The author fair at Benson Memorial Library went very well. I was among a group of six authors and it seemed that everyone attracted enough fans to sell some books.

On July 5, I had a book signing at Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach Delaware. The signing also went very well. Crowds of tourists walked the streets and many entered the book store looking for a souvenir of their vacation. My book provided that for many families and children. Part of the reason the signing was successful was a large amount of publicity. A week prior I had sent my press release and picture to several local newspapers. The Cape Gazette ran a terrific article that covered half a page and on the Thursday before the signing I was live on the radio. WGMD 92.7 FM does a morning talk show right from the book store and I was interviewed live about 8:00 AM. The interview went very well and I think both of these exposures brought people to the store.

That's it for now.

June 28th is the date for all local people who do not yet have my book. I will be participating in an author fair at The Benson Memorial Library in Titusville, Pa from 10 AM to noon. Come see all the local authors. The next Saturday I will be at Browse About Books in Rehobeth Beach Del from 2 to 4PM. That might wrap up book signings until the fall. The book store and malls are not the most popular place on a nice Saturday afternoon. I will resume after labor day.

I make evry attempt to get my name and my book in front of the public. Some things don't really help sales, but you never know. I subscribe to Writer's Digest magazine and I have a letter to the editor published in the AUGUST issue, not exactly fame, but better then having the letter rejected.

I apologize for taking time off from tending my journal. I skipped some of my signings out in Ohio. They were not the most fruitful, but I'm still staying at it. The next two signings are May 24th 2-4PM at the Borders In Orchard Park NY, a suburb of Buffalo then June 7TH in Cheektowaga, NY from 2 to 4PM. This also a Buffalo suburb. I hope these go better, but I'm wondering if Saturday afternoon is the best time as the weather improves. Also I'm hearing that the recession is having an impact on book sales.

A truly unique event will be occurring concerning my book in the near future. A friend of mine, Louise Jencik, will be reading my book on the radio. I don't know when the broadcasting will start, but she is now recording the readings. This is being done on a service provided for the blind and sight impaired. Anyone interested can check out www.readingservice.org. I'm honored to have my book read over the air and I hope the young people who hear it enjoy it. Thank you Louise.

At my last signing,I sold a book to a sixth grade teacher who asked me if I would consider coming to her school to discuss the book. Of course I agreed and on Wednesday, February 20th I went to Conneaut Valley Elementary School to meet and discuss my book with sixty six-graders. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Many questions were asked concerning the book and other subjects relative to writing in general. The discussion lasted nearly an hour. From the enthusiasm of the boys and girls I'm hoping that they all enjoyed the program. I did and I would encourage any other teacher from grades 4 through 8 to email if they would like me to come their school. I would be willing to travel to schools in a 100 mile radius. The program showed me that the subject matter of the book engages young minds and encourages me that this book finds great favor with these young readers.

On my last post, I mentioned I would be doing a live interview on the radio on February 21st at 1:30 PM on WISR 680 AM prior to my signing at Borders in the Butler Clearview Mall. I'm updating today because I've set another radio interview for Thursday Feb. 14th at 9:00 AM on WPIC 790 AM which will be before the signing at Borders in the Shenango Valley Mall. I hope anyone reading this will be able to listen in. Come to the mall and tell me you heard me on the radio.

I had a couple of more book signings that weren't sellouts, but I did sell 25 books in the last two. The last one was an author fair at B&N in Cranberry. I really enjoyed that because I got to meet other authors and we discussed marketing and promoting our books. Upcoming I have a signing at Borders Express In the Shenango Valley Mall on Feb 16 and Borders Express in the Clearview Mall on Butler on Feb 23. For the first time, I'm scheduled for a live on air interview with WISR 680 in Butler on Feb 21 at 1:30 PM. Maybe this will help sales.


Also upcoming I going to do a podcast and attach it to the website. I hope to have this ready next week. Next time I'll get back to discuss things about the book

My last post concerned a way that Bronze age people could figure out how to determine when the longest and shortest days of the year were approaching. Adding rocks to a pile for each day in between then taking them away until the next event day would in essence produce a calendar. I turned this idea into a video which is now available on Youtube.com. Search 'sundial & calendar'

You could quickly conclude that although this method might work it was susceptible to sabotage from neighbors who might be jealous or even difficulties in making the transfer of a rock each day during a very hard winter. The pile could freeze over or get covered in very high snow. If kept in the wrong place a sudden spring cloudburst could wash rocks away. Read the book to see what the next step would be to prevent those things from happening.

