According to the recent poll, there are seven people who have an interest in reading my novel through this blog (poll results are accurate to within +/- 3%).  Perhaps this will be more like a cyber book club.  And that is absolutely fine with me.  Like many artistic people, I have difficulties with self-promotion.  That’s why there are agents and publicists.  But since I have neither, I am compelled to get creative if I want any audience at all.  The size of the audience is not important to me.  From those who responded, I am already assured of quality over quantity.

I have divided the novel into 15 installments.  Two installments will be delivered each week, one by each Tuesday Morning and one by each Friday morning.  The first installment will appear next Tuesday, June 28.  With that schedule, the final installment should be delivered around the middle of August.  For statistical purposes, the novel is 76,016 words in length.  The shortest installment is 3,406 words, and the longest is 7,332 words.  That information is likely not the least bit important to you, but it fulfills some strange need in me, so I included it.

Here are some suggestions for you to follow or not as you see fit:

1)  Although I will announce new postings through Facebook (at least for the first few installments), it might be best if you subscribe to the blog or add it to your reader service if you have one.

2)  I would love to hear feedback.  Please make comments, and don’t for a second feel they all have to be positive.  Let me know what works for you, what doesn’t, what is profound, and what is cornball.  Point out grammatical or mechanical errors, even.  Let me know where the prose leaves you confused (this is especially important feedback).

3)  If you think anyone else you know might enjoy reading this particular novel for free, please direct them to my blog.  They will be able to access all previous posts and start from the beginning with handy links that will be added to my “The Novel” page.

4)  If along the way you have any suggestions for a different title, I would love to hear them.  I have struggled immensely with the title of this book and ultimately have settled on simply Rose and Justice.  I have also considered Rose and Justice: A Novel in Four Acts.  I have considered certain phrases from Shakespeare, but so many of the good ones have already been used as book titles.   Any help in this department would be appreciated.

5)  Most importantly, never forget how much I appreciate your participation in this experiment.  Writing without an audience is like singing in the shower: Enjoyable and freeing, but often sounding better in the tight-room acoustics than it might in the open air.

Okay, so here we go.  First installment will arrive June 28.  Thanks for playing.