Technical Difficulties

That's one way to put it. Where's my book? That's another.







For those of you who have already received your ordered novel - Congratulations! You are in the minority. I, the author, am in the majority. Go figure!




Not sure why I expected everything to be smooth sailing once Emrysia Awakening went to press. It certainly wasn't up to that point! Let me back track and bring everyone up to speed..... if you're interested in the self publishing process read on, but if you don't want to be discouraged skip the next paragraph!




I wrote the initial manuscript for this first volume of the Emrysia series nearly ten years ago. I've been editing and trying to pitch to agents and publishers ever since. The agent I finally secured ended up having too much going on in her own life to fully participate in representing my book, which I found out after about three years of non movement. Last year, I decided to self publish since only agented authors have a shot at the big houses, and I didn't want to go through that whole process again. I handed over my 99.9% error free submission to the publisher around Eastertime with assurances it would take maybe two months on the outside until I held the final product in my hand. After over three months I started to hound the publisher. Then my husband got involved. My first electronic proof arrived the day before we went on vacation, loaded with odd line and page breaks and glitchlike add-ins caused by file restructuring. It was left up to me to find and fix these errors. Though I did this on a digital copy, those changes were never implemented before the hard copy proof finally made it into my hands. Two marked up hard copy proofs and numerous email exchanges and live meetings later and we were just about there. My manuscript was officially "approved" for publication near the end of October. That should have meant going to press the next day. I made my big announcement!....and then waited. (For those of you who have given birth, you know how long those last weeks can be!) Finally, almost out of the blue, the Amazon listing appeared! I believe it was the next day that my books actually arrived - you know, the copies authors keep on hand to sell and sign at readings, etc.? Except, mine came in with poor print quality - too little ink or something - they were just plain hard to read. I kept one for posterity, but it made for a less than auspicious launch. Then, I got a call from one of my book reviewers whose comments grace the back cover. Could I change a word so that it didn't appear as if he were sole Editor at the Greenville Press? No big deal, I assured him since it was, after all, print on demand. Hadn't the publisher and I just sent inferior product back to the printer, and wouldn't they want to make it up to me by waiving the resubmittal fee and reprinting a.s.a.p.? Well....a very long story, but as I mentioned earlier, I still don't have my books. So, for those of you who managed to get yours - kudos! I hope I get a chance to sign them for you if I see you. But so much for being on the shelves for Christmas shoppers. And now Amazon is saying 3 - 5 weeks for delivery, and Barnes & Noble only has Awakening available on Nook at the moment.




Okay, so now I'm done whining (or if you really like that sort of thing, visit my other blog http://imustbeoffmyrocker.blogspot.com/2011/08/whine-lots.html .


 I've got unfinished business to which I must attend.




In case you still want to read Emrysia Awakening - and I really hope you do! - here are some options:




Ask for it at your local bookstore. It doesn't have to be an Expressnet distributor - any bookstore can order it for you. That said, for whatever reason the powers that be have listed the title as Awakening rather than Emrysia Awakening, probably something to do with the cover design. At some point I'll get all of this cleared up, but for now, ask for it both ways. And hey, if you get one of these earlier copies, maybe it'll be worth more some day!




You can still order from Amazon. Hopefully soon on Kindle.




You can get the Nook Book from Barnes & Noble. Hopefully soon in paperback again.


(Note* It's probably always gonna be in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section.  Weed through - there's a lot of questionable books titled Awakening, but trust me, mine's not like that!)




You can wait and buy yours later - but don't! The more people ask for it, the more demand they create will put pressure on the printer, publisher, and bookstores to have it  available to become the worldwide phenomenon that it should be!




You can spread the word. I'd be eternally grateful.




But you can't get it from me, sorry. I'm still experiencing technical difficulties.


(Case in point: I tried to add original cartoons to this post and the screen froze up every time! So visit my other blog - you'll find them there...)

Just a Little Nibble

Q: How long does it take to publish a first novel?
A: TOO LONG!

But it's finally done! Despite some last minute glitches, the first copies of my book Awakening are hot off the presses and being shipped (hopefully as we speak) all around the world! I know some people have already received their copies from Amazon and Barnes& Noble despite the fact that I'm still not sure how I get paid..... hmmmm.....

