All About Animals discussion

Hi all, One of our members has a book called "Ripple". It's by Tui. Please discuss her book here.

If a bunch of you want to read it, I could arrange for a "free day" on Amazon so you can get it free. So, if you're interested take a look at the book here on Amazon where you can read some reviews:
http://www.amazon.com/Ripple-Dolphin-...

You might also want to check out this recent interview with me about the book:
http://visionaryfictionalliance.wordp...

Let me know if you want to do this and if there's a few of you I'll arrange a free day for us and publish the date here a few days in advance to make sure you all know about it.

I don't know about everyone else, but I know that I would be interested.

Tui wrote: "If a bunch of you want to read it, I could arrange for a "free day" on Amazon so you can get it free. So, if you're interested take a look at the book here on Amazon where you can read some reviews..."

I'd love to read it with the group, Tui; but plan on reading it anyway...And, everyone, take a look at Tui's interview. One of the best I've read and really informative.

Inge wrote: "Tui wrote: "If a bunch of you want to read it, I could arrange for a "free day" on Amazon so you can get it free. So, if you're interested take a look at the book here on Amazon where you can read ..."

I would read it.

Okay, I'll work out a time and let you know.

Okay everyone, here's my big announcement. Ripple will be free for five days from Thursday 21st February to Monday 25th February. But that is in Pacific time (USA) so if you're a kiwi like me it will start and finish a day after.

I've made her free so that anyone of my "All About Animals" friends on Goodreads can get a copy.

Of course it is only the e-book that is free. If you want to read the print version that is also available on Amazon and on the Book Depository but not free.

For those who use Amazon.com the links are:
E-book:
http://www.amazon.com/Ripple-Dolphin-...
Print book:
http://www.amazon.com/Ripple-Life-tha...

For those using Amazon in the UK the links are:
e-book:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ripple-Dolphi...
print book:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ripple-MS-Tui...

Thanks Tui. I will put it on my calendar.

It's all happening now. The free promo is on right now

Hope you all got a copy.
Just signed a contract this week. Ripple is to be translated into Czech and Slovak languages and traditionally published in print in Czechoslovakia.

Tui wrote: "Hope you all got a copy.
Just signed a contract this week. Ripple is to be translated into Czech and Slovak languages and traditionally published in print in Czechoslovakia."

Tui, congratulations! I am in awe, and so glad that you are part of this group; we have a lot to learn about those wonderful sea creatures.

Tui wrote: "Hope you all got a copy.
Just signed a contract this week. Ripple is to be translated into Czech and Slovak languages and traditionally published in print in Czechoslovakia."

Congrats! How wonderful is that! I'm so happy for you. I can't wait to read your book.

Thanks Inge and Barbara. I was always a bit sad the NZ publishers didn't take interest in Ripple. I know we only have a small market here in this country so its no great financial loss but we also have the world's most rare and critically endangered dolphin living near me here. Ripple could help them if she became popular in this country. But I thought we'd now exhausted all possibilities here.

However, I got a very hopeful email from my agent yesterday. He said our biggest publisher read the interview on the Visionary Fiction Alliance and immediately requested the book from him. And that interview happened because of Goodreads. So I have all my fingers and toes crossed. Once you've read the story you'll see how Ripple's always one to make good on her very last chance.

I just finished this book, and I am in awe! Of course, I stumble-babbled through a review which managed not to do justice to the novel at all, but that's simply because I was still so brain and heart-walloped by the ending!
I LOVE books with gorgeous writing; "Ripple" has that.
I love animals, I love dolphins. Check!
I love books that stand out. "Ripple" is so unique, because it blends an animal story with mysticism/spirituality, in a way I don't think i've ever seen before.
This is a beautiful story with a poignant and timely message that all humans need to take to heart!

(As an aside, I also would like to comment that for me personally, dolphins came alive in a way they never have before. I've never seen, or touched a dolphin, and as someone who's been totally blind since birth, it's sometimes difficult to develop a concept for an animal that there's been no way for me to touch. The closest I ever got to imagining dolphins was by looking at toy dolphins. But with these glorious descriptions of their coloring, their bodies, the ways in which they swim, these creatures have become so much more real in my mind!)

Huge congratulations, Tui! This is a real work of art!

Rachel, I'm in awe of YOU! How did you read it?

