Speedy Finds ECHO pool at BOOKAZINE!

The excitement is building. Seeing my books on the shelves of a bookstore really makes it feel real -- a vision realized.

Thanks a lot to Speedy who took this photo at a Bookazine location on Sukamvit. Thanks for the heads up that Echo Pool is finally out there and ready to be HELD!

Don't let these books get dusty. Find one today and liberate it from the book store.

The Goddess Guards the Lake

This magnificent golden statue greets visitors to this mountain temple. Located to the north west of the Chinat province, some 2 1/2 hours outside of Bangkok. While checking out a possible camp site for Satit Kaset's up coming high school camp, we took time out to visit one of Thailand's most scenic temples. The calm which resonated within this compound was magnificent and inspiring. We all walked around quietly soaking in the peaceful Ora of this land mark.

One of the oddest aspect of the temple was that the monk who is most famous for teaching here is still preaching to visitors from beyond the grave. No it's not haunted, its just the wonderment of good old tape technology. As you walk by one of the small worship areas the voice of a monk rings out through high quality speakers, still spreading his vision of content, peace, and happiness. He passed away several years ago, but it's really cool that his lessons live on!

A direct LINK to buy from Bangkok Book House

A DIRECT LINK TO BANGKOK BOOK HOUSE TO BUY MY NEW BOOK!

Echo Pool is in a STORE NEAR YOU

YES! We are in stores in Bangkok. I received the following news from Bangkok Book House yesterday:

Hi Jonathon,
‘Echo Pool’ has been released today and will be delivered to all Bookazine branches today and tomorrow. Asia Books, B2S, Kinokuniya and smaller outlets will follow soon. Please calculate about 2-3 months for full distribution within Thailand and Singapore.

I am really excited! Please click on the title above, which is a direct link to Bangkok Book House, if you'd like even more information about their newest release. I still don't have a copy as they are mailing me a couple of free copies this week. So you could have one in your hands before I do.

Elephant Stay Seemingly a GREAT CAUSE

I have not visited this place, but from what I read on their website these guys really have a wonderful idea. Saving Elephants and trying to give them a peaceful and natural environment to live in seems WONDERFUL to me.

Please take a look at their web site by clicking on the title above and visiting their website.

Elephants in Thailand are sacred animals. If you want to experience them in their environment instead of behind bars, come visit us.

HARRY WHO?

One of my former students gave me a call last night to wish me well with my book. I thought that was really nice of him. Of course he made a point to mention that my book will release during the same week as Harry Potter and that might be some very difficult competition for ECHO POOL. Thanks PK for pointing this little hurdle out.

Actually I don't like to think of it as competition or rivalry, but if it is a rivalry I'd just like to wish J.K. Rowlings good luck I mean come one, a story about witches and wizards... I mean all of this stuff was really cool when Bram Stoker and Marry Shelly were writing about it in the late 1800s, but this is the 2000s, I got to think our society is beyond such things.

I mean come on, which would you rather read, a story about the suffering of a man struggling with his lost hopes and dreams or a boy wizard with a scar and a mysterious past and unforeseen future? J.K. I truly do wish you GOOD LUCK.

But since it is GAME ON as the Brit's love to say, I'd just like to remind everyone that when it comes to ECHO POOL the key is to remember the one book for one family member rule. What I mean is this, count every uncle, cousin, daughter, and son, any distant relatives who you need to make peace with through a gift and buy an ECHO POOL COPY and give it to them.

Sorry J.K., you didn't think of this incredible purchasing scheme. You are really in a sticky wicket now aren't you... My cricketing friend tells me this means something about difficult situation, well she's a Brit, she'll understand.

ECHO POOL HAS A PRICE

My new novel has been priced. It appears the dollar, being predicted to further slip against all major currencies, will up the price of the book. In the Kingdom of Thailand ECHO POOL will be selling at 395 Baht. This is a good price for a paper back here. But the international price is going to be at a 30 to 1 dollar exchange rate and so, it will be priced at $13.17 . Only a year ago the price would have been less than eleven dollars, but the buck just doesn't buy much now days. For this reason I am setting up a shipment of the books to the US so I can offer the book at less than full shipping rates. But I will only do this for the first 50 books and then see how bad the shipping rates are.

WANT THE BOOK? Then simply click on the title above and it will take you to a payment gateway where you can use PayPal or a major credit card to purchase the book, with shipping included, for just $15.00. Be sure to leave your mailing address.

This is a special http://www.siminoe.com/ offer which will not last.

