Thursday, September 26, 2013

Redfeather nearly ready to roll

It might be your grandfather's car -- but it's not your grandfather's road trip.

I just received the proof copy of Looking for Redfeather.  One correction necessary -- the title page -- and it will be good to go! 

It's been a long haul!  I wrote the first draft of Looking for Redfeather during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), 2007.  Every year, during the month of November, writers all over the world pledge to write a 50,000 word novel in thirty days.  It's a fast-paced process, ugly in spots, but it gets done.   

I had a hell of a ride with these runaway teens in a stolen (actually, borrowed without permission) Cadillac Eldorado, and when I was done I let the manuscript rest for several years before having another look.

Wow! Rereading it, I found I really liked these three teens and I wanted to bring their story to life.  It's taken me about three years to revise the novel.      

I landed an agent who also believed in the book - but he wasn't able to place it.  Most of the editors of the major houses replied with something like, "Loved the characters and the voice -- just have to take a pass."  Or, "Great voice and quirky characters, but we just published a road trip story."  Or, "Excellent writing, but where's the depraved sex?"  (Just kidding -- I made that one up!)

I created my own imprint Fiction House, Ltd. and published Looking for Redfeather, hiring Create Space for comprehensive editing services, interior design, printing and distribution.  It's been a real learning process, the publishing process!

At Fiction House, Ltd we're almost ready to roll with Looking for Redfeather, so keep your eyes peeled for a champagne-colored Cadillac crusing with three runaway teens.

ISBN  0989365301
ISBN 13 trade paperback  978-0-9893653-0-7

Soon to be available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Indie bookstores too.  Available in electronic format NOW on Smashwords!

  

Friday, September 20, 2013

My latest novel, Looking for Redfeather, is now available on Smashwords.  For a limited time, you can download it FREE with the coupon code yy58y  Hurry!  Offer ends soon!  Trade paperback book to follow...

Life is a highway…


Fifteen-year-old Ramie Redfeather leaves Cheyenne with music in his pocket and his thumb in the air.  He’s looking to find his father, a man he’s never met.  Ramie gets a ride with Chas Sweeney, a seventeen-year-old driving a “borrowed” Cadillac Eldorado with Maryland tags, who just happens to be passing through Cheyenne.  Chas is running from the wreckage that is his world, sixteen hundred miles away.  In Denver Ramie and Chas meet Mae B. LaRoux, an enchanting young singer from Baton Rouge.  LaRoux, who struggles with a learning disability, is on a mission to become a professional musician.  The three runaways band together and set out on a fast-paced road trip to get to the Austin Music Festival, looking for Redfeather along the way.  They’re on the road –but it ain’t Jack Kerouac’s road trip!

Linda Collison’s first novel, Star-Crossed, published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2006, was chosen by the New York Public Library to be among the Books for the Teen Age – 2007 and inspired the Patricia MacPherson Nautical Adventure Series.  Her coming-of- age story With a Little Luck won the former Maui Writers Conference Grand Prize in 1996.  Born in Baltimore, Linda moved to Wyoming when she was twenty-four and has been on the move ever since.  Follow her on her website www.lindacollison.com. 

 Fiction/ Coming-of-Age/Young Adult