Media Interviews

April 19, 2012
Hi, all!
I've recently had the honor and pleasure of being interviewed by quite a few members of the media. Shell Games is doing very well, and many folks are interested in hearing more about the story. Hot-Links are not allowed on a blog site, so I'll list a few of the links; then, all you'd need to do is "copy and paste" the addresses into your browser, and this should take you right to the interviews.
I've done several National Public Radio interviews - -and some state-wide talks as well. I even got to do one show that was streamed out over the Armed Forces Radio Network so that our men and women serving across the globe could hear a voice from back home; I was so, so proud to be part of that show.
And still more good news: Shell Games is still an on-line retailer Best Seller! After peaking at #5 on Amazon.com, it was still at #23 when I got up early this morning -- and it was up the ranks on several other indexes as well. So, I want to thank everyone for their interest in the story!
I'll now try to post a few of the links:
A. This first one is to an interview I did with the wonderful host of Iowa Public Radio, Charity Nebbe. The interview gives away, in my opinion, a little too much of the story, but Charity really did her homework before the interview -- and it shows. Here's the link to the interview:
http://onlinemedia.iowapublicradio.org:8010/documents/news_stories/3611.mp3
NOTE: If that address does not take you to the site because of the way your computer works, you can go directly to the archive at Iowa Public Radio at the following address and simply scroll down to April 9, 2012, which will have an icon you can click on to listen to the interview. That main address is as follows: http://iowapublicradio.org/news/talk-of-iowa/past-shows.html
B. I just posted on my Amazon.com Author Central Site a video of me talking about Shell Games. It is a silly video, but I did it in one take! Well, I'm not sure that is necessarily a good thing....... Still, I hope you enjoy it, especially the part where I keep pulling "clues" to a murder. The link is as follows: http://www.amazon.com/Jeffrey-S.-Copeland/e/B001JS13XU/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
C. My favorite radio personality of all-time is Don Marsh. To me, he is the Best-of-the Best when it comes to interviewing authors. Don is, in a word, ELEGANT in his approach to a piece of literature. I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by Mr. Marsh for the "St. Louis on the Air" program, which was broadcast out over NPR. The link to that program is as follows:
http://www.stlpublicradio.org/programs/slota/archivedetail.php?date=%272012-03-29%27

I hope you enjoy the interviews and the video!

More soon......

Jeff

Best Seller!

April 17, 2012
Hi, all!
Shell Games has taken off like a rocket! I know that book rankings are fleeting at best (and a writer can't let his/her head get too big about such things), but last weekend Shell Games hit #5 on the on-line retailers list, officially making it a Best Seller. It is already dropping in the rankings, as happens to most, but for that time period I was on Cloud 9 -- and I'll never forget the feeling of waking up and seeing one of my books on the list. Ah, this was a dream come true for me.
The initial responses to the book have also been beyond my wildest dreams. The reviews on Amazon.com have been wonderful, and comments on other review sources have all been very complimentary. A writer never knows what the reaction will be to a book, so hearing these kind words is especially wonderful. I've also been doing quite a few book events and signings, and in most places the book has sold out completely. I did a presentation about the book and a signing last weekend, and 95 copies sold in the blink of an eye - -and everyone wanted me to sign the books for them, so my hand was plenty sore near the end, which is a beautiful woe to have. Also, it's a good thing I can write with both hands! I'll attach a picture of the event last weekend to this post. I had a wonderful time.
The presentations I'm doing for this book are quite different from what I have done with my other books. I'm trying to delve more into *how* the story came about -- and *how* I chose to write it (literary nonfiction). I have been giving a short powerpoint presentation to show as much visual detail as possible about the birth of the book. Then, I've chosen a couple of passages to read to give a flavor for the book. I have then had "audience participation." That is, I have been bringing "whizbangs" to the events and have been passing them out to those in the crowds. For those of you who don't know about these devices, a whizbang is a button on a string that can be wound up so that the button spins around and around on the string as one pulls the string back and forth. These whizbangs were used by workers in the button factories described in the book to help keep finger and wrist injuries at bay; so this is part of the "history" described in the story. The folks attending the presentations have had a great time with this. I'll try to post directions for making a whizbang in an upcoming post.
I'd like to take this time to thank all my readers for their support and kindness as Shell Games was released. I'm glad so many of you are enjoying the story, and I look forward to hearing from you. Also, if I'm in your area, please come to the book event -- and I'll teach you how to use a whizbang!
I'll write more soon. Take care -- and Happy Reading!

Jeff