Amazon – Costa Jill

Free to Bloom Free on Kindle latest Statistics

It’s my first day that Free to Bloom is FREE on Amazon Kindle. I’m monitoring the statistics and my progress. I really had no expectations on the low end, but I also had read Cheryl Tardif’s book How I made $42K in 1 mo. on Kindle Select about all the money she made and had twinges of possible sales. That remains to be seen, but I’m thrilled so far.

Here are the first statistics:

150 books ordered free.
#1607 Free in Kindle Store.
#1 in Kindle Store Travel Adventure

Wow. Better than I ever expected. Now I’m monitoring more closely. Two hours later I can’t stay away from the computer. Second statistics:

200 books ordered free.
#900 Free in Kindle Store
Still #1 Kindle Store Travel Adventure

Moving right along. I’m smiling. At 7:30 this evening, still the first day and I have 2 more days to go:

255 books ordered free.
#755 Free on Kindle
#1 Kindle Store Personal Growth and Inspiration

This is fun. One of my goals as per Cheryl Tardif is getting on the top 100 Free on Kindle. Maybe there’s a chance. I’ll check in with you tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Free To Bloom FREE on Amazon

First a little back story. My computer guru son Ray gave me the tip to join Amazon Prime and KDP Select, an author’s subsidiary of Amazon. He told me of the perks, I joined and read ‘some’ of the fine print. I found out I had to sell my book exclusively on Amazon. Free To Bloom was listed on Barnes & Noble and Smashwords. I’d only had a couple of sales. I was doing much better on Amazon. Even taking my book off of a site is difficult for me and I hate reading directions, but I finally did it. I took advantage of some other KDP Select/Prime offers and uploaded Cheryl Tardif‘s How I Made $42K in 1 Month Selling My Kindle ebooks. Thank you so much Cheryl for getting me off my butt. I followed her directions and figured out how to offer my ebook free on Amazon.

So here it is. From June 28-30 Free To Bloom by Jill Green is FREE. Please check it out, order it, tell your friends, and if you feel up to it write me a review. A description of my book follows:

Through eleven partially linked chronological stories we follow Danielle as she splits from a long-term marriage to find her way as a single woman living alone in a foreign country. Her search for both physical and emotional contentment and independence leads her to take risks in life and love from jumping off waterfalls, to discovering a gorgeous young caveman, and learning the art of marijuana growing and harvesting. Follow her journey as she intertwines intimate personal insights with wild adventures.

Coconut on My Mind

Update from last blog: George Zimmerman is finally arrested on long-overdue murder charge in the Trayvon Martin killing. And enough of death.

Today I celebrate life; one with a healthier mind and body. I’m on one of my kicks. This time it’s coconut oil. It all started with an article I read in The Tampa Bay Times about Dr. Mary Newport who says coconut oil has significantly lessened the effects of Alzheimer’s on her husband, Steve. I read her book from Amazon, Alzheimer’s Disease, What if There Was a Cure?, and found it amazing. Not only does coconut oil help reduce the ravages of memory loss, but also it helps in weight loss and a host of other neurodegenerative diseases. I immediately hacked down a coconut from my Costa Rican farm and started experimenting.

Some notes about fresh coconut:

The water is tasty, refreshing, a natural electrolyte and a benefit to bladder health. This part does not contain oil.
Once the coconut has been stripped of its husk, pound a nail through the softest of the 3 holes in the top and one of the others, to easily extract the water.
Place coconut on its side, the ends parallel to you, and hit a sharp blow in the middle with a hammer or the non-sharp side of a machete until it cracks in half – perfectly. Don’t believe it? Try it.
Let it dry out a bit. With a knife or hammer remove flesh from shell.

Now you’re ready to prepare and eat this wonderful nut:

Just eat the flesh as is.
Break flesh into small pieces and grate in blender, food processor or by hand.
You can extract the oil from the flesh by placing in hot boiled water, then straining through a cloth or fine sieve. Reserve the liquid coconut milk for use in smoothies, Thai food or other recipes.
The remaining flesh can be eaten, used in baking, or placed on a flat cookie sheet and toasted in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.
The toasted coconut (yum) can be sprinkled on ice cream, salad, or as a coating for fish, vegetables, meat, or fruit. No sugar added.
The oil can be used in baking, sautéing, frying, salad dressings, smoothies and for skin and hair care.