Book accessibility has blossomed in the last five years or so. Now, I have several options for reading.
There's always Braille, but books are still severely limited as far as Braille is concerned, just because it's so time-consuming to produce them, and because Braille books are so much larger, physically, than print books.
But with computers, smart phones, and reading devices like the Kindle, most books are available. I access technology using something called "text to speech." This just means that there is software on my PC, IPhone, and Kindle, that allows the text on the screen to be read to me using a built-in speech synthesizer. The quality of these different devices varies concerning accessibility, but most are at the very least operational.
In the case of "Ripple" I bought it from the Kindle store. If you look down somewhere in the "description" or "details" section on the book's page on Amazon, you'll see something that says "text to speech enabled." This means that the book publisher allowed my screen reader software to access the book and turn the printed words into spoken text. So the book is fully accessible to me.
That's why I say constantly, this part of the 21st century is the best time on Earth to be blind! I have access to books that I could have only dreamed of, even as recently as the late 90's!

I do remember clicking that text-to-speech button enabler as I published the book. I'm so glad I did now.
Your response above is very special to me, and the most special part of it was when you said I had made dolphins more real in your mind than they had been before. It is fantastic to feel my work has enriched the life of someone in this way. Thank-you so much for sharing it with me.

You're very welcome! You really did bring those dolphins to life! It was magical!
If you know other authors, please let them know about enabling the text to speech. The more who are aware of it, the greater the "snowball effect" which could eventually mean more books or everyone.

I do know many other authors and this will become my signature message to them in future. It took less than half of one second to click that button. I am going to send you a personal message because there is something I'd like to say out of the public forum.

WOW, thank you for making that a signature! That will be awesome!
Going to check your message now.

Apologies to everyone!
I thought this book had already been a group read, which is why I was so eager to comment on it. I just realized it's July's book. But I am breathing a sigh of relief, because I didn't put in any spoilers.
All I can say is, everyone has something phenomenal to look forward to in July!

Thank you both, Rachel and Tui, for making us writers aware of a publication choice most of us had never considered--because we did not know about it or, sadly, had not paid attention to it.

I love Tui's promise of putting the message out there. Ripple will be proud of you.

Inge, we have already made arrangements for the topic of blindness accessibility to be covered on the influential Indies Unlimited website in a few weeks time. I am doing some lectures to authors and aspiring authors over the next fortnight and this topic will be included definitely.

Tui, please let us know when and where we can follow those discussions.

by the way, I gave you and Ripple a shout-out when I was interviewed by Christoph Fischer.
http://writerchristophfischer.wordpre...

Also, I've just dropped the price of Ripple to the minimum allowed on Amazon ($0.99c in US dollars and around 0.75p in UK money)The main reason I did this is because I want the book to be easily affordable by teens and students but it will be handy for the readers here too.

Woops - I did it twice - will modify the above post to remove double-up.

Will do Inge. And thanks for the plug! Great interview too. Looking forward to reading that one.

Tui wrote: "Also, I've just dropped the price of Ripple to the minimum allowed on Amazon ($0.99c in US dollars and around 0.75p in UK money)The main reason I did this is because I want the book to be easily a..."
Thanks to Rachel for the Wowza review, Ripple is one I'd like to read as well, and will vote for it next month :o)

Hello to my GR friends who might like to do something to help Ripple. I have something to ask of you. If you enjoyed reading Ripple, the book would benefit greatly from your vote on the list linked below. It is the "Best Books About Animals" list. Because of Ripple's very high review ratings every vote helps her to gain several places. I checked through all other books ahead of Ripple on the list and none had a review rating average higher than hers. They were only ahead of her because they had more votes.

Ripple is currently sitting at 54th place which is excellent for such a very long list(608 books) as it means she is on the first page already, but more votes could see her much closer to the top. If you don't find her at 54th place it will be because some of you have already moved her up; she will still be on the page, but somewhere higher up the list.

Here’s the link:

http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/89...

Thanks for helping Ripple

Here's a pic I made this afternoon:
http://www.tuiscope.co.nz/images/dolp...

That's really pretty Tui. Thanks for sharing. Love the colors.

Gorgeous :o)

So funny! I just got a message from Goodreads, telling me the animals group was about to read Ripple and what to do if I didn't have the book yet. :)

Tui wrote: "So funny! I just got a message from Goodreads, telling me the animals group was about to read Ripple and what to do if I didn't have the book yet. :)"

lol. I think it's automatic.

I guessed as much. But when you think about it, I had more trouble getting my hands on that book than anyone else ever needs to. :)

To let you know Ripple will be free on July 8th and 9th (But that's USA Pacific Standard time)I'm doing this for some readers in India, so if anyone hasn't already downloaded copy that's a good time for you.

Rachel wrote: "Apologies to everyone!
I thought this book had already been a group read, which is why I was so eager to comment on it. I just realized it's July's book. But I am breathing a sigh of relief, beca..."

Well, I would like more members to start discussing the books. So, if you want to say something about the book and it has spoilers, just type SPOILER as the first word so people can skip over it if need be till they finish the book. But, I would love to have more discussions on the books our group picks.

