We have been a little lax with the blog-- enjoying our busy summers. Pieces of the Puzzle continues to gain exposure. It was selected as a Finalist in the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards in the Action/Adventure category! Here is an excerpt from the announcement letter:

"Hello and Congratulations!

I am writing with good news. Your book has been named a finalisty in the Action/Adventure category of the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards! . . . we will be sending out press releases in the next couple of weeks announcing the Grand Prize Winners and advising media and others where they can see a complete list of Finalists and Winners.

Additionally your book will be listed as a Finalist in the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards catalog which will be distributed at Book Expo America in New York. . ."

We are busy working on Book Two of the Timekeepers series. In fact, you'll get to read about one of our research adventures in the next blog!

We are feeling a lot more confident with a few more Canadian radio shows under our belts. Last week we were guests on Live 88.5 in Ottawa. We had three interviewers including the infamous Katfish Morgan. They gave us 18 minutes, our longest airtime to that point. They were very professional and fun. It left us feeling incredibly pumped up. Tonight was our longest gig yet. A whopping half hour on 94.5 Bull FM with Joey Martin. It was such a kick, we were surprised when our time was up and felt like we could have kept right on talking. He was very generous with letting us plug both our book and our website. We look forward to more radio interviews and we have a couple of TV deals in the works. We’ll let you know how that works out. For now, we are just looking forward to hearing the results of all the contests we’ve entered. The first finalists will be announced next week!

Live Radio

We had our first adventure into AM talk radio today! We were on the Jim Harrison show on Radio NL out of Kamloops B.C. That’s right! A foreign market. What a great experience! This is the interview guest and feature alert that our publicist, Garis PR and Media Group, sent out:

Interview Guest & Feature Alert:

Do People Secretly Think You're Boring?

Our experts will give you some quick tell-tale signs that your life may need some re-adjustment...

-- Has someone recently asked you how you like to have fun -- and you had no answer?

-- Is it hard for you to remember the last time you really laughed? (Not just pretended to laugh).

-- Do you look in your closet and discover you don't even own any "play clothes"?

-- Does your answer to the question "What's new?" always involve your job?

-- In every recent photo are you wearing a suit or high heels?

The answers to these questions and more will reveal your true "Boredom Image".

IN INTERVIEW: Authors and adventure experts, Jennifer Fowler and Carrie Wahl will explain how to tell if your are a being seen as a major bore by others. If your boredom level is too high -- they will give you some fast ways to go from humdrum to exciting. You will be a much healthier person and way more popular by lowering your boredom factor with these great tips.

Fowler and Wahl are world class adventurers, and the authors of the hot new adventure book "Pieces Of The Puzzle". They are fun and dynamic guests. Your audience will love this very entertaining interview.

AVAILABILITY: Idaho and worldwide by telephone, satellite or special arrangement.

It is easier to get media access with a pop culture related topic, so we went with an adventure format since it is embodies who we are and can be tied to Pieces of the Puzzle, which is an action adventure novel.

We were supposed to have ten minutes, but that was reduced to seven since they were running out of time. Because of this, the host had to jump around a little bit in the material and we were unable to use some of our very clever stories and quips. At least one question caught us off guard. Of course after we got off the phone, a really insightful reply came to us! On the bright side, our names and the name of our book were announced on air in a city of 80,000 plus population.

We are looking forward to more media interviews and associated book sales!

Native American Rock Art

Being from Idaho, I naturally want to bring at least one of the Timekeepers close to home. While no major civilization arose in my state 4,000 years ago, a fascinating group of people did call this land their home at that time. Early Nez Perce people were hunting and fishing the waterways of North Central Idaho at the same time Hammurabi was passing down his code of laws. I am fortunate to live less than two hours from a phenomenal legacy of a forgotten language. Hundreds of petroglyphs are carved onto basaltic bedrock outcroppings on both sides of the Snake River at Buffalo Eddy. They are easily accessible and unspeakably mesmerizing. This summer I plan to spend several meditative hours on the bank of the river letting their story play itself out in my head before I put it to paper. --Carrie

Hammurabi

Hammurabi will be one of the key historical figures in book two of the Timekeepers series.  Because of this, I have been eagerly studying  both Hammurabi and Babylonian civilization during the time of his reign.

Hammurabi, who ruled from 1792 to 1750 BC, is the most famous king of the first dynasty of Babylon.  Prior to his accession to the throne, Babylon was one of the many city-states that blanketed Mesopotamia, having taken in a few neighboring city-states as well, reaching a modest size of 60 by 160 kilometers.  By the end of Hammurabi’s reign, Babylonian territory had grown to encompass all the land stretching southward between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers from what is modern Baghdad to the Persian Gulf.

