"Westward: The Novel" is Available Soon !

                           It's 6x9inches and 322 pages


                     Today I received the galley copy of "Westward: The Novel".  After verifying that all is as intended, I will have a release date for it soon.  Thank you to all who have waited patiently for it.  For those of you who are hearing about it for the first time, it is a contemporary tale of life's trials and tribulations, and then an unexpected romance, which actually complicates life sometimes more than it smooths things over.  In the time since the book concluded, I can tell you that I have missed some of the characters. Perhaps another novel will someday be written about some of the secondary characters in "Westward: The Novel".

Update on "Westward: The Novel" Release

             The last two posts were written a few weeks ago as the book project was coming together. Then today, I published them so that interested readers could see how the project was taking shape.  I think we stand probably about two weeks from the release of this book, but I will keep you informed.

               The final cover will have the drawing of two of the main characters, that you see below, superimposed on a maritime scene as it approximates one of the places they traveled in one of the chapters of the book.

                Thank you for your patience as this book readies for market.

The Cover Elements on Westward:The Novel

                   As the written content of a book is finished, is read, and then edited and re-edited, then the elements of the book cover need to be gathered. It helps when the author has some kind of an idea of the concept to be shared with the graphic designer who designs the cover.

                   As Westward: The Novel was completed, I realized that we needed to have a picture that was at least a likeness to two of the characters in the book.

                    The above is the first drawing of the characters as I described them to Edit Sullivan who drew this particular cover element.

                      Then there will likely be some subtle changes to the drawing and some shading prior to its being turned over to the cover artist who will decide how it is to be used.  The good news is that it's coming along.






                 

Welcome to Westward: The Novel

            

            Westward: The Novel, is my fifth book, and second novel and is due to be released sometime in the second half of 2018.   Although I have written about families in the past, this is the first time I have also told a love story which unfolds throughout this book.

               In Westward: The Novel, a woman with four young children is suddenly widowed, at the beginning of her husband's second career, which is as an attorney. She believes that she must return to work to support the family.  Her concerns are magnified by the fact that both her parents, and her in-laws are dead also.  With the help of neighbors and friends, she starts a new job, and slowly begins to carve a new normal for them all.

              Westward: The Novel is the story of how she meets these specific challenges, and then copes with the obstacles presented involving the meeting of the second great love of her life.  It is also the story of how she learns and makes missteps in the gradual process of relinquishing control of her life and that of her young family to another man.

               Meanwhile, the second great love of her life has never been married or had children, and although he is eager and willing to learn,  life has brought less obvious challenges for him too.

                The story is intended to be an inspiring, sweet at times, realistic but also optimistic look at life, love and the blending and resiliency of families.  Most of us have known a period of time in which we lost almost everything only to redefine ourselves and start again.  This is the story of one such woman, and her family.