Trail Swap

A beautiful creation came to light a few weeks ago, Trail Swap. This is my first published ebook. This book comes after years of my work and time. I spent years writing daily and forming characters and stories. In 1998 I started writing about Swap and her adventures on the Appalachian Trail. When I started writing about Swap, I was living in the Florida Everglades area as a wilderness counselor. I was sleeping in a tent nightly, and learning aspects of outdoor living.  In 2000 I moved to Boomer, NC and I started the writing stories about Farryn and her adventures with southern hospitality. Then one late night at a local all-night diner, I had the idea to combine the two stories. Right there, Trail Swap was born.
I put the book to the side to marinate and age for about 5 years, my girlfriend at the time encouraged me to write again. I would write and re-write pages, and she would read them and fall in love with the characters as fast as I could imagine them up. I finished the book, and attempted to court several publishers and received rejection letters. Life took over, and the book sat dormant for 6-7 years.
The Christmas of 2012 my mother asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I am a simple person with very few needs. At this point in my life I have everything I need and want. I have a family, my health, and happiness. I conjured something up to ask my mother to get me, a kindle. I was not sure if I would like it. To me, nothing was going to replace that old book smell and the feeling of a book in my hands.
To my surprise, I got the kindle and I was instantly addicted. I frantically searched the internet for free books, downloaded library loaned ebooks, and even bought a couple of books.
Then it hit me. I need to publish an ebook. My book would reach so many people and I can by-pass the grueling publishing process.
Again, I scooted my lopsided office chair to the computer and edited my book 6-7 more times. My wife formatted my book for Amazon, and I downloaded my book.
Ok, actually I made a long story short. . . let's back up. I actually scoured the internet for the following: how to publish an ebook, how to market an ebook, where to publish an ebook, ebook vs print, what to publish, how to make money on an ebook. There were probably a dozen other topics I looked up. Each of these topics had hundreds of websites. I took notes, I printed things out, and I learned. All this information sat neatly in a binder next to the computer. Then one day I bit the bullet, and I downloaded my ebook.
The cover: then in the effort to avoid a horrible looking book cover, my wife went hiking and took a ton of pictures for the cover and made, what I think, is a beautiful, cover for Trail Swap.
There she was born, my first book. One of my life goals was reached. Many more books have started to pour from my veins. Stay tuned.