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- Fundraising goal EXCEEDED!!
Hello again!
We did it!!!! We EXCEEDED our fundraising goal for the restoration of the Waverly Train Explosion Memorial Museum!
Last week, I had the greatest pleasure to present, along with my amazing co-organizers, a check for $20,500 (with $50 more a couple of hours later from the sale of 2 posters) to the City of Waverly for the museum restoration.
As I’ve said many times before, this never could have been possible without YOU, everyone who donated, and especially the hard work of Patti Damesworth and Pam Gunn, who deserve the lion’s share of the credit for never giving up and putting in countless hours and relentless effort to see this through. And how their efforts have paid off!
This was a grassroots, community campaign through and through. No grants. No major corporate donors. Just, as Patti Damesworth put it, “ordinary people who cared about Waverly.”
So, thank you again, all of you, for taking the candle lit by this book and turning it into an enduring flame!
L to R: Pam Gunn, Mayor Buddy Frazier, Daryl Mosley, Frank Craver, Patti Damesworth, myself, Toad Smith, and Bobby Hooper.
L to R: Bobby Hooper, Buddy Frazier, Frank Craver, myself, and Toad Smith.
L to R: Frank Craver, Buddy Frazier, Bobby Hooper, Pam Gunn, Daryl Mosley, myself, Patti Damesworth, and Toad Smith.
L to R: Toad Smith, Frank Craver, myself, Bobby Hooper, and Buddy Frazier. This is the fire truck that responded to the derailment 45 years ago.
Signed copy I donated to the train museum.
If you’d like to follow the latest updates about the train museum and its restoration on Facebook, Patti and Pam have set up a page where they post regularly about this: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093715839076 (or search for “1978 Waverly Train Disaster Caboose Museum and Memorial Site”).
Walk through Fire was also part of the Humphreys County exhibit at the Tennessee State Fair this past week—I am so thankful to Daryl Mosley and the Humphreys County Chamber of Commerce for this honor!
Part of the Humphreys County exhibit at the 2023 Tennessee State Fair.
In other book news, I’ve been invited to appear at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville the weekend of October 21-22, 2023! I’ll be talking about Walk through Fire as part of a panel with other authors, and there will be a book signing directly after. I’m still waiting on further details, which I will send along to you as soon as I have them!
And, as I mentioned in my last newsletter, I was informed by the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) that Walk through Fire is one of their September 2023 Reading Club selections, in support of their theme of disaster preparedness.
As one person said to me recently, “This book is the gift that keeps on giving!” Truly!
‘Til next time,
Yasmine
Quick Poll
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My Next Book
Thank you so much to everyone who provided feedback on my future books and ideas! What came through loud and clear is that everybody, whether male or female, likes a good love story.
That is great news, since my next book, The View from the Cliffs, has the tagline: “Three physicians. Three continents. Two decades. One love story.”
When I sent the manuscript for this book to beta readers a few years ago, both men and women liked it equally, so I think that’s a good sign. I’m currently doing the final revisions, tightening it up in spots that need it, adding one or two more scenes, and wordsmithing sentence by sentence as I go.
I’ll also be searching for a good cover designer this fall, since I plan to release this book in Spring 2024 as the first under my own imprint, LastSky Press TM . I look forward to being able to share the cover reveal with you in a few months!
Photo by Keith M. Sturges. One of the locations that plays a central role in the book (and is referenced in the title)—do you know, or can you guess, where this is?
And don’t worry, I’ll still be working on the other books I listed, too, but they will come after The View from the Cliffs, since this is the one that is almost completed.
In Case You Missed It
February 19, 2023, appearing on “This Week with Bob Mueller” to talk about the Waverly Train Disaster and Walk through Fire:
Facebook Author Page
You can find more frequent updates on my official Facebook Author Page! I’ll be posting about author and creative writing news, including future books and events, quote collections, various writing-related musings, and more. You can follow my author page at: https://www.facebook.com/yasmine.s.ali.md.author/
I am now on Instagram as LastSky Writing! https://www.instagram.com/lastskywriting/
Bear with me, as I am new to Instagram and am still getting the hang of it. 😉
Pinterest Author Page
I also have an Author Page on Pinterest, so if you’re on that platform, you can find me at: https://www.pinterest.com/YasmineAliAuthor/
Quote of the Month
“I hope everyone that is reading this is having a really good day. And if you are not, just know that in every new minute that passes you have an opportunity to change that.”
Photo by Tennessee State Museum