READERS: Smashwords is having an End of Year Sale on e-books which runs only through January 1. “Discover tens of thousands of deep-discounted e-books from thousands of the world’s best indie authors and publishers.”
(OK there’s some junky books on the list but also some good ones, I especially noted good biographies at 75% off.) You can pick up some books for only a $1 (like mine 😉 ) to $3 – there are even some freebies.
https://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=A+Place+In+The+World
Greetings Dear Readers –
March is National Reading Month, a time to venerate reading, writing and literacy. One way to participate is to read aloud to children for 15 minutes every day through-out March; this can be the start of an appreciation for literature and an enjoyable habit in the years to come.
I want to take the opportunity to say thanks to all of you who read my novel and especially to those who took the time to write a review. Your notes and comments from different corners of the world bring me joy.
Pictured in the slide show below are readers from as far away as England and Japan. I’d love to have you be part of my fun Pinterest collection (when you get there, click on “Readers” to see more); if you would like to be included, contact me below (your information is confidential and not stored) and I will “pin” your photo with a book.
I get a thrill almost every month to see (very) small electronic deposits from Amazon, via Smashwords, or my publisher – however tiny! OK, I’m not making a living as an author, but A Place in the World was published a several years ago and yet someone somewhere is still reading it – I can’t tell you how gratifying that is!
Truth to tell, I found the publishing and talk circuit grueling (and hence didn’t do near enough of that or other marketing). Thus although I am working on two projects, I’m doing it because “I must” write, not because I have to publish. Readers (yes You – you have remote power over me) – may make me change my mind .
By way of saying thanks I offer a short story as a pdf to anyone interested this month (well, in case there is a stampede of interest, to the first four people who request it).
It is entitled “Life in A Flash” and told through the eyes of the younger daughter Sandra Jacinto, chronicles a multicultural, dysfunctional family. The cold experiences in young Sandra’s life are balanced by the warm relationships she embraces later in Latin America.
The story is set primarily in Costa Rica, but also Paris and London. In spite of an unusual lifestyle, there are universal themes of sibling rivalry and adult-child conflicts; it may especially appeal to Expats, TCKs* or those who embrace other cultures. It did win “Honors” in the literary journal “Glimmertrain.” (Contact me here at https://cindamackinnon.wordpress.com/about/)
Keep reading – so many books so little time!
Kind regards, Cinda MacKinnon
*TCKs= third culture kids. The term was coined for children who grow up in places other than their parents’ homeland; the first culture refers to the country from which the parents originated, the second culture refers to the cultures in which the family resides, and the third culture refers to the amalgamation of these cultures. There are many TCKs these days!
I want to take a moment to thank everyone who has reviewed A Place In the World. Two special bloggers recently took the time to review and post on their blogs, Amazon AND Goodreads. Rosie Amber of the UK generously connects readers and writers, and Jessie, who is part of Rosie’ s Book Review team. Both women are avid readers and book reviewers. Rosie posted her review yesterday and her author interview of me today http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-63l
Jessie has her own lovely blog, Behind The Willows, about life, motherhood and of course books. I urge you to check out both websites as places to go for book recommendations. http://behindthewillows.com/
Here is a snippet of Jessie’s review:
… this is a lovely little book, set in Colombia, amongst the beauty of rain forests on a coffee farm, where a woman leads her life the best she can…an American who has lived for many years in Colombia, she handles things with an amazing blend of the two cultures. Stepping back and forth between them so well that the big drama fades into the background, leaving the focus of the book right where it should be, on the young woman in search of her place in the world.
It just so happens that her world is run by men, contains active volcanoes, guerrillas, , coffee crops and an occasional iguana in the water tank – making it infinitely more interesting to read about than our own.
Would I recommend it? I would. Drama aside, the information on the culture, rain forests and coffee growing would have been enough to keep me interested.
This is an excerpt from Rosie’s review: 
I’m happy to give this 5 stars…The moment I read the description of the finca in a cloud forest I began falling in love with… the flora and fauna… so well written that you could almost hear the birds calling and feel the moisture on the leaves.
(at) the finca, Las Nubes, there is no mains electric, no piped water, no telephone, and the road ways are often just tracks…They live a simple life…There are hardships too, a road accident, bandits and a volcano which erupts covering the ground in ash and burning the coffee plants with acid rain. But through all this the author fills you with the Colombian people, their way of life … the coffee trade at the mercy of politics, the weather and the market…
This book took me to a new world, that I’d never given much thought to and I really enjoyed it.
I’m so pleased with both of these reviews and their insights. It’s wonderful to hear that a reader likes what you’ve written – and even better when someone takes the time to post a review. Many thanks to both Rosie and Jessie and another recent reviewer, author Rita Gardner https://cindamackinnon.wordpress.com/?s=coconut (Only space prevents me from acknowledging all the others, but please know that each review is greatly appreciated and helps readers decide whether they want to read the book.)
AWARDS :
A Place in the World won three modest awards this year:
the Kindle Best Book Award 2014 (Semifinalist in Literary Fiction); Runner up (2nd place) at the San Francisco Writer’s Conference in the indie category and last month Honorable Mention in the Mainstream/Literary Fiction category for Writer’s Digest’s Self-Published Book Awards.
The following is the comment by a judge for Writer’s Digest’s Book Awards:
A Place in the World is a rather quiet book tackling powerful issues. Alicia who has been a child of the world, marries a Colombian and heads back to one of her favorite places. Although she is there under some misleading information, she settles in on the family finca and learns all about growing coffee in isolation on the edge of the cloud forest. Background issues include guerillas, active volcanoes, wild life, shy natives and family indifference.
Following an automobile accident, Alicia’s husband deserts her and … Alicia makes her way alone on the coffee plantation. Alone, she is able to pursue her studies in biology with her illustrated journals becoming a centerpiece for the narrative. A fellow American who visits the finca infrequently becomes more than friend to her.
Alicia’s passion for her place, the people there, her son, her studies and for her lover holds the reader throughout the book. The author paints pictures with her words just as Alicia illustrates her journals with her findings. The reader is drawn into the story and the place on every page. MacKinnon has enlightened us about the biodiversity of the cloud forest, growing beans, and about the frailties and strengths of relationships.
The conclusion presented in the voice of Alicia’s son serves to tie all the bits and pieces together in a most satisfactory way. Everyone in the story has found her or his place in the world. A Place in the World should attract a wide audience.
Thank you “anonymous judge 59!”
So to celebrate, my 100th post is written in appreciation of all of my readers, supporters, editor and reviewers. It’s been a wonderful year. (For more reviews see http://amzn.to/19wSFfX )
Please note if you would like to write an honest review of my book, I will send you a (free) ebook file or PDF. Just let me know how to contact you, below (or privately on the Author/Contact page of this website).
A Place in the World 