The free ebook edition of Thank You has been released to a wonderful response. I am honoured to have been able to bring to life a book that holds so much meaning to so many people. Thank you to each and every contributor.
I am still waiting for the proof copies of the paperback to arrive, but I hope to be able to release it next month.
The free ebook edition will be released on 20 July, 2017. Pre-orders are already live on Amazon, and it will also be available through Google Play, iBooks, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. The book has already hit #1 on some Amazon sites.
The paperback has been delayed slightly, but will hopefully be available within a month. The list price will be around $15US.
Download and buy links will be activated on the book’s page on my website as they become available.
I have enormous gratitude to all the contributors. This book simply would not exist without them!
The sudden death of music legend Chris Cornell birthed a flood of grief and confusion. In the days that followed, an outpouring of love and admiration also surfaced. Fans and friends posted tributes, stories, memories and poems. So many expressions of love, so many touching, and sometimes funny, stories.
As I read through these posts, sharing their grief, I felt a need to do something. These expressions from the people who loved him were precious. It would be a shame for them to all drift off into cyber space as time moved on. The idea for a project was born.
I am compiling a book of these remembrances and tributes. Each piece is being used with the expressed permission of the writer. The response has been overwhelmingly supportive. My goal is to gather 100 contributors, or more, and in only a couple of days I have passed the half-way mark.
The ebook that will result from this project will be free. A print version is also planned, which will be sold for the minimum cost possible. This is a project of love.
If you are interested in submitting a piece to this book, please contact me through my Facebook page or Twitter account. Each piece will be attributed to the writer, or anonymous if requested. All rights remain with the original writers.
I am not a poet by nature, but this piece came to me as I contemplated the loss of my muse, Chris Cornell. I guess he has retained his power to get me writing after all. I wish so fervently that things were different, and that this poem never got penned.
The Door – written after the tragic passing of Chris Cornell
Tonight, I am reeling. My muse and inspiration, Chris Cornell, is reported to have passed away. So much more to me than just a voice, I cannot grasp the new reality of a world without him. My heart is broken, genuinely shattered.
How did he end up my muse? It started with a photo he posted on Twitter. I was a long-time fan, so I was already following him. Actually, he was the first person I followed on Twitter. Anyway, I digress. The photo was of a wall, marble or something similar, with the ghost of his image reflected. He asked us, his followers, what did we see? It sparked an image, then a paragraph, a scene, a chapter… The resulting story is as yet unfinished, but that was when I knew I’d found my muse.
My first novel has a hero that is not difficult to identify as having been inspired by Chris. But back then, I didn’t see him as my muse. His talent and beautiful character were the source for my character, and I thought it was as simple as that. But after that photo of the wall… Songs, interviews, other photos, so many things sparked ideas and stories.
Now he’s gone. I want to finish those stories he inspired, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to write. I guess I will one day. I think he’d like me to. But my heart is broken. It will heal, I have known grief before, but I have lost my touchstone, the star I navigate with through the waters of creativity.
Only two weeks ago I published a novella inspired by the lyrics of one of Chris’s songs. The temptation is to remove it from sale. I don’t want it to look like I’m being opportunistic or disrespectful. But would he want me to? He enjoyed it when artists covered his songs, so I’ll leave it up. For now, at least. And the other novellas I’d planned that were also based on his songs? Maybe, one day, they’ll make an appearance.
Farewell, my beautiful muse. Thank you for everything, for so much more than I could ever express.
Angela J. Maher 