# "The Brightest Moon of the Century"--A Literary Comic Novel, strong reviews



## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

This is a tightly narrative book that covers four decades like a John Irving novel, with humor reminiscent of Nick Hornby. _The Brightest Moon of the Century_ follows Edward, a young Minnesotan. He needs a place in the universe, but he also wants an understanding of women. He stumbles into romance in high school, careens through dorm life in college, whirls into a tornado of love problems as a mini-mart owner in a trailer park in Alabama, and aims for a film career in Los Angeles. The story begins when his father, an encyclopedia salesman, shoehorns Edward into a private boys school where he's tortured and groomed.

In nine chapters, the reader experiences Edward's life from ages 14 to 45. This is the first novel from Christopher Meeks, which follows his highly acclaimed collections of short stories, _The Middle-Aged Man and the Sea_ and _Months and Seasons._ His next novel, _Love at Absolute Zero,_ comes to Kindle on May 16th. Each of them are only $2.99. _The Brightest Moon of the Century_ landed on three different critic's lists of the Ten-Best Books of 2009. (His new novel, Love at Absolute Zero is just out.)

*From the more than two-dozen mainstream reviews:*

"Christopher Meeks chronicles one man's path to middle-age and, in doing so, illustrates how choices and circumstances-even those that seem arbitrary at the time-have a way of irrevocably cementing a person's future."
*- Cherie Parker, Minneapolis Star Tribune*

"Charming and endlessly entertaining, _The Brightest Moon of the Century_ is a fine read that is an excellent addition to literary fiction collections."
*-- The Midwest Book Review*

"I have to say I've gone from being an admirer of his work to a full-blown fan bordering on groupie."
*- Marc Schuster, Small Press Reviews*

"This is what I love about Meeks: his ability to gauge humanity, his understanding and acceptance of the strangeness of intricacies of life and personality, and his wonderful sense of compassion for his characters."
*- Heather Figearo, Raging Bibliomania*

"His stance in the echelon of new important American writers seems solidly secure."
*- Grady Harp, Top Ten Amazon Reviewer*

"Meeks has the talent to carry his quirky characters and their 'find their extraordinary in the everyday' plots into a full-length novel."
*- Dawn Rennert, She's Too Fond of Books*

"[Meeks] gives us characters who are very human and who face many obstacles in life, and then he infuses their stories with hope."
*- Wendy Robards, Caribousmom*

"Within the pages of _Brightest Moon_ lies an entertaining saturnalia of authenticity also found in Meeks's short stories (see _Months and Seasons_). He has a knack for making readers believe his characters are real people."
*- Diana Raabe, The Raabe Review*



P.S. Click on the cover above to read the many customer reviews of the print version of the book.

UPDATE: The full moon of March 20, 2011 is the brightest of the decade. See this story here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/supermoonrisesbiggestfullmoonin18yearsoccurssaturdaynight

And here's a photo:









My novel The Brightest Moon of the Century has as background a similar moon, the one of December 21, 1999, which was on the winter solstice (when the earth is closest to the sun). That moon was the brightest in 133 years. March's moon was almost as bright. Celebrate by buying or downloading a sample of the book.


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

Here is the link to the Kindle edition:


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Thank you, John. Is there a secret to getting the right codes?


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

Well, with the Kindle books, the regular link maker is not working. You have to use the original link maker and do a couple of more steps. It is accessible  thru the link maker tab at the top or bottom of the page. Link maker 2.0 still works very well for everything except ebooks.


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## Kristen Tsetsi (Sep 1, 2009)

Great back-cover reviews. The only reason I can believe I haven't read this yet is because I haven't read much of ANYTHING in the last piece of forever, but I do so want a paperback copy. I wonder how one might get one signed...


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

You're sweet, Kristen. Thank you. When "The Brightest Moon of the Century" first came out and the publication party was at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena--a truly fabulous and independent bookstore in Pasadena(if "independent" isn't a bad word to use when associated with books)--a number of people wrote that they wanted a signed copy. Vroman's set up a wau to buy signed copies of my book online, which can be done here: http://www.vromansbookstore.com/signed-brightest-moon-century

The personally signed copy may be one of the few things missing from Kindle. Then again, signed books are objects to be owned.

By the way, I happened to be at a creative writing faculty meeting recently when I mentioned the Kindle. At first the looks I saw I thought were because "Kindle" was not something to bring up like sex at a Disney movie. Then I learned it was from faculty members who owned Kindles, and their looks were of guilt like kids revealing hidden candy. When they spoke up, they said how they loved their Kindles, and the books they really liked, they still bought printed copies of.

This is to say, I'm happy if you want a printed copy, and I'm happy to hear how "The Brightest Moon of the Century" reads on the Kindle.

By the way, a few months ago, a literary website asked if I'd be a guest blogger to write about my favorite bookstore, and I did: Vroman's. You can read my piece here: http://www.sheistoofondofbooks.com/2009/03/04/spotlight-on-bookstores-vromans-books-in-pasadena-california/

--Chris


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## Kristen Tsetsi (Sep 1, 2009)

You're from Wayzata? Interesting! My ex lived close to there, had a lot of friends there (I lived in Minnesota/North Dakota for close to a decade during college/grad school). 

Great piece. I feel the same way about Davis-Kidd here in Nashville as you do about Vroman's.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Indeed, I'm from Wayzata, and, in fact, much of "The Brightest Moon of the Century" takes place around the area. As you say on the thread of yours that I just left, "Write what you know." While I've lived in L.A. for thirty years, I'm from Minnesota and, I suppose, am Minnesota. (It's my _granfalloon_, as Kurt Vonnegut would say.) In fact, that's where I was this weekend, and I was happy to see that the Bookcase of Wayzata has sold out my novel again--more on order.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

After a day being available on the Kindle, "The Brightest Moon of the Century" has an interesting ranking this morning, which follows below. Women and people with a sense of humor seem to like it, it seems. The protagonist is a man, so that gives me hope that both genders can relate to this serious yet often comic tale. Thank you to those trying it out.

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,627 in Kindle Store (See Bestsellers in Kindle Store)
Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

#47 in  Books > Literature & Fiction > Women's Fiction > Single Women 
#48 in  Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Humor 
#57 in  Books > Literature & Fiction > Comic


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## Kristen Tsetsi (Sep 1, 2009)

Ah, well. I THOUGHT I'd like to read it, but I'm no longer a single woman. Clearly your book is not for me.



I think I'll read it, anyway.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Considering that 80% of all fiction is read by women, according to a study I'd read last year, it's good that the book appeals to women. I find it interesting that Amazon has a "single women" category. Do they have a "married women" category? Does one group read more than the other? I'm betting there is no "single men" category. They're in search of the single-women category and don't have time to read. It's a tough business being a single man... 

(Now that I think of it, that's much of the subject of "The Brightest Moon of the Century.")


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## jpmorgan49 (Feb 10, 2009)

Well as part of the 20% minority, I just bought your book Chris.   
jp


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

I love seeing men reading. Thank you, JP, and you very well may relate to the years and times. Enjoy.

--Chris


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## Kristen Tsetsi (Sep 1, 2009)

I started "Brightest Moon" today and am very much liking Edward. His dad is growing on me, too.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Kristen--

I love hearing your reaction. It happens to come, interestingly, just after a woman whose name I did not recognize wrote me on Facebook and asked if I made a short film called "Bubbles" and did I know someone named Julie Archer? I said neither rang a bell. She wrote back to say she was looking for that Christopher Meeks, and that he'd gone to Spain when she was dating him. "Wait a second," I thought. "I went to Spain in high school." I looked at her name some more. "E.J." didn't ring a bell, but her middle name, Evelyn, did. 

It all came back. My father had given me a trip to Spain for high school graduation, and I didn't want to go because I'd just started dating Evelyn. She was sixteen when I was eighteen. She was a hot sixteen-year-old who wore extremely tight pants and had long straight blond hair that went nearly to her waist. Who wanted a sucky trip if Evelyn was getting in her bikini and having fun at the beach while I was gone? I sent her postcards nearly daily from Spain for a month. Man, I could be romantic.

