Majken Selinder Nilsson Books

You know how they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions? Yeah… well…  I have been on the Highway to Hell for a very long time, apparently.

I never intended for it to be so long since my last blog post. (Seems like this is becoming a pattern…) Life, though, has this insidious way of sneaking up on me.

As much as I love being an author, first and foremost I am a mom: a mom to four kiddos, to be exact. And, while they are always my priority, this fall they made sure to test my utter devotion to that statement (as well as my sanity) at every turn.  From someone missing school for the whole month of November with pneumonia, to all other kinds of “fun” pediatric adventures, including kidney stones and multitudes of testing, we persevered…  but barely.  While thankful we all survived, which in the thick of it, I wasn’t entirely sure was possible, my resemblance to a victim in the Walking Dead was astounding.

However, good things happened, too, and on December 14, 2019, I was privileged to have my first formal book signing at Liberty Books, in Lawrenceville, GA.  The event was amazing, and I am especially grateful for having the support of a such a wonderfully  supportive local bookseller.  If you are in the Atlanta Metro area, I highly recommend that you check them out.  The store occupies a great historical space, housed in a quaint and quirky old building in the heart of old town.  One can even make a day of it, with delicious restaurants, and other great shops, including a spice seller, and even a comic book store.  The Aurora Theater is also in the vicinity, and speaking from personal experience, their comedy shows are always entertaining!

The holidays were a blur, as the holidays always are.  Somehow, I missed the fact growing up that the holidays are when moms become super heroes, operating only on hot cocoa, Christmas cookies, and very little sleep.  I guess I owe my own mother a big “Thank you” for never letting on that she was about ready to drop to the floor in a coma in the middle of a supermarket aisle come the final push before “show time”.

Because life wasn’t crazy enough, I had surgery at the very end of December- nothing terribly serious, but once again I was reminded that “minor surgery” is often a terrible misnomer, as it rarely feels minor while recovering.  Mom duties were still in full swing, though, so all periphery energy went into keeping the younger humans under my roof alive and thriving; therefore, I still feel like I am playing catch up.

However, I am excited to report that while things were insane and it seemed as though I dropped off the face of the planet, some exciting things were still going on.

First and foremost, I’m so excited to report that the amazing and talented voice actress, Jen Carmody, agreed to narrate Western Skies after doing such a fantastic job with A Good Kind of Crazy.  Y’all- (I guess after living in the South for almost seven years, I can legit start using y’all…) in speaking with Jen during the development phase, I learned so many incredible things about her, such as she researches each of her brilliant dialects thoroughly, even dissecting them by time period.  I, as a novice, had never really thought about how dialects evolved through time.  Of course, I am aware that there are several different dialects in our country, but didn’t realize that the nuances are so finite that ten years could make a significant difference. Anyway, Jen, in her pleasant way, did her part of the bargain thoroughly and on time, and was still nice to me when I did not because of my recovery, the dreaded influenza hitting our house (twice) within a one month period, and the general chaos that is life.  She is the quintessential professional… and I was not… but together, we got it done, so look for the release of Western Skies on Audible coming soon!

In the midst of everything else, I also had the pleasure of connecting with Ms. ML Ruscsak, fellow author, owner of Dove and Dragon Publishing, and podcast host for Author Talk with M-L-Ruscsak on Dove and Dragon Radio at BlogTalkRadio.com.  After several attempts of trying to get our schedules to sync up, I’m happy to report that on March 3, I was a guest on her show, and it was great! You know how you meet someone and you can talk like you are long-lost friends, reunited after many years?  That’s how our conversation went.

I don’t usually remember much about podcast interviews because I am busy trying not to be nervous, but when I hung up the phone, I knew I had fun, because my cheeks hurt from smiling! It is always nice to meet a kindred spirit, especially while doing a podcast, because there can be a whole lot of dead air time if people can’t connect.  I have attached the link to the interview below, both from Dove and Dragon Radio on BlogTalkRadio.com, and Ms. Ruscsak’s YouTube channel, in case you want to check it out.  (Mom’s on YouTube! Take that, kids!)

Anyway, that is a quick synopsis of why I have been MIA from the blogosphere for last few months.  I hope that you all had a lovely holiday season, are staying healthy, and that 2020 is treating you well. As always, I am so grateful for your ongoing support- I couldn’t do this without you!
https://www.blogtalkradio.com/author-talk-with-m-l-ruscsak/2020/03/03/dove-and-dragon-radio-with-host-mlruscsak-guest-majken-nilsson

#2020 #Holidays #WesternSkies #AGoodKindofCrazy #SolsticePublish #JenCarmodyVO #DoveandDragon #MLRuscak #LibertyBooks #Lawrenceville #Georgia #BlogTalkRadio #DoveandDragon #ThankYou