News from Inkshares:

There is now an e-book purchase option at $10.00. 

This purchase does count toward the final goal of 750 pre-orders.

We have 628 pre-orders, leaving only 122 more until Inkshares will begin the publishing process. 

Thank you, as always for your support and encouragement thus far. 

Carol

Dear Readers:

Good afternoon, Readers:

You probably have received the message from Inkshares about new policies. I won't go into the details - you can do that yourself - but here's what it means for you and "Nowhere Else I Want to Be":

1. I will move my campaign to the new structure: 750 pre-orders instead of 1,000.

2. The price of the book will rise from $8.99 to $20.00 on Friday, October 30 at 12 noon PST.

3. I've launched a week-long marketing campaign to encourage pre-orders at the $8.99 price point.

What does all this mean for you?

1. You will NOT pay the higher price for any books you pre-order BEFORE Friday, October 30 at 12 noon Pacific time. That includes books you've already ordered.

2. If you were starting to plan gift-giving -- it's never too early to begin shopping for 2016 birthdays and holidays -- you'd do best to order extra books (you can order as many as ten) in the next seven days.

3. Please share the message (below) -- facebook, twitter, email and by word of mouth -- with friends, family, colleagues, and people interested in social justice, AIDS, race and women's issues. 

Copy and paste this message:

Now until Friday, October 30 at 12 noon PST -- pre-order "Nowhere Else I Want to Be" for only $8.99. After that, you will pay $20.00. A memoir written by the founder of Miriam's House - residence for Washington, DC's homeless women with AIDS - the book is full of humorous, tragic and fascinating stories about life in a community of women defying the odds. Read excerpts and pre-order here. 

One final thing. Here is a photo of my niece's work door. How's that for marketing? Thanks, Heather!

Thank you, readerly friends! Feel free to contact me (carold.marsh@gmail.com) if you have any questions, would like to have some book cards to distribute, or want to share ideas as to the best way to make the most of this special marketing week.

Peace,

Carol D. Marsh

Website; Facebook

To my faithful Pre-order Partners:

Thanks to all of you, we now have 313 pre-orders: almost one-third of the way to the 1,000 goal set for February 10, 2016. 

Today I thought you might want to read one of the excerpts I've been reading at the book events sponsored by N Street Village, the organization Miriam's House merged with in 2011.

Feel free to forward this message to anyone you think may be interested in Nowhere Else I Want to Be. I have placed one pre-order link at the bottom of the page, and one HERE. 

This period of time, from spring to winter 1998, turned out to be the first of several over the years about which we staff members later learned to tell one another enjoy the lull now, take care of yourself and rest, because it will all change soon enough.

            But at that point we had not yet learned that bit of wisdom, so the change, when it came, caught us by surprise. As I enjoyed the bit of quiet that I could not know would end abruptly in December, I somehow thought that we would go on together, these women, the staff and Miriam's House, forever. Perhaps, in believing the worst times were over now that we were three years into being, I forgot that death and relapse and chaos could cycle back. I did not know that the not-worst times could still be very, very difficult. And, of course, we didn't know that Nickie, who had just moved in that May, was coming to the end of her life that December.

            We didn't know until she was just about gone, until our nurse, Kathy, who was with Nickie to help her dress one morning, saw her suddenly collapse with a groan; until she raced up the hall shouting for me to dial 911 before running back to Nickie. What I remember is the look on Kathy's face as she knelt at Nickie's side, there on the floor in the bathroom, and that Kathy's eyes told me what we hadn't known.

            I followed the ambulance to Howard Hospital, just a few blocks away, I saw them pull the stretcher out of the back of the vehicle, the oxygen canister on her abdomen and a mask over her face, one EMT scrambling alongside the stretcher performing CPR while the others rushed it indoors. I parked the car and ran into the ER and they let me into the back without question once I said who I was and why I was there. But I was not allowed into the trauma unit, its curtain billowing outward with the hurried movements of multiple doctors and nurses, so I sat in a chair in the hallway, heart pounding. Twenty minutes later, a doctor sat down next to me to tell me, kindly and softly, that they had not been able to revive her.

            "May I see her?"

            "We need to clean her up first, but in about fifteen minutes, you can go in."

            I told her that we had a community of people who loved Nickie and asked if I could call them to come up and say good-bye. The doctor conferred with other ER staff, then returned to say we could have half an hour. I called Miriam's House to tell Tim and Angie. Then, seeing the activity in the trauma unit had ceased, I stepped in to say good-bye. But I could not control myself and was afraid that if I were heard the permission to visit Nickie would be withdrawn. So I gave Nickie a kiss on her forehead and went outdoors to wait for my friends from Miriam's House, take some deep breaths, and let the sun dry my cheeks.

            Tim drove a group up in the van, and the rest walked. I recall standing with one hand resting on Nickie's foot, the other grasping Angie's hand. I tried to comfort the residents as they slowly entered the unit, stunned.

            But I don't know what happened after that, because I had to go to Nickie's father's apartment to tell him his one remaining daughter had died. He lived in senior citizen subsidized housing near Union Station. I drove there filled with dread, unsure of what to say and how to say it. I remember the smell of stale urine in the elevator. I remember wishing I had taken the stairs but then realizing they probably smelled worse and might be unsafe to boot. I remember the greasy feel of the air in the hallway, the dingy, indeterminate color of paint applied ages ago, the scuffed tile floor scattered with trash and cigarette butts, the yellowed ceiling above. 

