Hello friends and fans!
Welcome to my 54th newsletter!
Pull up a chair, let’s chat!
Let’s take a look at this months’ news!
May is history now, and June is upon us! Unlike previous months, I have a lot more personal real-life news to share with you this time! In fact, the ink on my previous newsletter for May was barely dry, when I received a huge chunk of good news!
I Got Signed With A Publisher – That’s Right ANOTHER One!
Yes, I now have two publishers! Wait – let me start at the beginning: For just over a year now, I’ve been with an American publishing company, a small traditional press called Moon Books Publishing. They (Brandon and Elizabeth Mullins) operating out of Indiana, have been very good to me, and over-all I’m very happy with our working arrangement.
As I explained in numerous previous communiques, having a foreign publisher gets my books available all over the planet – except in South Africa, where the clocks run backwards and you still pretty much can’t get your books sold locally as eBooks alongside your paperback or audiobook versions! This also makes having book signings and “meet the author” events somewhat pointless. So, to sum up, I’ve been trying to break into the local South African publishing market for decades, largely to no avail – there simply weren’t any modern publishers operating in SA that offered anything of interest to me.
The large corporate publishers operate on a strictly traditional basis and won’t even so much as speak to an author unless you work through an archaic, arcane sort of creature called “a literary agent” – and over the last decade, I emailed all four literary agents I could trace in the country, and to date never received a response from them! Sending them emails is like writing notes on paper, crumpling them into tight little balls, and chucking them into a toilet bowl! As far as I’m concerned, if you’re one of these so-called South African “literary agents” that I emailed between 2006 and 2020 – lacking the good manners to even reply, you can just go and get fucked! You (and the giant corporate publishers in South Africa) are a major part of what’s wrong with this country’s publishing industry!
These same corporate publishing entities sideline authors and refer them to a pay-to-print “imprint” belonging to them, which basically means they will publish your book for you – once you pay them the price of a medium-sized house for the editing, formatting and printing of the book! Some of them will even include an eBook file for you, while fully aware that local book stores (including Takealot) don’t sell eBooks! Trouble is, then you’re on your own – with a box of books dumped at your door! *Whoop-whoop!* Vanity press alert! …No thank you!
Cue Hally Park Publishers – an emerging new-age South African traditional publishing company… I mentioned (in an earlier newsletter) having made an arrangement with them last year to distribute my already published works through their website as eBooks. Unlike the rest of SA’s plodding archaic, steam-powered publishing industry, they show an interest in e-formats and a connection between excellent story material and it finding its way into visual media! That’s because, unlike the clunking old-school behemoths, Hally Park are an indie publisher. Unlike other indie publishers (and also unlike local “assisted self-publishing platforms”) Hally Park also have agreements with the South African Department of Education and the SABC.
To cut a long story short, during the past month I was invited to join them and have them re-publish my books for the South African market – with a view to distribution into local libraries and schools – and the possibility that my stories may also find their way onto SA film-making. Can you say “tantalizing”? Also, I didn’t have to pay a cent – and they were also generous enough to not expect me to take down pre-existing books from anywhere else they’re already available! Tantalizing indeed!
Over the past few weeks I’ve been kept updated in terms of progress, since Hally Park intend to go over all the manuscripts and content, edit and format, and design their own covers etc. for my books! I’m really happy about this, because it will mean I’ll be able to have those long overdue book launches and signings! Did you know, I have 30-odd books available overseas and not once have I been able to have a book launch or book signing (that’s right, not a single one!) because no local bookstore has to date carried my books! Hopefully this will change now.
The good news for you is, the flexibility of this arrangement will not affect the rest of my books that are already available on Amazon, Audible, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, Kobo, Moon Books and Smashwords so you will still find them there in all those places, and this is unlikely to change in future! As always, I’ll keep you in the loop!
A Relaunch Of My YouTube Channel!
