Author Archives: Dennis

Comments from Jean Peelen, Co-Author of “Saving the Best for Last: Creating Our Lives After 50.

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I received this inspiring email today, from Jean, what can I say?:

Dennis: 

I wanted to take the time to tell you something
about your book.  I took it with me to New York last week, where I was
dealing with a difficult family crisis.  I don’t usually read much
non-fiction, and surely not about hiking.  But I started reading your
book
on the plane. 

 
The book was my solace and my meditation for the
whole
week.  When there was chaos around me, and selfish energies everywhere, I
would take a minute and read a chapter, and regain my
center.  The rhythm of your hike lent steadiness to me, and the
simplicity and elegance of your writing exposed drama (where I was) for
what it
was – not important.
 
So thank you Dennis.  Thank you for writing your
book.
 
Regards,
Jean.

Co-writer
of the national award-winning books
“Invisible No
More: The Secret Lives of
Women Over 50″ and
“Saving the Best for Last:
Creating Our Lives After 50”
www.invisiblenomore.com

Three Hundred Zeroes a finalist in the 2010 Next Generation Indie Book Awards.

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This just in: Three Hundred Zeroes has been
named a Finalist in the Travel/Travel Guide Category of the
2010
Next Generation Indie Book Awards !

It wasn’t the winner, but what this
means is it did come very close. In the next few weeks I’ll get the
specifics and Indie Book Awards committee allows me to put a medallion on
the book cover inidcating being a finalist.

It is wonderful to know that
a group of independent judges have found Three Hundred Zeroes worthy of
such an award. Thanks to all of you out there that have been supporting
me in this effort.

I’ll post more here once I get the complete details. The committee wrote me this morning just to let me know that the book was considered a finalist and indicated I’ll get more complete information in the next few weeks.

Thanks all…

Dennis, “K1”

Books make great gifts for Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.

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I used to sweat out Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. When I was younger it was flowers for Mom and tools for Dad. Then I discovered books. They were the perfect gift. They’re enjoyed over some period of time, they don’t wilt like flowers and they don’t mean more work, like tools. Books are to be enjoyed at one’s leisure. To me, a book is a very personal gift, one that says, “Hey, here is a story I think you will enjoy.”

Three Hundred Zeroes is a story that can be enjoyed by Mom, or Dad. It is humorous, full of adventure, danger, joy and determination. The story takes the reader far from the humdrum, fast paced world we live in every day and takes the reader exploring the mountainous Appalachian landscape. You’ll meet a cast of characters with names like, “Blitz,” “Speedy,” “New York Minute,” and “Bone Lady,” amongst many others, that will capture your imagination.

If they’ve already read Three Hundred Zeroes, other Appalachian Trail stories worth sharing with Mom and Dad are “It’s Always Up,” by the Mountain Marching Momas and “Skywalker ,” by six-foot  eleven, Bill Walker.

Enjoy.

Hamventions, and books for sightless readers.

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Two updates this evening:

First: I will be attending the countries largest ham radio convention in Dayton, Ohio. The “Hamvention,” as it is known, usually draws over 50,000 “hams” from all over the country and world and this year should be no exception. It falls on 13-16 May this year. I originally had no intentions of going this year. One usually has to reserve a room and make travel arrangements early to be there, everything sells out early. A good number of my ham friends (many I’ve never met, hams are like that) have been asking me to attend so they can get a signed copy of the book. A few of them have helped me find a place to stay and I’m hitching a ride, so I will be there. I hope to meet many of you that have read the book, and many who plan to.

I’ll be spending most of my time at an event known as FDIM, a sort of convention within the convention. Hams that like to work with very low power radios and backpacking radios have a Four Days In May event (FDIM) each year that specifically concentrates on such radio technology. I will certainly spend some time in the main event area as well and hope to meet all that have indicated interest. Thanks again.

Second: I’m working with an organization called BookShare to make Three Hundred Zeroes available via their service. They provide, at no cost, books to blind individuals. I’ve had several blind radio amateurs contact me about making the book available and with the help of Betsey Doane, ham radio call letters: K1EIC, that should be a reality soon. Thanks Betsey.

Facebook page for the book.

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We now have a Facebook page for the book Three Hundred Zeroes. Mosey on over and become a friend if you’re into things “Facebook .”

Also, for those of you that haven’t gotten a copy of the book yet, you can look at a good portion of the first chapter at amazon.com. Just go there and  click on the books cover and it gives you a choice of looking at the front cover, back cover, first chapter and so on. This  is a really nice feature if you’re curious about what the book looks like inside. Enjoy

Signed books and Amazon.com statistics.

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I’m curious. I don’t have a PayPal account set up on the web site, or here, for book orders. If I did, I might be able to arrange to ship signed copies of the book. I’m not certain why, but readers really do seem to like author signed books. Should I look into this; anyone feel strongly about such things? Please do send me a message, or you can leave a comment here.

A PayPal account would add to my personal workload since I would have to sign each book and ship it, but I really don’t mind if readers relish such things. I can currently ship anyone that wants a book and sign it. I haven’t formally set anything up, at least not yet, but if someone sends a check or money order for $20.00 to cover the book price (taxes, in Florida) and shipping, I’ll gladly do it. If there is a specific message you would like me to write in the book (maybe it is a gift for someone?), then explicitly tell me what to write, otherwise, it will just be my author’s signature. The $20.00 rate covers shipping at book rate, which so far seems to be about as fast as Priority USPS shipping. I suspect in the busier holiday seasons that may not be the case. If there is interest in USPS Priority Shipping, then the total price will be $22.00. See the sidebar on the right for address information.

