“It Never Was You” Guest Blog — Mike Harris

I am so pleased today to bring you a special guest post from an amazing person and friend, Mike Harris!  After connecting with him last year through an event for the Kindle Book Review’s Best Indie Books contest involving the first volume of his grandfather’s trilogy, Pegasus Falling, I immediately knew this work was something extraordinary.  The story is truly captivating, and I highly recommend reading it!  That’s why I’m so excited that he’s visiting my blog today via his guest post to discuss the upcoming release of the second work in the trilogy, It Never Was You.

I’m pleased to welcome Mike Harris, grandson of author William E. Thomas, and man responsible for the incredible task of getting his grandfather’s saga published in order to share it with readers worldwide!

Welcome, Mike!

When my grandfather, William E. Thomas, wrote his epic saga, The Cypress Branches, he never intended for it to go unread. Indeed, my grandmother, Sheila, was the first person to read his book, being handed the printouts each evening from that day’s labours at the keyboard. She became as besotted with William’s characters as he had. As he tapped away day after day, with the words seemingly streaming from him in an unstoppable flow, she became more and more hungry to find out what happened next.

When he finally finished his book, the printed manuscript made its way around a small group of family and friends, all of whom devoured its pages with the same gusto that Sheila had. It was obvious to all who read it that this was a work which deserved to be read by a wider audience and everyone pushed William to take steps to get it published.

Alas, fate was to get in the way of those plans. As William’s health started to deteriorate, and the cruel effects of Alzheimer’s disease began to rob him of all the things he’d held dear in his life, it became clear that he would not be able to follow that dream of being published himself.

It appeared that this was where the story might end, with only a handful of people having ever read his wonderful book.

But I was determined not to let the story end there. I was lucky enough to have been one of those early readers. Like the others, I too had fallen in love with William’s wonderful characters and had been transported into the emotional world which he had conjured up, drawing from both events in his past and his vivid imagination.

As we watched William become a shadow of his former self, I became determined that he would see his book in print, and took steps to make sure that it would happen.

Pegasus Falling, Part One of the Cypress Branches trilogy, was released as a paperback and ebook last year, and since then it has been garnering nothing but positive reviews from around the world and even becoming a finalist in the Kindle Book Review’s Best Indie Books contest.

What’s more, there’s now a growing legion of readers out there who have read and loved Pegasus Falling and are crying out for the release of part two of the trilogy.

And thankfully, they don’t have too much longer to wait, because Part Two is almost ready to launch. Titled It Never Was You, it follows the heartbreaking story of a middle class merchant seaman and his unexpected rollercoaster relationship with a beautiful, exuberant waitress from the Liverpool docks. Set against the backdrop of World War II and its aftermath, it continues the saga started in Pegasus Falling and packs a lot of emotion, drama and history into its pages.

I can’t wait to get the book into the hands of readers who I know will love it, and I’m extremely excited about my grandfather’s novels reaching an ever wider audience. These books have been published by me, William’s grandson, without the aid of a huge publishing house or publicity machine, so in order to give It Never Was You the launch it deserves, I’ve set up a crowd funding campaign on Indiegogo. In exchange for a contribution to the campaign, backers can choose to receive a “perk” in return. One of the exciting perks of backing this campaign is that you can choose to receive a copy of It Never Was You ahead of its release!

Contribute just £5 (that’s just under $8), and you’ll receive a digital copy of It Never Was You in March, a month before it’s released! Make that contribution £10 (around $16), and you’ll get a paperback copy of the book, again sent to you well ahead of publication.

If you’d like to be one of the first to read It Never Was You, then head on over to the campaign page and make your contribution. Remember to select either the “It Never Was You advance ebook” or “It Never Was You paperback” option from the perks to make sure you get your copy.

If you’re not in a position to contribute directly, but would still like to help, then you can! There are some handy share tools on the campaign page which you can use to help us spread the word on Facebook and Twitter, by email or on your blog. Every post and tweet you can send will help us spread the word about William’s wonderful books even more.

Remember, every penny raised will go towards funding the initial print run of It Never Was You, and helping to get the book into the hands of readers who will love them. If we’re able to raise more than the £500 target, the extra money will go towards finishing the trilogy – something I hope to do before the end of this year.

These really are special books, and deserve to be read by as wide an audience as possible. Can you help make that happen, and help me make William’s dream of publication come true?

I couldn’t make this happen for William without the support of people like you, so thank you, everyone, for helping in whichever way you can.

(P.S. Don’t forget to let me know what you make of the books. I love talking to readers about William’s writing and finding out what they made of it, so feel free to drop me a line on Facebook or Twitter!)

LINKS

CAMPAIGN PAGE: http://igg.me/at/cypressbranches

BLOG: http://acuteanglebooks.blogspot.co.uk

BUY PEGASUS FALLING ON AMAZON: http://amazon.com/dp/B007K8QM8E

FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/cypressbranches

TWITTER: @cypressbranches

BEST INDIE BOOKS CONTEST (linked to above): http://www.thekindlebookreview.net/2012-contest-winners/