A Kickstarter for audio
TL;DR: help me bring The Bond Trilogy to listeners
Big announcement (drumroll). My Kickstarter for The Bond Trilogy audio is LIVE. I have sixty days to raise $6,000 to bring The Hive Queen and The Mother’s Wheel to sound — and open the door to new listeners. Please consider supporting (for fabulous incentives…)
Some backstory… "The Bond Trilogy" is a labor of love and persistence. I started this story in the mid-2000s, never dreaming I would eventually complete a trilogy. My adventure continued as the original publisher exited the project before The Mother's Wheel, Book 3, reached readers. I persevered, finding a way to redesign new, fabulous covers, the interior, and bring out a video promo for The Bond.
I am a huge audiobook fan so wanted to try this format. Through Findaway Voices, I found actor Alexa Elmy, who brought my heroine, Dinitra, to audio life.
Now, I want to bring my other two heroes, Fir from The Hive Queen and Sil from The Mother's Wheel, to the same audio life.
The actor I want to hire for The Hive Queen is Kenneth Toles. He did a brief demo for me and I absolutely loved it. Listen here (this is from the opening of the book).
I'm still auditioning actors for the voice of Sil.
As you may know, audiobooks are a large and growing part of the book market. I want to get my stories to as many readers (and listeners) as possible. Especially kids!
I feel like I owe it to Dinitra, Fir, and Sil--as well as 12, the mutant battle dog; Odide, the Hive Queen; QisQis, a vulture-human mutant; and especially Desper, my sensitive, murderous, poet-ape.
Thank you for your support!
UPDATE ON RIGHTING WRONGS
I’m thrilled that Righting Wrongs won a Foreward Award Silver for best children’s non-fiction in 2022. This was a really strong field (the Gold went to the excellent Bernice Sandler and the Fight for Title IX).
A FAMINE WALK
I've been in Ireland for about a week, taking a break and working on some new projects. One relates to my own family history. The Bradys, my mother’s family, hail in part from County Cavan; my father’s from County Mayo. The two teens — John Francis Brady and Michael Calt — emigrated to the United States after having survived the Great Famine.
I’ve been learning more about emigration and the Great Famine while in Mayo. Most famines are human-made and this one was no exception. The potato blight that ruined successive crops between 1845 and 1849 was only part of the story. Changing economics meant that the large landowners no longer found it profitable to rent to small tenant farmers so evicted them forcibly. To date, Ireland hasn’t recovered its pre-Famine population due to ongoing waves of emigration.
I’ve never met an Irish person who doesn’t have relatives all over the world.
With my partner, Adam, I took “The Lost Valley” tour led by Gerry Bourke, who farms on Ireland’s west coast. His ancestors managed to purchase their holdings even as others were violently expelled.
Gerry is passionate about ensuring that this important history isn’t lost. If you’re ever in Ireland, “The Lost Valley” tour is worth the (spectacular) drive.
Thanks for reading!