Books

Signing and Book Talk Event!

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Please see the following press release and come on out if you’re in driving distance!

Writers Circle to host M. Reed McCall

GLOVERSVILLE – Novelist M. Reed McCall will be the visiting author at The Writers Circle’s Author Luncheon on Friday, July 17 at 11 a.m. at the Gloversville Senior Center. 

McCall is the author of the recently published “Moose Tracks on the Road to Heaven,” a humorous, quirky, and poignant novel about family, friendship, love, loss, and coming to terms with what it means to keep living when someone you love dies.

The author will discuss her work from 11 a.m. to noon, when a light lunch will be served. Copies of her book will be available for signing. The public is invited. $5 payable at door. For further information, call Ellen DiScioscia at the center, 725-0923.

FINAL COVER MOOSE TRACKSAs Mary Reed McCall, she published seven historical romance novels with HarperCollins Publishers. “Moose Tracks on the Road to Heaven” is her first work of mainstream contemporary fiction. Born in Rome, NY, Mary makes her permanent home in Upstate New York with her husband and children. When she is not writing or involved with family activities, she teaches high school and college-level English.

 

Foreword Review!

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Moose Tracks on the Road to Heaven

Reviewed by Maya Fleischmann
April 29, 2015

A woman discovers her rich relationships in this exquisite exploration into themes of time and connections, love and loss.

Moose Tracks on the Road to Heaven tells the story of protagonist Elena Elizabeth Wright Maguire, who reexamines her life and relationships after she is involved in a minor car accident.

M. Reed McCall skillfully transitions between different periods with segues that invite further exploration into memories triggered by a comment made in the present. For example, when Pa says he can hardly wait to put Christmas decorations around the house, the narrative flashes back thirty-two years to the Christmas Eve when Elena was almost seven years old. This movement in the narrative not only serves to keep the story flowing but also creates an intriguing and natural flow in the stream of connections that Elena makes as she unravels the journey she has made in her life.

McCall captures the unique voices of different personalities and their relationships with one another with evocative and heartfelt precision. This creates a vivid image, not only about Elena, but also about the people around her and the place she lives. This is clear in Pa’s letters to Elena, which offer wisdom, and in radio disc jockey Willard T. Bogg’s announcements on WGRR FM 103.9 about the events in Moose Junction. Elena’s transformation to a mature woman is contrasted with her past idealistic and youthful eighteen-year-old voice in a diary entry about her love, Jesse: “I can’t wait to give Jesse the card and giant Hershey’s chocolate bar I bought for him. I’m SO in love!!!”

While the narrative itself is deeply moving, the black-and-white photographs scattered throughout further contribute to the story’s heartrending quality by lending a unique sense of reality to the story and giving it the feel of a personal history unfolding, adding to the book’s allure and effectiveness.

Moose Tracks on the Road to Heaven forges a path straight to the heart.

**For a limited time, Moose Tracks on the Road to Heaven is still on sale for $2.99 for Kindle and Nook!

Moose Tracks – a BIG Sale

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MooseTracks_CoverPSA: For the merry month of May, Moose Tracks on the Road to Heaven is going to be priced at 40% off its original price for Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nook. That means you can get it from either of those eBook sources for only $2.99 (which is a whopping 79% off its print price)!

Here are the links for Amazon or Nook

If you like a good book deal as much as I do, please feel free to share this info via re-blogging or anywhere else that strikes your fancy. 🙂

Happy shopping…and reading!

Independent Bookstore Day

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indepdendent bookstore dayGet out and show the love at your local independent bookstore – often the only stores willing to offer for sale some of the so many wonderful novels not put out by the Big Five publishers. And it supports your local economy, too! 🙂

Life Might Not Be Fair, But It’s Beautiful

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20994_969605946384560_4690850952568560146_nThe Princess Bride is one of my favorite movies (for many reasons, Cary Elwes among them) and this quote that reminds me in a clever way that life is to be lived, in all of its tragic, beautiful, messy, wonderful glory.

That said, there are multiple ways I can “take” this quote, depending on my mood.

Anyone else have a reaction to it that is similar or different from mine here? 🙂

How Do You Act When…?

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two things define youThis really resonates with me. I’ve run into people who exemplify this in a good way and other who do not.

Sadly, in the writing business, it seems to lean toward the negative. I saw it occasionally when I was traditionally published, but I realize now that my Big Five publisher served as a kind of buffer; once I took a step out on my own into self-publishing (partly by necessity, partly by choice), that little cushion of professional courtesy vanished.

Lately I have run into some who are in the camp of “having everything” figuratively (whether fellow authors, publishers, reviewers, book sellers, and larger review sites etc) who often do not handle themselves well in this regard. I’ve noticed it in the past few months when I’ve reached out with a request or a submission of my newest book for possible review.