Anyone who knows me knows I’m not comfortable in front of video cameras or microphones – in spite of the number of interviews I’ve already done while I was involved in human rights activism (with ECGLA and SAGLAAD)! Nevertheless, if you snooze, you lose – so I finally bit the bullet and posted the first of a series of new in-person videos on my YouTube channel (shouldn’t that be MeTube??) anyway, the first one was a brief first-person introduction – this is me, I’m a writer, I’m a transwoman, yes I’m not happy about my voice either – deal with it.. I have to!
Two of the videos are readings from my books and over-all, I’ve had a pretty good response to my first five new videos so far – pop along and have a look!
A Mish-Mash Of General News
On top of everything else, I also had to deal with conjunctivitis (aka pink eye) in my right eye. This made seeing a bit difficult for a while, and took about a week to clear up, but now I’m perfectly fine again. Fortunately it didn’t spread to my left eye, or to anyone else!
During May I also managed to fit an intermittent wiper system to my 1962 Beetle daily driver, “Dolly” – which has made driving in light drizzle much more pleasant. As you can see in the short video below, they work perfectly!
It may seem like a small thing, but intermittent wipers certainly make things a lot easier and more pleasant on an old car – especially one being used as a daily driver!
I also had the inconvenience of having my laptop PC die on me three weeks ago. Fortunately it’s a rent-to-own item from Teljoy, so the repairs are on them – unfortunately, I still waited over two weeks for the technician to collect the damn thing, prompting me to want to cancel the contract! In the meantime, I’d been struggling on with my previous old laptop – a 12 year old fall-back unit that has half the ram and whose keyboard doesn’t work anymore so I had to lug around a spare USB keyboard everywhere it went! Due to Teljoy’s lackluster “support”, I was forced to get myself into some debt to buy a decent replacement on credit! Fortunately the new machine is twice as good as the previous one, which I can see will make life so much easier (and also much more fun) to use!
During the times I wasn’t writing, I spent some time listening to Nigel Peever’s recording of “Demonspawn“.
I haven’t really had the time to do so before… I have to admit, I’m very, very impressed! I know it’s my own story and you might think I’m tooting my own horn here, but his narration has me spellbound! It’s like listening to an old timey radio drama!
Why not give it a listen yourself? You can find it on Audible and Amazon.
I also spent two weekends in May refurbishing an antique Singer sewing machine table (which will be appearing on my DIY site soon, and probably in the Weekend Post column soon as well).
Anyway, let’s get to it and take a look at the usual list of goodies!
Current Writing Projects
I’m happy to say I added an extra few thousand words to the manuscript of “Sentinel” in the past month. The word-count is now over 50 thousand words, and as far as I can tell, the story is only about two thirds of the way finished! Sentinel is the new upcoming fourth book in Galaxii! I’m really excited about this story – actually I probably say that about every story I write – each one is different and unique in its own way! Yesterday (the 31st) I reached a small personal milestone, in that Sentinel’s word-count surpassed the word-count of its preceding title, “Dead Beckoning“! Book 3 is the shortest of the first three books in Galaxii, and I’ll have to see where the story takes me, and how many words the final count will be!
“Sentinel” will probably take a while before you find it either online or on a shelf, because a) I still have to finish writing it and b) it will only be published through Hally Park publishers – that is, exclusively – and they still have to release my existing titles in eBook and paperback before they get to any new titles!
Videos
You’re welcome to browse through the videos on my YouTube video channel! There’s a stack of new videos on there – well, okay – five new ones since I started posting “Author’s Vlog” videos!
Publishing
These are the new titles I’ve published in 2021 so far! The first 3 are academic papers, but I still have a few new fiction works in progress and should finish some during the year!
New Releases:
After the three academic papers I put out early this year, I also released the new updated Portfolio 2021, as well as a updated second edition of “The Galaxii Guide To The Terran Space Fleet“. Both are free items for your information and enjoyment.
Audiobooks
I have 5 audiobooks available on Audible and Amazon! Click the links in the slideshow below to view titles available as audiobooks.