            I waited long moments after I knocked, listening to the shuffling sound of his approach, the wheeze of his breathing. Struggling for composure, I breathed deeply but choked on the stench.  As Nickie's father opened the door I saw that the apartment was dark. Roaches scuttled away from the splash of hallway light on the kitchen floor and counters.

            "Mr. Moore? My name is Carol. I work at Miriam's House, where your daughter, um, lives. May I come in?"

            He opened the door further and I walked in to the same smell as the hallway, only concentrated. Breathing through my mouth, I wrenched my mind away from the wretched place and the disturbing thought of his living there. The elderly, infirm man shuffled and wheezed his way to the only chair in the tiny space. 

            "Who are you?" He had sat down heavily and he peered at me from rheumy eyes that I was not sure could distinguish anything much at all. I stood uneasily before him.

            "I'm Carol." I tried again, "I work at Miriam's House with Nickie. I came to talk with you about her."

            "Nickie?"

            "Your daughter," I said faintly, quelling the rising nausea that now had less to do with the smell than it did with consuming sorrow that any human being had to live like this. I looked around the dingy apartment to find a phone, a conviction growing in me that I would be unable to make him understand, and hoping to call someone, maybe a neighbor, to come over.

            "Sir, I'm afraid I have bad news for you. I am so very sorry. Sir?"

            He had dropped his head and I noticed for the first time a fine trembling of all his body, as though within him sounded a tightly tuned cello string. I could not tell whether he had understood what I'd said.

            "Sir?"

            "Nickie."

            "Yes. Yes, sir, I have come to tell you about Nickie. Your daughter." A fathomless river of suffering flooded ancient banks and boiled up through the soles of my feet.

            He shook his head. "Nickie? Where is she?"

            "Mr. Moore, do you have a friend living here? On this floor? Is there someone who can help us right now?"

            "Herman. Next door."

            And that is where my memory stops. I must have found Herman, he must have helped me find phone numbers for Mr. Moore's two sons. We must have called them, because I know I left with the assurance that a son was on his way. It would be a family member and not a stranger who would try to make this father understand that his only daughter was dead

Pre-order HERE

Thanks to all of you, we had great momentum in September: 245 pre-orders! My goal now is to reach at least 600 by December 1, World AIDS Day.

That means I’ll need your help. So I’ve asked my friend and former colleague, Cristina, to tell you about her EASY and QUICK GET-THE-WORD-OUT STRATEGY. 

From Cristina:

Hi, everyone! If you're getting this update, it means you already pre-ordered Nowhere Else I’d Rather Be. Thank you.

The next logical step is to spread the word about this fabulous book to friends and colleagues who are like-minded - ANYONE WHO YOU THINK WILL ALSO ENJOY and FIND MEANING IN CAROL'S WORK. 

This will take you less than 5 minutes. And it would mean so much to us if you would do it by FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9.

1. Think about what appeals to you about Carol’s work at Miriam’s House and/or the book.

2. Post those sentiments on your favorite social media outlet (for me that is Facebook).

3. Include the link to Carol’s Inkshare’s page. (https://www.inkshares.com/projects/nowhere-else-i-want-to-be/)

4. Tag people (on facebook, in the comments section under your post) who you think would also find meaning in those elements of Carol's story.

One of the people I tagged not only bought a copy of the book for her volunteer cohort, but then also posted about the book on HER Facebook page and tagged friends SHE thought would be interested! How wonderful!

THIS IS HOW WE’RE GOING TO GET THE MESSAGE OUT. It's one way to help Carol reach that 1,000 pre-order goal. You'll be hearing more ways later.

 [Optional: If you create a post and want to share it with Carol, take a screen shot of your post and message the pic to her at the new Nowhere Else I Want To Be Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/caroldmarshmemoir?ref=aymt_homepage_panel]

We’d love to see how this spreads!

Best wishes, Cristina and Carol

Dear readers:

I won't send updates very often, no more than once or twice a month, and here is your first: PRE-ORDERS ARE AT 101 as of this moment. That seems something to celebrate.

WOOOHOOOO!

Many of you have posted on facebook and shared by email. Some have ordered extras for gifts, and for their book groups. I really appreciate these efforts. We can't reach that 1,000 goal without a lot of help. We need to find people who care about women and homelessness and AIDS, and who care about stories of people too often ignored and shunted aside.

Special thanks to some who are really going to great lengths for Nowhere Else I Want to Be:

* Reader Kayla M. has an idea about ordering extra copies for older friends and acquaintances that might not be versed in the art of on-line ordering.

* Reader Ann M. has promised to send emails and tweet the link a couple of times a week for a few weeks.

* Reader Cristina F., a recent graduate with an MSW, is also going to talk to former professors about using the book as part of a curriculum. And she's looking into how we can better use social media.

* Reader Becca K. made sure an announcement of a book event was posted in the Sojourner's Magazine on-line events calendar.

* N Street Village is providing wonderful support in the form of three book events and emails and messages to their constituents.

* Luther Place Memorial Church is hosting a book event on Sunday, September 27, from 3:00-4:00pm. I'll read a couple excerpts from my memoir, some current and former Miriam's House residents and staff will be there, AND a gospel choir will sing.

* The Potter's House Cafe and Bookstore will display a poster and informational postcards that its patrons will see as they come in the door.

* Seekers Church will display a poster and informational postcards.

* The Center for Nonprofit Advancement will help get the word out to their member organizations.

Many thanks to all of you. Simply by pre-ordering the book, you have expressed faith in it that means the world to me.

Peace,

Carol