ANGEL'S DESTINY: A Novel Story of Poems & Illustrations by April Martin Chartrand

The Cigar Box Series by April Martin Chartrand

2011-11-03T15:38:00.000-07:00

http://youtu.be/zyJto5AYooQ

My book is available at the Green Arcade Book Store +

2010-10-25T13:42:00.000-07:00

~The Green Arcade Book Store 1680 Market Street, SF CA

*Alexander Book Co. 50 - 2nd Street SF CA

~Books Inc. 2275 Market Street SF CA

*California Inst. of Integral Studies 1453 Mission Street, 2nd floor SF CA

~Your Scents 645 Divisadero Street, SF, CA

*http://www.amazon.com

'Angel's Destiny . . . Reviewed in the Midwest Book Review by 'Susan Bethany,

2010-09-21T10:11:00.000-07:00

Review:

Angel's Destiny: A Novel Story of Poems & Illustrations
April Martin Chartrand
Privately Published
9780615302515, $13.00

Emotion doesn't know just words alone. "Angel's Destiny: A Novel Story of Poems & Illustrations" is a collection of art and poetry from April Martin Chartrand as she brings readers into her own emotion and passion, transmitting these messages well through her chosen mediums. "Angel's Destiny" is an enticing collection, highly recommended. "Taking It Back": In our silence you had power/ to lie, cheat, beat, and steal.//A scene that later/became surreal.//Taking back the power of my birthright/reveals the sins of you.//Taking back my power,/I reveal to those who never knew.

Susan Bethany, Reviewer of "Bethany's Bookshelf " Midwest Book Review

http://midwestbookreview.com/rbw/sep_10.htm#bethany

The Green Arcade INVITES YOU TO A Book Signing & READING Featuring Imani M. Harrington & April Martin Chartrand

2010-08-20T17:39:00.000-07:00

The Green Arcade

INVITES YOU TO

A Book Signing & READING

Featuring

IMANI M. HARRINGTON & APRIL MARTIN CHARTAND

Guest Readers: Kehinde & Kulwa Apara

October 21, 2010, Thursday

The Green Arcade

1680 Market Street @ Gough San Francisco, CA 94102 415-431-6800

7:00 p.m.—8:30 p.m.

imani m. harrington ||||| ||||april martin chartrand

‘Positive/Negative . . .’ ||||||||||||||| ‘Angel’s Destiny . . .’

Available

The Green Arcade

1680 Market Street San Francisco, CA 94102

~October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month~

IMAGE SLIDE SHOW: Angel's Destiny: A Novel Story of Poems & Illusrations

2010-06-26T13:12:00.001-07:00

'ANGEL'S DESTINY IS AVAILABLE

2010-06-12T17:51:00.000-07:00

Angel's Destiny: A Novel Story of Poems & Illustrations by April Martin Chartrand

www.Amazon.com

~Books Inc. 2275 Market Street SF CA 94114

*Alexander Book Co. 50 - 2nd Street SF CA 94105

~California Inst. of Integral Studies 1453 Mission Street, 2nd floor SF CA 94103

~Your Scents 645 Divisadero Street, SF CA 94117

Trade paperback, 5.5” x 8.5”, 152 pages/48 illustrations ISBN 978-0-615-30251-5 | $13- USA.

"City College Alumna writes from the soul" May 2010

2010-06-12T17:45:00.000-07:00

I just had an article written about me and 'Angel's Destiny'

entitled 'City College Alumna writes from the soul'

by Kwame Opoku-Duku III Contributing Writer

http://theguardsman.com/city-college-alumna-writes-from-the-soul/

April Martin Chartrand receives a 'Board of Supervisors Certificate of Honor & Mayor Gavin Newsom 4.1.2010

2010-03-13T17:53:00.000-08:00

Click on image for a larger printable image.

April Martin Chartrand at San Francisco Public Library, Civic Center

Thursday, April 01, 2010

April Martin Chartrand receives a 'Board of Supervisors Certificate of Honor: Board of Supervisors City and County of San Francisco' by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi - Dist.-5' & Mayor Gavin Newsom for her book 'Angel's Destiny: A Novel Story of Poems & Illustrations'

San Francisco Public Library 6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
100 Larkin St. SF CA
Latino Hispanic Room A (LL)

-Available-

Amazon http://www.amazon.com
Alexander Book Co. 50- 2nd Street San Francisco, CA 94105
Books Inc. 2275 Market St. San Francisco, CA 94114

California Inst. of Integral Studies 1453 Mission St., 2nd flr. San Francisco, CA 94110

Trade paperback, 5.5” x 8.5”, 152 pages/48 illustrations ISBN 978-0-615-30251-5 | $13- USA.

