I received the proof copy today and it looked just right. Copies are ordered for all those who have ordered already plus extra enough to handle the Christmas season. December 1st may not happen, but it won’t be far off. December 1st is a Friday, and if it doesn’t come then it will be the following Monday. People who have purchased a book can expect to have their copy in their hands by about December 8th or 9th.
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"Spero is an imaginative fantasy that subtly instructs, entertains, and intellectually provokes the reader. It is fascinating reading. I'm definitely hooked on this series." Jean Heimann at Catholic Fire.
"...intelligent as well as inspiring..." Terry Barga at whattodoabout.com.
Please visit www.birthpangs.com/cart to buy Spero
(and Fidelis) from the author or to buy from Amazon.com
Fidelis, my first book, is Latin for faithfulness. The second book, Spero, is Latin for hope. Spero is an exploration of what hope is and why we need it. It is an exploration of what things are good to put our hope in and what things are bad to put our hope in. In the fictionalized America of the future portrayed in the Birth Pangs series, all of the things that people have traditionally put their hope in have been brought low. There are no government agencies, no schools, and not even churches. In the face of daily perils, people have to figure out how where they are going to place their hope. It is interesting to me that the political candidate running on 'hope' is also running on 'change.' I think this illustrates the root of the problem. The best place to put your 'hope' is where it won't shift beneath your feet. Also, we need to be clear about what things we hope to overcome. Nearly all of our systems and institutions are geared to address certain day to day realities that are important but not, I'm afraid, ultimate. There is one problem that surpasses them all: death. Spero is about people- even good people- putting their hope in lesser means to tackle lesser problems and being confronted with the consequences of that approach. Spero is about being confronted with our chief problem and challenged to consider what possible solutions there might be to that problem... and whether any of these are within our control, or obtainable by our own effort.The final texts and graphics have been submitted to the publisher, and from there to the printer. Assuming that all is well, a proof copy will be sent to me early next week, and an order made for my own copies to distribute shortly after. There is an unfortunate hitch what with Thanksgiving occurring next week, but hopefully we’ll avoid that snag and I can still have the books no later than December 1st.
Having them by then means that people who have pre-ordered may not have them for another 3-5 days after that, and that is unfortunate, but the hiccup is really that stinking holiday. Whose idea was that, anyway?
Anyway, we’re going to come pretty close to hitting the target date, and that’s not too shabby.
Many thanks to L. George Thompson, or Elijah St. Cloud, however you wish to refer to him. He is the one responsible for the graphics on this web page and for the book. He has a post discussing his work and Birth Pangs in general at his blog, here: http://elijahstcloud.com/main/?p=87 Many thanks to Mr. St. Cloud!
“Fidelis” is being published through Suzeteo Enterprises: www.suzeteo.com Even with the switch in publishers, we appear to be right on track. The cover is practically completed, and will be posted here soon. Final revisions are also almost done. Formatting- almost done. Everything should be going to the printer sometime between November 15th-17th, with my copies delivered to me sometime Nov 27th-30th. Pre-orders will be shipped shortly after that, leaving me with a supply. They may be available on Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com early in the month of December. True marketing and distribution will kick in early in the new year.
It still looks as though we’ll be able to make December 1st for having books available for purchase. My hope to have some in hand earlier has slipped away, as I ended up having to switch publishers. I do have some concern that December 1st may not be realistic, but even so I don’t think it would take much longer than say, December 7th. That’s still enough time for Christmas purchases, etc, but naturally I’ll still push for the earlier date.
Its going good! I should have some cover images to show off in the near future!
