Sharing Book Trailer

Trailer for Dancing on Mars - now available at Amazon in paperback or Kindle.  Check out the reviews!

Reviews for DANCING ON MARS

It's exciting and gratifying to learn, from reviews and e-mail feedback, that Dancing on Mars seems to be fulfilling its intended purpose—inspiring women, through my own story, to live their lives authentically, more by design than by default.  And I'm finally beginning to exhale, after hearing from a number of enthusiastic women that it's an enjoyable read!

I will share one of the reviews here.  Others are posted at Amazon.  If you'd like to write a review or give Dancing on Mars a shout-out at Goodreads or other such sites, that would be wonderful. 

"What would happen if one woman were to tell the truth about her life? The world would split wide open."(Muriel Rukeseyer)  I danced, laughed and cried with Lucinda as she took me on her journey of self discovery and exploration of her real, deep truth. With her humorous, strong, smart Southern self, she shares her experiences with relationships, love, joy, pain, and happiness in her own unique style that will inspire you to examine your life from a more conscious place of awareness. The interviews of other real women's truth on marriage, divorce and being single were enlightening and a must read for any woman considering any of the three. Dancing On Mars is THE guide for women ready to split the world wide open with their truth and freedom of expression in every aspect of their lives. Buy It. Read It. Do It!

Rosalyn Adams, Charleston, SC

DANCING ON MARS is at Amazon now!

I had thought it would be another week or so before the book was available at Amazon.  But on Sunday March 4, a friend let me know she had just bought a copy.  So we're off!

At this time it is in paperback and for Kindle; soon, I'm told, it will be available for Nook.

Thank you for your enthusiastic response and for the early Amazon reviews.  Keep 'em coming!  :-)
One friend soon will be posting a review on Goodreads.  If you're inclined to visit that site later, it would be great to have a mention there.  It's an interesting site and on my to-do list for a return trip!

Today March winds are tossing clouds of pollen over the landscape.  A small inconvenience in  light of the losses from the recent tornado outbreaks.  May that be the end of natural disasters for a long, long while.  Weather experts (scientists, people) are saying the unusually early, violent tornadic activity is likely due to the warm winter we've had.  It's hard to believe there's anyone on the planet today who doubts the reality, and impact, of global climate change.

May the springtime be a peaceful and quiet one throughout the country and the world.  That is the thought form I am sending out today.

Comments from Pre-publication Readers

This is EveryWoman's book - every age, every experience.  You will laugh, cry and learn through this fascinating, honest and courageous journey to one woman's truth - but you won't put it down.  
          ~ Patricia Mikelson


They say “the truth shall set you free,” and here it is:  a truth-telling memoir about growing up in the small-town segregated South — politics, sex, and religion; relationship, marriage, and motherhood; loss, healing, feminism, and enlightenment; and the bare beauty of a life at home by the water’s edge.  Men may be from Mars and women from Venus for some writers, but Lucinda Shirley is from Earth, and we rejoice that she is here to tell us the good news of living — awake, joyful, and dancing — on this planet!

        ~ Cassie Premo Steele, Pushcart Prize-nominated poet and author of the novel,
 Shamrock and Lotus.

Dancing on Mars is full of both wisdom and humor.  This original approach to complex issues includes a handful of poems, sprinkled throughout the text.  The poems give pause and open small windows onto moments of resonance, enabling us to better see the world through Lucinda Shirley’s eyes.  What an uplifting message.

       ~ Marjory Wentworth, South Carolina Poet Laureate, five-time Pushcart Prize nominee.  Author of four books of poetry, the award-winning children’s story Shackles,  and co-author of Taking a Stand, The Evolution of Human Rights.

Would marrying enhance your life or diminish it?  Lucinda Shirley explores this critical question for women at many stages of their lives, with courage, grace and honesty.

         ~ Sara Davidson, N.Y. Times best-selling author of Leap! and Loose Change 

Sneak Peek

Three authors I admire will have comments for the book's back cover:  Sara Davidson (NY Times best-selling author of Leap! and Loose Change), Cassie Premo Steele (Pushcart Prize nominee and author of two books of poetry and a novel, Shamrock and Lotus), and Marjory Wentworth (South Carolina's Poet Laureate whose poems have been nominated for The Pushcart Prize five times.  Her work includes four poetry books, an award-winning children's story, Shackles, and  Taking a Stand, The Evolution of Human Rights by Juan Mendez with Marjory Wentworth.)

I've told you that All Things That Matter Press selected a photo of one of my paintings for the cover.  Today I can show you what the book's cover will look like!

                                               
I'm happy to share this news on Valentine's Day.  If you like the cover, please leave a comment to celebrate with me!   Let's also celebrate all the love in our lives today and every day.
Thank you for being very much "with me" in this adventure.  I couldn't have gotten this far without your support!

Moving into the Fast Lane!

My patient publisher at All Things That Matter Press is done with edits; he was most gracious about my low-level technical skills throughout that process.  Big exhale after that was done!

I had submitted photos of one of my paintings for consideration when the time came to decide on cover design.  Even though it seemed to me like a fit for the book, I knew there was only a slim chance they'd feel the same way.  So, I didn't get attached to the idea.

Today I'm happy to report that they will use my artwork on the cover!  I hope to post an image here soon. 

The next step will be what's called a "mock-up," last chance for any corrections;  then,  it's production time!

Looks like Dancing on Mars will be blooming with the azaleas and magnolias this spring — definitely before the butter melts on the table here in South Carolina.   Please stay tuned.

Publisher's Edits Begin!

Exciting news:  Yesterday All Things That Matter Press let me know that their edits would begin in the next day or two.  Let the publishing process begin! 

We can't be certain how long this phase will take, since it involves the publisher's editing the manuscript, then sending it to me for any further edits, and my sending it back to them; seems there's one more step before a mock-up, then a review of that before publication.  Thus, it's impossible to have a definite "launch" date with uncertainties about how extensive the edits will be.  But now we know it probably won't be later than Spring.  2012!

I'm ever grateful for your support, affirmation, and offers of help when the time is right to get the word out!  It means so much to have a LOT of help from my friends -- you longtime friends and you new friends I've met along the way.  It's an honor to  have you sharing this journey; it's a longer journey than I imagined when I began writing Dancing on Mars about two and a half years ago.  But you encouraged me and helped me stay focused when it was tempting to give up.  Several of you reminded me that my purpose in writing this book is to share my life experience with others -- especially women who can identify with one aspect or many -- and you reminded me that it would affirm their experiences and inspire them to live more authentically.  Before I begin to sound like a saint (which I ain't!) my intention is also to give them a good read with  some levity in the mix.  Couldn't have gotten this far without you!  

Stay tuned and let's enjoy the rest of the ride!