Thank You Readers!

Well, it's been a while... over a full circuit of the Earth around the Sun! As usual, I've been neglecting “The Horizon Keeper” Blog for reasons both real and imaginary (I’d rather be writing than writing about writing – if you see what I mean). My immodesty forces me, however, to troll, tip, toot, and tout the virtues of my book. Who else will, right? 

All good books deserve readers. Good stories should be read. The more literature and literary stories become part of our culture, the more ideas are absorbed into the consciousness of the people, the better people we’ll all become. Too Pollyannaish for you? That may be. But can anything else arrest our slide into pure cultural decadence? 

Call me an optimist, but I think Art is redemptive, and thus humanizing. Assuming Literature is Art (I know Poetry is), then it follows that good books are likewise endowed with this special quality. There’s a mysterious link between the written word and us human beings. Something echoes within our hearts (or souls, if you will) when we read words that are put together well. When we fall under the spell cast by the author, we are, in a sense, “elevated.” We are taken “out of ourselves” and our daily grind and transported into the “fictive dream” created by a good book (as James N. Frey calls that magical spell).

When written words take on meaning for us, and they become sentences, paragraphs, pages of a chapter in a gripping tale, and we savour them inside us, then we have fallen under the spell. Like a person hypnotized, we follow along as the author “guides” us farther into the story. As the words become mental pictures and flow through our mind, they actually take on form (that’s what we “feel”) and then become “living ideas.” Living ideas are what makes us what we’re meant to be – human beings!

Seems straightforward enough – human beings have been storytellers, and listeners of stories, since we were conscious of our own ‘self’ as individuals within our environment, and that was some time ago... And when one thinks about how – especially since Guttenberg’s invention – the stories in books, and the ideas in them, have been absorbed across the world, in order to become intelligible to millions, one has to stop and think about the power words still hold for us. If I may be so bold as to claim that we still have anything like “culture” left on this planet, then words that become ideas are responsible and what enrich our existence.

While as an author I may have a dearth of readers (in spite of the fact that I have a great story to tell), nevertheless, I’d like to believe that someday other people will have and share these ideas in common... I’m not holding my breath.

In any case, I’d like to thank each one of those brave souls – especially on Smashwords and GoodReads – who have taken up the gauntlet and downloaded my novel “The Horizon Keeper.”

I’m especially grateful for those who have made a monetary commitment; i.e., put their money where their mouth is (or wherever physiologically appropriate appendage it might be) and thus keep the unoiled wheels of civilization grinding on... just in case we have a future as a “culture” or civilization (a rather dubious proposition, if you ask me). But without these forward-thinking people, we have no hope at all (climb onto the lifeboats and don’t get sucked under when the ship gurgles and heaves before it vanishes under the surface!).

Naturally, it’s from tiny seeds that great oaks grow, and from a first step that great journeys are undertaken. In that spirit, I want to thank all the readers that have given of their time to travel in their hearts and minds back in time to the frighteningly beautiful world of Ancient Egypt, where Neruamun and all the Black People live. I’m grateful to all of you who have read through a challenging text. I hope it was a trip worth taking for you as well. It’s hard to find tickets to travel that far these days – at any price!

Consider it a “one of” deal, since the modern world has become so small and narrow (minded) that Literature hardly stretches one’s imagination anymore.

Well, back to my shameful attempt at self-promotion. But I really have no other way to express my gratitude to the fearless readers who have purchased and downloaded “The Horizon Keeper,” except indirectly, through my Blog... It’s a half-measure, I know, but since most of my readers wisely remain anonymous, there’s really no other way. Even though the book is only nine months old (oddly reminiscent of human babies), “The Horizon Keeper,” has a strong pair of legs and has risen up in the “Historical Fiction” genre on Smashwords. So again, THANK YOU!

What am I prepared to do to thank these courageous people? I’m willing to begin selling the book to them online. Now that’s an offer you don’t hear every day!

Moreover, Akhet Publishing has reedited the volume and produced a “deluxe” edition of “The Horizon Keeper” – suitable for framing! What’s more, the special edition is going on sale this month!

Now, both the bold and the wary may go ahead and purchase “The Horizon Keeper” online at Smashwords, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, and all the other eBook distributors. If enough copies of the novel are sold, so I can pay the rent and feed my kids, I can keep writing – otherwise... Well, the alternative, due to its unpleasantness, would best be left undisclosed.

My hope and desire is that new readers help out the old – the trailblazers – and together we can continue to tell the story of Neruamun (North Wind), Sadeh, Na’ahma, and Lord Rekhmire. It’s really “our” story, if you think about it. Therefore, if you’ve enjoyed “The Horizon Keeper,” it’s high time you had your very own deluxe edition on your eBook reader (until the paper edition comes out).

And don’t forget, the story continues... Book II is on its way!