More than any book I’ve written, I am so pleased The Swanson Shuffle is now officially published. Don’t get me wrong, I am excited whenever a story I’ve been immersed in for oh so many months is officially a book. But The Swanson Shuffle has a long and complex history.

First, there was the inspiration. Like the book’s protagonist, Bia Fernandes, I lived and worked in a psychiatric halfway house. To be clear, however, this book is not a memoir, but Bia’s story to tell. The characters, including her, are fictional. But having had that experience, I felt I could write her story with authenticity. The only similarity in our experiences is that the halfway house is located in a funky old mansion that would be torn down after a highway is built.

Anyway, I wrote the book, which I called Walking in Place, in 1999. I failed to lure an agent. I entered it in publishers’ contests with no luck.

The following year, I did have an agent, but he passed on the book and instead agreed to represent my hilltowns novels, which alas, he couldn’t get published. Yes, it’s been a long, strange trip.

Then in early 2014, I rewrote Walking in Place and renamed it The Swanson Shuffle. Both titles refer to the side-effect of one drug a few of the residents of Swanson House take. (I also considered at one point the title, Crazy Daisy.)

The two versions have many of the same characters. But the protagonist is named Rose in the first book and Bia in second. Walking in Place is written in first-person past tense, and The Swanson Shuffle, in first-person present tense.

Walking in Place begins when one of the residents has been arrested. The Swanson Shuffle starts with Bia coming for a weekend as part of the interview process.

The first version has hardly any chapter breaks. The second, as is typical of my current writing style, has lots.

In the first book, a lot of the plot revolves around Rose’s relations with the staff, including a bit of romance. The second focuses on Bia’s relationships with the residents, who, frankly, are far more interesting than the staff.

From time to time, in between writing new books like my mystery series, I returned to The Swanson Shuffle, making changes here and there. And, the masochistic writer that I am, queried agents and small presses, now that they had become popular. Unfortunately, darkstroke books, which published nine of my books, closed shop last year. And the book doesn’t fit the catalogue of my current publisher, Bloodhound Books.

Though I received encouraging words about the book from some in the business, I am at the point now that I say, “No more begging.” I will do it myself. Certainly, self-publishing is acceptable. I taught myself how to do formatting, and I am fortunate my artist son, Ezra Livingston, creates great book covers. (Wait until you see the one he created for the next Isabel Long book that will be out June 4.)

And so, voila! The Swanson Shuffle is yours to read in Kindle or paperback on Amazon. Here’s the link.

I thank you in advance. And if you love reading the book as much as I did writing it, please leave a review.