Button Box Preview

Chapter One

New Orleans: New Years Eve, 1858

"Hey, come back here you little thief. Thief! Stop that urchin!" The bakery owner’s shrill voice split the chilly evening air.

Abigail elbowed her way through the crowded New Orleans street. She ducked behind a woman wearing a full skirt then dove around a fat man’s trouser legs to escape. The bread she’d snatched warmed her hands, but the sweet smell caused her insides to gnaw. 

No one’s going to take this loaf away!

She tucked it under her arm, then pulled a thin shawl tighter over her shabby cotton dress, and wished for some of the warmth that radiated from the gas street lamps. It was New Year’s Eve and as cold a night as it had been this winter. Hopefully, 1859 would bring her better luck. She’d find a quiet spot to enjoy every crumb, even though it was smashed flat as the noodles her mama used to make back in Georgia. She aimed on celebrating the new year with a full belly.

She found an alleyway and crawled through a maze of rubbish as she held her nose to block out the rank odor. Finally, she crouched behind a pile of boxes and bit into a chunk of the ill-gotten bread. The taste had barely reached her tongue when a hand gripped her shoulder. Fear formed a tight ball in her throat. She stuffed in another bite, determined to die on a full stomach. She glanced about. There wasn’t anyone to help, only drunks staggering about. Slowly, she turned and looked up at her assailant. 

To her surprise it wasn’t a back alley drunk but a nice looking gentleman. Maybe he was some kind of lawman one the bakery owner had sent to look for her. No, if he were a policeman he’d be wearing one of those crescent badges. And for sure, he wasn’t a merchant. He was too refined. He wouldn’t be taking her food. She took a deep breath and let it seep out. At least she wouldn’t be going to jail. 

The stranger eased his grasp. "What’s your name?"

The girl swallowed so fast she nearly choked, then stood, drew herself up to her full four feet, ten inches, and pushed back dark, matted curls. "Abigail Sloan, sir."

"Why are you out here alone this time of evening? Don’t you have a home?"

"I’ve been takin’ care of myself fer quite awhile now. I’m doing alright at it." She shifted from one foot to the other. 

"It’s freezing. Don’t you know you’ll catch your death of cold?"

Abigail’s pulse quickened. Why didn’t he yell for the law and be done with it? "I only took a loaf of bread, Mister."

"Bread, what’re you talking about?" He dragged her over to a street light, lifted a lock of curls, and peered at her face. "How old are you?"

"Was sixteen my last bir . . . but that ain’t none of your business." Abigail jerked from his strong grip. If he was like the men at the brothel, he was up to no good. 

With that thought, the shadows moved in and danced about; pulling everything she didn’t want to remember into the present. She blinked and pushed at them, but they swallowed her.

***

Button Box will be available to everyone January 14, 2014.  



Button Box Press Release

Local Author Releases New Novel


Eva McCall, local author, will release her new novel, “Button Box,” on January 14, 2014.


“I wrote ‘Button Box’ many years ago,” said McCall.  “It feels so good to finally have readers read the journey that Abigail Sloan endures during the Civil War.”


Button box is a fast-paced 96,000 word historical fiction set during the Civil War.  Abigail Sloan learns the hard lessons of life during this time, but is comforted by her button box, symbolizing all of humankind; all shapes, sizes and colors, living together.


McCall began writing the novel after the release of her first novel, “Edge of Heaven.”  It wasn’t until summer 2013 that she decided to release it to the public. 


“There's a saying, ‘never judge until you walk a mile in someone's shoes,’" said McCall.  “The book helped me to realize just how true this saying is and hope it does the same for the reader.”


Button Box will be available at Books Unlimited and online bookstores. 


Eva McCall is the author of the popular “Edge of Heaven” series and “Murder on Haint Branch,” which was released in early 2013. 


For more information, please contact Tyler Cook, Moonshine Press PR Manager, at evamccallbooks@gmail.com 

Eva McCall Reading MOHB

Eva visited East Nashville Radio in November to read parts of Murder on Haint Branch as well as discussing the inspiration for the book and her upcoming book, Button Box.  A big shout out to Richard Carpenter for interviewing Eva and airing it on ENR.  If you haven't already purchased MOHB, you can do that here.  Button Box will be available in the upcoming weeks! 

You can listen to the recording of the interview here. 

