Frieda is Launched

In graduate school I was on the "staff" of Zeitgeist, which we called a sporadical. I liked the connotation of a random periodical and it was also a little radical, at least it was politically painful for some folks. We lampooned the faculty, the psych department and the university from time to time. This blog is reminiscent as a sporadical without much radical, and I was feeling nostalgic.

Here's our first reader anywhere!

We had the book launch for Frieda and had a great turnout of people at the Goleta Library. We read before the launch the worst that would happen would be that only two people show up, but all they want is directions to the bathroom. Sure enough, we had one person looking for the way to the women's room. We had a lockout when the library closed and they didn't tell me they were closing the door to our area as well. Fortunately Bob Ehrmann called from behind the door and we got that remedied! It was fun way to start this book off. We raised over $650 with the launch and the first couple weeks of sales. Thanks for your help and thanks to Kaan for such a good price on the book.

Too soon after the Launch we returned Kaan to LAX and he flew home to Ankara to continue his business in entertainment law.

Here's Kaan talking up the book

NatureTrack.org is now selling The Adventures of Frieda and Her Friends on the product page and profits continue to go to support that great organization. The book is also now available at Chaucer's Bookstore in Santa Barbara and the Book Loft in Solvang as well as (this will help so many of you) the Shaw Stationery and Book Store in Klamath Falls, OR. I hope you'll refer friends who are looking for a kids book to these locations, or have them contact me (nord.nord@gmail.com).

Frieda Figurine

Here is the bonus I wasn't expecting at all. Kaan brought a terrific figurine of Frieda in the depths of despair when she first learns she is destined for... finishing school instead of fishing school. I'm glad I'm old and can gush about things like this and not worry about my manly place in life. Isn't this the cutest thing you've seen? I am more than biased. Mesut Gürkan created the illustrations for Frieda and this little figurine that he sent for me.

Thanks for all your support!

Release of new books!

This spring I am very excited to have a few things published in a short time frame. The first is Santa Barbara Fire Song in Three Parts which was just published this week at Smashwords as an ebook collection of stories about wildfire in Santa Barbara. There is a link on this blog that will take you to Smashwords where you can download a free copy! You can read it on your ereader or iPhone/smart phone or your computer. Each story was written for a different age group from young children to young adult. Last year Jen used these stories to begin a discussion with her class on concerns and understanding of firestorms. Not only is Santa Barbara high profile fire country, so are many parts of the world that didn't expect to be. I wrote Fire Song to help kids wrestle with the experiences as well as enjoy the stories.

I am waiting for my hard copy book: The Adventures of Frieda and her Friends. My great friend Kaan from Turkey asked to publish this book a few years ago. He found an illustrator and a print shop and the book was just published two weeks ago. The illustrations are super. The stories I wrote over a period of years. This is good fun for children using a fairytale mode with frog characters in adventurous situations in nature. My hope is to interest more young people to pursue outdoor experience like my characters! Currently I am expecting Kaan will be bringing copies of the book to Santa Barbara. He has also published a Turkish language version of the book which is very exciting to me for the opportunity to have it presented to kids over there!

My teen/young adult mystery novel of current-era characters reaching back in time to mysteries from the early 20th century.From buried clues and researching through 100 years of faded history, the story unfolds on the north slope of Alaska and comes back to local hidden treasure and surprising revelations. Evangeline as Gel returns from the Fire Song to lead her group of intrepid investigators on their journey, while Brandon escapes his vagrant father to frontier of wild Alaska in the throes of the early 20th Century. I expect to release it in the next month or two on Smashbooks as another ebook.