Redemption on the River is Published!

Yesterday, July 16th, 2012, was the big day. Approximately five years after I made the decision to make my best effort at writing a novel I filled out some fields, uploaded it to Amazon, pressed a button, and published my book. 

My primary goal was to write the best novel I could and I've done that. Whether it's any good is up to the readers, if any, to decide, but it's the best I can do, for now. The entire publishing industry has changed in ways I could never have guessed when I started on the first blank sheet of paper (or screen, actually). I told myself I wouldn't seek publication unless I thought the book was worthy of it, and if I did seek publication (via what's now referred to as traditional publishing) I wouldn't turn to a vanity press just to see it in print.

 But, the times they are a'changin', and for a ton of reasons all of which are too numerous to discuss now I decided that going the independent e-publishing route was best for me and my book. Which means, of course, that in my humble opinion I've written a pretty decent novel, and I can offer it to the world without embarrassment. I hope readers enjoy it.

 The blurb:

 "Silas Jacobson pulled a trigger, killed his father, and ended up months later face down in Memphis mud, trying to forget the girl who betrayed him. Silas buries his father on the farm, his guilt in himself and leaves home seeking to forget past mistakes. He travels on Mississippi steamboats and meets his best friend in a brawl, his worst enemy in a cathouse, and a mentor and lover at a New Orleans faro table.

 Fighting, fornicating, and cheating at cards are a grand time, but there's another woman, a girl on a mission of her own, who saves his life and offers the opportunity to redeem himself. Silas staggers out of the mud to go to her, but he finds that she's deceived him from the start. He'll risk his neck for her—he owes her that much—but love is no longer possible. His shot at redemption comes down to his conscience, the two women, a poker game, and the turn of a card. Redemption on the River is historical fiction set along the Mississippi River in 1848."

  The book is available in e-reader format right now at Amazon and Kobo. It should be up on Barnes & Noble very soon, at Apple's iBook store within a week, and the paperback should be available in a week or two.