The Saddle...

Well, I've walked around that saddle log enough...thinking, researching, avoiding. But you never get very far or fast unless you get back in that saddle. Been there?

Maybe you guys can keep my feet to the fire. (okay, that is the last cliche I'll use...a big no-no in writing ;-)

For the coming year I plan to:
Blog (at least) weekly. And commit to make at least half of them entertaining?
Publish a third eBook - via Bumblebee House Ink.
(and one book every year after)

I certainly owe readers something new - more often than every 4 years. But to be honest, Land Run and Unseen took some 'percolating'.

The next novel title is likely Circus Town - but don't hold me to it. The story will be set primarily in Baraboo, Wisconsin with some excursions into Ukraine (please don't hold me to that either just yet).

It will involve some characters such as:

- An unemployed Ontologist (yes, blog spell-checker, that is a vocation)
- His genius uncle (who drives a camouflage-painted El Camino and sells lightening rods door-to-door.)
- Tesla
- Mark Twain
- A Ukrainian engineer
- And a circus clown named 'Lucky' - who could hold the keys to the future of mankind. (maybe don't hold     me to that just yet either)

Wishing all the best Monday possible!

The Balancing Act....

Disclaimer: I acknowledge that no one has asked me about this.... ;-)

As my third novel is developing I look for patterns. The novels are all so different. But I know they can't be at some skeletal level. My inclinations always play out in a pattern at some point. Not formulaic - don't worry. Just human. As always, please bear with me and follow me through this current narcissistic avoidance of real writing. This thing I call... the Blog Update.

The plot ideas that come to me are so large - or grow large in scope of ideas, time, and geography. I enjoy digging out depth in character development...but in such a way as to complement the story as it progresses. That is the idea at any rate.

Balance, the hope of it and the work of it. The realness of it. It feels to me in the writing of the longer narrative that anything less or more than balance (in these general concepts of character and plot) would be insipid.

For me, character and plot are the context. And the cultural/physical landscape is a prominent feature. The landscape in the way it works to inform the characters lives and is impacted by those same lives...this exchange between the character and his place and time can lead to change in either. Or simply as a character and his reflection in the stream of his world.

I tend to like to bring cultures together subtly and violently. I like them to clash or mix, and to learn.

The best result for me is not writing a good story. Or even an amazing and incredible story. But writing a good-enough story - no more or less. Anything else, for me, is true mediocrity. You see, my hope is to captivate and engage the reader. That the reader always has enough...not too little or too much. Because each reader creates a whole new novel - particular to their experiences and inclinations and imagination. Isn't that cool? My novel Unseen is only one story, especially visually. Your reading of it changes it - makes it new and different in ways I cannot.

The story is incomplete in potential without the engaged creative reader. The paradox, the sublime goal of 'good-enough'.

Are You On Goodreads?

Looks like even if you are not - you can still read UNSEEN here.

UNSEEN

There are two kinds of writer: those th at make you think, and those that make you wonder.
- Brian Aldiss

Well....shooting for a mixture. ;-)

Coincidence? Maybe....

Have you read UNSEEN by Mark Graham? Mark - not Heather and not Jack;-) I had no idea so many Unseen novels would be written by Grahams. 

FRONT PAGE!

OH YEAH! Front Page - FREE Download! Unssen. Grab it and pass it on please. Thanks all! http://www.getfreeebooks.com/

PINTEREST - and Free Novels

HEY! Come by and PIN this when you can. For FREE novel just email bhistaff@bumblebeehouseink.com

(don't have to 'pin' it to receive free novel) 

(ok...back to writing now...;-)

FREE Copy of Unseen - Pass It On

The moment I've been waiting for:

If you have just a moment please 'like' these updates at Google+ here, Pinterest or Facebook, etc. - anywhere convenient to you.

Just email to bhistaff@bumblebeehouseink.com with how you would like the eBook sent to you - KINDLE or ePub.

That's it! That easy.

ALSO - feel free to share the eBook you receive with friends 

AND any Adoptive Families you think might benefit (they can be allowed to sell it to their supporters on their blogs as a gift)!

Thanks to all (future) participants and I hope you enjoy the story....a lot!

More information about the novel can be seen on Amazon, Kobo, and all those kind of places.

Mark

www.bumblebeehouseink.com

PINTEREST BOARD

GOOGLE+

OPEN LETTER For Adoptive Families- A Novel Idea

Hello Adoption Blogger! And any Anti-Human Trafficking Organizations!

Thank you for taking a moment to read about this new fundraising project for adoptive families!

My name is Mark Graham and I have written and published my second novel entitled Unseen. This novel really is my best effort because it is very personal to me in setting and circumstance. Though it is not our story, it carries the inspiration of our time in Ukraineadopting our daughter. I have a dream for it to be a vehicle of ministry for adoptive families. Because of this goal, I have self-published this particular novel and have taken two years with Unseento insure the highest quality result.

                        

The idea is to provide the eBooks (Kindle, Nook, and IPad) to adoptive families or organizations as a fundraiser for them.  This is a product that they can offer on their blogs free when supporters donate to them. Or they can sell it themselves as a fundraiser if they like.

This is truly a captivating and compelling read. Something supporters would readily tell their friends about and point others to the place where they received it. And so on.

I imagine that through the entertainment of this novel, Unseen, readers will get a fresh and real feel of Ukraine. The reader will gain a deeper empathy for the children there (or anywhere) and their parent’s journey to adopt them.

If you are interested, I would love to send you a free copy of Unseen to review in whichever ebook format you prefer. Just email me at bhistaff@bumblebeehouseink.com or mark@bumblebeehouseink.com for your copy or to answer any questions you may have.

Please tell anyone who you think could benefit from this project.

We would love to be a small participant of bringing together as many families as possible.

Thank you again for your time.

Sincerely,

Mark Graham

919-622-8284

www.bumblebeehouseink.com

UNSEEN story synopsis:
Martin and Jenny Johnson chose to do something different with their vacation and traveled to an orphanage in Southern Ukrainewith a team. Once there, the childless couple fell in love with a little girl, Oksana, and made steps to adopt her. But they soon met with mysterious resistance to the adoption and the child went missing for the rest of their time there. Martin remained in Ukraineto pursue Oksana while Jenny worked from America. Days turned to weeks, and then months. With the help of his taxi driver Dima and Dima's friend Sasha, Martin learned more than he expected.  Neither could have imagined the strange twists and turns that would soon arise. Martin would come to find the depths of a father's love he had never known hidden within himself.