When I returned, the chemistry had disappeared and we broke up. While she's not the summer girl of Chapter Two, she could have been. I hadn't heard from her since we stopped dating, which must have been 1972. 
The Facebook photo shows a smiling older woman with short gray hair who appears to be on railing of a seniors' cruise ship. How can that be?

We all get older. 

Evelyn has three grown daughters and a grandchild. I must be slow. I have a twenty-two-year-old son and an eleven-year-old daughter. That film, "Bubbles," by the way, was in Super-8 and I haven't seen it in years. I think Evelyn was blowing soap bubbles. I was a budding Andy Warhol.

I don't feel old.

--Chris


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

A few months back, a moderator or someone helped me by adding the covers of my two short story collections to my signature, below. Now that "The Brightest Moon of the Century" is out, how do I add the cover of the novel to the signature? Are three covers too many? Also, when I looked for code for the cover, I could only find the paperback link. If you can't put the code here, feel free to email me at chrismeeks at gmail dot com.

Thanks!


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## Lynn McNamee (Jan 8, 2009)

Sorry for hijacking a bit, Chris...

Moderator, can you add my cover, too?  Or, tell me how to do it?

Also, Moderator, you are welcome to delete this post afterward, or Chris can remind me and I will delete it.

Thanks!


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

No worry, Lynn. People can find out about adding covers here.


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## Lynn McNamee (Jan 8, 2009)

Hey, Chris!

I figured out how to do it & without adding separate links:

I used the "link maker" thingy up there and just pasted that image link it created into my profile.

You could do it with all three of your books. Just put spaces in between.



Well, it sounded good, but now I have my pic on every post. I wonder how much it costs to have someone design a cool cover for me?  I'm about as artistic as a fencepost.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Red, as no moderator happened to see this, I tried the Linkmaker, grabbed the code for the paperback version, and then realized that it was too much code to have three books show up as a signature. Perhaps I'll just make them text links later. For now, I uploaded the cover to show up on the left.

I've been so busy finishing my newest novel--getting near the end--that I haven't been here in a few days, and one quickly sinks into obscurity. Oh well. 

--Chris


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Fixed--sort of. The challenge with one's signature is that you're limited to 750 characaters of code. The code links either the title of a book or the book's cover to its corresponding page on Amazon. The code for either runs about 250 characters each. Hence I could have three covers showing or three book titles in my signature. The titles seem less in-your-face, which for now I prefer. IHowever with the three titles of my books, I ran over the 750 character limit, so I had to crunch the titles a little. Life is compromise.

I received the USC magazine, _Trojan Family,_ yesterday (I've been teaching off and on at the University of Southern California), and I see "The Brighest Moon of the Century" is announced and shown on page 18 with two other faculty books. It's nice to have that support. Hello to any USC alums out there!


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Red, a friend just send me an article from _Forbes_ magazine entitled, "The Secret Life of an Amazon Book Reviewer," which is about the top reviewers on Amazon. Here's the link: http://www.forbes.com/2006/11/30/donald-mitchell-amazon-tech-media_cz_hc_books06_1201amazon.html.

You're probably adding your reviews on Amazon after they're on your blog, but if not, do so because you review so much, you'll soon be in the Top 500 perhaps, and then, who knows, the Top 100. You remind me of Grady Harp. He's one of the top ten reviewers, and he's taken an interest in my work, which has been a big help. In fact, his opening paragraph of his review of _The Brightest Moon of the Century_ is the following:

"Christopher Meeks has produced up to now two of the finest, most intelligent, entertaining, and socially sensitive collections of short stories (THE MIDDLE-AGED MAN AND THE SEA and MONTHS AND SEASONS). For those of us who have become Meeks devotees based on these short stories, the anticipation of a full-length novel has been both exciting and a bit dubious. It is an entirely different challenge to carry a character and a few ideas, well developed as they are in Meeks' hands, along a path that justifies a complete novel. But with THE BRIGHTEST MOON OF THE CENTURY Christopher Meeks has crossed that bridge so successfully that his stance in the echelon of new important American writers seems solidly secure." *--Grady Harp*

There's a wonderful _Slate_ magazine article, "Who Is Grady Harp?" which you might like to see, too, at http://www.slate.com/id/2182002/pagenum/all/. The point is, you're following these two reviewers' paths. Like you, they have their likes and dislikes, yet they promote many lesser-known authors and have become a positive force--like you.

--Chris

--Chris


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## Lynn McNamee (Jan 8, 2009)

I do post my reviews on Amazon about one week after they appear on my blog.

Getting into even the top 1,000 is VERY hard, though. Prior to starting my blog, I moved up the ranks pretty quickly, which is one reason I started the blog.    However, since I started my blog, people read my reviews there, so I don't get near as many 'helpful' votes as I used to.

That's how you move up the ranks: by people marking your reviews as 'helpful'. 

So, I don't think I will be an Amazon top reviewer any time in the near future. But, I am enjoying writing my blog. Between some subscribers and the few 'donations' I have received, I am earning enough to cover about a third of my book purchases.    Well, and some authors are kind enough to send free Review Copies, which also helps.

So, no, I won't be gettin' rich off blogging, but I truly enjoy reading, reviewing and getting to contact the authors.


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## Archer (Apr 25, 2009)

And did I recently read a post from my friend, Red Adept, asking whether any of her friends could generate a cool cover? 
(Clears throat importantly)

Well, did I?


--'Archer'
writer and (ahem!) cover artiste


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

An author recently wrote me to click "yes" under "Was This Review Helpful?" for a review of his book. Hence, those yeses seem to help both author and reviewer. Now that I know it's particularly helpful to reviewers, I'll click yes more often. Having written reviews for newspapers a while back, I know how much work can go into a review, so I deeply appreciate all who review my books.

--Chris


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

If you're in Los Angeles on December 1, I'll be speaking at Santa Monica College as part of the college's literary series at 11:15 a.m. in Lecture Hall HSS 165. The event is free and open to the public. The parking attendant can tell you where the Humanities Social Science (HSS) building is. Santa Monica College itself is at 1900 Pico Blvd. My lecture, "The Pursuit of Truth in Fiction," will feature brief examples from my three books shown below.

The series itself has included this year author and _Los Angeles Times_ book editor David Ulin (_The Myth of Solid Ground_), Edgar-award-winning author Naomi Hirahara (_Snakeskin Shamisen _), and novelist and journalist Hector Tobar (_The Tattooed Soldier_), among other noted writers. I'll be signing books afterwards and would love to meet any fellow Kindleboarders. 

For more details and information, call (310) 434‑4303.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

The Brightest Moon of the Century (Kindle Version)







will go up slighly in price in a couple of days to $2.99, so try out a preview today to see if you like it.

Thank you to Stacey Cochran for having me on "Book Chatter" last night with R.J. Keller, Kelly Abel, Sierra Rose, and Kevin Gerard--all interesting people.


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## kwl718 (Jul 17, 2009)

I read the "Brightest Moon of the Century" a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it! 

While looking for your books on Amazon, I also came across your book "Who Lives?".  I work for a huge dialysis services provider and equipment manufacturer, so I couldn't resist ordering it. I also tracked down the original Life Magazine article about "The Life and Death Committee".  Absolutely fascinating, and I enjoyed the play as well.  I passed it on to my college student son, who is taking a biomedical ethics class this semester, perfect fodder for class discussion .  It's hard to believe that dialysis is now an entitlement, available to everyone who needs it.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Thanks for finding "Who Lives?" I'm at work this month on making a Kindle version of it. The production of the play that occurred in Los Angeles in March just received five Ovation Award Nomimations, including one for Best Actor. The Ovations are the top theatre awards in Los Angeles, and the production is up against some big productions and huge theatres, so I'm pleased I'm in among great company.

With the latest production, produced by the Renal Support Network, I learned more facts about that original, anonymous committee. One is that kidney dialysis is the one and only healthcare entitlement of its kind. Congress passed a law in the sixties that allows anyone with kidney disease to get dialysis. Anything else that happens to you, you're on your own. It'll be interesting to see what Congress finally comes up with for healthcare reform.

Another fact about this original committee is that these ordinary citizens plowed the way to discuss difficult issues and decide who should get limited resources. That committee is the paradigm for our modern committees. 

