I will list the names of those who won here on the blog later today, or early tomorrow.

For those who didn’t win, keep checking in here. I’ll do this again next time I receive some extra books. It was fun giving them away and even better hearing from my friends!

Kids if you want a free signed copy of one of my books go to my webpage and enter a contest. I’m running a contest right now. The address is: http://rolandsmith.com

Good luck!

My answer has always been:  “One.”

This summer I’m going to change that up.  I have several books under contract, and I’m going to work on four of them simultaneously.  I’ve already started two of the books, and in the next couple weeks, all four will be rolling.

I don’t recommend this to someone who’s writing their first or second novel.  The chances are that you will eventually have a pile of unfinished books stuffed in drawers.  When the writing gets tough (which it does everyday BTW… forever) new writers are tempted to switch their attention to a new story, and if they do, somehow they never get back to the previous attempt.

So why am I trying this?  I’ve written over a dozen novels and I know how to finish a novel.  (In fact, one of the differences between an “author” and a “writer” is that an author finishes what he or she is working on).   Writing doesn’t get easier (In fact, I think it gets harder because your standards and expectations increase).  But one thing you do get better at, with experience, is keeping story lines separate in your head.   This includes your various character’s voices and their Point of View within that story.

When I’m on the road, with hotels, airplanes, speaking, and meeting people, it’s all I can do to keep one book going.  At home, the only thing I really have to do is find my office, sit down, and write.

I tend to “fiddle” with stories, even when I’m only working on one story.  I take it out and correct a sentence, or a word here or there while I’m in the middle of doing other things like hanging out with the grandsons, or watching a movie on TV.

I’ll have four books to fiddle with over the summer and I’ll keep all of you up to date on this bold experiment as it progresses.

That taken care of, and the donut consumed, I’m in the bedroom working on I,Q 2, while Marie is in the courtyard scrubbing bricks (I’m not kidding) so she can put sealer on them.  I definitely have the better of the two jobs today…

Aside from the donut there were a couple other minor distractions.  Marie’s earring came apart and got sucked up into the shop vac.  Amazingly we found the five tiny silver pieces and I got the earring back together good as new.  The kitchen cabinets arrived…well enough of them so the tile guy can start laying counter tile on Monday. And we discovered that the way they level ovens down here is with Coke caps.  (The ovens don’t have adjustable feet).  The caps actually work quite well.  Oh…and we’re almost out of water.  No showers until the waterman shows up and fills the tank.  We’re hoping he comes today.

Three steps forward, one step back.  On further consideration I cut out a major plot twist in IQ2 today.  I hate doing that, but there wasn’t much choice.  It was just a tad too much.  If I’d left the scenes in it would have been very difficult to resolve the conflict.  The scenes were affecting the characters reaction, or lack of reaction to the events.  Sorry to be so obtuse.  It’s not easy writing about how I’m writing a story without giving the story away.  Some day after you’ve read the book (and if I ever meet you) make sure you ask me about this and I’ll tell you exactly what happened here.

When you’re writing a novel, or a story, everything you add and take away affects everything else in the story.  It means you have to go back and consider what affect the cut or addition has on what you’ve already written.

Ahh… Marie is able to sense this author’s troubled  mind.  She just brought in a plate  of rice, avocado, cucumbers, and couple of quesadillas, which goes a long way in making up for the sections I just had to cut out of the story.  The food had a good affect on me.

“Where can one find the world’s largest mounted African elephant? Or the world’s largest blue diamond?  Why, at the world’s largest museum complex and research organization, of course! In S is for Smithsonian® readers can take an armchair tour of the incredible exhibitions and collections found in the Smithsonian Museum. When it opened in 1855, no one could have imagined that the Smithsonian Museum would grow to include: 19 museums, nine research centers, or over 130 million objects, artworks, and specimens collected from all over the world. With over 25 million visitors a year, the Smithsonian truly is the world’s largest museum! See the airplane Amelia Earhart flew on her solo Atlantic flight. Admire diamond earrings that once belonged to Marie Antoinette. From A-Z, S is for Smithsonian® explores the amazing objects and memorable displays that are part of this remarkable museum.”

Dear Mr. Smith,
Thank you for all the great books you have written. I wanted to share a painting my 12 year old son, Samuel did for a book report on Elephant Run this past month. As an audiovisual for his report he decided to do a picture of Jackson and Nick Freestone, Mya, and Hilltop on Hannibal. He worked quite hard on it and included so much detail. The result was a beautiful painting that I love and hope you will enjoy as well. Your book was truly inspiring! If you are ever in Kentucky for any reason we would love to meet you. We are great fans!

Just to clarify TENTACLES is the sequel to CRYPTID HUNTERS.

Can you read the novels out of order? Yes, but it would be better to read them in order.

TENTACLES begins almost immediately after Marty and Grace return from The Congo in Central Africa.

Will there be a 3rd book in the series? The short answer is yes (and probably several more). The longer answer can be found by scrolling through these blog entries to “Will there be a sequel to Cryptid Hunters and Tentacles?”

I’m delighted so many of you are enjoying Tentacles. If you haven’t read Cryptid Hunters I’m certain you’ll like it just as well Tentacles.

Dear Roland,

I’ve never written to an author before but I wanted to tell you how your novel “Peak” came to our family.

Early last year, my 15 year old son Josh was arrested after scaling (free climbing) to the top of our local lighthouse. From what I can tell, the police took him for a “jumper” and were well and truly pissed off to learn, after they’d come rushing from all directions, that he was just doing a recreational climb. They laid tresspass charges against him that luckily we were able to later talk the sergeant into dropping.

And there’s another bit that I have yet to mention…. Josh’s father and I are now separated but we originally met 20 years ago high in the Himalayas while trekking in Nepal, him from Scotland and me from Australia. Unlike Peak’s parents, I have never been a climber but trekking in Nepal has been a huge part of my life.

Sounding familiar?

Anyhow, about 2 weeks after the climbing incident, I came across Peak in our local library and passed it on to Josh thinking he might enjoy reading it.
To my absolute delight, he was completely inspired by it and has asked me to take him to Nepal. So we are off in December for 3 weeks trekking in the Annapurnas (his first time, my fourteenth)

Thank you for your delightful story that resonates so closely to with family’s story (I find it a bit freaky really!) and thank you for helping to get my son to the point where he is wanting to explore the Himalayas I love so much.

Jenny