BAD LATITUDE - A Jack Rackham Adventure is finally up for sale. The book was published in November, but my Chicago trip & workload held up the official release. It's finally for sale at www.booklocker.com under the fiction/adventure category.
Here's where it gets tough for me. Marketing. I honestly don't like talking about myself - unless it's something funny. On the business side - making pitches to clients on potential deals involving multi-million dollar construction & development projects is a walk in the park - because that's business - I'm expected to do that & I'm paid for that, but I never mention all of the awards that have come my way for various Medical Centers or Office Complexes or the fact that I built one of the very first 'Green' buildings before 'Green' was cool. Writing about wacky stuff that goes on around here or with my family - no problem - I'm only a part of that, like being the driver in the post about the boots a few weeks back. Explaining that I've written a book for kids, one that's actually pretty good - I'd be more comfortable slamming my hand in a car door.
My friend Mark LaFlamme (super talented author of the books DIRT: An American Campaign, THE PINK ROOM & VEGETATION) tells me I had better get over this in a hurry. He's right of course - & his advice has been invaluable - but I'm still uncomfortable.
My wonderful wife Deb has always been very shy. Everyone that meets her walks away knowing that she's a real sweetheart - a great person, extremely likable. She has battled her shyness on my behalf talking up BAD LATITUDE & now several local stores, including the Florida Park Service & the county tourism centers, have agreed to stock it. In every instance, when she has brought the topic up, I've run off to hide. This morning, she asked why it's not on Facebook & why haven't I blogged about it - the book has been available now for about a week. So, with my tail between my legs, I'm working on this blog post, with sweaty hands & a very red face, wondering if I'll hit the publish button in the end.
In a nutshell, BAD LATITUDE is an adventure story for kids that like books with a fast pace, a mix of history & humor, creepy ghosts and a dash of the old 'I didn't see that comin' factor. The story follows the summer of fifteen-year-old Jack Rackham, the descendant of the pirate Calico Jack Rackam (who will make an appearance) & his friends Kai, Valerie & Talia in my haunted hometown of St Augustine Florida. Since they can't drive yet, they get around using Jack's boat BAD LATITUDE, an incredibly awesome high performance machine given to Jack as a gift from his very wealthy grandparents. Naturally the kids do what all kids do down here - They surf, kiteboard, have beach parties, explore the local attractions & deal with their awkward first 'romances'. When Jack is given a 300-year-old diary that describes a fortune hidden away in the burial grounds of Rattlesnake Island (a real place by the way - 2 miles from my house - all locations in the book are real) he & best friend Kai become obsessed with finding the loot, not realizing that, if successful in their search, they may not escape from the island with their lives. This ultimately forces the choice between wealth & friendship.
One other note - This book is totally clean. There is no profanity, adult situations, drugs, drinking or any behavior that I wouldn't condone for kids. In that sense, it's not "edgy" &, while I was told that "edgy" sells better - I wasn't willing to compromise in this area.
There's an excerpt on my author page (prologue & 1st 2 chapters) - just Google BAD LATITUDE A JACK RACKHAM ADVENTURE & that will take you to my author page at www.booklocker.com. It's also available on Amazon & Barnes & Noble & other websites but they haven't posted the description or excerpt yet - probably not for a week or so.
So that's my first attempt at plugging my own work. In the meantime, RECKLESS ENDEAVOR, my 2nd book, is moving along well & I'm excited with the way it's coming together. Maybe that's part of my problem (that & being a computer-idiot). I'd rather create tall tales than market them - but I'll work on it. Now if I could only figure out how to add links.....
