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

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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

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.

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.

 

Inspirations For Life

My horoscope nudges me:

“What images would heal and activate my mind?

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Full Moon

What scenes would inspire me?”

A full moon,

Its light radiating

From a perfect kiss,

The vibrations

Fusing us together

In a slithery dance

Of mating snakes.

Morning rainbows over the sea.

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Morning Rainbow

Blissful faces of the people I love.

Clear splashing rivers with kids and dogs.

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Rio Morete

Perfect moments,

To meditate upon now,

To visualize for the future,

To savor in darker times.

My horoscope invited me to visualize five images that would inspire me. The four above inspired the poem. Now I add the fifth. I visualize myself selling my books Free To Bloom. I meditate on it. I savor it. I work at it.

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Join me at Books1Sarasota on Main St. for a book-signing with several other local authors on Sept. 20, 2011 from 6 – 8 pm.

I am making a tour of Upstate New York independent book stores at the end of September.

In October I will return to Gainesville for another reading and book signing at Books, Inc. on 13th St. Check here or on my Free To Bloom website.

I’m trying to keep up with this blog and comment on other writers, read Writing  Your Memoir by Hunter that my son lent me on my Kindle, keep up with the latest best-sellers (I’ve got 4 going), attend my weekly writing group, and finish my latest story. Whew!

My challenge for you my faithful readers, is to visualize the five images that would inspire you and let me know what they are. Of course I would appreciate any publicity or suggestions on my book or blog.

 

Advice from Joe Konrath – Are You Writing?

I open my Kindle to download a little treasure, Bruno’s Dream by Iris Murdoch, and for only $1.99. It’s true she’s old and dead, but one of my favorite authors. Joe Konrath’s  blog Newbie’s Guide to Publishing downloads with it. I immediately click his title ‘Are You Writing?’. Because the answer is ‘No’ I find out I’m an epic failure. Why? I’m reading books, buying new books, reading blogs, doing laundry; anything to keep from writing. And when I finish the article I open my computer and here I am. WRITING. Yea.

OK, It’s not my newest story, High In The Emergency Room, but I’m blogging.

A quick note on my book Free To Bloom. Sales have come to a grinding halt as have my efforts at publicizing it. Can’t seem to get the print edition on Amazon. Book reading and discussion events have dried up, and neither am I visiting my social sites, reviewing, guest blogging nor reading the writer’s news letters that arrive. Sigh.

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Playa Hermosa, Costa Ballena, CR our beach from above

Let’s look at a more positive side. What do I do other than writing that makes me feel good?

  • On this rare sunny morning in the middle of the Costa Rican Green Season to the tourists, but the rainy season to us, I met my friend Diana at one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, Playa Hermosa, to boogie board in the excellent warm waters of the Southern Pacific Ocean.
  • When I’m stuck inside, like right now and it’s raining like hell, I like to design and make quilts.I’ve been on a quilt kick for the last couple years and love it. When I can’t do anything else I can usually turn to quilting to pick me up. And finding exotic, beautiful, vintage fabric soothes my shopping urge.
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  • To renew my soul I take the dogs to the river, but have only gone twice  this trip because of the rain bloated rapids.
  • Romping, exploring and playing with my grandkids is high on the list, but they’re all in Florida right now.
  • And sex in the afternoon, rain or shine is always wonderful.
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Kids and dogs at the River Morete

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feedback from Free To Bloom

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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

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The Author

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 KindleBarnes & 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.

My Head’s Aswirl

p32802932-150x150-8136536Writing is really hard for me. I’m undisciplined, lazy, easily distracted, have a bad memory and too many other interests. Now that my novella (it’s not long enough to be a novel) is finished. I’ve already got a publisher, A Cappela Publishing, a beautiful cover and my book is ready to print, but I find that the PR, mostly on the internet, is much harder than writing.

I’ve lost control. The online world is too much with me. All I want to do is go outside,  smell the flowers, walk the woods. But no – I must sit down at the dread computer to the point of backache and hone in on the world of technology. If it wasn’t for my son Ray, his vast knowledge of the internet and his constant help, I’d quit. Check out his 15 year and running, No. 1  U of Florida college sports website gatorcountry.com. So here’s what’s looming:

  • Website – Got my domain freetobloombook.com, but don’t go there yet. My son has just started working on it. It should be up in February.
  • Facebook Page – Okay, I can do this. Step 1 – I name it – FreeToBloom. Wow, it shows up. Step 2 – I try adding the photo of my bloom the way I learned on FB exporter. Doesn’t work. I look up the jpg number, which takes a lot longer, and there it is. Magic. Step 3 – I try to invite all my friends to the site. I click all friends. Nothing. I click send invitations. Nothing. I do this several times. Shit. In frustration I chat help! to my son, and make him administrator on the site. Before he gets back to me I go to FB and a bunch of people like my new page. Huh? How did they get there? Step 4-6 later.
  • Twitter – Can’t even go there yet. Been dragging a Twitter how to book (comforting) back and forth from Florida to Costa Rica and haven’t yet read a page.
  • Amazon – OMG a universe of new information. Beware what categories you place your book in. One could make it a best seller, another relegate it to oblivion.
  • Print books – POD (print on demand) or regular.
  • Ebooks – as print books become obsolete ebooks with all their frills move in. First you need a good formatter, one that knows Kindle, Smashwords, Nook, etc.. formats. I found one, Rob Siders at 52novels.com, through Joe Konrath’s A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing and his website jakonrath.com.
  • Radio interviews – My first was on EZ Rock Radio with Sue on Love and Lipstick
  • Reviews – You need reviews. To get them you must write reviews, TV spots, youtube.
  • If you print – book signings, readings, women’s club meetings.

Yikes. Enough for today.