While I was writing that play and researching, I found one of the original members, a minister named John Darrah, who was still living in Seattle at age 86. He said he was the only surviving member of the committee, and he loved my play and said that I caught the spirit of the committee and even many of the things they said. He was impressed. I flew up to Seattle a few times where I saw him. He was an interesting man, and I sensed the committee was perhaps the most important time of his life, though he didn't know it at the time--and that's a lot to say, coming from a minister.

Thank you, too, for enjoying "The Brightest Moon of the Century."


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Coming soon: "Who Lives?: A Play" 

The reader above, after reading "The Brightest Moon of the Century," looked up what else I wrote and found "Who Lives?" in printed form and ordered it. Her heartfelt response reminded me to push ahead for a Kindle version. The book was reformated for the Kindle and uploaded earlier today, though it's likely to take until midweek for it to be available. 

If you're ordering gifts for Christmas and want trade paperback books to give away, I see that Amazon has my novel in stock, as well as my two collections of short stories and the play. Thank you to all who have bought my books, digitally or otherwise. Happy Holidays!

--Chris


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

I tagged the paperback edition of "Who Lives," and I'm looking forward to getting the Kindle edition when it's online.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Thanks, Jim--I appreciate the support. In one more week, we're off to Savannah--your neck of the woods.


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

Chrismeeks said:


> Thanks, Jim--I appreciate the support. In one more week, we're off to Savannah--your neck of the woods.


Give us a shout if you stop over in Atlanta!


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Of the many things I anticipated in becoming a published author, the one thing I did not expect was to hear from readers out of the blue on my email. Because my website has my email address, it's not inconceivable people would write. Perhaps I had a hard time believing people would stumble upon my book, buy it, like it, hunt down my address, then write me. In the last two days, I've received three notes. One was from a friend, so while it counts for a lot, it's not out of the blue. Another came from the Blue House Bookstore in Bethesda, Maryland, asking how to order my books. I was thrilled and explained that Ingram distributes them. Then I received the following from reader Chris Demarest. I include it all because it touched me so.

Hi, Chris

My girlfriend, Connie Cissel, wrote to you yesterday inquiring about your books. I had stayed up most of the previous night reading your novel, saving the last thirty pages for daylight (and a more alert mind). I had told her about it and emailed after finishing to tell her how great I thought it was.

What I love about your novel is that, in spite of the many dead end experiences Edward has, in one word, he remains hopeful. There are so many novels where IMHO the author wants to pummel the reader (in the name of art?) but making us suffer with a less than satisfying ending. I loved that you gave Edward that unique hope that Alabama Angie might be his ultimate connection -a relationship born out of friendship and caring. Maybe that's just the romantic in me.

I had stumbled on your book on Amazon.com while looking at John Irving's new book. The Brightest Moon of the Century popped up and after reading several readers' comments, I bought it. When I mentioned it to Connie yesterday, she had me searching contact information where I read about White Whisker Books et al. Connie's store is a unique gem in that she chooses books special to her and though she can't offer the great discounts like Amazon, she sells books by the ton because of her reputation and selection.

I look forward to reading more of your work. I've been in children's publishing for decades, occasionally exploring the adult side of things. Over the last few months I've been scratching out a novel of my own. It's an amazing process, frustrating at times -especially when one's agent says she loves the writing but start all over! Your writing kept me hooked from the beginning. That's my own goal.

Best of luck to all future projects and thanks again for a real gem.

Chris

By the way, my play _Who Lives?_ is now available as a Kindle book.


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

Chrismeeks said:


> By the way, my play _Who Lives?_ is now available as a Kindle book.


I just became Buyer # 1. I'm Looking forward to reading it.

http://www.amazon.com/Who-Lives-A-Play-ebook/dp/B0030IM61A/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1261163439&sr=1-4


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Thank you, Jim! Your purchase of "Who Lives?" also answered a question I'd had about sales. My book went from unranked to #14,000. That suggests the power of one purchase. Hence, if one ends up in the top 5,000, say, that's probably three recent purchases. A better ranking than that means more sales. 

When you're reading my play or afterwards, please shoot me an email telling me how it is to read on a Kindle. I'm curious about the format because when it uploaded, the left margin became more generous than in the printed form. It still seemed good, but I want to make sure it's easy for you to read.

--Chris


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

Chrismeeks said:


> I'm curious about the format because when it uploaded, the left margin became more generous than in the printed form. It still seemed good, but I want to make sure it's easy for you to read.


I'm looking at it now on my K2. The left margin is a little wider than it has to be, but it looks okay.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

It occurs to me, here before the end of 2009 that exactly ten years and a few days ago was the real brightest moon of the century, the event which inspired my novel. The shortest day of the year, i.e. the winter soltice, December 21st, is the day the earth in its orbit is closest to the sun. Thus the moon is brighter on that day than on any other. A full moon on that day, which happens about once a century, occured on December 21st, 1999, which made it the brightest moon of the century. The fact that it happened a few days before the end of the century had me thinking about the century, and about someone born halfway through the last decade, who became my protagonist.

I happened to finish reading Chuck Palahniuk's "Survivor" last night, which I admired a great deal--and yet I don't have the kind of cynicism his characters do. Some reviewers have called Palahniuk nihilistic. I call him a good writer. He and I may share a sense of absurdism, but my views go a different way. Of course, we've lived very different lives. You're likely to find a lot of hope in "The Brightest Moon of the Century" despite Edward's trevails.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

The literary website *Musings of a Bookish Kitty*, which receives advance copies of most books (i.e. non-Kindle), just named The Brightest Moon of the Century as one of the *Ten Best Books of 2009*. You can read her full list of top ten winners here: http://www.literaryfeline.com/2009/12/2009-year-in-review.html.

The year 2009 proved a good one for the introduction of the novel as it's been reviewed by over twenty-five newspapers and literary websites. While the price was going to go up January 1, in light of the Top Ten list, the price will remain at $1.99 for at least the next week. Try it out by clinking on the link above. For a bunch of reviews, go to the first entry in this thread to get one-liners or go to my author's site at http://www.redroom.com/author/christopher-meeks.

Happy New Year!

--Chris


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

_*Brightest Moon*_ *Makes Another "Best" List*

_The Brightest Moon of the Century _ just won a Noble (not Nobel) Award in MyShelf.com's seventh annual end-of-the-year awards, created by Carolyn Howard-Johnson in her "Back to Literature" column. In listing the award, Howard-Johnson says, "If the world is just, Christopher Meeks is destined to be widely read."

To see all nine winners, go to http://www.myshelf.com/backtoliterature/column.htm.

To grab a sample of the book, click here: The Brightest Moon of the Century


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

Congrats, Chris!  I came across two different posts over the holidays lauding your books.  I guess I'll be forced to read at least one...



Maria


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Maria, thanks, and if I didn't mention it way back when, I thought your points on publishing vs. self-publishing were interesting and helpful. I'll be giving a presentation on the subject at the AWP Convention in a few months, so I was watching the temperature of the discussion here on Kindleboards. It's stuck me that print-on-demand (POD), which is merely a way to print, doesn't need to be used by self-publishers only. Imagine if big publishers who like a book but see it's not likely to be wildly commercial put it out using POD. It would still have their imprint. Then again, maybe booksellers would sense the publisher had doubts about it so wouldn't order it. I'm only thinking that the way the studios have had their "arthouse" divisions, where independent films were distributed, so too, publishers might have their literary books that are different but interesting. 

That's where I see "The Brightest Moon of the Century." The book has received so many strong reviews in newspaper and literary websites, so the trick has been how to get the word out? I've been finding Kindle users, who tend to be voracious readers, have been the most open to trying new things.


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

Thanks, Chris.

I agree on the Kindle points.  Kindle has changed a lot of things for self-publishers--and would change things for regular publishers if they hopped on board and got enthusiastic about it.  I would not have published had it not been for Kindle--and the open-mindedness of Kindle readers. 

I believe that there are a few small publishers that use POD already.  Some may only be using it for backlist, but I believe that a few already use it for their trade.  I think they are doing much as self-publishers are--they order small batches at discounts and then when that runs out, determine the size of the next batch if needed.

