By November 19: Local Author’s Night in the Topsfield Town Library. Phil Temples displays copies of The Winship Affair.
“Makerspace”
Bewildering Stories has accepted my short story “Makerspace” for publication in an upcoming issue.
“Choreography”
Dual Coast Magazine has accepted my short fiction story “Choreography” for publication.
“Arachnophobia”
Flash Fiction Magazine just accepted my short fantasy story entitled Arachnophobia for publication.
NaNoWriMo Project Turns into “The Winship Affair”
If you’ve ever dreamed of writing a novel, dream no more. Thanks to NaNoWriMo, I produced a murder-mystery story in 2011 that became “The Winship Affair.” It was published as a novel by Blue Mustang Press three years later. If I can do it, anyone can.
“Levinson’s Cat”
The Canadian journal “Polymath” (Vræyda Media) has accepted my fictional story Levinson’s Cat for publication.
Forward Motion
There’s a lot of “forward motion” happening right now with my new novel, “Helltown Chronicles.” Dan, my editor, has completed his first round of edits, and I’m almost finished with my responses. He’s made excellent edits that really add to the quality of the storytelling and that tighten up the plot and dialogue. I’m pleased. Eternal Press will most certainly have my novel on book shelves by year end–hopefully, even sooner.
One Small Step…
I was contacted on Sunday by my publisher and told that my book is in the process of being assigned to an editor. Perhaps it will be published by year’s end. Yay!
Stuck in the Queue
I received word last week from my publisher, Eternal press, that there are still ten books ahead of Helltown Chronicles in the queue. Sigh…
Barb’s First Published Poetry
I’m happy for my spouse, Barb Ariel Cohen, on her debut publication in The Penmen Review, Southern New Hampshire University’s Online Journal for Creative Writers.
“Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands”
The Zodiac Review has accepted my flash sci-fi piece, “Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands” for publication online sometime next week.
Books For Africa
Kwasi Sarkodie-Mensah, Manager of Instructional Services at the O’Neill Library at Boston College, periodically holds a drive to collect books to send to libraries in Africa. He’s a wonderful and caring human being.
The Computer Science Department capitalized on our move this week; its faculty donated many dozens of computer books that were no longer needed. I’m standing next to a pile in our nearly vacated offices in Maloney Hall.
If anyone else out there in FB-land has old books that they hate throw away, please consider this worthy cause. If you’re in the Boston area, I’d be happy to act as a go-between. Or if you live further away and could afford the shipping charges to Boston, I’m sure that Kwasi would love to receive even more books. The books don’t have to be textbooks, incidentally. Kwasi and his colleagues collect and ship all sorts of books to Africa.
The Wait Begins
Received an update from the publisher today:
I see Helltown Chronicles on the book tracking sheet. It’s waiting for an editor. Relax for now. It may be a while since there are several books ahead of it in the queue.
The wait begins…
The Infamous “Highway To Hell”
I did a double-take when I spotted this recent post by George Takei on Facebook. It’s a photo of the infamous “Highway to Hell,” a.k.a. Stanford Road in Helltown, Ohio.
Porter Square Books
Several copies of The Winship Affair now grace the book shelves of Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Even Canines Enjoy The Winship Affair
Even canines enjoy reading The Winship Affair! Shown here: Pat Tice and “Jasper” of Woodbury, Minnesota.
Creepy Cemetery Scene
Kicking Back
Renowned author Michael C. Keith (“If Things Were Made To Last Forever,” et. al.) kicks back and enjoys a chapter from The Winship Affair.
Manuscript Accepted!
I received this email last week while at camp in Minnesota. Needless to say, it made my day!
Dear Mr. Temples:
Your paranormal novel Helltown Chronicles is accepted for publication by Eternal Press.
I’ve attached the Author Formatting Guidelines. You’ll be receiving an email with a Contract and an Author Information Sheet.Congratulations!
Erin
—
Erin Lale, Acquisitions Editor
Eternal Press
Helltown Synopsis
Here is a synopsis for my new book “Helltown Chronicles”:
In the 1970s, the town of Boston Mills, Ohio was turned into a ghost town practically overnight when the U.S. Department of Interior seized lands and condemned homes and properties in order to expand the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. In the years since, a multitude of mysterious tales and ghost stories have sprung forth concerning the macabre remains, known as “Helltown.”