Anyhow, just to whet your appetite this Thanksgiving, here's a snippet:

Chapter 1 – The Messenger

The tree-born city of Ka’Andharra nestled snugly into the interwoven branches of an ancient grove of valleo. Only here near the heart of Emrysia did the meandering limbs cover so vast an area. Smooth silver bark and platter-like, heart shaped leaves of yellowish green camouflaged the luminaries’ dwellings year round. Along the branches of the mother tree, the El’Kandhar’s residence sprawled in every direction. From central throne room to the gardens along the forest floor, its corridors twined over the oldest and sturdiest branches to sprout rooms as naturally as fruit. The rest of the city blossomed in clusters around it, prominent homes soaring skyward, commoner dwellings grafted onto the branches’ undersides, carved and chiseled, of crystal and of wood.

            Elazaryn sat poised like a statue on the exalted Seat of Ka’Andharra, his vacant stare fixed just left of the defiant youngster before him.

            “He will not survive till dawn….”

“But Father, his injuries do not seem mortal,” Aryelle countered.

“His spirit is wounded beyond reach. We cannot help him.”

            “You mean you will not help him!”

            “I seek not your council, Aryelle,” he warned.

            “And I seek not your permission! I will heal him myself!” Aryelle cried out, squirming uncomfortably as the echo of her outburst crashed like waves off the columns and walls of the vast, empty reception hall and died away.

            Slowly, Elazaryn raised his chin from where it rested between slender, bejeweled fingers. “Your love is great, m’yana, but your judgment is clouded. It is not yet your time of Passing, yet you hasten to enter the Gate without considering which way it will open.”

            “But Father,” she pled changing tactics, “please, only let me-”

            “I forbid it! Speak of it no more!”

            Sparks flashed in Aryelle’s emerald eyes. Her wings - translucent, yet leathery flushed with anger, quivering as she struggled to hold it in check. Hastily, she lowered her gaze. It would not help matters to give in to her frustration. That much she knew.

            “Long burn your flame, El’Kandhar,” she managed, though barely, the age-old response passing reluctantly through clenched teeth....

I hope you'll look for and buy my book. It's listed as Sci-fi & Fantasy, and though written with young adults in mind, I'm hoping adults will find it good read too. Let me know what you think! And watch for Volume Two to come out sometime next year.....

 
(Awakening is also available as a Nook book, and hopefully soon for Kindle - Happy Reading!)

So Excited!!!!!!!!!!

It's listed on Amazon!

Soon to be at Barnes & Noble, and available at bookstores near you!

Buy it!

Read it!

Write a review!

(Now, if only I can get my hands on a copy! Mine should be here tomorrow....!)


Did I mention I'm excited?

STILL WAITING!

tick
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..... man, I can't wait to say BOOOOOOM!

Are you getting as impatient as I am? Well, hopefully the next post here will tell you how to get a copy of Emrysia Awakening for your very own. But for now, I'm still waiting for mine....


tick
tick
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          tick...... (yawn)
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coming soon.....

Almost There!

 

 

Here is a sneak peak of the cover....

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are so close to being done! After a VERY stressful week of laboring to birth this novel, I am about as anxious to hold it in my hands as any of my other children. Hopefully, next week!

Thanks to everyone for being so patient and supportive. It's been a long ten years since I started this process. Writing the series was the easy part. Publishing it has been a bear. And though I would have loved to go through a "big house", I've learned a lot about self publishing that I would have never otherwise known.

This is a soft cover edition. I'll let you know as soon as I have pricing, but for those of you who would buy it regardless of cost, you can pre-order by commenting on this post. And remember (for what it's worth), you can get an autographed copy mailed right to your door (postage and handling not included) by purchasing direct.

And So It Begins.....

“…and so shall each of the house of Ka’Andharra fall in their turn, but not ere they have fulfilled their purpose.” –The Book of Illumination

Welcome to Emrysia... 

(site still under construction)

You are about to enter an uncharted continent in the Chimera Sea, a land peopled with races and creatures straight from the imagination of our world, and a time preceding our own.  Where good and evil defy definition. Where luminaries empathetically “assume” the sick and wounded while struggling to understand the redemptive value of suffering. Where merfolk and fauen, wulfen and praircats must learn to coexist or witness as their world becomes extinct under the Kra'nochta Empaana, the Reign of Shadow.

In The Three Sisters trilogy, backbone of the five book Emrysia series, Aryelle, Lureli, and Eleanor journey to the Great Summit and beyond to discover the truth about themselves, their people, and the land in which they live.