There was talk in some of the trade mags about publishers using POD for backlist (this was over a year ago that I read it.)  I think the problem is that no one gets tasked with making it happen so that same old, stays the same old.  Same thing seems to happen with kindle to an extent.  Right now the biggest believers are authors--they are the ones trolling the boards and seeing the enthusiasm.  Publishers are busy doing their daily work.  When they do hear about Kindle, it's easier to brush it off as "online sales are small."

Works for me though.  

Let us know what you learn from giving the talk.  There's always interesting questions from the audience and you should get some good feedback!

Maria


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Maria, while my presentation will include three panelists--Ivory Madison (CEO of Redroom), Henry Baum (_Self-Publishing Review_editor and author), and Daniel Will-Harris (book designer for publishers and some self-publishers)--now that you mention it, we should probably save at least half of the 70 minutes for questions. Those questions will reveal how people are seeing the changing publishing industry.

By the way, I saw in another Kindleboards thread, Boyd Morrison's, the wonderful history of his first postings, which shows him introducing his books, to his latest postings, which shows how Simon and Schuster will be publishing "The Ark" in a few months. He says, "I just got the news that The Ark will be published in Poland and Brazil! That brings the total to 14 languages in 15 world markets serving 100 countries and territories. If you had told me at the beginning of the year that this is where I'd be in October, I'd have asked to share whatever you were smoking." I'm absolutely thrilled like things like this can happen. His book and others are showing that Kindle and POD are becoming the farm teams of publishing. If you can proof yourself on your own, maybe someone will notice.

Then again, Boyd had an agent on his side, too. I'm not sure publishers are trolling Kindleboards per se, which is what authors probably hope. My agent wants to see a few thousand in sales before he tries something similar. I have a ways to go for that, though I am pleased that my books so far have a nice steady sales pattern. I just need to be patient. Also, Mr. Morrison's book is a mystery. Genre books sell better than literary books--and I'm not saying this negatively. I just finished writing my first mystery to try it out. It was a wonderful challenge and took me two years--and it's on the literary side anyway. I'm hoping my agent doesn't see it as a hybrid, though. I want it to fit in the mystery genre.

Morrison's publishing story and more is in an article in American Airlines' magazine: http://www.americanwaymag.com/boyd-morrison-industrial-engineer-serious-energy-published-author.

--Chris


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

'BRIGHTEST MOON" LANDS ON THIRD TOP LIST

I just learned that _The Brightest Moon of the Century_ has made another reviewer's Top-Ten Best Book list for 2009. Sam Sattler at the website Book Chase placed the novel in his annual rundown of best books, which also includes books by Pete Dexter and Jon Krakauer. Sattler says, "Meeks's characters, and his slightly off-centered view of life, continue to remind me of John Irving's early work, definitely a good thing." You can read his complete list at http://bookchase.blogspot.com/2009/12/best-books-of-2009.html.


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## RJ Keller (Mar 9, 2009)

Awesome news, Chris! And very well deserved!


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Thanks, Kel. The recent news was good enough that I wrote a press release that I'll use PR Web for. Press releases can have big results, but sometimes nothing sticks. I had to try, even though it's $80. 

I just tallied up my book sales for 2009--certainly not in the stratosphere. I'm happy to say that Kindle sales overcame print sales in November. I don't have December's print sales in yet, but my guess is Kindle will win out for the whole year. 

I also happened to call up Barnes and Noble's Small Press Division in New York today. A woman there a year ago explained to me how independent books can gain access to their stores' shelves. One is that the book has to priced to them with at least a 40% discount off of retail price. The second is that the book can be returned. I was able to do both by using Lightning Source, which guarantees such discounts to bookstores with returnability. B&N also wanted a review copy and reviews of the book sent to the Small Press Department in New York. They liked the book and bought fourteen copies for all of America, to try it out. They haven't ordered more, and the woman there wants me to send more reviews and my press release. For B&N to sell more, they need more support. This is where bigger publishers have a huge advantage. Their salespeople gets to know store managers personally. This is to say that my experiment with B&N isn't working so far.

I'm convinced, however, that unless independent authors can sell to bookstores, too, an author is highly unlikely to make many sales. After all, online sales represent somewhere between 21 and 25% of all books sold. Kindle and eBooks are only a couple percent right now. If you can imagine your Kindle sales multiplied by fifty, that's what bookstore sales should be. 

My local bookstore, Vroman's, knows me and sponsored my book's publication party, and they've sold 50 in the last several months. They display the book, though, which helps. This is all to say, it's a challenge all around. 

--Chris


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

Chrismeeks said:


> ...online sales represent somewhere between 21 and 25% of all books sold. Kindle and eBooks are only a couple percent right now.


That's true, but I'm guessing that ebook sales will be increasing exponentially in the very near future. For sure, Amazon, B&N, Sony, and others are betting big bucks on that.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Jim, I'm not sure sales will increase exponentially, but this year, with sales of Kindles projected to triple the number out there, that could be great. One good sign is that my agent in New York yesterday mentioned in an email, "The new Kindle&#8230;I almost hate to admit how much I like it. I'd still rather read a real book, but it's super handy for traveling and about a hundred times better than the Sony Reader."

This is a person who deals in print books for a living, so you have to give him a lot of credit.

I did follow up on a press release, by the way, which can be seen at http://www.kboards.com/index.php?action=post;topic=14989.25;num_replies=48

--Chris


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

"The Brightest Moon of the Century" is now available in many formats at Smashwords for $2.29. There, you can get the book in many different formats to fit many readers including the Kindle, the Nook, and Sony's reader. The page for that is at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/8702. The book is also available to our troops as part of Operation EDrop -- thank you Ed Patterson your idea that's turned into a positive tsunami!


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Thank you to LASoundCrafter who wrote over on the Kindle Community Forum on Amazon that, among other things, "The Brightest Moon of the Century is a story of experiences -- a young man's journey from teen years to middle age. In the hands of a less talented author, such a story might be just a catalogue of "events" -- a dreary collection "this happened then that happened." In Christopher Meeks capable hands, this book becomes fascinating and memorable literature. This is the type of book you relive scenes well after you have come to the end because the writer has so well etched images of the collected characters and moments. There's not a false note in the bunch."

You can read the thread he started at http://www.amazon.com/tag/kindle/forum/ref=cm_cd_ttp_ef_tft_tp?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1D7SY3BVSESG&cdThread=Tx24DNCB1WZ3MWK&displayType=tagsDetail

I can use more comments there because with the iPad announced, there seems to be buyer remorse happening with the Kindle, creating a lot of threads. (The Kindle rocks!)


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## Ricky Sides (Sep 16, 2009)

Hi there,

I just wanted to thank you for the very good instructions you posted in another thread regarding the creation of a linked table of contents. I used those instructions in two of my books and it worked just great.

You helped me improve the quality of my books. For that I will ever be grateful.

sincerely,
Ricky


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Thanks, Ricky. Ironically, when I first uploaded "The Brightest Moon of the Century," two of the links to photos did not work, even though they looked hyperlinked. I learned that there were so many extra codes in there from the graphic designer for the print version. It was over my head to fix those links. Probably 99% of people would not have noticed those links not working, but I worried, so I hired a programmer who specializes in Kindle formatting to redo my book, which is the version up there now. She ended up stripping out the interior photos. Another reader told me that photos on a Kindle aren't that great anyway, so I went with the removal. What's important to me is that the text is there and that it's easy to read on a Kindle.

--Chris


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

One of the biggest challenges for the small publisher is to get reviews in print--by newspapers, magazines, and journals. Reviews in print still have, pound for pound, more effect than literary websites. I was happy that the _Minneapolis Star and Tribune_ reviewed _The Brightest Moon of the Century_ last year, which had the effect of many Barnes and Noble stores in Minnesota stocking the book. I'm always thrilled, though, to have any adept reviewer consider my book in any medium.

*The Midwest Book Review*, which is both in print and online, just reviewed the book, and wrote, "The man's quest to understand women is something that may take decades. "The Brightest Moon of the Century" tells the story of Edward, as the first novel from acclaimed short story author Christopher Meeks follows Edward through his life in boarding school to the pursuit of his dreams in Hollywood and the reality of being a convenience store owner. *Charming and endlessly entertaining, The Brightest Moon of the Century is a fine read that is an excellent addition to literary fiction collections*."

I'm hopeful more Kindle users will try the book and more stores will stock it.

