I'm gearing up for my book signing at Twig Book store on the 20th of June. They need to have a list of persons to send out notifications to. I'm compiling them. It's a good exercise as it forces me to update my addresses. I seem to have gotten into some fire aunts. I have bites on both arms and around my knees. The ones on the underside of my wrists make it difficult to use a mouse. I'm not allergic to them but when I get this many it makes my body ache. Oh, well, given a few more days I should be back to normal--whatever normal is. I redid the cover for the second book "A Visit to the Farm" in "The Adventures of Curtis, Connie, and Cosmic Cat." It was too messy. I trimmed a lot of stuff off and enlarged the title. It looks better now. I'm supposed to hear back from the people at Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday as to whether they'll be carrying my book, "Astronaut Training."

Today's Work

What has today brought me? Should I say more of the same? It's brought me a small check for books at the U.S.S. Alabama battleship books store. Every little bit helps. I've finalized my restructuring of the next book, "A Visit to the Farm." I worked on the cover: the front went together pretty quick, I'm having some trouble with the back cover. I talked with a gentleman at the Kennedy Space Center about their selling my book. He's supposed to get back with me. I've also talked with the library in Boerne, they want to do a signing but can't until August. I need to complete my list of names to send post cards to and get it to the Twig Bookstore for the signing on the 2oth of June. I visited three elementary schools yesterday and talked to the librarians. Got some pretty good feedback. I'll have to wait and see what comes out of it.

My home page is ronaldcthompson.com
My publishers web page is r-an-kenterprises.com

Restructuring

I'm redoing the structure of the book, "A Visit to the Farm." When I put it into a 6" by 9" format the chapters were too long. I've broken each chapter up into "headed" subsections. This will also allow me to place the illustrations in better positions to help the flow of the story. I still don't know exactly how long it's going to be. I hope to know in the next few days so I can finish all of the little things and get it to the publisher. I passed through Wal-Mart and the local grocery store and while visiting managed to hand out some book marks. I need to get out and push the publicity for my book, "Astronaut Training, The Adventures of Curtis, Connie, and Cosmic Cat." Very few readers know of its existence. Any suggestions?

Home Page

For those of you that are interested I have updated my web page (actually it's updated by somebody else, I just work with him to get it like I want it). It should be a lot more representative of my work than it has been. I'm still working on the second book in the Adventures of Curtis, Connie, and Cosmic Cat. It's taken me a lot longer than I thought it would. What's making it difficult is inserting the twenty-six line drawings into it without breaking the text in the wrong places. I have had to make a number of compromises on their positioning. We can't win them all. I can't go to the printer until I'm certain how it all fits together. I don't know exactly how long the book will be. Why don't you all make me happy and order my first book either through Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Barnes & Noble won't charge you shipping like Amazon does, but they will charge you tax.

Astronaut Training and A Visit to the Farm

I'm getting a list of addresses of people together to send out notifications concerning my upcoming book signing and reading on the 20th of June at Twig Bookstore. My book, "Astronaut Training" is available in the Barnes & Noble bookstore near me. It felt a little bit comforting to walk into the store and see it on the self. I've revised the last drawing for the book, "A Visit to the Farm." It's still on track to be published early next month. Anybody out there know of a publisher that needs a book from a new author written for fourth or fifth graders? Adults, who have read it, have told me that it's a good read for them too. I'd like to get it widely distributed and get the second book rolling so I can get back to my full length science fiction books. I've finished sixth of them. Two are the first books in a trilogy. I need to get the third one written but it won't do me much good if I can't get the first one published. I don't know how far I should take the Cosmic Cat theme. Maybe I should start selling T-shirts and other items.

Books selling

Today was a small milestone. My book is not only in independent bookstores but I found it in the local Barnes & Noble. I've also got a book signing on the 20th of June in the Twig Bookstore here in San Antonio. I haven't completed my drawing I need to change in the new book, "A Visit to the Farm." I'm almost through with the corrections to the text. I may do things the hard way but I print out the entire book and read through it, marking my corrections in the book. They get typed in later.

