It was a great experience, being with all the young writers at QSI International School of Zhuhai in February. They were great listeners and even better writers! Thimblerig has new fans on the Pearl Delta!
As a special Christmas gift to you, Thimblerig’s Ark will be available as a FREE Kindle download from December 24 to December 28, 2014 (PST)! Please help spread the cheer by passing on the good news! Share this exciting info on all your social media platforms.
If you tweet, you can just copy this onto your Twitter feed starting on Christmas Eve:
You know about #Noah, but not the animal’s story. It’s not what you’re expecting. Thimblerig’s Ark, FREE DOWNLOAD! http://amzn.to/13v130F
“Thimblerig’s Ark is a really fun book with lots of action and lovable characters.” 4-LAN
“a great read, it kept me interested and I was completely invested in the story!” Lena K.
“Quirky characters set up a gentle tale with a solid message behind it.” Mark L.
“I’d recommend this book to animal lovers who like adventure stories with a touch of comedy.” stansby
“It has been a real pleasure to read this book full of adventure, humor, vivid and well developed characters…” Andrey
Thimblerig is a little groundhog with big problems.
He’s a loner con-artist who’s losing his mojo; the wild dogs who run the forest harass him at every turn; he’s having vivid nightmares of apocalyptic floods; and worst of all, he believes he sees unicorns when everyone knows unicorns are only the stuff of legend.
But what one animal might call a problem, Thimblerig calls an opportunity.
In a moment of inspiration, he comes up with the ultimate con: persuade as many suckers as he can that a world-ending flood is coming; the fabled unicorns have told him where the only safe place will be; and only he can lead them to safety.
All for a reasonable price, of course.
When the flood really does come, Thimblerig has a choice: either save the ones who trusted him, or lose everything.
And that’s when he discovers that his problems have only just begun.
—
Inspired by an Irish pub song about why the unicorn missed out on Noah’s Ark, Thimblerig’s Ark is a Narnian-style fantasy novel that looks at how the animals all made it there in the first place, focusing on a con-artist groundhog named Thimblerig.
—
Coming soon: Thimblerig’s Ark Book Two: Forty Days and Nights
It’s nearly the middle of October, which means one thing for thousands of people around the internet: almost time for Nanowrimo!
Nanowrimo stands for the National Novel Writing Month, and it is a free, non-competitive opportunity for writers all over the globe to go from zero words to 50,000 over the course of the month of November.
In short, it is the opportunity to write the first draft of a novel.
Started in 1999 in the San Fransisco bay area with a modest number of writers (21), Nanowrimo has grown to over 400,000 in 2013. It is a serious occasion in the writing world, because it gives everyone – from first time wannabe writers to established and published writers – that most-needed phenomenon: a deadline.
But you don’t have anyone looking over your shoulder, no editors breathing down your neck, no teachers looking to see if you would meet your goal. It’s just the writer and the computer and the imagination going wild.
And it’s a fantastic thing to do.
I first found out about Nanowrimo because of its now-defunct sister program, the Script Frenzy, where screenwriters worked on first drafts of film scripts over the month of April. Unfortunately, that program was retired, but participating in the Frenzy led me to Nanowrimo.
I’ve enjoyed Nanowrimo in two ways. First, I was able to finally complete my novel, Thimblerig’s Ark, because a draft was written and edited during subsequent Nanowrimos. Second, as an upper elementary teacher specializing in reading and writing, I’ve taken two classes of fifth graders through Nanowrimo through the Young Writers Program, and I’m currently preparing a class of 6th graders to go through the month of insane writing. I’ve done this in international schools in Kazakhstan and China, and it’s been a huge success as I’ve watched ten and eleven year old children blossom as writers.
This is the wonderful thing about Nanowrimo – it gives us an excuse to do the thing that we could be doing at any time, but which we have a hard time actually sitting down and doing – writing without abandon. In November, anyone (with understanding family members) can excuse themselves from the bulk of other responsibilities for thirty days while they get their story out of their head and onto the page.
And writing the first draft is the biggest challenge, isn’t it?
So if you are one of those people sitting around thinking that you would like to write The Next Great Novel, but you don’t have the time, consider taking part in Nanowrimo. It won’t cost you a penny, but it might just be the thing that helps you to achieve that particular dream.
And you still have half a month to get yourself ready. What are you waiting for?
You already know about Noah.
Just wait until you read the animal’s story.
“I found the pages flying by…”
“a breath of fresh air…”
“not just for children…”
Four and a half stars on Amazon!
Thimblerig is a little groundhog with big problems.
He’s a loner con-artist who’s losing his mojo; the wild dogs who run the forest harass him at every turn; he’s having vivid nightmares of apocalyptic floods; and worst of all, he believes he sees unicorns when everyone knows unicorns are only the stuff of legend.
But what one animal might call a problem, Thimblerig calls an opportunity.
In a moment of inspiration, he comes up with the ultimate con: persuade as many suckers as he can that a world-ending flood is coming; the fabled unicorns have told him where the only safe place will be; and only he can lead them to safety.
All for a reasonable price, of course.
When the flood really does come, Thimblerig has a choice: either save the ones who trusted him, or lose everything.
And that’s when he discovers that his problems have only just begun.
Children’s book author Nate Fleming at a book signing at the Bookworm, Chengdu, China – summer 2014
Children’s book author Nate Fleming at a a book signing at the Binding Time Cafe in Virginia, summer 2014
For the next few hours you can still download Thimblerig’s Ark for only $1.99, and then it goes up to $2.99. Hurry up and get your copy now!
One of the cool things about publishing your own books on Amazon is that you are able to set your own deals from time to time. In this case, I’ve decided to offer Thimblerig’s Ark for only 99¢ for a limited amount of time. In a couple of days, the price will go up to $1.99, and then a couple of days later it will go up to $2.99, before finally returning to the normal price of $3.99 a couple of days later. So skip over there post haste and get a wonderful novel for the same price as a 99 cent cup of coffee! Or a 99¢ movie rental! Or a 99¢ pair of sport socks! Or a 99¢…
Well, you get the idea.
And remember, you don’t need to own a Kindle to read this book! You can also download a free Kindle app for any device here, and then you can read Thimblerig’s Ark on your Ipad, or your Android, or your Atari 2600!
What are you waiting for? Run over there now and download Thimblerig’s Ark for only 99¢!
Oh. I didn’t realize that you had another tab open. Sorry. My bad. Go on about your business.
That is, if your business includes downloading Thimblerig’s Ark for 99¢!
I enjoyed my third book signing of the summer, and was pleased by how many folks stopped in to get a copy of Thimblerig’s Ark here in the burg of Martinsville. The Binding Time Cafe was a great place to have the event, and I appreciated their hospitality and open doors!
Signed copies of Thimblerig’s Ark are still available before I head back to China in three weeks, and I’d be happy to mail them to folks at the price I was selling at the signing – $10 plus S&H. If you are interested, please drop me an email and we can discuss details.
My third book signing of the summer is coming up on July 17 at the Binding Time Cafe in Martinsville, Virginia. I hope we’ll get a good crowd out that evening from 4:00 to 6:00 as I sign copies of Thimblerig’s Ark and enjoy the Binding Time’s delicious hand-scooped ice cream!
The Binding Time Cafe, Martinsville’s premiere bookstore/coffee shop.
I was thrilled to launch Thimblerig’s Ark two weeks ago in Chengdu, at the Bookworm. It was a great event, with a capacity crowd attending, and I enjoyed answering questions and sharing the inspirations behind the story.
Thimblerig's Ark 