Marketing, by the way, is my biggest challenge as a writer. With over thirty reviewers loving the book, I'm not sure what more I should do. Like many writers, I hope people will discover it and tell others, but it's a slow process. The big publishers have people who go into stores, and publicists who go online, creating a national buzz. Some days, I feel like Sisyphus, pushing a bolder forever uphill. Then I'll get a review like the one today, and I know that at least one more person liked the book.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

What makes the 21st century different for authors compared to last century are blogs. I can't tell if blogs truly affect sales or not, although I expect they can work in an author's favor at the grassroots level--if the blogs are good.

This morning, Google Alerts alerted me to a review on "*The Daily Genoshan*." I realized it was written by Brian McGackin, a former graduate student who'd been in my class at USC--a talented writer. Yet I was instantly tense. Was he out to cleverly slice and dice my book to show off his reviewing chops? I held my breath. He treated "The Brightest Moon of the Century" objectively, giving reasons to the things he likes and doesn't--and there's much he admires. The book, too, rates well alongside his other recent reviews, "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros and "Juliet, Naked" by Nick Hornby. He's far from saying that my novel is the greatest thing since "The Great Gatsby" (which, if I recall right, doesn't rate up there for him anyway). He rated "Stories of God" by Rainer Maria Rilke higher. By the end of the review of my book, I was impressed how much McGackin did see and sort out. Here's a sample from his extensive review:

"Shifting deftly between locations as disparate as suburban Minnesota, the hills of Los Angeles, and a trailer park in Alabama, 'The Brightest Moon of the Century' tells the story of Edward Meopian as he tries to survive all of the major transitions in his life: first love; college; post-graduate ennui; marriage; and, ultimately, fatherhood. Edward can't seem to find himself, and goes searching wherever he can afford, determined to prove that he was meant for something more than his humble Midwestern origins.

"The book is told in third person via a series of vignette-like chapters, prominently recalling the author's roots as a short-story writer. Each chapter takes place in its own unique setting, foregoing much of the transitional writing that might normally be required in a book that spans the three decades covered in 'The Brightest Moon.' His prior writing experience continues to shine through as Meeks focuses intently on each individual scene and the humanness of the interactions between his characters, something he undoubtedly picked up from his stage work.

"Edward, often unsure of himself, continually finds himself butting up against friends, authority figures, and, occasionally, over-sexed Southern teenagers. Meeks is sometimes sparse on illustrative details, but never fails to adequately describe the many women that come in and out of Edward's life, a fact that aids in establishing the importance of female acceptance after the death of Edward's mother in the opening pages. The transition that the Meopian family is forced to undergo following this tragedy is one of the book's earliest and longest-running themes.

"Another theme that Meeks subtly weaves throughout his otherwise bluntly emotional narrative-Edward tends to cry a lot-regards another type of transition, that of the moon between phases. In the early chapters, the moon is usually presented in its crescent or gibbous form, but over the course of the novel moves, along with Edward, to a fuller and more complete state. That's not to say that 'The Brightest Moon of the Century' is all happy endings and wonderfully uplifting messages. It's not. Most of the book focuses on the terrible things that Edward can't control in his life but must learn to accept. It's with the help of symbols like these, though, that he and the reader are able to move forward together along a path with seemingly no fixed destination."

If you want to see the whole review, it's at http://dailygenoshan.blogspot.com/2010/03/brightest-moon-of-century.html.

I'd never heard of a Genoshan before. It sounds like a town in Wisconsin, but Wikipedia told me that Genosha is a fictional country in Marvel Comics. The nation is on an island off the east coast of Africa and best known for its enslavement of a mutant population. Perhaps literary writers and readers are all mutants, too.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

To hit the tail end of EBook Week, "The Brightest Moon of the Century" has been reduced to $2.99 from $4.99. I waited until now to mention it because I wanted to see it available on Amazon for that price. It's there. (Click on the link in my signature.)

By the way, I wrote a blog entitled "What Today's Writers Need to Know," which is about a panel I attended called "The Best of Times: Writing in the Age of the Internet." You can read it it http://www.redroom.com/blog/christopher-meeks/what-today%E2%80%99s-writers-need-to-know

(And if you are new to this thread and want to read how "The Brightest Moon of the Century" made it to three ten-best-book lists for 2009, go here: http://www.backwordbooks.com/2010/01/16/the-brightest-moon-of-the-century-wins-three-best-awards/)


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

*The Brightest Moon of the Century* is still priced at $2.99. Try a sample. All the independent reviews suggest it's what John Irving does: being with people over time.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

On this Easter Sunday, I stumbled across a wonderful gift: a review of "The Brightest Moon of the Century" by a critic who uses a Kindle. I had discovered this by Googling myself, which I had not done in a long time, and came to a link for the literary website "Literary Magic." The reviewer, a woman named Lee, said in part, "I read this luring title on Kindle so even though I missed the colorful and tactile quality of reading that I always do with my Kindle reading, it mattered little, because the story grabbed me from page one and kept me enthralled toward the end.

"The story, told in a candid and modern voice from the perspective of Edward as he grows from a young boy to a man, offers refreshing insight into the inner workings of the male through all of his experiences with the opposite sex, starting first with the loss of his mother. Christopher Meeks won me in the first chapter by skillfully depicting the angst, conflict and sensitivities that existed between the young Edward and his father, often with a slight-of-hand type of humor. When he finally encapsulates the relationship in a moment the two share, through his sad, but funny John Irving-esque writing style he revealing the heartfelt bond between father and son in a way that takes on added poignance."

To read the full review, go to http://www.literary-magic.com/2010/04/book-review-brightest-moon-of-century.html


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

In this new world of digital books, I'm finding there are few reviewers who read on a reader such as the Kindle. The best known is Kindleboards' own Red Adept, but if there are other such reviewers, please tell me.

I stumbled on one today when a reviewer named Lee Libro from Texas reviewed "The Brightest Moon of the Century." It's a review totally out of the blue for me, one that Google Alerts told me about--so I thank Lee, whoever you are, for your wonderful enthusiasm. She writes, "I read this luring title on Kindle so even though I missed the colorful and tactile quality of reading that I always do with my Kindle reading, it mattered little, because the story grabbed me from page one and kept me enthralled toward the end."

For her full review, go to http://fatcatwebproductions.com/the_paper/354-book-review-brightest-moon-century-christopher-meeks


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Yikes, I've been so involved in writing my next novel, I hadn't realized until now it's been a month since I've been on Kindleboards. I came here to actually mention two inspiring bits of news. One of them, you may know about: Boyd Morrison. He has a big thread here on Kindleboards. If you haven't heard is full story of how he went from obscurity to a top-selling author on a book tour as we speak, then read his tale here:
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2010/05/ark-by-boyd-morrison.html

There's another author in the making, RJ Keller, also visible here on the Kindleboards, and you can read how her book "Waiting for Spring" popped into the top 100 this week at: http://networkedblogs.com/4knsn

Those of you in Minnesota: I'll be signing at two bookstores in the Minneapolis area on June 12 and 13.

Saturday, June 12 - 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Barnes and Noble HarMar Mall
2100 N. Snelling Avenue
Roseville, MN 55113
(651) 639-9256

Sunday, June 13 - 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Borders Ridgedale Mall
1501 Plymouth Road
Minnetonka, MN 55305
(952) 595-0977

_The Brightest Moon of the Century_ is a comic novel about Edward, a young Minnesotan blessed with "experience." He needs a place in the universe, but he also wants an understanding of women. He stumbles into romance in high school and college, whirls into a tornado of love problems as a mini-mart owner in a trailer park in Alabama, and aims for a film career in Los Angeles.

I don't worry about sales at signings. I'm there to chat and meet people. Come and don't buy a thing. Just say hello. Tell me what you're reading or writing. I'd love to meet you.

--Chris


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

I received a Google Alert this morning that the book is on a site called Buy New Books, and the link I was given is this: http://www.buynewbooks.net/the-brightest-moon-of-the-century.html

I noticed that if a person clicks the novel at the site, you go to the Kindle version of "The Brightest Moon of the Century," so perhaps "new" is not in relation to "used," but as in "new to the market" or even "new to you." There is no editorial comment there, but rather selected full reviews, including one taken from an Amazon reviewer.

