A Kindred Spirit took top honors in the Spiritual/Metaphysical category at Dan Poynter’s first Global eBook Awards in Santa Barbara, California August 20, 2011! In other words, I WON!!
I want to say right off, I did not pay to enter this competition. Many did, but I was fortunate to be nominated and fees waived! It makes the win so much sweeter — a real reward and honor. I was not aware of Dan Poynter prior to being part of this event. I have since learned he is considered the original self-publishing guru.
That brings me to my second point. AKS is not “self-published.” ZiaLink Ink is a New Mexico LLC (Limited Liability Corporation), and a business consortium. Bringing together the talents of other artists and writers means AKS is the product of a group of professionals, not a first-time effort slapped together in a few months. I worked several years on the novel and had first rate talent helping me get it published. And now, it truly is the award-winning novel A Kindred Spirit!
For now, I will link to my own press release again, but as soon as I receive publicity, those links will be here or in the comments below. (Did I link to the latest Otaku #22? See comments) The new WINNER badge is on front page ( www.AKSbook.com ) Oh, and I mention Ottumwa, Iowa in the press release so I can send it to the Courier — the REAL Ottumwa Courier where Niki fictionally worked 😉
THANKS again to everyone who helped proof, edit, write reviews, tweak graphics and again to Mary Gray, bless her heart, for pouring her heart and soul (and final drawings) into my novel. (She is legally blind now, so no more drawing after a fabulous career in the arts.)
The final editions (trade paperback and Kindle) are posted and for sale on Amazon. PLEASE use the widget or link to the right to buy, Buy, BUY!! and thanks in advance for your support!
ZiaLink Ink 
I particularly like this Total Dickhead blog post . Yes, it could have MY novel pictured, rather than Umberto’s non-fiction tome 😉 but here are the three things I love: 1) posted on my birthday 2) in the first para is the link to Otaku #22 which has TEN pages of material either about AKS or interviews that I wrote (including a link to Paul Williams audio excerpt.) and 3) in the second para, Gill links to my AKSbook site. Now that AKS has won an award, I predict I too will get a cover shot! What say ye, Mr. Dickhead?
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Heck, shoot, darn 😉 had I waited three minutes, that post would have been 9:11 9-1-1 like this one. Well, so as NOT to waste a comment, any of the widgets or AKS links to the right will get you to an Amazon page which has BOTH the final REVISED paperback and the latest Kindle award-winning Kindle version. Enjoy!!
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congrats again, jami! nice to see the project reap this kind of reward after all the years of hard work. fantabulous!!
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And finally, it’s true, Dennis (my Editor) also won a Poynter award for his horrifying non-fiction account of the Memories of a Catholic Altar Boy called “Raped .” (yeah, it’s on Kindle over on Amazon, too!) I had been nominated for AKS and out of the kindness of my heart, nominated Mr. Domrzalski (after he twisted my arm.) So there you have the facts. And speaking of editors, this final, Revised Edition really came about thanks to the eagle eye and fine-tooth editing comb of Frank C. Bertrand, a notorious Dickhead gadfly (why do you like that term, Frank??) Anyway, he’s one fine copy editor and is starting up a new side gig. If interested, post a comment and I’ll get you his contact info.
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As I was trying to say, by typing into these small boxes, and not getting my fingers all tangled up…”gadfly” is an actual, nasty, persistent, pesky fly that mostly bugs horses. But it’s also come to be used to refer to individuals (like two of my personal “intellectual heroes” Swift and Voltaire) who engage in pesky, persistent criticism…which is what I’ve been trying to do with Philip K. Dick for some 3+ decades now.
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And this be its etymology:gadfly (n.) 1620s, “fly which bites cattle,” probably from gad (n.) “goad, metal rod,” here in the sense of “stinger;” but the sense is entangled with gad (v.) and another early meaning of gadfly was “someone who likes to go about, often stopping here and there” (1610s). Sense of “one who irritates another” is from 1640s (equivalent of L. oestrus).Could this be why I’ve been called strident and vitriolic in my PKD criticism???
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Not sure, Frank, but that’s why I wonder 😉 I find you to be a thoughtful, scholarly commentator! okay, maybe you do stop here and there… pondering this and that, but that’s a good thing! Thanks again for your fab “finds” (aka errors and omissions.) And, don’t forget you are in the credits of the Kindle version now!
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If only I had a what’s it called, Kindle, and knew how to use it…But you know me a ebooks…For your info, I’ve now got most everything (I hope) up at http://www.scribd.com on PKD…With more to come. A “thoughtful, scholarly commentator” I may be, but I don’t like to go along with the critical status quo, nor give it unquestioning allegiance. Already had my fair share of disagreements with David Gill and others about PKD…
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In the never-ending LOOP that is my life, here is my most recent PKD post over on my personal Crypto Cranium blog.
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