Volume One entitled Awakening introduces us to the first "sister", Aryelle. As Aryelle’s questana leads her out of Ka’Andharra and into the arena on Mt. Cor, the delicate luminarie maiden must either take wing to save herself, or face death at the hands of the brutal Aurrac chieftains, and come to realize what true sacrifice means. 

Volume Two, Lament, shifts the focus to voluptuous mer-maiden Lureli and her mysterious past, while chronicling the companions’ continued journey. Volume Three Endurance recounts the measures each of the “sisters” must take to save Emrysia, and how, as eldest, fauen Eleanor must lay down self doubt to take up the helm of leadership. 

A sequel Flaming Arrows and prequel The Daughters of K’dharron are simmering on the back burner - these will flesh out the Emrysia chronicles for those who can't get enough......... and possibilities for expanding the series further exist, since I've created comprehensive genealogies and plot twists for various characters. Young adult readers, particularly the growing demographic of fantasy aficionados that are female, will find in these pages a thrilling tale that speaks to them on so many levels.


                                                                                                  

Author's Bio & Comments

C. A. Morgan is a wife and mother of five, artist, writer, singer/performer, former teacher, blogger (http://imustbeoffmyrocker.blogspot.com/) and is currently working to put kids thru college --- in other words, a very busy woman! She earned her degree in Commercial Art from Michigan’s Ferris State University years ago, but for the last twenty, has called Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom home. This is her first published novel.

"I wrote Awakening while also teaching music part-time, accepting the occasional copy writing and free-lance commercial art commission, and raising my (then four, now five) young children. Though primarily an artist, I’ve had numerous articles published in local papers, with my lone foray into the children’s literature industry resulting in the sale of a short story to Instructor Magazine.  Since that time, I've known I would fulfill my dream of being a published author. Besides believing that a meaningful story, well told, is meant to be shared, I echo Aryelle in the sentiment that our gifts are not just for ourselves. I hope you enjoy discovering Emrysia as much as I have enjoyed creating it."


Praise for this author's work -

“C. A. Morgan transports readers to a beautifully imagined kingdom, at once fantastic and familiar.  Like the worlds of Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, in Emrysia Awakening, good and evil continue to battle, and the young protagonists face choices that challenge their loyalty, courage, and human desires.  A riveting read for young and old adults…..”

                                                                                    -Sally Ryder Brady, author of A Box of Darkness

C.A. Morgan’s Emrysia is a delight––a thoroughly enchanting, action-filled fantasy/adventure tale, in which two young royal cousins set forth on a coming-of-age quest, and encounter much more than they had bargained for: treachery, dark magic, outrageous and wonderful characters and cultures, and extraordinary challenges. Above all, the two are confronted with the need to use their own greatest gifts and deepest understandings to combat an overwhelming evil that threatens to destroy their world. In the tradition of Madeleine L’Engle, Tolkein and C.S. Lewis, this tale is compelling and thought-provoking from first page to last.

                               - Reeve Lindbergh, poet, novelist & author of over 25 books for children & adults

"Awakening introduces us to an enchanting trio of young women of mythical parentage who embark on a journey of self-discovery in a world slowly consumed by evil. They face treachery, betrayal and brutish thuggery, but budding friendship and self-giving love guide them in their quest to save their world before it is lost in darkness. I can't wait for the adventure's next installment." 

                                                                              - Ron DeKett, Editor of The Greenville News (S.C.)

Additional comments from Reeve Lindbergh:

“…. beautifully written and absolutely captivating---very, very hard to put down.  Aryelle's journey toward her own growth is strong and sure, and the characters she meets along the way are stunning! Wicked and/or funny and truly good and darkly evil, and then, often, so unexpectedly  funny.....I love the Aurrac sisters, and Lureli, and Rona, and Bel, and the lovely/scary Wulfen who sacrificed themselves so nobly....and the story of the poor "deformed" children and the horror of Borrac, and on and on.....such a talented storyteller. I can't wait for the next one!”

Jacket Synopsis for Awakening

Heir to the exalted Seat of Ka’Andharra, luminarie maiden Aryelle challenges both boundaries and abilities when she leaves behind her sheltered, tree-born realm. Saddled with the care of her young cousin, she traverses the magical, shifting landscape of Emrysia, making important new friends - and enemies - along the way. As their perilous trek leads them into the darkest of places, can Aryelle choose between saving herself and risking everything to become what she was born to be?