Ripple is now free for two days from now.I just added a third free day. Hoping to create alittle interest from readers in India and have now made my first Ripple sales there.

Tui wrote: "Ripple is now free for two days from now.I just added a third free day. Hoping to create alittle interest from readers in India and have now made my first Ripple sales there."

Thanks, Tui, I grabbed a copy yesterday!

Tui, Can you post some questions for the members to answer about your book? That might help get the conversation going.

Okay, here goes:
I've made a nice round ten questions. Just choose one that interests you and fire away with your answer. Don't hesitate to ask questions of your own.

I was asked this first question once by an interviewer and loved answering it so I'll pass it on:

1. If Ripple were ever made into a film, what music would you choose to go with the film?

2. Can you briefly describe the book's view of the spirit world ?

3. What are some of the underlying themes of this story?

4. Ripple was helped in some way, by every member of her immediate family. Can you name some of the ways they helped her achieve her goal? Also how was she helped (and sometimes hindered) by dolphins from outside her immediate family.

5. Why did the deities want humanity to hear Ripple's story now?

6. In what way did dolphins help humanity even after they had become extinct?

7. How did the newborn baby called Rikoriko, help the dolphins of Ripple's family?

8. Why do you think I included the character Maram? What was his importance to the story?

9. I'd love to hear reader's opinions about such dolphins' abilities as astral travel and thought-streaming? Does it seem plausible to you? I was trying to suggest the possibility that dolphins were not only equal to humans in intelligence but might even be beyond us. It really felt to me, while writing, that the whole story had been thought-streamed into my brain from somewhere outside of me.

10. How did you feel about characters of the Hereafter being included in the story? These were the deities and the seraphim.

Wish I could participate, but I'll have to watch from the sidelines, because my wonderful library system doesn't have this book ... ;o/

Where are you Liz? Maybe I could get one to you somehow, if you live near me perhaps.

I have to be honest: Our past book discussions have been rather lame. Yes, there have been nice comments here and there (and as one whose book was a "read," I am grateful though few made it over to Amazon--hint, hint).

Let's be a little more proactive. Barbara has been working so hard to grow this group and keep it going. And Tui was gracious enough to make Ripple free a while ago, so many of us surely downloaded it.

That said, I must put my mouth where my foot--ah, fin--is. This weekend, I shall un-dock my laptop and nestle down more comfortably in the living room and read RIPPLE (Haendel's Water Music in the background will be appropriate).

In the meantime, I would urge you to go back to Messsage #2 and read Tui's interview (I myself have it in my Favorites). It is excellent and very enlightening.

Now, go ride the waves with Ripple!

Inge wrote: "I have to be honest: Our past book discussions have been rather lame. Yes, there have been nice comments here and there (and as one whose book was a "read," I am grateful though few made it over to..."

Yes, you are right. I've been trying to get conversations going but it's like pulling teeth. If people aren't willing to participate I can't grow this group by myself. Sometimes it feels like a one man band except for a few who have been good about participating.

Anyway, all I can do is try. I need all your help to keep it going. I'm always up for suggestions. I too have been slack in reading the books here as I'm in a few book groups that meet in person.

Let's get busy reading. I try to do two books a month so if you don't like the one, maybe the other one will suit you. We can read one book for here. I hope. If not, then what's the point of the group?

I'll get off the soap box now.

Tui wrote: "Okay, here goes:
I've made a nice round ten questions. Just choose one that interests you and fire away with your answer. Don't hesitate to ask questions of your own.
..."

Tui,

Thanks so much for the questions. Some good ones there. So, now everyone, let's get the discussion going.

Barbara wrote: "I'll get off the soapbox now"

Me too.
One suggestion: Perhaps we could designate, say, the last three days of the month for the discussions of that month's read, rather than having comments come in here and there over time.

Inge - it's good idea to leave the discussion of the questions until the last three days of the month but it would also have been smarter on my own part if I had thought to put the questions up at the start of the month. That way people would be able to give them some thought as they read.
But we don't really need to "bother our pretty little heads about a thing" because this thread proves there's no reason why people can't discuss a book both before and after it's own "month."

Inge wrote: "Barbara wrote: "I'll get off the soapbox now"

Me too.
One suggestion: Perhaps we could designate, say, the last three days of the month for the discussions of that month's read, rather than havin..."

That sounds like a good idea. We will have time to read it and then discuss it before the next read. Great suggestion.

Tui wrote: "Inge - it's good idea to leave the discussion of the questions until the last three days of the month but it would also have been smarter on my own part if I had thought to put the questions up at ..."

Good points too.