ROOMS Published & My New Book BEATRICE & Thoughts on Self-Publishing

Cover Illustration and Design by Greg Opalinski

It's exciting to have Rooms published on Amazon in both the Kindle and paperback versions. It's selling, now I have to wait for the first reviews to begin to come in. I know it will take a while, as people need time for the book to arrive and time to read it. Honestly, though, it's not easy waiting, but I'll summon the patience!

To find it on Amazon, you can click the links below.

Paperback on Amazon
Kindle eBook on Amazon

New Book

I think I have about three chapters of Beatrice left to write. I'm writing the climax now, which will take about two chapters to complete. It's a challenge to do justice to this part of the book, but it's also a lot of fun. So many plot elements are coming together at this point; it's like weaving a tapestry and finally seeing the threads and patterns take form and shape.

Self-Publishing

Today I read an article in Forbes Magazine about self-publishing, and I like what it says. I'm not an expert by any means, but I think it makes sense.

I've thought for a long time that promotion is important but that getting reviews from people and publishing more than one quality work would do the most to help build interest in my writing. I've focused on writing more than promotion since I've started, and that's what this article is about - write, write, write... Take a look and see what you think.

Click here to go to the article.

ROOMS HAS BEEN PUBLISHED ON AMAZON!

Cover Illustration and Design by Greg Opalinski

If you've been reading my blog, you know this has been quite a process, and I'm extremely pleased and excited to finally let you know that my adult science fiction novel, Rooms, has just been published on Amazon. It's a very unique and compelling story, and one that I'm very excited to share with you.

It's available for purchase in both the paperback and Kindle versions, and you can view it in the U.S. on Amazon.com by clicking the links below. If you live elsewhere, simply go to the Amazon site in your part of the world and type Bob Stegner into the search window to find it.

Paperback on Amazon
Kindle eBook on Amazon

I actually just re-read it myself, and I still enjoyed it a lot, even after reading it many, many, many times. It is one of those science fiction books that encompasses a broad spectrum of ideas and takes place over a large expanse of time and in several different locations. As you read it, you will be engaged in more than one plot line and see them intertwine and come together towards an exciting climax. There are lots of twists and turns and things to wonder about as you read, and the characters are unusual and fun. And as some of my readers have told me it can be "quite a ride."

If you like science fiction, I think you'll enjoy it, and if you do purchase and read Rooms, please write a review on Amazon when you're done and let others know about the book as well. I would really appreciate it.

Rooms Book Cover & Publishing Update / New Book / Next Book / Poem: "60 Years"

ROOMS Book Cover

Well, here is the cover of Rooms! If you click on the image of the cover above, you can see a larger version of it. 

Greg Opalinski did an outstanding job and truly captured the feeling of Rooms for the reader. He was wonderful to work with and is obviously a real talent. The book will be sold on Amazon in both the U. S. and many other parts of the world. You will be able to purchase it in both paperback and the Kindle eBook version. I'll let you know as soon as it's available. It may be a week or so yet, but it will be out soon!

New Book: "Beatrice"

(Forest)

My new book, Beatrice, is now over 51,000 words, and I just completed chapter 20. Each chapter now gets more and more fun to write as I near the end of the book. It looks like the final chapter will be chapter 23 or 24.

For anyone new to reading my blog, Beatrice is a very different book from Rooms. It's a Fantasy/Mystery/Thriller with lots of twists and turns and questions that will make you wonder as you move deeper into the plot. It's interesting because even though the general direction of the story can be seen early on, those questions will keep you wondering until their finally answered.

I have a lot of rewriting and editing ahead, but I am enjoying seeing the story come together. This book is really fun to write!

Next Book: Sequel to Rooms
I've begun planning my next novel. I've known for a while that I'd like to work on a sequel to Rooms, and I have a plan  started and will begin work on it when I've finished Beatrice. It will be a while, but I thought I'd let you know. I even think I have the title for it, but I won't let that out for a while.