Now for those of you without a good source of coconuts you can buy organic, non-processed, virgin oil from health food and some grocery stores (Publix). If you buy coconut milk make sure it has no sugar added. There are many websites with more information about the benefits and recipes. Just google it and enjoy.

Just got an email from my friend Jolly with a wonderful video of Dr. Mary Newport and her husband Steve’s progress. See here on http://www.cbn.com/media/player/index.aspx?s=/mp4/LJO190v1_WS

50% SALE – FREE TO BLOOM – SOFTCOVER NOW $7.49 ON freetobloombook.com

Check out my new story here, under new pages Old Times, Good Times, High Times

My Reviews of Books posted on Goodreads

Goodreads is my favorite book site now. Of course I use Amazon and Barnes & Noble too, but I have more trouble negotiating there. Here are some of my recently posted reviews. I won’t inundate you. More later. Thank you Goodreads helping me get the word out.

Read from October 14 to 29, 2011

Amazing. So many layers to this book. Wroblewski’s words leap into the air in ever-changing patterns of sounds and meanings, and the main character, Edgar, can’t talk. This man understands the many other ways of communicating.Who else knows that dog’s paws smell like fresh popcorn, or new mown hay. It’s true the intricate mysteries were hard to unravel but richly drawn. One of the best understanding of animals I’ve ever read. A thought provoking beautiful book.

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Jill Green‘s review

Dec 18, 11 · edit

Read from December 12 to 18, 2011

I heard about Nicole Kraus’ book while in NY where she was doing a book signing which I was disappointedly unable to attend. The idea of following the history of a huge old library desk around the world and through the years, following the writers that used it, was very intriguing. Love and loss is tantamount, but the methods of expressing the theme get draggy and repetitive. I had trouble keeping the characters sorted out and had to go back consistently to straighten things out. All in all it was a wonderful multitude of stories with strong interesting characters.

Jill Green‘s review

Dec 18, 11 · edit

Read from October 29 to December 18, 2011

The Unnamed is a good title for this unstory. Read along through about a third then threw it in the Goodwill bin. When I got to the stream of consciousness stuff I looked ahead to see how far it went and then I gave up. It was such an intriguing idea, but for me came to nothing. Oh well, I tried.

Jill Green‘s review

Dec 12, 11 · edit

Being a former Marine and Environmental Science teacher I relate to T.C Boyle’s subject in When the Killing’s Done. He has done his research. The fight between the environmentalists and the save-all-animals activists kept changing sides, but Dave Lajoy being such a creep tipped the scales for me. Loved the backdrop of the harsh islands off the coast of California and a bit of their history. Coming from Costa Rica and Florida and their warm waters, his environment really chilled me.

Books Inc. – Best Indie Bookstore Gainesville – Free To Bloom

: Books Inc. – The Food Lovers Cafe

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Follow me to Books Inc – The Book Lovers Cafe at 505 NW 13th St. Gainesville, FL on Oct 23 from 4-6 pm

It would be greatly appreciated if my Florida Facebook friends would share this with theirs.

A description and biography follows:

Description – Free To Bloom

The first story Of Time and the Mountain reveals that beginning a new life and building a house in an isolated part of a foreign country, Costa Rica, is rampant with challenges: physical, emotional and personal. The frayed threads of a long term marriage begin to unravel one by one.

Learning a new language, meeting new people, living in a strange culture, subsisting in a primitive environment without basic necessities bring a need for a little respite wherever it can be found. And find it Danielle does, whether it’s going to local festivals in the mountain villages, finding archeological artifacts, or getting to know both locals and expats.