Hammurabi is most famous for his law code consisting of more than 300 laws which are carved on a stone stela and now on  display in the Louvre Museum in Paris.  Besides being an early promoter of justice, Hammurabi was also a great ruler, diplomat, and warrior.  He is also known for the broad array of public works projects he oversaw throughout Babylonia.

Many details of Hammurabi’s reign have been revealed through cuneiform tablets found at the site of an ancient palace at Mari, a palace internationally renowned for its splendor.  Its archives are a bountiful source of information for the history of the entire region at that time.

Independent Book Publisher Contests

One of our promotional goals is to either win, or at least be named as a finalist in a literary contest.  We have chosen five prestigious self-published book award contests to enter:

We just received verification that Hopewell Publications, sponsor of the Eric Hoffer Award, received our book and application for their contest by the January 21st deadline.  This contest was established  at the beginning of this century “as a means of opening a door to writing of significant merit.”  It has a grand prize of $1500 and offers other honors and distinctions.  It was the least expensive contest to enter at $45.  Winners for the Eric Hoffer Award will be announced after April 30th.  http://www.hofferaward.com

The entry that we are am working on this weekend is “The Next Generation Indie Book Awards”.  It has a $75  early bird (January 31) entry fee, but you get to enter one title in two different categories.  Of course that means we  have to send them two copies of the book, so that increases expenses.  Their final deadline is March 15.  They offer three cash prizes ($1000 for first) and trophies for best fiction and non fiction books, plus medals for the winners of their 70 different categories.  Their will be 10 finalists in each category.  Although this distinction only garners a certificate, you do get the honor of putting a gold sticker on your book that says you were a finalist in their contest.  You also receive “maximum exposure and possible representation with a leading New Your literary representative.” Finalists will be notified by May 15th and winners by May 30th.  http://www.indiebookawards.com

We’ll have a bit of a financial break until the March 21 deadline for the Independent Book Publisher Book Awards (IPPY).  We already missed the Nov. 15 early bird deadline, so it cost $85 rather than $75 to enter.  This contest is twelve years old and based on the more than 3000 entries they receive each year, it is the biggest independent book award contest in the world.  They have 65 different categories to choose from.  They also offer special awards in three categories including “Most Original Concept, Storyteller of the Year, and Most Inspirational to Youth” any one of which we’d be thrilled to win!  They only offer gold, silver, and bronze medals, but the stickers you get to put on your books are awesome!  http://www.independentpublisher.com

The deadline for National Indie Excellence Awards is March 31.  There is a $59 entry fee for one category, or $118 for two.  We’ll probably take our chances with one!  The awards consist of publicity packages, and again, those wonderful stickers to put on the cover of your book that improve sales.  http://www.indieexcellence.com

One of the biggest contests is sponsored by Writer’s Digest.  The grand Prize is $3000 plus amazing promotional bonuses in addition to 10 1st place awards of $1000 each.  It is also the most expensive to enter at $100, and probably the most competitive as they are accepting entries published within the last five years. http://www.writersdigest.com/selfpublished

We are excited to see the results for all of these contests.  We hope to win at least one grand prize and recoup some of the investment we have pumped into this venture!

Rise of Civilization

   What is civilization?  The answer is not easily defined, and is broadly debated.   There are competing theories over every other aspect of the ancient world, why would simple definitions be spared?  According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, a civilization is “a relatively high level of cultural and technological development ; specifically : the stage of cultural development at which writing and the keeping of written records is attained.”  Other expert sources tend to elaborate on the specific features of a civilization such as hierarchical societies, division of labor, elaborate religious centers, smelting of metals, agricultural sophistication, development of writing, etc.  Is a system of writing a necessary factor if many of the other factors of civilization are in place?  I think that ultimately the labeling of an ancient culture or society as a civilization is subjective .

Historically,  major world cultures have vied for the  distinction of having the oldest civilization.  China  boasts a civilization stretching back 6000 years, while Mesopotamia in modern day Iraq is commonly referred to as the “cradle of civilization.”   If a system of writing or recordkeeping is a necessary criteria, we have to jump forward in Chinese history to the time of the Shang dynasty (17th century BCE) to find evidence of civilization. 

We can’t say for certain in what order some of them arose, but we do know that several ancient cultures were on the scene contemporarily as depicted in Pieces of the Puzzle including  the Yellow River Valley in China, Caral in Peru, the Indus Valley, the Nile valley in Egypt, the island of Crete, and Sumer in Mesopotamia.  In honor of them and in gratitude of the story they inspired, I heartily label them all “civilizations.”