Nov. 6, 2018

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Good evening friends!

Greetings from my humble abode here in the west side of Tucson. My faithful puppy Kalani is sitting right next to me, as she usually does when I write you. It has been a rough few weeks of some tough jobs I've had to complete in order to get the money to finance the publishing part of this journey. I'm totally exhausted, but it has been worth the effort!

 Yesterday I met with Janette at Alphagraphics, and cut her a check  for the first part of the printing process. The first proof copy will be ready in 10 days or so, for me to correct any errors or make any changes. Then once I'm done with the editing,  I'll hand it back over to them for the product of the order, hopefully in time for the release date of the 15th of December. Janette said it will be a tight deadline, and maybe the signing event might have to be set back a week. I'll know in a couple weeks. I walked back to my car, pinching myself, realizing it was really underway!

In the meantime, I spent last week contacting some of the 25 plus people I worked for on the first part of the journey,  letting them know the news about the books release. Unfortunately, I couldn't make contact with many of them,  and I don't have any idea how to reach them at this point. Hopefully some of them follow me on this site still, and read this post! 

 I also have been putting together the itinerary for the book signing event. Kay, the lady from Bookman's, who will be hosting us, said a reading of excerpts from the book is usually done, and I have a couple of special people in mind. My sister Angela will be emceeing the event, although she doesn't know it yet! I read a little about book signing events online, and most of the articles were really negative. In most cases it said book signing gigs were a big waste of time and money, unless your name is Grishom, Crichton.or Hemmingway! I certainly am not even close to tying those guys shoes, but I think I could draw more than the average 10 or 12 people they say usually show up for first time, no name wannabes like me.  With your help and support,  we can be the exception I believe. This unique adventure has bucked a lot of trends, why not this event!

I look forward to continue giving you updates as they develop friends, and I hope you are as excited as I am! I can't even sleep at night anymore! Good night for now, and once again, and from the bottom of my heart....thank you for your support and loyalty.

Humbly, juanjohn