Barefoot Bay World Journey
As you may know, the original home for the Barefoot Bay World was recently shut down. This was a blow to both the twenty-five plus authors and our loyal readers. But Roxanne St. Claire, owner of the World, is a force to be reckoned with.
All the Barefoot Bay World books have been relaunched using the D2D platform! The books are once again available and to a wider audience. The books are available on Kindle (Amazon.com), Apple (iTunes App Store), Nook (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/b/nook-books/_/N-8qa), Kobo (https://www.kobo.com/), 24 Symbols (https://www.24symbols.com/) and Angus & Robertson (https://www.angusrobertson.com.au/).
We offered a live Facebook Party yesterday, September 21, 2018 featuring interaction with the authors, drawings, gift card giveaways and loads of fun.
So, welcome back to the Barefoot Bay World authors. We hope to entertain many more readers and continue publishing great stories set on the mythical key off the west coast of Florida called Mimosa Key, home to the Barefoot Bay World!
Release Day for TRAIN MY HEART didn't go as planned. It's funny now but . . .
- 10:35 AM: Get ready. The Barefoot Bay Kindle Worlds Author Launch 3 starts at 12 noon. Login, check Facebook, email and prepared excerpts.
- 11:34 AM: Get set.
- 11:35 AM: stop.
- No Wi-Fi. I run the troubleshooting program. Nothing. I re-boot. Twice. Nothing. I call the cable company. Their equipment is working fine. Must be my Wi-Fi router.
- 12:15 PM: take shower. I have time since I’m not scheduled until 5 PM. (The shower is a necessary step for going out in public.)
- 1 PM: arrive at Best Buy and purchase a new router and one cable I need. ($89.98)
- 1:25 PM: park my car at home. Go through the screened porch door. Feel tiny lizard land in my hair and struggle to get out. I help him by vigorously shaking my head and doing the only cheerleader dance I know. (I’ve lived in Florida for forty-four years and NEVER had a lizard in my hair.)
- Finally get inside and open the box. Naturally, the cable I needed was included with the router.
- Following the directions, I disconnect the old router and hook up the new one. I go to my laptop and click on connect. Message received says “Can’t connect to this network”.
- Start over by resetting the new router. Did this twice.
- Call the company and get a tech to talk me through it. (Tech had a heavy accent and probably lived somewhere between Pakistan and Bangladesh.)
- We reset the router again. And again. We do this a total of seven times with the only difference in the order cables are plugged and unplugged and the length of time they are left unplugged. Each time we get the “can’t connect” message, he acts surprised.
- Three times he asks me if I have an Internet cable that I can connect directly to the laptop. Each time I tell him no. Besides, my laptop doesn’t have an Internet-type port so not having the cable isn’t an issue. Each time he says, that’s okay, we can do this.
- 3:52 PM: I tell the tech I have to stop because I’m supposed to be online for an event at 5 PM, and now I have to get to somewhere that has free wi-fi.
- He refuses to believe I have to stop. He sounds a bit desperate at this point, but then so am I. He says he’ll call me back later, or tomorrow. Whenever. Take your ticket number and use it when you call us back. Etc., etc.
- Pack up the laptop, the power cable, the cell phone and its power cable (because, of course, the battery is almost completely drained by this one hour phone call.)
- Panera’s. I drive willy-nilly through the rush hour traffic and arrive at 4:35! Yippee! I park, hurry inside, set up the computer and plug in my phone. I sit down and try to connect to the Internet.
- Forgot the finger pad on the laptop stopped working three days earlier and I did not bring the wireless mouse I need.
- Pack up the laptop, phone, cables and my purse and drive willy-nilly through the rush hour traffic to get home.
- Sneak past the sleeping dog so he doesn’t think I’m going to walk him and grab the mouse.
- McDonald’s. They’re closer. (Not as much ambiance but about half the distance away than Panera’s.)
- I arrive and sweep past the long line. (Who eats McDonald’s at 4:50 PM? A lot.) I check every wall to discover, they may offer wi-fi but they don’t offer electricity.
- Starbucks. How could I forget one is practically around the corner from my house.
- I arrive at 5:05 PM.
- Set up, plug in, and . . . I’m online at 5:08 PM!
- I chat with readers and other people who don’t eat dinner between 5 and 6 PM.
- Nerves hit my stomach and I manage a few moments away from my computer which is still there when I return. Whew.
- I’m not a vagrant or a freeloader so I purchase coffee and a breakfast sandwich. I soon remember why I don’t think of Starbucks when I’m hungry.
- People keep chatting past my time so I stay online until 6:30 PM.
- I pack up everything and drive home.
- I arrive at 6:45 PM and pick up the phone to tell my daughter I got online, almost on time and the event went very well.
- No dial tone.