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BOOK RECIPES: Secret Cuts Cherry Tree Crime, School Intrigue Pique Readers

Research, Writing is Only a Small Part of Self Publishing, Vizard Says

February 3, 2013       Leave a Comment
By: Dave Rogers

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Dave Vizard, Caseville author, meets with a downstate group he calls the Attica Book Club.
 
Cover of Mardi Link's "Secret Cuts" shows scene of crime in Leelanau orchard.

About 80 authors and would-be authors showed up last year at the Wirt Library's presentation on self-publishing.

That turnout indicates how much interest there is in the literary world in self-publishing. Bay City Handy High graduate Mardi Link, a published author of "Isadore's Secret," told of self-publishing a book about the destruction of hundreds of cherry trees near her home in Traverse City.

Ms. Link told the Bay City library group how she raised $2,500 on Kickstarter, an online funding platform for creative projects. Sixty-three investors came forward from all over the country. Link used the money to research and write about the destruction of over 400 cherry trees in Mike and Laurie Kroupa's Leelanau County orchard.

Link's journalistic piece (somewhere between a magazine and a book according to MyNorth.com) is called "Secret Cuts: A Very Cherry Mystery." It's available on Amazon Kindle for $2.99.

Her new novel, "Bootstrapper: From Broke to Badass on a Northern Michigan Farm," is due out from Knopf on June 11. Based on an essay she wrote, the book drew a reported six figure advance. It also will be available on Random House as an audiobook.

The new book is described: "Poignant, irreverent, and hilarious: the memoir of a woman who, after ending her nineteen-year marriage, staves off a perpetually empty bank account, saves her century-old farmhouse from foreclosure with the help of her three young sons, and reclaims her life.

"It's the summer of 2005, and Mardi Jo Link's dream of living the simple life has unraveled into debt, heartbreak, and perpetually ragged cuticles.

"Still, when she and her husband call it quits, leaving her more broke than ever, Link makes a seemingly impossible resolution: to hang on to her northern Michigan farm and continue to raise her boys on well water and wood chopping and dirt.

"Armed with an unfailing sense of humor and her three resolute accomplices, Link confronts blizzards and coyotes, learns about Zen divorce and the best way to butcher a hog, dominates a zucchini-growing contest and wins a year's supply of local bread, masters the art of bargain cooking, deals with rampaging poultry, and finds her way to a truly rich existence.

"Told with endless heart and candor, Bootstrapper is a story of motherhood and survival and self-discovery, of an indomitable woman who, against all the odds, holds on to what matters most."

Dave Vizard, former Bay City Times writer-editor, now living in Caseville, is showing how to successfully promote his self-published book, "A Formula for Murder." (paperback $14.95, Amazon Kindle $4.99)

Vizard announced he had suspended meetings with book clubs for weeks after the shooting of 20 children at Newtown, Connecticut, out of deference to sensibilities of parents.

Vizard has a blog, "Dave Vizard's World," and he recently reported connections he has made with book clubs both in Bay City and in other communities.

He reveals inside scoops on writing a novel, and about his novel in particular. His experience shows budding authors that the job is not all poring over research or pounding a computer keyboard.

He has also met with groups like the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce to describe the self-publishing process and tricks of the trade.

In his blog, he tells of meeting a downstate ladies' group he calls the Attica Book Club:

"Let me just say that these ladies were more than ready to chat. Before my plate was filled and I could reach for the salt, they peppered me with questions about the book, the story line, the characters, and how it all came to be.

"They wanted to know how much of this work of fiction really happened: "Did Nick, or a reporter you know, really lose his pants in a bar over a bet?" Yup, that really happened. And so did most of the other incidents in the book. The story was written from my experiences as a journalist and newspaperman working in mid-Michigan for more than 30 years.

"'Are you Nick, is he your alter ego?'" No, Nick, like all of the other characters in the book, are conglomerations of people I have worked with or known in the business. However, the name - Nick Steele - is real. I went to high school with Nick Steele and always loved his name, thinking it would make a great byline in a newspaper and a great lead character in a novel.

"'Did a band director really take advantage of young girls at Central High School in Bay City as described in your book?'" The abuse actually occurred, as I described it, at Flint Central High School. I changed the location of that incident to fit the overall story.

"They asked me aspects of the story that I had not even considered. And they even offered up what I thought was an interesting alternative ending.

"After just over two hours of non-stop discussion, I was worn out and they were tapped out of questions. From my point of view, it was a great night. Lots of fun with a group of bright-eyed, intelligent readers."

Over the next two months, I am scheduled to meet with a half dozen other book clubs and discussion groups. I only hope my next discussion groups are as tuned into murder and books as the ladies from Attica.



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Dave Rogers

Dave Rogers is a former editorial writer for the Bay City Times and a widely read,
respected journalist/writer in and around Bay City.
(Contact Dave Via Email at carraroe@aol.com)

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