Introducing Button Box

Eva McCall is happy to announce the release of her 5th book, 'Button Box'.  The release will be in early 2014.  No additional information is available at this time.  Stay connect with Eva on Facebook, Twitter, and her website for future release information!

A Year Ago Today

If you told me a year ago that I would eventually play a part in publishing a book, particularly a book that is the best I have ever read by an author that has sold thousands of books and recognized by national icons, I would have laughed at you.  Yes, I never thought I would go down this road until I went to my aunt, Eva McCall, and said I wanted to do it.  I guess I can now say “never say never.” 

A year has passed, and so many things have happened with the production and release of Eva’s new novel, “Murder on Haint Branch.”  This is all Eva’s baby, but since working on it with her, I have felt like it’s my baby too.  This has been months of hard work.  And there were even times that Eva and I didn’t think it was going to work out. 

It was Eva’s birthday when the idea hit me.  We had all the family and all of the Carpenter sisters at my grandma’s house.  Every time I saw Eva at times past, I would ask how the publishing of the book was going.  And she would say that no one had picked it up and was waiting for something to happen.  I told her that if she was willing to invest some money and time, I would be willing to invest my time and previous experience toward the project.  I don’t think I had her sold on the idea at the time, but she said she would look into it and would send me the manuscript for me to read. 

It only took me three days to read the book.  And when I put it down, I stepped back and said, “Woah.”  The plot and the characters were all so well done, and were so rich in Appalachian history.  You know it’s a good book when you ponder about it all day.  As soon as I could, I called Eva and said, “You have to publish this!”

That’s what started our journey.  Eva still wasn’t convinced it was good enough to be published, or that we could do it.  But she did send it to Barbara McRae from The Franklin Press, and asked for her thoughts.  After a week or two, Barbara too said that it was good and we should pursue the project.  That’s what made Eva realize we needed to do it.  Eva felt that Barbara would also be good to edit the book and format it.  So as Barbara began the long process, Eva and I focused on other aspects of the book. 

Those aspects included finding a printer and a cover.  Henry Fichner offered to do the cover, so that was easy.  Finding a printer, however, was a different story.  Because we were doing it ourselves, we quickly found out why authors don’t get much money when they are with a publisher.  No matter who we went with, printing was going to be expensive.  We wanted to keep the printing process local, but wasn’t able to because the book was going to have to be published in the thousands before each individual book would be cheap enough. 

Months later, when Barbara had the editing completed, we still did not have a printer.  At the same time, we were pursuing a lead that would possibly get a quote from Dolly Parton on the back of the book.  But it all came together when we had the final version of Barbara’s editing, Henry’s finished cover, Dolly’s letter, and the final decision with a printer.  We submitted our final product to Book Patch, an online printer stationed out of Arizona. 

Nothing can describe the feeling I felt when the first printed copies arrived.  It gave me a sense of accomplishment, and months of hard work paying off.  These three books were in no way perfect (I have one of the three, and I have hidden it very good.  It’ll be worth something one day!), but it showed us what we needed to do to make it perfect and have it ready for mass printing. 

April 1, 2013 was the day that people were able to purchase the book in stores.  Now that I think about it, we should have done a midnight release like they did with the Harry Potter series (I will make sure to do this with the next book!).  I think we had planned on doing a release party with close friends and family, but wasn’t able to work it in our schedules.  I was so excited to hear that people were finally buying the book and reading it.  And while the journey of getting the book published was over, the next journey, selling the book, began. 

Since the release, Eva and I have sold lots of books, and learned new things in the process.  Our first book signing at Books Unlimited was a big success, and the signings following were also successful.  In May, the book was published in eBook format, which was another brand new experience for me.  And it has given me experience in advertising and social media, which is working well for my college major. 

I can’t believe it has already been a year since we started the project.  I also can’t believe it has already been six months since the book has been available to readers.  It’s true what they say, “Time flies when you’re having fun.”  This experience with Eva has certainly been loads of fun, and I have told her to call me up when she is ready to start the next book.  I’m expecting to get that call very soon. 

The fans of Eva and my family have all been so supportive and have given great reviews for the book.  None of this could have been done without you cheering us on.  And of course, this couldn’t be done without the mind behind the story.  Thank you, Eva, for giving me something to be passionate about and to be proud of. 

On to our next journey…

-Tyler

You can now purchase Murder on Haint Branch here.