I’m not talking about the need for time-intensive interaction, but rather just simple gestures such as a 30 second email acknowledging a query or receipt of the $14 autographed book with professional cover letter I mailed to those with open submission policies (I did my research!) – even if the answer is a “no thank you”.  A polite reply declining what I’ve queried about is far preferable than resounding silence that drags on, leaving me wondering what, if anything, will happen.

I continue to remain very patient in my relative obscurity…however, I hope I will handle myself better when (not if…when) I attain a level of greater notoriety.

Fortunately, I have encountered several authors, bloggers, and reviewers who have been courteous and gracious, whether or not they felt willing or able to meet any request I made. Those few will serve as my own role models in the future.

Professional courtesy seems to be going out of style. Life is indeed busy and packed full for most of us, but to me, good manners, even in a professional sense, are the lubrication that makes the grinding gears of life grind us down far less.

What do you think about this? Does anyone here have similar experiences (or a different take on the matter)?

Moose Tracks Makes a List!

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Although my re-published historical romance novels Secret Vows and The Templar’s Seduction have made sales lists recently at amazon.com US (in the “Medieval” or “Scottish” categories), my newest release, the Women’s Fiction novel Moose Tracks on the Road to Heaven, has not done so in the US as of yet. But as of this morning, the same can’t be said of amazon.com Australia, LOL!

Moose Tracks listing in Australia

Moose Tracks listing in Australia!

 

 

 

Take a look at this screen shot from this morning.

 

Pretty cool.

imageWho would have thought?  I’ve been international with many of my historical romances for quite a few years (they’ve been published – with really neat and very different covers – in Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, German, French, Slovakian, Dutch, etc.), as you can see here.

But making an international sales list is a first for Moose Tracks.  Many thanks to readers in Australia for this happy little perk to my day! 🙂

Price Drop!

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MooseTracks_CoverIt seems there’s been a slight price drop over at amazon for the kindle edition of Moose Tracks on the Road to Heaven! It’s not a huge drop, but, hey, as a reader, I always go by the mantra that every little bit counts, especially for a long book (104,000 words or 347 print pages) like this one.

When you consider that HarperCollins/Avon used to sell my little mass market-sized paperbacks for $5.99 more than a decade ago – and they’re still selling the titles they maintain rights over for that price, with the kindle editions at $5.69 – this is a veritable bargain by comparison. 🙂

PS: if you want to go right to the book at amazon to read more about it/get the deal, then click on the cover or the title link above. Or follow this link to get the same info/back cover blurb/excerpt right here on my website-blog.

And that concludes my PSA for the weekend!

Goodbye/Hello

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PauloThis thought is courtesy of today’s “Good Earth” tea bag. 🙂

It really struck me, because I’ve had quite a few goodbyes in the past four years…some willing and some very unwilling. I can’t say I’ve always been brave about it. But sometimes I have been.

Nuber family gathering 1967 enhanced cropped 2Pa and Mary before Mary's prom 1984 editedPa and Mary editedWhen my father died almost four years ago and I had to say goodbye to him, I was brave. He had been cheering me on to write Moose Tracks on the Road to Heaven for about two years leading up to his death, and afterward, I faced my fears, a new door opened, and I managed to finish it in a way that made me – and I hope would have made him – proud.

mother's heartWhen my then high school-aged daughter was hospitalized with an unexpected and incurable (albeit treatable) illness and I had to say goodbye to the safe and secure understanding of the world that I’d known up until then, I went through a period of shock, disruption and fear. But I ended up being brave. A new door opened over time – one of insight, knowledge, and the discovery of even deeper reserves of love – and it allowed me to be even more the kind of mother and wife I strive to be.

MooseTracks_CoverMost recently, when Moose Tracks ran into some road blocks and things didn’t go exactly as I’d planned, I was forced to say goodbye to the publication path I’d intended for it. And for the briefest of moments, I considered throwing in the towel. It had been a LONG haul…literally years of work and obstacles, tears and laughter, and digging deeper than I’d ever dug before. I was tired. But in the end I found reserves of bravery, and for every door that closed in front of me, I forced myself to face my discomfort, turn a corner, and find a new one to open. The last of these doors led to the publication of this novel that has meant so much to me…and according to early readers and two recent reviews, has been useful and enjoyable to others as well, striking the kind of chord and providing some of the thoughts, insights, and hopefulness that I was aiming to share with the rest of the world all along. I have high hopes that over time, this book will find the readers it’s meant to find, and all will unfold the way it is supposed to.

Life is good.

When we are brave enough to say goodbye…sometimes we are rewarded with a new hello. 🙂