I had a successful book signing at Barnes & Noble in South Hills Village Pittsburgh last Saturday and this coming Saturday Feb 2, I will be at The Borders Express In the Clearview mall in Butler.
That's it for now

I said I was about to start to discuss other subjects besides my itinerary for book signings. Well, the time has come. I’m going to start with a plausible way that someone could have begun to get a handle on the seasons. This is slightly different than what occurs in the book, but it could have preceded my subsequent solution

A proto sundial, that is a stick stuck in an open area or on a movable flat plate, could be called a shadow clock. An astute observer could discern the longest day of the year by determining the day with the shortest shadow at midday and the shortest day of the year by determining the day with the longest shadow at midday. Prior observation would have told these Bronze Age people that this happened somewhat regularly each year, but without a counting system it was not possible to know the number of days between these events, hence one could not know when the next event was coming.

However not being able to count doesn’t preclude enumerating by making a mark each day on a stick or placing a stone in a pile each day. If the early scientist built his pile of stones daily from the longest day to the shortest day, then taking a stone away each day would take him back to the longest day when he had moved the entire pile. A little prior planning and he could guess that the might want to know when he was halfway there. This would be equivalent to getting to the autumnal equinox day. To do this he only needed to take two stones away and create two piles. When the large pile was exhausted he would now be halfway to the longest day with two piles of stones. Now he would move a stone from one pile until he exhausted that pile. He would then be back to the longest day which he could check with his shadow clock. Moving a stone from the other pile each day would get him to the spring equinox. He would continue to move a stone every day and then this pile of stones would be equivalent to a calendar that would let him know with fair accuracy when these critical days were coming. This would be of tremendous value to an agricultural society. Read Cristo’s Chronicles-Book One-The King’s Challenge to learn other clever methods for determining these days.

Since my last report on book signings, I've had four more. They weren't all sell outs but in total I sold 85 books in December. Now as I stated before, it's time to discuss other subjects. My new subject isn't dealing with the mechanics of the book, but rather still with book promotion.

I've made a video advertising the book and posted it to Youtube. I know it's a rather meager effort, but it is a start. I hope to do more later, but at least I've been through the mechanics of putting the video together and getting it listed. Anyone interested in seeing it can go to Youtube and search 'shadow clock'. You can write and criticize, but I'm hoping that people will see it ands who knows beyond that. Maybe next time back to the book.

My first foray into Pittsburgh was successful at Borders in Northway Mall on Nov 10th. I sold out in less than the scheduled time. My next signing at Borders In Erie was a sell out, but not my most successful event because the store only ordered a few copies. I will probably redo this store later this year. I then took my caravan east and had a signing at the Borders Express in the Christiana Mall south Of Wilmington Del. Once again I sold out. I hoping that this spreading out of the sales will generate more interestin a wider area. Saturday Dec 1, I'm going back to the big city to be at Waldenbooks in South Hills Village.

It's time I wrote about other topics rather than just my signings. It's coming soon. I'm trying to figure out how to organize what I want to say.

I gave my first speech concerning the book to a local Lions club. It took me a week to write the ten minute speech, but it was well received and generated a lot of discussion. I look at this as good training in public speaking about the book. It might serve me well if I get into radio or TV interviews which are next on my agenda. I'm going to give the same speech to The Rotary Club next week. Once again more exposure and more practice. It all helps. The speech will be posted to the website soon. Once it is on there, I will start discussing some of the issues associated with measurement of time.

My book signing schedule is now filled out until the end of the year.

Nov 10 Borders Northway mall Pittsburgh 2 to 4PM
Nov 17 Borders Interchange Rd. Erie 2 to 4PM
Nov 24 Borders Christiana Mall Wilmington, Del. 2 to 4PM
Dec 1 Waldenbooks South Hills Village Pittsburgh 4 to 6PM
Dec 8 Joseph Beth Booksellers Carson St. Pittsburgh 2 to 4PM
Dec 15 Barnes & Noble Peach St. Erie 2 to 4PM

Almost all of the book signings have gone well. If people take the time to look at the book and hear what it is about they become interested. I think the subject matter has a general appeal
I'll be eager to here from anybody who has read the book about there impressions. My email is on the website.