Danielle travels back and forth between the U.S. and Costa Rica finding adventure wherever she is. New relationships blossom, grow strong, wilt, revive or die, but all are worthwhile experiences. With Danielle’s newborn independence, taking risks in both love and life becomes necessity. A U.S. doctor is shocked by her little parasite in My Friend George. A scary alligator plies Florida waters in Alligator Dreams. A Costa Rican cave dweller falls in love with her in God’s Caveman. She is horrified by the ‘dog-eat-dog’ world in Puppy Love. At turns she is terrified and exhilarated by conquering the waterfall in Fear of Falling. Getting to know Adrian in California includes experiencing his illegal lifestyle and feeling his paranoia when the cops appear at the pot growing fields in Getting To Know You – Humboldt County.

Join Danielle as she deals with both the highs and lows of her adventurous life; how she deals with conflict, has fun, learns patience and gains contentment as her life blooms into full flower.

Author Biography

Though born in California, and living in France as a child, Jill Green’s formative years were spent on Florida’s Gulf Coast. After college at the Univ of Florida, marriage, two children – one deaf, she started teaching, helped run two businesses and after 30 years, got divorced.

What a turn life took! Now living in two countries, Sarasota, FL and Costa Rica, she forgot her French, but learned Spanish. Living alone took many adjustments, eventually she has become a self-sufficient, adventuresome individual, traveling the world, volunteering with many organizations, climbing mountains, surfing the seas and teaching ESL in Costa Rica and Florida.

After many years working and bringing up a family she has finally become a published writer with her book of connected short stories Free to Bloom about life in Costa Rica and the United States, hopefully the first of many. Although she has written stories and essays for small magazines, her next big project is auto-biographical: the trials, tribulations, joys and sorrows of living with and educating a deaf child who after the fact designed and now runs a successful website www.gatorcountry.com, one of the top U. of Florida Gator football websites.

Back to my more personal revelations next time.

Visit Jill’s personal blog at http://www.costajill.com and her Free to Bloom blog at http://freetobloombook.com

Print books available at selected Indie bookstores and on my Free to Bloom website. Ebooks available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords.

Feedback from Free To Bloom

p5301254-300x225-1067784 — Jill's Free To Bloom book signing

I’ve gotten some wonderful feedback from people (mostly friends) who’ve read my book Free To Bloom. Some have written reviews on Amazon for me which I appreciate tremendously. Others have sent me emails or given me their thoughts in person. I thank you one and all for your good reviews helping me get the word out. Here are some samples:

Finished your book and loved it- really. Open, daring, intimate. Your quote at the beginning (And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. Anais Nin) and at the end (Let there be spaces in our togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between us. Kahlil Gibran), are my two all time favorites. N.S.

Jill. Keep on writing! I just finished reading Free to Bloom on Kindle.. Seems that I had read somewhere that a successful author writes as though no one else is going to read the words that come from the head and are ultimately put on paper. You are on a roll and providing pleasure for others. It must feel good! S.P.

I loved reading this book. It made me feel as though I were right there with Danielle, experiencing her life in Costa Rica and sharing her transitions from the end of a marriage through new relationships. It’s the story of a woman who lives life with creativity and feeling. L.C.

My friend recommended Jill Green’s book Free to Bloom. I absolutely love it. The story is cohesively written and each page enticed me to continue reading until I finished the book. J.M.

I just finished reading Free to Bloom today and really enjoyed it! I read a lot and know what good writing is and think Jill Green is indeed a good writer. Her chapters were well constructed, interlaced with romance and heartbreak, scary moments of nature, ending with personal victories and gaining a tough independence. I would definitely recommend this book to those who love adventure and discovering what life would be like living in the tropics of Costa Rica. It’s a good read! K.P.

“Oh, Jill it made me cry. I loved it. L.A.

“I loved it all, but my favorite story was the last one, Fault Lines.” K.Q.

Last Chance Before Costa Rica

On Memorial Day May 30 come on over to Circle Books between 12 – 2 pm on St Armand’s Circle in Sarasota for my final book signing before I’m off to Costa Rica.

If you can’t make it in person you can now buy the print edition online at my website freetobloombook.com .

You can also buy the ebook version for a measly $2.99 online at Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook or Smashwords.

The print edition will soon be available at these sites also.

Enjoy and if you feel literary write me a review at any of these locations.

Thanks everyone, friends and family, for all your help and support.