Poem
As I near the publishing of my first adult novel, my mind goes to my mom and dad. They have traveled on to brighter lights and a place of harmony and balance that goes beyond earthly understanding, but I still feel them most days and hear them as they talk to me and help me along my path. I know they're proud of what I've accomplished, so I wanted to share a poem that I wrote for them on their 60th wedding anniversary.

60 Years

Seasons play our lives
Like a fine ballad

Weaving melody and harmony

Between laughter and thought

The first note came forth

Played in glorious celebration

As a birthday begun

With song and love

Motherhood

Protects, provides, nourishes

Fatherhood

Protects, provides, nourishes

I, a note in life’s pop-ballad

Mother, coaxing the song from my lungs

Father, showing me honesty, laughter, and work

Family, singing of home

60 years of laughter, worry, and music

60 years together

60 years as one

60 years bringing each other love

My Mom

My Dad

No one knows me better

No one loves me more

Mom and Dad

I love you!

Copyright © Bob Stegner 2006

Tree/Moon Image from: 
Forest Blue Moonlight Wallpapers.. Digital image. Travelization. N.p., 30 June 2012, Web. 16 Mar. 2014. <www.travelization.net>.

Novel Update & Poem: "The Lake"

ROOMS

by Bob Stegner

(Trish Steele)

Wow! I just received the latest update of the cover of Rooms from Greg Opalinski. It's really going to be good! He is a real talent, and the cover will create an image for the reader that will also set the right mood for reading the book. I'm excited!

New Book: "Beatrice"

(Forest)

My new book, Beatrice, is now about 42,000 words long. I don't think it will be as long as Rooms, but it should be between 60,000 and 70,000 words. I'm into the heart of the plot now where more and more is being divulged as it moves towards the climax. It is a blast to write it!

Poem
I like this poem. I wrote it after walking around Green Lake in Seattle, Washington on a brilliant day of sun and color. It made me think of Monet's works.

(Monet)

The Lake

A malleable portrait of dots and scraps of color

On a canvas shifting the world from focus

Step back

Those same brush strokes become lucid

We see

A tree, a running creek, a bridge

A world recognizable, yet nonetheless new

Monet dared us to see

The painter of impression’s journey

From mind to canvas to eye

Giving form,

As the canvas took shape

Around lives, beliefs and memories

Monet taught us to look

Even so,

We recognized these things
From the beginning

As a child turning its head

Staring in that strange way,

Until a slight smile revealed

Awareness

And as we go through time

The earth brings us wonders

Pushing us beyond plain sight

We gaze at sunsets, storms and evenings of light

Mornings of bright, brisk awakenings

We focus

And reach deep

To catch a glimpse
Of it all

Monet remembers

One day, I saw a lake

It embraced me in vegetative abundance

And shades of color beyond knowing

It lay surrounded by mounds of earth and trees

Wild fowl traveled its surface
And set upon it as dots on a dream of light

People gathered
Paid homage

And dared not leave its magnificent shore

For fear of losing
The moment

The vision
Was as if we could perceive

Monet’s painting
Of a perfect Lake

We stepped back and viewed its splendor

Becoming part of it

The people, the plants, the animals, the ground, the sky,

The liquid shimmering ripples of radiance

I sat on a bench, mesmerized

Partially closing my eyes
And caught sight of

The light from the evening
Sparkling and changing shape

Transforming perception

The jewel in my eye

Taught me

How to live

How to love

How to see beauty

Monet smiled

Copyright © Bob Stegner 2006

Image of Door:

Trish Steel [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Tree/Moon Image from:

Forest Blue Moonlight Wallpapers.. Digital image. Travelization. N.p., 30 June 2012, Web. 16 Mar. 2014. <www.travelization.net>.
"Water Lilies and Japanese Bridge" by Claude Monet - In U. S. works published before 1923 are in the public domain