December Book Sale

Winter is upon us, and that means it's time to stock up on some wintertime reading.

For the rest of the month, you can get paperback and hardcover copies of my book, Black Tree, for 25% off at this link.

Enjoy reading and let me know what you think.

A Pictorial Look at Black Tree - II.III, III.III

II.III is a flashback to the time when Julia lived in the Tempe/Scottsdale, and III.III shows her move from there to Prescott. So here I have a few images from ASU, which is where she went to school and also worked. I took these pictures in May 2013 when I was graduating from there myself.

This is a structure on the grassy space above the library.

One of the buildings near there. While ASU has many buildings in the modern style, there are also several with these scholarly pillars. 

The entrance to Hayden Library, where Julia must have, as a student of history, spent plenty of time.

Right above the library again, you can see that same structure from the first picture centered in between the pillars here. It's a nice artistic effect, something to be viewed at the exact right angle as you walk down the stairs to get to the library's entrance.

A view of University Street emptier than you will ever see it:

Just above ASU is Tempe Town Lake, where you can go for a boat ride or walk along the paths beside the water. Here is one of the famous Phoenix sunsets, more yellow and less pink than usual.

A Pictorial Look at Black Tree - I.I, I.III

I have been meaning for a while to start showing pictures of some of the places I feature in Black Tree. Many of you are Arizonans, but for everyone else the landscape is perhaps less familiar. And even if you live in the state, there may be certain places that I wrote about that you haven't yet visited. 

I begin with the first chapter. For the general descriptions of desert landscape with saguaros, here are some views from around the Cave Creek area (that is, just slightly north of Phoenix). Note the variety of textures and plants. 

There are some teddy bear cholla in this view; they're one of my favorites. 

Moving on to I.III, Julia describes Montezuma Well. Here is a look at the ruins through the fence and another look without the fence. Notice how ground level is above the dwellings.

Here you can see that the cliff dwellings stand above the well.

And here is a closer look at the water, which is both wide and deep.

You can see here some of the steps along the path. They're made of stone and cement and they're not entirely consistent in structure or layout--but their neutral colors and even their curving placement do help to blend in with the environment. 

Shelf Unbound Competition

I am pleased to announce that Black Tree made it as a runner-up in the 2016 Shelf Unbound Best Indie Book Competition.

To know that, out of all of the entries, my book received consideration is an honor. I am most happy to receive this news and to share it with you. If you haven't yet had the opportunity to buy my book, paperback and hardcover copies are currently 30% off at this link. Thank you so much for following me on this journey.

Writing Adventures: Part 12

Click here to read Part 11.

Black Tree

Officially, my book has been out for about three months now. So it's been making its way into readers' hands (or tablets, if they opt for digital). I also have plans to do a series of photo posts showing some of the locations I wrote about, in case anyone wants a visual for them. The first of those should be up within a week.

The Manuscript in Progress

My first work on this book was strangely organized. I started out writing the beginning bits in order, and then I let it sit for a while. Now I'm moving into what you might call the "agitated additions." This is the phase where I'll have a sentence float into my head that I have to write down because I know it'll end up leading to a whole scene. Sometimes as soon as I go to bed I have to reach for my phone to type something in, or even get up for a notebook to write something out. This period of the process is less peaceful but also yields some of the best results of it all. So I am getting excited again about this book now that I'm starting to put more focus into it once more.

Writing Adventures: Part 11

Click here to read Part 10.

Black Tree

As you know, you can now buy Black Tree in digital, paperback, and hardcover. So I'm going to take this moment to advertise for my Goodreads page. If you use Goodreads, you can add my book on there and rate it or review it if you like. You can also follow my page and ask me questions about the book. Of course, if you don't use Goodreads, you can still ask me questions in the comments below posts, by email (see the Contact page), or on Twitter (@deannaskaggs). And don't forget to click through the different pages on this site for more information; in particular, you'll want to check out the Q&A page.

The Manuscript in Progress

At first, I thought that this book was going to be more traditionally arranged, more linear than Black Tree. Now, though, I see that that won't be the case. It's going to have its own way of doing things. I haven't been adding much to it right now, but I have been thinking more about it. Lately, I have been contemplating the following: cooking, painting, and water. Oh, yes, I am going to be doing so much with water in this book. So much water. And because I love to describe the Arizona landscape, this book will visit a few of the wonderful places that didn't feature in Black Tree.

Labor Day Book Sale

For Labor Day weekend only, you can get the paperback and hardcover versions of my book at 20% off. The sale is on now through Monday, so click the book cover below to go get your copy now.