Sorry it took so long to get back to the blog. I've been trying to set up more book signings and I've played a lot of telephone tag in trying to reach the right person. So anyway, I'm now scheduled the next four Saturdays in a row. My last book signing was a complete success. I sold out before the time limit and the manager asked me to come back again. I'm now expanding north to Erie and south to Pittsburgh. So here is the schedule:

Oct 27 2PM to 4PM Waldenbooks Cranberry Mall Seneca, PA
Nov 3 2PM to 4PM Waldenbooks Chautauqua Mall Lakewood, New York
Nov 10 2PM to 4PM Borders McKnight Rd. Pittsburgh, PA
Nov 17 2PM to 4PM Borders 2088 Interchange Rd. Erie, PA

I hope to set up more signings in Erie And Pittsburgh before Christmas then the challenge is to expand beyond my local area.

Other good things are happening. I've been invited to give a talk to a local masonic lodge and I'm hoping to do the same with the Lions and the Rotary. All this is great training for giving presentations and interviews. There is a lot to be learned in being an author.

I also gave my first television interview. It was only local public access TV, but it will be excellent practice for when I hit the Daily Show and Oprah. I was going to add a ha ha here, but I'm really hoping it might happen. The book seems to attract people and all those who have read it tell me it's interesting and a great read. We'll see.

I'll try to get back with another update next week.

Check out my contest on teensreadtoo.com. This is your chance to put yourself in the mind of the author and demonstrate that you have some concept of what life was like before the invention of clocks, calendars, counting or writing. You can win an author signed copy of The King's Challenge.

I just finished my first two book signings. I must admit it was a rush to have people who actually wanted my autograph. The first signing was a complete success with all the books being sold out. This was held in my hometown and most of the people knew me. The second was held at a close by mall and it was all strangers that bought the book, but it wasn't a sell out. It was also humbling to sit there and have people walk by who had no interest at all in what I was doing. Oh well, its all part of the learning experience. My next signing is at the Chautauqua Mall in Lakewood New York on Oct 13th at 2PM.

I've also had two interviews for newspaper articles. One has already run and contributed to the success of the first signing. The second will run this week before my next signing.

The shadow maps are in final form on the website. look them over and let me know if they make sense. I'm planning to explain later.

I have received my books and I'm delighted. The books that friends ordered from Amazon have been delivered. If anyone is in my local area of Western Pennsylvania, I will be having scheduled book signings. My first is in my home town at Between Friends Book Store on Saturday October 6th from 11Am to 2PM. Later that day at the Waldenbooks in the Cranberyy Mall I will have another signing beginning at 4 PM. The following weekend I will be at the Jamestown mall in Jamestown New York at Waldenbooks from 2PM to 4 PM. I will be having a book signing in Pittsburgh at Joseph Beth Bookstore perhaps the following week. It is not yet scheduled. I will keep you posted.

I've just gotten word that my book Cristo's Chronicles Book One The King's Challenge is now available on Amazon.com. I haven't seen my copies yet, but my publisher tells me they are in the mail. I obviously can't wait to see and hold them in my hand. It's been a long road to get to this point, but it will be worth it to see the final printed version.

My challenge now is to figure out how to create some buzz and generate sales among the young audience that I wrote the book for. I'm hoping that its unique take on life at this time in prehistory will generate interest among the young readers.

I will be discussing many subjects relevant to life during this period in future posts. I hope they are interesting and get young readers thinking about how a typical day would be without, a calendar, counting or writing.

This is my first post and I'm just getting started on my blog.  I wanted everyone to know that my first published book Cristo's Chronicles:  The Kings Challenge is in the printing process and will be published very soon.  Check out the website at www.cristoschronicles.com for more information.  I'm very excited about it.  I hope you read and enjoy it.

This is my first post and I'm just getting started on my blog.  I wanted everyone to know that my first published book Cristo's Chronicles:  The Kings Challenge is in the printing process and will be published very soon.  Check out the website at www.cristoschronicles.com for more information.  I'm very excited about it.  I hope you read and enjoy it.