Friday, June 27, 2014

New Banner Is On This Side of the Moon

How do you like my new banner?

I have been busy today. With the publication of my very short book of humorous short-short stories titled This Side of the Moon: With Mom & Walt, I have updated my website, which can be found at:


After adding some images to the website to make it more visually appealing, I decided to do something about the banners for this website, Robyn Echols Books, and for my Trails & Rails (click on the tab at the top of the page to go to that blog.)

Since I state in my author biography that my husband and I live near the "gateway to Yosemite," I think it only fitting that I use images we have taken while visiting that wonder place. This was taken a year ago in April. Notice how much water there is in the waterfall.

About This Side of the Moon ~~ This collection of short-short stories was written about 20-25 years ago as a tribute to my mother and stepfather, Walt, after they had both passed away. Here is what they are about:




Originally written as "Mom and Walt Stories," this collection of humorous short-shorts is about the interactions between the author's mother and stepfather in the 1960s and 1970s. The couple married when the author was sixteen. "Mom" was a stay-at-home mother and very down-to-earth. Walt worked as an instructor for NASA at the height of space exploration. These stories are told from the author's point-of-view during the ten years following the marriage. The stories, although infused with a certain amount of literary license, are based on true events. In other words, who could make this stuff up?

And, yes, the cover design is mine. And, no, I'm not an artist. That yellow background is all about having fun with the photo editing program. I had a devil of a time finding the right flag for the moon (yes, that is the earth and the moon on there), so this last vacation I took scads of photos of flags waving in a stiff breeze ~~ just in case for next time. The cover won't win any prizes at the county fair or anyplace else, but hopefully it is eye-catching.





Sunday, June 1, 2014

New Nom de Plume - Zina Abbott

I have taken the big plunge -- or plume, as the case may be. I have decided to write my historical novels under the pen name, or nom de plume of

Zina Abbott

For more details on why I made this decision, please visit my Zina Abbott Books blog:
http://zinaabbottbooks.blogspot.com/2014/06/new-nom-de-plume-zina-abbott.html