I'm not sure who runs the site or how you can get your book on the site, but I can see there are many thousands of books. It may be a site you get an RSS feed from to simply see many new books.


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## RJ Keller (Mar 9, 2009)

That's awesome news, Chris!!!


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Thanks, Kell. I remain in awe of your Kindle sales and efforts. I'm curious--now that it's July, will you be boosting the list price of "Waiting for Spring" to $2.99 to take advantage of the new 70% royalties? Scott Nicholson over on another thread about pricing said, "Look at it this way--at $2.99, you will be making more per Amazon sale than you will per HARDCOVER sale."

Right now "The Brightest Moon of the Century" has been selling more this year in print through Lightning Source than through Kindle, and I'd love to boost Kindle sales. I'd recently done signings for the novel at Borders and Barnes and Noble in Minneapolis, so there was a surge in print sales there. 

I realize I'm not on Kindleboards much these days, but I'm so focused on writing my new book, "Love at Absolute Zero," that everything else in my life gets a lower priority except my family and teaching. I'm going to do an experiment with the new book, though (now in its fifth polish--I want it right), which is ONLY offer it at first on Kindle. It may happen by the end of this year.


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## RJ Keller (Mar 9, 2009)

I boosted it to 2.99, but because B&N had already discounted it to .99 (because that was the original Amazon price), Amazon kept it there, too. It's a vicious circle. I'm sort of in Pricing Hell right now.  

At least I'm getting 70% of .99, which is twice the former rate.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

I've spent Labor Day finally creating a website for all my books. Please check it out and see if you can navigate around easily. I even have a Kindle button. The site is at http://christophermeeks.weebly.com.

By the way, I have only great things to say about Weebly.com--it's a free site with software that's easy to use, so there's no excuse now if you've been putting it off for yourself.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

It's Sunday morning and a good time for a shave. I considered this masculine ritual in a blog--particularly the nagging question of where did Trac II go and do I really need a triple-blade system, in an article here: http://www.redroom.com/blog/christopher-meeks/zorro-now-would-buy-double-edged-safety-swords

And now on to keep writing my next novel....


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

It's a Sunday night, and I just went to the Amazon Digital Platform to check on book sales. I didn't know until a few weeks ago that to get the 70% royalty rate, you have to go to the Digital Platform and republish each book and click on the 70% royalty box. Otherwise you get 35%. Now I was curious did the new royalties kick in. Indeed it has, and I'm having a better month than I'm had for a while, helped by the new rate. Thank you, Amazon.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Today my novel is the sponsor at Kindle Nation Daily, and it's just after noon Los Angeles time, and the book's sales rank has gone from #148,843 for Kindle to #2,184; it's also #66 is books with humor and #74 for comic novels.

You can see the Kindle Nation Daily page here: http://bit.ly/9L1M6q

I can't thank Steve Windwalker enough for adding his own personal comments because he's read the book. He says in part, "It had been a couple of weeks since I had read '
The Brightest Moon of the Century_, the enchanting literary novel that serves as today's sponsor. Here, among the greatest readers in the world, a great read is a great read, _ and genre is secondary. And if you miss _The Brightest Moon of the Century_, you'll be missing a great read and an introduction to a master story teller."

I ended up writing a blog about this and book marketing at http://www.redroom.com/blog/christopher-meeks/marketing-kindle-and-the-new-author

UPDATE: As I go to bed, the book has moved up the ranks more. It's #646 overall and:
#23 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Humor 
#23 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Comic 
#45 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literary Fiction

(In the morning it was at #624).


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

I've been the opposite of marketing lately. My mother died in early November, and with flying to Minnesota a few times from Los Angeles for preparations of the funeral, then having the funeral, then dealing with her stuff, my feelings, my siblings, and more, books have not been on my mind. Then I put everything else aside and finished the rewrite on my new novel, "Love at Absolute Zero," which I need to have a few people read before I give the book to my agent.

The Kindle Nation Daily thing was great, and I'm hoping to jump back into that very soon.

Sorry I haven't been on these boards for two months. Time to get back on. 

Best,
  Chris


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## KBoards Admin (Nov 27, 2007)

I'm pleased to announce that The Brightest Moon of the Century is our next KB Book of the Day!


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Thanks, Harvey. It's early morning in Los Angeles, and the book's ranking has already moved from something over #126,000 down to #20,010.

It's been just over a year since "The Brightest Moon of the Century" had its Kindle edition emerge after the print edition, and the book received a lot of notice from reviewers, making three Ten-Best lists. What I'm still sorting out a year later is how to promote it more. I sense KB Book of the Day is a good value. After all, I have to sell 13 copies to pay for the ad.

Still, I'm thinking I shouldn't be hoping I can get a mere 13 sold. What's the secret to getting thousands a month sold? I was just reading how L.J. Sellers sold 10,000 copies of her books last month alone. Her posts I've read here on Kindleboards are always interesting. She wanted to make a living as a writer and is now apparently doing it. She explains what she does here:

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/01/guest-post-by-lj-sellers.html

She's a guest blogger on J.A. Konrath's blog, and he writes about many others selling well on Kindle. One thing I'm sensing, though, is that Sellers and Konrath and others are writing well in genres. My books so far are literary fiction--well told tales, often with humor, but not an easily defined genre. Yet I'm such a fan of books by such authors as John Irving, Alice Sebold, Margaret Atwood, Nick Hornby, Tim O'Brien, J.D. Salinger, and others, that I write hard-to-define books. To read Konrath's discussion, go to: http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/01/response-to-richard-curtis.html

I've been pleased how far my books have gone so far in that two of my novelist friends whose novels have done well with big publishers want me to publish them. Later this year, my imprint, White Whisker Books, will bring out a YA novel by E. Van Lowe whose YA book "Never Slow Dance With a Zombie" sold over 40,000 copies last year and was picked up by the Scholastic Book Club. I'll also debut "Iron City," a literary novel by David Scott Milton whose last book, "The Fat Lady Sings," looks like it will be a movie next year. Any tips on promotion that anyone has for literary writers on Kindle, I'm all ears.


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## Cdel (Jan 6, 2011)

Well, I'd never heard of you or your book, and I just bought it, so hopefully others are too! Good luck! I'm looking forward to reading
it.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Thank you, Cdel, and may you enjoy it.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Because The Brightest Moon of the Century takes place over the course of more than thirty years in the life of Edward Meopian, I thought I'd give an excerpt from the middle of the book. It gives the seriocomic flavor of his life. Here in his mid-twenties in 1979, Edward and his friend from college, nicknamed Sagebrush, have gone to the South where they have opened and run a mini-mart in an Alabama trailer park. Sagebrush has been been arrested for marijuana possession, and here Edward has bailed him out just as it's starting to rain hard. What they don't know yet is Hurricane Frederick is on its way.