I’m happy to tell you that work is progressing on the recording of “Black Sunrise“, the very first title in the Quantum Series! The narrator, Darla Middlebrook is a thoroughly professional voice actress keen to get the pronunciation of Ruminarii words and other place names in the story just right! She also reported that:
“I want you to know that I am really enjoying the preparation read-through for Black Sunrise. Chuckling and laughing out loud a lot.” …”when I read it aloud to a few of my friends as part of my practice, I had a hard time keeping a straight face. So we all are enjoying your book!” …”Trying not to laugh when narrating the story is my main problem with the script (not a problem really).” – Darla Middlebrook, voice actor and narrator of “Black Sunrise”, May 18, 2021.
Stay tuned for new releases and updates!
Reviews
I have two brand new reviews to show you in this section this time!
“Christina Engela gives us a master class on how to do it just right in this book.”
“‘Other Kids Are Kids Almost Just Like You’ digs deep into the reality that children come in all shapes and sizes. But more importantly, it’s perfectly okay that they do! There are so many impactful lines of text in this book that it would be impossible to select my favorite. Come see for yourself!
Rhyming can be difficult for many children’s book authors. However, author Christina Engela gives us a master class on how to do it just right in this book. The words flow beautifully. It’s as if they bounce from page to page. Further, the words are so carefully chosen to meet the creative illustrations that capture the uniqueness of every child portrayed. This is why I think it’s an “instant classic,” and give it five stars. I highly recommend this book for anyone rearing children in today’s diverse world!” – Dr. Robert F. DeFinis, Ed.D. March 18, 2021.
Book Review – Static: Panic! Horror in Space Book 1
“All things considered, Static: Panic! Horror in Space Book 1 provides amusing and light-hearted action within a science-fiction setting, sprinkled with the odd spooky scene and a strong comic current too.” – J.D. Keown (for Night Terror Novels), May 24, 2021.
You can see all my previous reviews here. If you would like to do a review of one of my books, please do get in touch!
Currently Available Titles
My books are available as eBooks, Paperbacks, and Audiobooks, and you can find them everywhere. Click the links in the slideshow below to view titles available in these formats.
If you’re still wondering where to find them in the format of your choice, you should read “Where To Get My Books – Specially For My South African Readers!“.
Communication
Below are links to a few of my most recent posts since my previous newsletter:
- A Peek At My Week! #5
- Two Super New Reviews!
- A Peek At My Week! #4
- A Peek At My Week! #3
- A Peek At My Week! #2
- It’s Time… To Panic! About Panic! Horror In Space!
- A Relaunch Of My YouTube Channel!
- A Peek At My Week!
- Christina Engela’s Monthly Newsletter: #53 May 2021
Interactions
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Fan Mail, Reader Reviews & Honorable Mentions
I have the following awesome items to show you this month.
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- My articles in the “DIY on a Dime” column in the Weekend Post shows up in my searches. Unfortunately not all of them include photos as do my original articles on the Innovation DIY site.
- My awesome 2017 interview with Focus LGBT+ also turned up in my search this time.
- Barnes & Noble have e-copies of “Waiter, There’s A Bigot In My Soup!” available.
I display my Fan Mail & Compliments with pride, gratitude and humility. You’re always welcome to have a look.
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Hate Mail & Horrible Mentions
Surprisingly, I still haven’t received any hate mail this month either – wonder what I’ve done wrong? How could I possibly have failed to piss anyone off this past month? Oh dear. Perhaps I need new haters? They seem to have forgotten about me! Or… maybe I’ve outlived them?
- I’m rather proud of my hate mail, and you can review my collection here – but be forewarned, don’t do it while eating or drinking, or you might choke while laughing!
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Interviews
- All my interviews are linked to from this page. If you would like to do an interview with me about my work, please do get in touch!
In Closing
Well, that’s all for this time, folks!
Thanks again for all your support, sharing, friendship and interaction!
As always, feel free to email or message me via Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn if you have any comments or questions!
Cheers!
Catch me on social media!
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All material copyright © Christina Engela, 2021.