Blue Ridge Parkway Notecards Set #1

Be among the first to see the FIVE cards that were voted to the top by readers of Fragments from Floyd and Nameless Creek.

Thanks for your suggestions, and I hope many of you will want multiple sets of these note cards to use for yourself and to give as gifts.

I expect to have these available to shipping and placing on shelves locally by the first week of April. Please email me (see sidebar) to get your name on the list for first mailing. Please leave shipping information.

Sets will be $10 for five cards and envelopes plus $1 per set for shipping. You can make checks payable to Goose Creek Press. See mailing address at the bottom of this page. (Virginia residents please at state tax of $0.50 per set to keep the governor happy.)

I'll post this link to the Parkway Cards on the sidebar for future reference. But don't delay! Order now while supplies last.

(UPDATE: I have replaced #2 with the Pilot Mountain image on recommendation of one who knows Parkway consumers better than I do. I discovered I couldn't please everybody, but since these will be somewhat targeted toward Parkway travelers, I figured I'd listen to someone representing that population. I'll modify the thumbnails page to reflect the changes--soon.)

Pilgrim at Nameless Creek

"Again and again as I read, I went back to my bookshelf to compare this work with that of Annie Dillard. Fred expresses a similar wisdom tinged with amazed gratitude at finding himself alone and content to record the measure of his days along the winding valleys and hilltops of the Blue Ridge in Floyd County, Virginia. My only worry is that others will attempt to literally follow him there with less awareness of the fragility of this remote ecosystem, and so I recommend reading the book and not necessarily visiting (!) in order to experience the beauty of that place, whose remoteness and inaccessibility is intrinsic to its survival.

Fred First takes us on a path of his own discovery that parallels the similar paths of others who have explored voluntary simplicity and introspection, leading us toward a closer connection with everyday experiences, finding the joy in shared experiences with a cherished companion, and the quiet peace that comes from solitude in natural surroundings. Through images and words Fred brings us with him, and we can truly partake of that same wonder, gratitude, and compassion, and recognize the value in simple reflection on nature's bounty, which truly is all around us.

Thank you Fred, for sharing with us your heartfelt account of your personal geography. May you continue to bring us the same at Fragments from Floyd." Amazon.com review of Slow Road Home

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Thanks to reader and Fragments Friend Susannah for her kind words about Slow Road Home over at Amazon.com ~ ~ where you can now LOOK inside THE BOOK! Perhaps it was mere coincidence, but the same day I was delighted to find her addition to the reviews of the book, I also found someone (a bookstore chain perhaps?) had ordered 40 copies from Lighting Source where the book is now printed. Wonderful discoveries, both, and I hope that those 40 books are "seeds" that will find their way into parts of the country previously unreached by my little dog and pony show.

And if you feel inclined to add a review to Susannah's, much appreciated. I think especially as more connectors (like the comparison to Annie Dillard and Tinker Creek)

PS: Susannah, please send your new email addy.

Open Book

Finally, Google Book Search will carry you to a page where parts of Slow Road Home can be viewed.

You can see the front and back cover in color. You can peruse the table of contents.

And you can see parts of many but all of not so many of the 108 vignettes in the book. Why? Because I chose the option to make 20% of the book readable.

But I would have chosen to make more contiguous pieces readable so once a potential book buyer begins reading for the flavor of the book, they could complete the thought to the end of the piece. With the exception of a couple, none of the short passages in the book is longer than two pages, so I'd have been happier to have the limit at two contiguous pages. But Google didn't give me that option.

And I find this read-from-the-book function doesn't work for me using FireFox. I have to switch to MSIE. Will you let me know if your experience is the same? I'm in communication with Google about this, and they were unaware of the problem with FireFox. I need to know if it's just me.

I'm wondering how much I'd give away to make the whole book readable. Would that make it MORE likely for a browser to purchase the book, or LESS, having access to it all via Google Book Search? Your thoughts...

(If this way of seeing excerpts doesn't work for you, I've pulled some together on the book website, here.

Book-ends

I feel the first stirrings out of hibernation after a long winter of oblivion to writing, speaking, thinking about Slow Road Home or whatever might come next.

I'll have at least two events between now and the middle of April to make me think in concrete terms about the future of my writing and photography--two complementary passions I hope to bring together in new ways in the coming book year.

For both my events (in Wytheville VA and Birmingham AL) I will arrange for a digital projector to run a little pictorial preamble before my discussion about writing, Goose Creek, sense of place, and Slow Road Home.

I think if listeners can gain a visual context for the story, it will mean so much more to them. Do you agree?

And so, even if "whatever comes next" borrows heavily from SRH, it is a second step I think worth taking, plus of course adding some new material as well. Details very much TBA.

But the book year is about to bloom. What it took to make me realize this is the call I got yesterday requesting more books for my best public perveyor to Floyd visitors: Bell's Studio and Garden on Main Street, just down from Oddfellas Cantina.

I am so proud to have my book on their checkout counter. If you come to town, be sure and stop by to see Billy Bell's incredible photographic prints, JoAnne Bell's glass creations, and other pieces representing local craftspeople. Plus, it's just such a nice place to hang out and get a sense of the heart of Floyd.

Here's David St. Lawrence's account of the Bells' fine establishment, written at the time of their opening--coincidentally taking place the same day in April that 1100 copies of Slow Road Home were delivered to Goose Creek! Find store hours and more details on my Nameless Creek site.

Print'em When You Need'em

More and more publishers (and niche authors) see the wisdom of print-on-demand. Here's an excerpt from a piece from the Tennessean about a TN-based business, Lightning Source, where future copies of Slow Road Home will be born.

Benefits of print-on-demand include the ability to extend the life of a book that has gone out of print and reduce costs by eliminating the need for storage of printed books.

Publishers submit an electronic version of the book to print-on-demand companies such as Lightning Source, which store it digitally. It can then be printed in units as small as one copy as needed.The on-demand printing process, which doesn't involve traditional printing plates, and uses toner instead of ink, is similar to laser printing, in which the digital data is directly imaged to the page.

"It's completely changed our cash flow, our business model, because it's allowed us to no longer have to print our goods upfront and then sell them on the back end," said George Johnson, owner of Information Age Publishing in Charlotte, N.C.

From humble beginnings with three employees, Lightning Source has grown into a company with a staff of 455, operating out of 160,000 square feet of office space in La Vergne and with operations also in the United Kingdom. Since its inception, the company has printed 40 million books. It has 500,000 individual titles stored in its digital library, and 4,500 publishing partners.