*An Excerpt from The Brightest Moon of the Century*

A heavy drizzle arrived the next morning with the skies still deeply gray. Every time Edward had called Frack, the line buzzed busy. Was Frack on the line to lawyers? To the jail? Would Sagebrush be okay? Edward hoped Sagebrush wasn't in some violent tussle in jail, or getting beat up or tortured. Edward wanted to go over, but that might be when Frack called with important news. He'd wait. It started to rain, and Edward soon heard a drip drip drip on the carpeting. It came from the hole that Jack had shot into the ceiling. Edward put a pan underneath it. 
At around noon, Frack called to say his son would be freed in another hour, and Edward said he'd leave right away to get him. As he drove out of the park, the winds and rain had picked up so much that the pine trees were bending a lot, and the road out of the park was covered with pine needles and little sticks. What looked like creeks were sweeping between certain trailers where lawns had a particular crease. It sure could rain in Alabama. 
Sagebrush and Officer Mills were chatting like old friends when they stepped into the lobby where Edward was waiting.
"I love those games," said Sagebrush. "Ever play Civil War by Avalon Hill?"
"Avalon Hill!" said Officer Mills. "What a blast. Building Northern armies, I hate to say, is more fun. I love chasing Jackson and Lee all over the South."
"The North has an advantage," agreed Sagebrush, "but a point system can be added."
"We should play sometime," said the officer.
And here Edward had been worried. Maybe the key to the South was to have a kid's mentality or at least to love games.
"So it wasn't bad?" asked Edward as they walked out.
"I wouldn't recommend jail for anyone, but they treated me decently. Good food, especially the fried chicken and Jello."
"I could hardly sleep last night."
"I didn't do well, either," he admitted. "The guy I shared a cell with was there for beating on his wife, and he cried a few times in the night-kept waking me up."
As they drove away from Wellroot, they noticed a man in the heavy wind and rain nail a big sheet of plywood in front of a window on his front porch. 
"What the heck's that guy doing?" said Edward.
"I heard in jail a hurricane is coming."
"This far north?"
"An edge of it, I guess."
Edward clicked on the radio. He hadn't listened yet that day as he'd been so concerned about Sagebrush. The first words out were "100-year rain storm." They soon learned that Hurricane Frederic had winds now calculated at 132-miles an hour, with gusts up to 145, and the eye was headed right for Mobile, the brunt of the storm expected around nightfall. 
"How's this possible?" said Edward. "A few days ago it was supposed to hit Florida." A gust slammed so hard into the car, Edward had to correct course.
"It switched," said Sagebrush.
The radio report said the hurricane's reach was expected to bring destruction along the coast from Pensacola through most of Mississippi. People on the coast were urged to evacuate. That meant, too, said the radio, that Birmingham, 260 miles further north, was sure to receive a hell of a storm. "In Birmingham, stay buttoned up in your homes," said the newscaster. 
Edward switched his wipers to the fastest speed, and he still couldn't see clearly. He drove slowly. When they arrived at the trailer park, the sides of the driveway had become mini-rivers. In one area, trailers on the left-hand side stood in a lake. The place was flooding. They had to stop about ten trailers from their home where a tree had fallen across the road. Edward parked the car. Through the windows, they watched the Panavision storm. Trees bent like soggy Q-Tips, and bits of things-probably pine needles-whipped by. The rain sprayed onto the windshield as if some kid was hosing hard, getting to wash the family car for the first time. 
"We're going to get wet," said Edward.
"If it's not one thing, it's another," said Sagebrush.
"We'll do it on three?" They each had their hands on the door handles. "One, two . . . three!" said Edward, and they leapt out of the car and ran on a neighbor's lawn around the fallen tree. Edward felt a huge gust of wind, which momentarily stopped him. The wind was a bigger force than he'd ever known. At that moment, Edward heard a loud buzzing, and both he and Sagebrush turned to look behind them. A small white single-propeller airplane with a bent right wing appeared desperately trying to remain level as it was headed right at them. They ran to the right and pushed themselves against a trailer as if that would protect them. 
The plane descended rapidly, and, passing over the fallen tree, its wheels slammed onto the road, bouncing the plane back in the air. It came down a second time, vaulting once more, just not as much. What fool had been flying in this weather? The pilot must have seen the narrow road and had amazingly landed his troubled craft there-but the road was short. At the end were trees. The plane whooshed down the short road, sucking the rain behind it. As the plane neared Edward and Sagebrush's home on the right, one of the plane's wheels hit their lawn, forcing the plane to veer sharply right. "Nooo!" Edward cried, seeing the plane headed right at their house. In a second, the plane smashed right into their new front stairs, now kindling, and the plane lodged itself into the house's side, exposing part of the kitchen. 
They both ran quickly toward the disaster. Edward could see that the kitchen lights, which he'd left on when he went to get Sagebrush, were now extinguished. Was the pilot alive? Any passengers?
The rain hammered down.
As Sagebrush tried to climb up into the exposed part of the kitchen, Edward ran to the side and up onto their deck. They usually forgot to lock the sliding glass door from the living room that led to the deck, and Edward was happy to find this was the case now. He slid open the glass door and hurried inside, his thoroughly wet shoes squishing wet footmarks onto the crimson carpeting. Water, too, dripped off him.
The kitchen counter was shoved out, and through the smashed windshield of the plane, Edward could see the pilot, a husky man in his early forties with short cropped hair and a polo shirt, keep trying his door, which wouldn't open. 
"Are you okay? Can you go through the windshield?" said Edward in a quick stream. The pilot looked at Edward as if trying to compute.
"Look at that," said the pilot. "No windshield."
"Let me help you out."
The man tried to move forward, but his seatbelt stopped him. He undid the seatbelt. As he moved forward, the pilot winced. "Shit," he said.
"What?" asked Edward.
"I seemed to have been stabbed in my leg." The man had very little Southern accent.
"I'll call an ambulance," and Edward grabbed the phone from the wall on the other side of the kitchen. It was dead.
Sagebrush, at that point, was still outside, but his head poked through the empty space where there used to be a window. "Is anyone dead?" Sagebrush asked.
"No, the pilot's alive but hurt, and the phone's out-probably true in the whole park. Help me get him out."
Sagebrush ran around, and he and Edward grabbed under each arm and yanked. The man winced and grunted the whole way. Once he was sitting in their kitchen, the man contin¬ued to grim¬mace, and he held his head.
"What's your name?" Edward asked.
"Peter. Peter Gordon."
"How do you feel, Mr. Gordon?" asked Sagebrush.
"Happy I'm not dead." He suddered. "I'd say my leg's the worst if my whole body didn't feel like shit. And I'm dizzy." 
"We'll get you to a hospital," said Edward, who turned to Sage¬brush. "Let's get him to the car."
Through the driving rain and the man's occasional scream of pain, they lifted and dragged him to the car. 
They laid Mr. Gordon on the back seat, and Edward ran around to the driver's side as Sagebrush buckled into the pass¬enger's seat. Edward didn't know where there was a hospital, but he drove quickly as if he did. Still in the park, he saw Len's truck coming toward him. Edward honked and blinked his lights. They each stopped and rolled down their windows.
Len shouted, "You best get yourselves inside!"
"This guy in the back is hurt-plane crash. Where's the nearest hospital?"
"Follow me!" said Len as simply as that. He backed his truck onto a lawn and spun his wheels in the soft red earth before pulling back onto the road. Len drove fast, but luckily there were few people on the road. When they turned a corner, Edward felt his car start to spin out of control, but he found himself instinctually turning the wheels in the direction of the spin, as he had learned to do on road ice in Minnesota. They made it to the Bessemer Carraway Medical Center on Highway 11 in what seemed minutes. 
Edward parked in the ambulance-loading zone, under a covered breezeway, and he ran into the emergency room, shouting, "We need help! This guy survived a plane crash!"
The triage nurse at the counter looked only briefly puzzled before she snapped her fingers and shouted, "Incoming!" Two women, both black-one petite and the other so tall and husky she could have been a linebacker for Alabama's cherished state football team, the Crimson Tide-grabbed a nearby gurney in the hallway and followed Edward out to his Volvo under the breeze¬way. 
"A fern car," said the big one.
"California plates, all right!" said the other.
"The guy's in the back," said Edward. 
The bigger nurse looked in. "He's goin' into shock." Mr. Gordon's eyes were closed and he was shaking, as if needing an exorcism. Sagebrush turned in his seat to look, too. 
The linebacker pulled and lifted the pilot out and laid him gently onto the gurney, and they hurried off. 
Len, Edward, and Sagebrush now stood in the breezeway, their eyes following the action into the ER. Len turned to his cohorts. "You two look like you been swimmin' with cement galoshes." The wind and rain whipped at them under the breezeway.
"If it's this bad here, wonder what it's like in Mobile?" said Sagebrush.
"It's nearly a category four hurricane down there," said Len, "perhaps the worst this century for Alabama. Half a million people are fleeing from the coast. I heard it's bumper-to-bumper from Mobile to here." He looked more closely at Sagebrush. "You okay, son?"
"I'm feeling quite chilled, actually."
Edward felt the wind gust so much, it drove even more rain into them under the covering of the breezeway. "We could go inside, warm up," he suggeted. 
Turning at a strange sound, Edward looked out and saw what he hoped never to see in his life-a twisting, whirling, dirty black funnel, right out of Kansas and The Wizard of Oz. The undulating tip of the swirling tornado wasn't on the ground, but moving up and down as if it were trying to push through a glass floor and reach earth.
"Shit!" said Edward, and when Len saw it, they moved even faster inside. 
"Hurricanes can make those things," yelled Len, as if that made it normal.
As the automatic sliding glass door behind them closed, a young doctor in green scrubs approached.
"Tornado!" shouted Len. "Get away from the windows!"