A long day

It's been a long day today. I redrew one of the drawings for the book, "A Visit to the Farm, The Adventures of Curtis, Connie, and Cosmic Cat." I'm still not happy with it. I plan on getting the book to the printer by the first of next month. I've got to make a number of telephone calls to the book stores selling the first book, "Astronaut Training." I'm trying to arrange a couple of more signings in the next few weeks. My wife and I are getting so overrun with things that we're putting some of them on ebay. It takes more time than I want to spend to do it. I've also got a few things on Craig's list. Anybody need a Gramophone?

A Visit to the Farm, The Adventures of Curtis, Connie, and Cosmic Cat

I completed my last review (I'll probably do another one) before the book gets published. I have one more drawing to alter. The two kids in a hammock need bigger feet as the perspective looks wrong. Oh, well we can't all be perfect all of the time. I signed up to start twittering but probably won't keep it up. I'm more comfortable with blogging and using a few extra words. Has anybody read my book, "Astronaut Training, The Adventures of Curtis, Connie, and Cosmic Cat?" I'd like to know, also if you have read it would you go onto Amazon and write a short review of it. The reviews help sell the book as other people will be able to tell what previous readers thought of the book. Hopefully, all good! I thought readers might like to see what part of the cover for, "A Visit to the Farm," looks like, or at least what I envision it looking like. It may change.

Update on Writing

Sometime I think that writing is a never ending story. I'm rereading and revising the second book in the Adventures of Curtis, Connie, and Cosmic Cat. I think I did the same thing last week, oh well. It seems that every time I look at it I find something that I would like to change. I also made the mistake of rereading another book (The Land of G'lop) that I wrote some time ago with the idea of expanding it. It's a book about a family of five witches and two wizards (warlocks?). They're all older and fight a lot after their mother the "queen" witch dies. I've killed one of the witches off and one brother which necessitates that the book be expanded. I've got a number of drawings of witches to do next. Anybody know of a good book to help me with my witch drawings? The drawings are all finished for the second book in the Cosmic Cat collection. Maybe I should have named the books "Cosmic Cat and his kids." Too late now. I've also updated my publishers web page--it still needs some more work but it will have to do (r-an-kenterprises.com). My web page is ronaldcthompson.com in case anybody is interested.

Astronaut Training, The Adventures of Curtis, Connie, and Cosmic Cat

I placed some copies of my book in another book store today---The Twig Bookstore in San Antonio, Texas. I should have a book signing and reading for younger readers in a few weeks. I'm going back through a short book that I wrote hurriedly a few months ago. It's about an old witch with seven children: two boys and five girls. They're all magical but don't all get along. The mother dies and the girls attempt to get control of her magic wand and books. It's quite a struggle. Recent occurrences have brought me back to the story and I'm preparing to alter parts of it and expand it. If all goes well I'll be through with it in a couple of months. In the meantime I'll be publishing the second book in the Adventures of Curtis, Connie, and Cosmic Cat. As those of you who have been following my blog know the first book deals with a stray cat that is adopted by a couple of kids who train the him to be an astronaut.

Just a continuation

It's been awhile since my last posting. I don't have any valid excuse other than spending a fair amount of time writing and marketing my recent publication about a stray cat and two kids that train him to be an astronaut.

Continuing with my writing and sending out info

I don't get around to posting anything very often but I do get around to it. I've been sending out information on my book, "Astronaut Training," and working on the illustrations for the new book. They're going slower than I would prefer, but there's not any real hurry. I'm going to have a few more readers read my full length science fiction novels and they make a push to start getting them published--any offers?

Sending emails and notification

I'm sending out emails and notifications concerning my published book, "Astronaut Training." It's available through Barnes & Nobles and Amazon.com. If it's purchased in a Barnes & Nobles bookstore there won't be any postage or delivery fees. The second book, "A Trip to the Farm," will have more illustrations in it, but the book doesn't deal with space travel. It's just a family and their cat visiting the children's parent's farm. Unlike "Astronaut Training," which takes place over most of a summer, "A Trip to the Farm," takes place over a few days. I'm also working on editing the second book in my science fiction "Moon" series. The first book is titled, "The Moon is Mine," the second is "The Moon is Ours," the third will be "The Moon is Theirs." The third isn't written yet but will be complex. It will be able to stand on its own but will have some aspects of Star Trek, Star Wars, Dune and The Lens series. I expect that the final edition will have between six and eight hundred pages. I've also got another science fiction book with an agent, "The Gods Reign Supreme."