Newspaper reporters Jerry Wolanski, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Susan Wong, of Toronto, Ontario, are both sent to Akron, Ohio by their respective editors, tasked with writing “fluff” Halloween pieces about Helltown. They happen to meet under bizarre circumstances in a cemetery, and decide to join forces. Soon they find themselves experiencing first-hand Helltown’s reputation for horror, intrigue, and the supernatural.
Along the way, Jerry and Susan meet up with a pair up of unlikely allies: Astarte, a New Age bookstore proprietor who practices witchcraft, and her ex-husband, Frank, a retired police detective turned private eye. With Astarte and Frank’s assistance, the reporters chronicle Helltown’s sagas and–in the process–they must destroy a malevolent force that they’ve unwittingly unleashed before it destroys them.
Shocking Passage”
Leslie Douglas of Boston College reads a shocking passage in “The Winship Affair.”
“Book End”
The Winship Affair ended up as a “book end” on a crowded shelf in the mystery section of Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA. (I swear, I didn’t stage it!) Good exposure, if I may say so!
“Winship Affair” Copy Purchase by BC Libraries
Yippee! I received this note from the Boston College Libraries:
…The item that you recommended has been added to the collection. To submit a hold request, please visit Holmes: http://www.bc.edu/libraries/ or contact a member of library staff at 617-552-8038 :
Title : Winship Affair., Blue Mustang Press, 2014., 9781935199182, ISBN
Call Number : PS3620.E465 W56 2014
Owning Library: O’Neill
Another Satisfied Customer
I’m reading The Winship Affair by my friend Phil Temples. A great book! Even Tsunami of Sound is in there on page 102! Please get this book! You won’t put it down! –Rick Sanger
“A Little Honey”
“Heater” has accepted my short story, A Little Honey for publication in a future issue.
Autographs
Yesterday, I read to the fourth graders at the St. Columbkille Partnership School in Brighton, as part of BC’s Read Aloud program. Previously, I had mentioned to the kids that I was now a published author. They begged me to read from my book, The Winship Affair. I told them that it was for “adults only” but the prologue is “G-rated” so I read that section to them. Afterwards, about a dozen came up to me with little scraps of paper. They all wanted my autograph!
Royalty Check from Blue Mustang Press
It’s amusing how many of my friends think that I’m going to make a lot of money from publishing a novel. Shown here is my first (and possibly last) royalty check from book sales. A large part of this “profit” is no doubt derived from the book copies that I personally purchased for gift copies for friends and family. 
But, hey, at least I did not “self publish” which means someone else believed in the book and underwrote the production costs.
Indiana Market
After a pleasant conversation with the store manager, Von’s Books in West Lafayette, Indiana has agreed to carry copies of The Winship Affair. It’s a great little independent book store! http://www.vonsshops.com/Book_Shop.html
Harvard Cooperative Society Stocks “The Winship Affair”
There’s something magical about seeing your novel appear for the first time in a world-class bookstore! Here are copies of The Winship Affair in the mystery/fiction section of the Harvard Cooperative Society (a.k.a. “The Coop”) in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
First Hard Copy!
Posing with my very first hard copy of the new book!
Front and Back
Another Blurb
Here’s another blurb from the back cover of The Winship Affair:
A grisly murder under the dark moonless sky and a mysterious package in the mail set the perfect stage for intrigue in this sophisticated nail-biting page turner. […] With style, wit, and a robust cast of fascinating characters, The Winship Affair keeps readers in their seat right up until the last page.
-Robin Stratton, Boston Literary Magazine
E-book First, Then Printed Copy
I queried my publisher today regarding availability of the novel in e-book format. Here is their reply, “the e-book has been uploaded to Amazon’s Kindle library…it should appear there sometime today or early tomorrow…it does take them a few more days to get it linked up with the printed copy as well. Or, rather, it has in the past at any rate…”
Finally Here?
I think it’s finally here!