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Yesterday I was reminded of the long gestation periods of my novels, which is why I just have one published now. It takes many drafts until I feel the story is done. Perhaps because I'd been a book reviewer once at two different newspapers is why I'm acutely aware of the reviewing process. I want my books fully cooked before reviewers and readers see them. I happen to have three other novels, which have gone through at least two drafts, that are not out yet. The one I'm bringing out in September, "Love at Absolute Zero," has gone through five drafts. This doesn't mean it's Jonathan Franzen perfect, but it's as close as I can get to that and at the point where I have to move on.

Anyway, yesterday, I was at my orthodontist getting my final brace off. On his computer screen was my patient information. My original "banding," said the line, was in May 2004, and six and a half years and 93 visits later, I'm done. Originally he said it'd take 18 months. Back in 2004, I was writing the first draft of "Love at Absolute Zero," a comic novel about a physicist looking for a wife using the Scientific Method--it doesn't work--and, in wanting to put my scientist through hell, I decided that this 32-year-old needed shiny silver braces on his teeth while he was speed dating. I had no idea of orthodontia because my teeth were quite good and I had no intention of ever getting braces. Still, I needed an insider's knowledge. My idea was to visit an orthodontist for a free evaluation, and I'd take notes about his office and ask him certain questions.

That part worked brilliantly, but I also learned that my lower front teeth, which had become crowded over the years, could crack someday because of the pressure. I really needed to get one of those teeth removed, he said, and then get braces to bridge the gap. Just days earlier my uncle had complained of a cracked tooth that had ended up costing $20,000 to fix. Heck, $5,000 for braces seemed cheap by comparison. I did it. Now at the end, I’m pleased. My teeth have never looked better.

And I’m still tweaking the book. I’ll start a new thread for it when the time comes. I’m bringing it out in September because it still needs a professional editor’s final editing as well as a few proofreaders as well as advanced reading copies going to reviewers.

My new mantra: Good books--and good teeth--are everything.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Speaking of literary fiction, I wrote on article on how to do it: http://www.redroom.com/blog/christopher-meeks/marketing-your-literary-novel-through-independent-publishing

I hope those of you who feel as I do, that writing a good novel is difficult and satifying, can find some specific ideas to help you in this article.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

My novel The Brightest Moon of the Century has as background a similar moon, the one of December 21, 1999, which was also on an equinox. That moon was the brightest in 133 years. Tonight's moon is almost as bright. Celebrate by buying or downloading a sample of the book.

The Kindle version is only $2.99.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Here's author R.J. Keller (_Waiting for Spring_) reading _The Brightest Moon of the Century_. Even authors take time to read others' books.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

J.A. Konrath's recent blog entitled "Are You Dense" (at http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/04/are-you-dense.html) happens to talk about how the "legacy" model of publishing--the traditional approach--is dying quickly.

I happened to write about the subject from another angle. I had it in my head that if 10% of the books sold are in eBook form, then the other 90% are in print form. A few years ago, I learned how to get into bookstores, and as this novel and my other books received great reviews, more stores ordered them. What I didn't learn until recently is how book returns can cripple you--even send you into bankrupcy if you're not careful. I wrote about my experience at:

http://www.selfpublishingreview.com/blog/2011/04/18/how-to-go-bankrupt-thanks-to-really-great-reviews/

The Kindle approach is making more and more sense.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

To those of you in Los Angeles: I'll be signing books at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on Sunday, May 1 in the USC Bookstore Tent from 11 a.m. to noon. Come on by to say hello--don't worry about buying anything. I love to meet people from here.

In just over two weeks, my new novel, "Love At Absolute Zero," debuts on Kindle. I need to start a thread for it soon.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

It's been a week of paying attention to details. My book designer is finishing the final touches for a limited print edition of my new book, Love at Absolute Zero. I honed the blurb for the book until it flowed. A good title, strong cover, and a fun blurb should do it, I hope. (After six years of writing the book.) The Kindle version is finished, and I bought a couple of KB banner ads. I just uploaded the novel for the Nook.

I also slightly modified the cover of The Brightest Moon of the Century. Now people can read the title when it's signature size.



It'll take another week until I finish all the other details, then I'll create a thread for the book and officially debut the new novel on May 16th. Wish me luck.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

I've been asleep at the switch, not having been back to this book for a month. So much has been happening debuting the new novel (see http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,66600.0.html).

Now that I'm publishing two other authors, I'd love for you to give me your thoughts on my new publishing website, www.WhiteWhiskerBooks.com

There's so much to do for three books coming out. I love this one here still. Amid all this work, I contemplated what it is I want from stories and two recent films got me thinking about what story is. You can see my essay at http://www.redroom.com/blog/christopher-meeks/what-do-i-want-from-movies-the-tree-life-vs-love-and-other-drugs


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

John Locke, as you may have seen in the news, is a self-published author who has sold a million copies of his books on Kindle. He's brilliant in that he wrote a book out this week called _How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months._ One of his points is that he clearly targets his audience: he knows who they are.

Now that I have five books out, I realize my audience is a special niche who loves unusual everyman characters in difficult situations. As reviewer Marc Schuster says in a review of the new book, out a few days ago, "Fans of Meeks will be pleased to see that he's still at the top of his game and more than capable of generating the kind of quirky character-driven fiction that we've come to expect from him." I embrace my readers. And if you want to tell me who you are, write me at [email protected]


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

It's good to experiment. I made this novel 99 cents for August, and for whatever reason, 99 cents does not work for this book. Maybe people are vacationing or maybe comic literary fiction sells better at a higher price. I won't argue. It sold better at $3.99. The book will return to $3.99 on September 1, but if you want to grab a copy at 99 cents now, it's a bargain.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Okay, those three days in August did so well at 99 cents, I'm keeping it at the price for a while. After all, I'm heartened by seeing Darcie Chan's literary book, The Mill River Recluse do so well (#1 in all Kindle sales!). I see patience, hope, and luck can come together. Maybe for this book, too. Or my new one, Love at Absolute Zero

If you want to read an interview with Darcie Chan, by the way, go here: http://redroom.com/member/christopher-meeks/blog/interview-with-best-selling-novelist-darcie-chan


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

In one of Kurt Vonnegut's novels was a Kilgore Trout story called "Asleep at the Switch," which was about showing up at the Pearly Gates, and St. Peter or someone would show the recently deceased where they could have made a pile of money, but they were "asleep at the switch" when it came to taking advantage of an opportunity. I tend to feel asleep at the switch when it comes to talking up my books. 
I love writing them, and yet most weeks I miss coming here and writing ABOUT them. I don't go to Kindleboards enough. I'm not sure if anyone reads these things anyway.

I'm happy to say that six copies of this book sold yesterday at the same time that 36 copies of my new novel, LOVE AT ABSOLUTE ZERO sold. Slowly but surely, people are finding my books. On Thursday, Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena hosted a publication party for LOVE AT ABSOLUTE ZERO, and it began with Amazon Top-Ten reviewer Grady Harp giving an overview of my five books, which was enough to make my head swell for several minutes. Check on his reviews on any of my Amazon pages.

Anyway, dear reader, thanks for stopping in. Maybe I'm not asleep at the switch today.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

I've loved working with my new books at CreateSpace, and I'm thinking of moving THE BRIGHTEST MOON OF THE CENTURY over to it. Of course, the reader wouldn't see the difference--other than a less expensive price. While I'm at it, the Kindle version of the book doesn't have the photos, but using new software at www.liberwriter.com, which makes putting any book on Kindle easy, I can add the photos to it. It's time this book had my attention again.

If you're a tweeter, I'm at @MeeksChris


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

It was 12 years ago last week that was the brightest moon of the 20th century. A full moon on the winter's solstice makes it so, and that happens only once a century. That's because the earth is closest to the sun on the winter's solstice, making the moon slightly brighter.  It was also when the moon was slightly closer to the earth, making it appear slightly bigger. 

Happy New Year to anyone reading this; the moon is but a sliver this evening, 14% of full.


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