I have a new book out. I actually completed it several years ago - started in January 2008 and worked on it during the summers of 2008 and 2009. That was back in the days when I was writing novels and thought I would go the agent route, aka during my short-lived attempt to join the mainstream. The book is about the wife of a French scientist at M.I.T. whose husband has a stroke after coming back agitated from a conference, and who must fight alone to save her husband’s reputation when rumors begin to circulate about his work. The theme of the novel is the mesmerizing quest for new knowledge that, ultimately, may not justify the personal sacrifices researchers make to advance science; more broadly, it is about the personal costs that come with trying to follow one’s dreams away from one’s family.
The book resonates with me on a personal level, based on my observations of the higher ed sphere and my own experiences with the aging of my parents a continent away, but the market potential for the novel is not very large (you don't have too many people interested in academia, science and literary fiction). So I ultimately shelved it and moved on to what I hope will be my "brand" for several years to come, writing novellas with a strong mix of music and politics, especially in the context of recent history such as exile and World War II. (Wait until you learn what I have in store for 2014... But I probably won't provide updates on that before late spring.)
And yet I decided to revisit this novel recently and put it online, because I do think there are other people out there who will recognize their lives or the lives of close friends or relatives in the story of my protagonists, and while the book won't speak to many, I feel it will speak very strongly to a few. Those are the people I want to reach. Will you help me?
I'll post a few "behind-the-scenes" blog posts about the book in the coming days and weeks. In the meantime, the book is currently available on Amazon both in paperback and on Kindle. To help spread the word, the Kindle download will be *free* this Saturday and Sunday, December 21 and 22. The book will also be available from other retailers in the coming weeks.
I'd love to know what you think!