The cover we decided against

The design team at Bangkok Book House created several designs for the cover for ECHO POOL. This one, although it is clear that the artist understood a great deal about the storyline of the book, we have decided against. I did appreciate the attempt to give readers a bit of detail about the plot, but in my opinion its too retro and a bit too busy.

We went for a more simple design. It is also more colorful. I worried that this cover, although cool, gives the impression that my novel is a mystery novel or a thriller of some kind. Actually ECHO POOL is a literary novel, so the action doesn't drive the story as much as the introspective narrative attempts to move the reader.

I'm going to wait a few days closer to the release date to show the ACTUAL COVER, but I'm happy with its color and simplicity of theme. I hope the novel will speak for itself.

If any of you who are reading this were ever in my life, you may want to read the novel just to see if you find a character which resembles you. Without a doubt, the characters in this book are people from my life, many of them renamed to protect them, but some of them I didn't even bother to change their names. Also, some of the characters are composites of friends, the humor of someone I know mixed with the life circumstances of someone else, etc. From 2ND grade on to now, the book will take people from my Nebraska days with wild drunken parties; to Colorado days where I studied at University and well wild drunken parties; to Bangkok where of course things are very tame and domestic -- yeah right. Anyway, I'm anxious to see who recognizes whom?

We should be on book shelves by the end of the month. I am beginning to get EXCITED!

Bangkok Elephant Walk

One thing that I absolutely love about life, perhaps life everywhere, but especially here in Thailand, is you never know what is coming next. I am easily made bored by life's ruts and routines. I often find myself thinking that basically there is nothing new that can possibly happen, but thank God I'm never right about that.

Another Book Blurb

HAPPY 4th of JULY to all AMERICANS! And to all of you English, better luck next time mate!

Too sad was the opening reaction to the two people who commented on my book's cover blurb. Thanks for that. Let's give this one a try. If you like this one better, please let me know in the comments. I actually don't hear much of anything on the comments these days, is their anyone still reading this? Sometimes I feel this blogging thing is not my calling. Anyway, here is the probabable back of the book:



ECHO POOL

Spending money in Thailand is much easier than making it. DUKE, a mid-thirties bachelor, has learned this lesson the hard way. His business has failed, and the savings he’d built, while living a duel life as both a high school teacher and a professional gambler. He is also feeling emotionally bankrupt as his Thai girlfriend, ARRAYA, a beautiful and compassionate young lady, is harboring a desire for marriage. This realization sends Duke into an introspective journey deep within the echo pool – the place where past lives reside – in order to learn from his past and find direction for his future.
His life in Bangkok is an exciting one, as his wealthy Thai friends are generous entertainers; but no matter what diversions he finds within one of Asia’s most exciting cities, everything seems to trigger the memories of his lost home. But if Duke wants to survive, he must relive the lessons of his father – as painful as those recollections are – in order to find his roots and strength again.

ECHO POOL is COMING SOON

It appears we have a JULY DELIVERY DATE set.

The publishers of my new novel, BANGKOK BOOK HOUSE, have sent me the final edited copy of ECHO POOL. I've also been working on the final cover blurb so that we can attract a little attention to this story. Sadly, cover design and the 150 words we come up with for the back of the book will probably decide if we have a success or a failure. I couldn't be happier that this book is finally coming out. It is a very personal story and so in some ways it will be very difficult for me to share this one with the world. I do feel it is a story that needs to be told. My father was a great man and this piece, although much of the novel is fictional and crafted around Duke's escape to Thailand, details the lifelong teacher that my father was. It also deals with his agonizing battle with lung cancer and his final days. Is the book fiction? "Yes and no." It's a novel that pulls so closely to my life story that anyone who knows me or has been in my life will probably see themselves in parts of it, but it has been crafted -- formed to work around the narrative which I created. But the stories about Duke's father, come directly from my memories of my Dad.

I have written 3 possible back cover summaries. The one following this is top of the list so far:

ECHO POOL

Yearning for a better future while being tethered to his past, DUKE has escaped his chaotic life in the United States where he was a teacher by day and a professional gambler by night, hoping to start again. But spending money in Thailand is much easier than making it. His life savings is lost in a business venture gone bad and he finds himself living on the edge of financial ruin. This is further complicated by the fact that his Thai girlfriend ARRAYA, a beautiful and compassionate young lady, is harboring a desire for marriage. This realization sends Duke into an introspective journey deep within the echo pool – the place where past lives reside – in order to learn from his past and find direction for his future.

Memories are venom to a man running from himself. But if Duke wants to survive he must relive the lessons of his father – as painful as those recollections are – in order to find his roots and strength again.