A friend stopped me in the fruit isle of the grocery store recently and asked what I’m doing now that my book is published. Hanging out at the river? Reading? Cooking gourmet dinners?
I chuckled and rolled my eyes.
For authors, writing a book is only the tip of the iceberg. The real work comes afterwards with promotion, interviews, public book events (pre-COVID), and for me, expanding my website to share my “behind the scenes” research and inspirations for my novel.
One of my first goals was to have my eco-novel Heart Wood listed on Dragonfly.eco
Not only was I recently listed (thank you to all the readers who gave such positive reviews on Amazon/Goodreads), but I was selected for a feature interview with Mary Woodbury, Dragonfly.eco’s founder. Mary asked me some intriguing questions, which you can read here: https://dragonfly.eco/
In addition to my interview as an Indie Author, I found several other features interesting, especially the results of her Survey on the Impacts of Environmental Fiction. Mary Woodbury describes her insightful survey questions:
“I wanted to explore how readers were affected by fiction (including environmental fiction) that they had read. What were their favorite novels of all times, eco-novels, characters? What did they like and dislike in such fiction? In what ways were they inspired by this fiction, and did they move to action–or how else were they socially impacted, either negatively or positively? What genres and subgenres did they enjoy the most? Did they think eco-fiction impacted society, and how? “
You can read the summary of what she found here: https://dragonfly.eco/impacts-of-environmental-fiction-survey-results/
Now, back to what I am doing now that I’ve finished my book. To be honest, I also spend hours in my veggie garden picking off tomato horn worms (camouflage experts), figuring out what to do with the dozen cucumbers I pick every day (please send recipes!), packing my emergency “Go-Bag” in case we’re evacuated by a wildfire (welcome to California), and best of all, river time with my husband and dog (yes, river is good medicine).
Be well, be safe, and be kind!
You can purchase Heart Wood for yourself or as a gift to others at all brick and mortar bookstores, Independent Book Stores, and online at Amazon.
Shirley DicKard 