Last Post Here

For some reason I had thought it a good idea to start several Blogs. Trying to figure out which site would suit me best, I began posting to all three. But I've come to realize that it's too much for me to keep up with. So for those of you that are FOLLOWING ME here, I am sorry but this will be my last post to this site.

If you would like to continue to Follow my ramblings and rants, you will find me at http://klparry.wordpress.com .

Thank you and PEACE OUT,

K.L. Parry

The Return of Me

So sorry for my absence. It has been a grueling how-ever many months away from you. I have been a very buzzzzy girl. New cover art, illustrations, and ebook and yes, ISBN on them all. So much to tell you but I haven't the time today to say more than this, YEAH!!!!!!! I do promise to update you on all the details very soon. Until then I will leave you with this AWESOME image...LOOK!

The Photo Shoot

It's 7:30 Saturday morning, the sky is a beautiful blue, the temprature will be up to 75 and I am ready to go. Call time for hair and makeup is 9:00 am.

I give credit for this brilliant idea to my wonderful friend, actor, screenwriter, director, editor and an all around good guy, Christian Badami. After reading my novel he jumped on the band wagon to help me promote "The Pirate's Daughter And A King's Ransom. His family having been heavily involved in the advertizing biz, he had some ideas on how to attract attention to my book. One of these was to create an ad / web page that would really grab people. Something along the lines of a movie poster. So with that in mind, I began to contact friends and acquaintances that I thought might be able to help me.

In keeping with the theme of my story, I asked my good friend Gwen Krueger if we might use her backyard as our location. With its tropical setting and waterfall, it was the perfect place to stage our shoot. She agreed. YEAH!

Now to find a photographer. I called my BFF who dropped the name of a mutual friend, Janis Harner. Another YES!

But I still needed two young models to portray the heroine of my book, Blue and her friend / nemeses, Rebbecca. Another call to the BFF and she reminded me that Gwen had two granddaughters, Kayla and Ashley. A few phone calls later and the girls were on board. Tickled that everything was coming along so smoothly, I was again sidelined when my oldest son, while in Mammoth snowboarding, was airlifted to Huntington Memorial Hospital. Fluid had collected around his heart, threatening him with heart failure.The doctors believing it to be a residual effect from the heart injury he received from a motorcycle accident in October, preformed a surgery that allowed the fluid to drain. As we all had hoped and prayed most of the fluid was removed. My son was released 6 days later and I was back on track with two days to finish my preparations for the shoot.

But wait! What about hair and makeup for our models? How could I forget? Fortunately another friend and very close acquaintance of our shoot director, Christian, was persuaded to lend a hand. Thank you Kati Roberts.

The crew at work on Ashley.

Here is Kati working on Kayla's makeup while Christian does his thing.

Both still recovering from colds, Kayla and Ashley were wonderful in delivering great expressions and following Christian's instructions, never complaining about the cold water they were sitting in.

My heart felt thanks to Gwen, Christian, Janis, Kati, Kayla and Ashley for your time, talent and particularly, on our model’s part, your suffering.

~K.L. Parry~

my book “The Pirate’s Daughter And A King’s Ransom” AT www.klparry.com

Marooned

I’m Back…. and let me start by saying that the Holidays were modest but wonderful. My oldest sons is recovering well from his near fatal motorcycle accident on October 1st, although he has been hospitalized twice due to complications arising from his injuries. Considering the alternatives, I can not complain about his progress. But it has sidelined me. There is nothing more important to me than my boys.

So in between all that, I have been researching, talking to people and experimenting with advertizing my novel on Facebook.

Now, I’m feeling a bit like a marooned sailor. It seems the business of literature turns a cold shoulder to those who don’t adhere to their rules. Even with some book reviewers, it is not a matter of merit or talent but rather that your name be on a list. A list kept by mainstream publishers of their clients. But I shan’t be daunted, for long. And truthfully, I haven’t even submitted my book for any reviews as of yet. I have first to get past the challenge of purchasing a few to give out to reviewers. A financial feat for me at the moment.

What I have also discovered is this; Firstly Blurb.com, whom I have published my novel through, was the right choice for me. Mainly because it was free. For those that know me I am always in a state of having just enough to pay my bills with little if anything left over. Also my reasons for not soliciting a traditional publishing firm have been reaffirmed as I did further investigating. When I discovered that an unknown author can only expect 8 to 10% royalties on the wholesale price of their book, (as little as 10 to 20 cents per book), I just about fell out of my chair. It seems near to criminal that a publisher will take such a large percentage leaving the creator with a pittance for his or her labors. I found that many authors, (seeming to me to be the majority of them), can’t make a living at their craft even though they have multiple books sold and currently selling in the market place. That is just plain wrong. Yes, writing should be done for the sake of writing. And if it’s good and it sells, the author should benefit as well as the publisher.

Well, enough of my preaching.

So I have decided to make do with what I have. Fortunately I know some wonderfully talented, creative and generous people. My friend Nick, free of charge, created a web site for me and has shown me how to manage it. I am still a bit lame with that but he is great at helping me tweak things. Then there is Tammy, one of my editors and a pro proof reader who is polishing up a media release that will be sent out to solicit reviews and interviews. Christian, a well-spring of information, has given me a lot of great ideas to make my web site better and create an actual ad page for the Book that he says will really POP! Janice, an up and coming professional photographer and Kati whose many talents include applying theatrical makeup are all lending their expertise to help me create a killer ad page for “The Pirate’s Daughter And A King’s Ransom”.

We have set the photo shoot for Saturday, using another friend’s two darling granddaughters as models portraying the pirate’s daughter, Blue Pergamum and her friend/nemesis Rebbecca. I am, dare I say it, giddy with excitement! Hee, heee heeee!

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Oh! And I am in charge of craft services. Drinks, goodies and a Costco pizza.

~K.L. Parry~

Be sure to check out a 20 page preview of “The Pirate’s Daughter And A King’s Ransom” at www.klparry.com