There are about 300 copies in print now, maybe more, I’m not certain. If you’ve read the book, please do leave a comment here. I really do appreciate knowing how the book is being received, as any author would.

If you’re an Amazon.com customer (purchased from them in the last 18 months) it is really helpful if you leave an honest book review on their site for the book. We authors live and die by the rankings the book receives on Amazon .

If you scroll down the page for a book on amazon.com , there are some interesting statics there. One is the Amazon.com sales rank: # x,xxx. This figure compares how well a book is doing compared to all other book titles on Amazon , which is something like a formidable 3.5 million titles! They arrive at this number with a fancy mathematical algorithm,  but it is primarily based on daily sales and reviews given to the book.

Another area of interest is the, “Tags Customers Associate with this Product.” The first 15 “Tags” are generated by the author (unless they chose to do fewer) and the rest are created by you the customer. You can add tags to any book. Tags are merely subjects and topics that relate to what the book is about. Some readers have added tags such as “Inspirational” and “endurance,” they felt this applied to this book.

You can also “vote” on the tags that already exist. You can click an empty box and add a vote OR if you have already clicked a tag, you can click it again and subtract your vote. If you click on the tag description link itself, it will take you to a page dedicated to that tag topic and you can see other books or products related to that tag. This is a feature that just doesn’t exist in walking around a book store.

Feel free to comment on some of the topics I’ve raised here. That is what blogs are about and if I can answer questions, fire away.

Dennis, “K1” Blanchard

Emotional Book Signing at Kings Point Radio Club, Sun City Center, Florida

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Today I had the pleasure of going to the Kings Point Radio Club in Sun City Center, Florida. It was an emotional experience for me because it was arranged by a friend that I had not seen in maybe thirty years. Mike Iacovazzi, ham radio call letters, W1RDF. Mike was an early mentor of mine.

I grew up in Connecticut and when I was a languishing young “tweenager,” my Mom got tired of me hanging around the house and dropped me off at the local ham radio club, W1DHT, and drove off. I was drawn to it like a moth to light and became a member.

Mike, along with a few others was one of the older men that took me and several other young people under his wing and showed us the marvels of electronics and communications. Back in 1963 he gave me my very first transistor. Today, that is no big deal, but at that time transistors were like gold and handled like a nuclear device. They were delicate and susceptible to damage.

As the years passed and we all pursued our lives we eventually lost contact. I often thought of Mike and the others that played such a large role in my life and it’s trajectory. Recently one of us initiated an email and with the advent of my book, he invited me up for a club meeting and book signing. I took my Appalachian Trail photo show to his radio club and spent a good part of the day there.

Ham radio doesn’t play a large role in my book, but it has played a major role in my life and that came about because of guys like Mike.

All I can say is, “Thanks Mike,” you’re one of my heroes!

PS: received this today from a Kings Point member: “I’m not an avid reader but I must say your book has kept me glued to it.
I’m 2/3 done and started reading Monday evening the day I met you at
King’s Point Radio Club . I liked it so well I have told other friends
and Radio operators and ordered another one for my nephew who has been
hiking AT in sections” Bob, N1ZK.

Dennis “K1YPP” Blanchard 

Some of the emails I have received…

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As an author it is always a thrill to know that your book has had an impact. Here are some quotes from some emails I have received:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

I finished Three Hundred Zeroes tonight just one week from when I met you, the fastest I have ever read a book. There is only one fault that I found @#$% it ended! What a great book and what an author. The book brings back a lot of fond memories of forty years ago. Camping the Adirondacks, living not far from Mt Monadnock, Mt Greylock, …, Mt Washington, Camping at Pinkham Notch, Crawford Notch, Mooselookmaguntic, Rangley Lake where my sister and brother-in-law had a beautiful cottage on the water. Ham Radio op, Bob
N1ZK in Orlando, FL:

Hello Dennis, I just finished your book last night, once I started I could hardly put it down!! Great, great story! Your story was a inspiration and encouragement for all of us not so young in body, but still young at heart…Maybe a few years down the road I’ll do some section of the AT, I have a sister that lives in Blairsville, north GA., not far from the beginning of the AT. -Ham radio op, Ed in Marana, AZ.

“Great read! Here is my problem. I am having surgery in late April. Three Hundred Zeroes was for my recuperation. I am at ‘Mama and the Three Bears and I cannot seem to put it down” – Doug in Boston

“Hi K1! So I just started reading your book last night and can’t put it down!!” -Lemur in Baltimore


“You are unbelieveable. You did an hour of standup in a hiker hut in the middle of the White mountains?? I guess my comment earlier about you looking like George Carlin wasn’t far removed. What’s next? Are you booking the borscht belt?    You have one heck of a lot of talent my friend. EE, Ham radio guy, hiker/explorer, cross country motorcyclist,and now stand up comedian!” –Paul in New Hampshire
“Dennis, my book arrived a couple days ago. It’s a great read, I really enjoy it. Almost seems like I am there too.” –Ben in Ohio

“Didn’t realize you were such a bear and babe magnet” -Steve in the White Mountains of New Hampshire
“Your descriptions of eating large meals are a hoot!” -Rich in Vermont

“I’m already engrossed!” -Deborah, Thru-Hiker

Oh boy–am I exhausted!  I went to church…–the door fell off the guest room shower…, some drastic pruning outside, back door needs painting, etc, etc… so what did I do???  I’ve been hiking the AT, having heart surgery, getting back on the trail—time to stop for wine, cheese and crackers!   What an adventure.-Mrs. L, Fort Myers, Florida

And the list goes on…
Thank you all for the kind words, it does my heart good to know you’re all enjoying it so much.

Dennis “K1” Blanchard