McKeen Blurb
Here’s one of the blurbs for the novel that will grace the back cover. William McKeen, a successful Boston area writer (“Outlaw Journalist” and “Mile Marker Zero”) and Chairman of the Boston University Journalism Department writes:
This is one of those books that you pick up and when you blink you realize you’d just read 60 pages. It’s written with the economy of James M. Cain and the quiet grace of Robert B. Parker. You’ll fall in love with the heroine, Carrie Bloomfield. This is a stunningly good tale.
Cover Art Proof
Book cover design proof came back from the publisher, I like it a lot! Will post here when minor text corrections have been made.
Getting Closer
The publication of my novel “The Winship Affair” is getting closer by the day. Yesterday, my publisher, Blue Mustang Press, wrote back, “We are in the last couple of weeks…this should be go quite quickly now.” I hope so. It’s been a long road. I finished the first draft of the novel at the end of November, 2011. I submitted it to the publisher in January, 2012, and it was accepted in July, 2012. (Patience, Grasshopper!)
Winship Teaser
Here’s the teaser that will probably find its way onto the back cover:
“Life is about to become much more interesting for Carrie Bloomfield, an eccentric, but brilliant, multidisciplinary scientist living in Cambridge, Massachusetts. When a mysterious package from a deceased scientist turns up on her doorstep, she soon discovers that its secrets could lead to technologies that might revolutionize the world’s energy supply. But it seems that a shadowy multinational corporation knows about the materials, too. They’re determined to have the discoveries for themselves. And they’re not about to allow the law, ethics, or especially, a quirky scientist to stand in their way.”
It Feels Very Real
After almost a year and a half, the book feels very real. I received the galley proofs yesterday, and finished a final read through. I spotted only a handful of corrections that need to be made. Seeing it laid out in book format makes all the difference in the world! Next milestone: awaiting word from the publisher about the cover art design.
Go Into the Arts
“Boogeyman”
Received word that my flash fiction story “Boogeyman” has been accepted for publication in late January in “BLINK! Fiction for the Time Impaired.”
“Unrequited Love”
Boston Literary Magazine has accepted my flash fiction piece entitled “Unrequited Love” for publication in its December, 2012 issue.
“Valley of Gold” and “Tormentors”
I’m happy to report that Separate Worlds has accepted two of my short ficton stories, “Valley of Gold” and “Tormentors” for publication in its December, 2012 issue!
Blue Mustang Press: “A Nice Addition”
Finally! After months of sitting on pins and needles, I received word this morning from my publisher:
I did want to let you know that we’ve reviewed “The Winship Affair” and feel it would be a nice addition to the Blue Mustang Press family. We’ll be emailing you a contract in a few days.”
Yes! My first full length fictional novel, which I began writing for the 2011 National Novel Writing Month project, is slated to appear in print and e-book format in the first half of 2013. Here is a brief synopsis:
“Life is about to become interesting for Carrie Bloomfield, an eccentric, but brilliant multidisciplinary scientist living in Cambridge, MA. When a mysterious package from a murdered scientist turns up on her doorstep, she soon realizes that its secrets could lead to technologies that will revolutionize the world’s energy supply. But a shadowy, multinational corporation knows about the materials, too. They’re determined to have it for themselves. And they’re not about to allow the law, ethics — or especially, a quirky scientist — stand in their way.”
First Acceptance!
I’m psyched. After years of writing flash- and short sci-fi/fantasy stories for my own amusement, I submitted one of my stories to an online publisher for the very first time. Last night, I received my first acceptance! And, it made sending out those “withdrawal” emails to the other publishers who I hadn’t yet heard from a very satisfying experience. 
NaNoWriMo: First Week
First week of “literary abandon” in the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is now under my belt, and it’s going better than I thought. Until now, I’ve written only uber short-short and flash fiction stories. Writing a full-length novel will a formidable challenge. I’m getting a lot of help for the scientific dialogue from my better half, Ariel. Currently, my word count stands at 10,958. I have until Nov. 30. to reach 50,000 words.
“All In” for NaNoWriMo
I’ve decided to go all in and sign up for the 2011 National Novel Writing Month. Although you’re not allowed to actually start writing until Nov. 1, you can come up with a plot, outline, etc. ahead of time. I think I’ve solidified in my mind the main character, plot, and so forth. It takes place in the Boston area and involves a female scientist. The fictional story draws on some elements of a certain person I know well. 😉