4.1.2010 Book Reading/Signing & Audio Visual presentation by April Martin Chartrand

2010-03-03T18:41:00.001-08:00

Join National Award Winning Artist & Author, April Martin Chartrand for an evening of Reading/Siging and an Audio Visual presentation of her book, ‘ANGEL’S DESTINY: A Novel Story of Poems & Illustrations'

Date: April 1st, 2010 - Thursday

Where: San Francisco Public Library (Main) 100 Larkin St. (Grove St. Entr.) SF, CA 94102

Location: Latino Hispanic Room / LL - Room A)

Tim: 6-7:30 p.m.

Event cost: Free

Event Book Sales: A staffer from the SFPL’s Book Bay Main Store will oversee sales.

This independent reading event is produced by April Martin Chartrand, Author (This is not a “SFPL” sponsored program.)

Wheelchair accessible.

Book Available on www.Amazon.com

-Alexander Book Co. 50 - 2^nd St. SF, CA 94105
-Books Inc. 2275 Market St. SF, CA 94114
-CIIS Book Store 1453 Mission St., 3^rd flr. SF, CA 94103

BlogTalkRadio Show Listen to April Martin Chartrand

2010-03-01T14:05:00.001-08:00

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/authorsread/2010/03/01/april-chartrand--angels-destiny

I was on Blog Talk Radio 3.1.2010. Listen to the interview anytime online.

Updated Slide Show of the book's Images.

2010-02-25T15:34:00.001-08:00

Slide show link of Angel's Destiny Click here!

Book's Inc. is now stocked at Books Inc. "Angel's Destiny" . . .by April Martin Chartrand

2010-02-23T08:25:00.000-08:00

April Martin Chartrand is the recipient of the
2010 San Francisco Board of Supervisors Certificate of Honor
- Ross Mirkarimi District 5

AVAILABLE:
http://www.Amazon.com
-Alexander Book Co. 50 - 2^nd St. SF, CA 94105
-Books Inc. 2275 Market St. SF, CA 94114
-Books Inc. 3515 California St. SF, CA 94118
-CIIS Book Store 1453 Mission St., 3^rd flr. SF, CA 94103

2010-02-06T15:23:00.000-08:00

Book & Movie Reviews by A Drunk Blogger (excerpt)

Angel's Destiny: A Novel Story of Poems and Illustrations by April Martin Chartrand

Thursday, February 4, 2010

. . .It brought me on a journey that, because she is so brutally honest, carried me through an experience of relating - and understanding - the process April went through to get - triumphantly - to the other side. . . .

. . .This book is the whole package. Beautiful original illustrations - April has talent. The book has the aesthetic professional polish of any big-press publisher. And the content is relevant, poignant, and speaks straight to the heart . . .

Snap it up here for 13 bucks: www.createspace.com/3400758

5 stars. *****

Wolfy

For the entire review: http://bookreviewdude.blogspot.com/search/label/poems

Book Launch on Amazon.com, CreateSpace.com, & Alexander Books

2010-02-02T15:50:00.000-08:00

My book just went live on CreateSpace.com and is ready for order. https://www.createspace.com/3400758

Order from www.Amazon.com
www.Amazon.com

Available from:
Alexander Book Co. 50 - 2nd Street,
San Francisco, CA 94105 (poetry section)
415-495-2992/415-495-3695 Fax
http://alexanderbook.booksense.com

Book's Inc. 2275 Market Street (@Noe/16th) San Francisco, CA 94114 415-864-6777

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: ANGEL'S DESTINY: A Novel Story of Poems & Illustrations by April Martin Chartrand

2009-09-28T08:34:00.000-07:00

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

ANGEL'S DESTINY: A Novel Story of Poems & Illustrations by April Martin Chartrand

Q: What inspired you to write and illustrate ‘ANGEL'S DESTINY: A Novel Story of Poems & Illustrations’.

AMC: 'Angel's Destiny’ is not a 100% autobiographical illustrated book of novel style poems. It is divided into 4 poetic chapters and the 5^th chapter is digital illustrations that I designed. The book is inspired by and incorporates references to my personal multi-cultural experiences. It is 50% based on the lives of the thousands of women/men that I have encountered during my personal journey as someone who has experienced violence, as a peer counselor, healer, social justice advocate, mental health board member, and lecturer. Case in point: "Minds of Bonita" is based on a woman who died of a brain-aneurysm after having a brain chemistry malfunction and "In Memory of L.G." is about someone who died of HIV/AIDS. Similar to novel style chapters, each advances you from one stage of life’s emotions to another.

This collection of poems & illustrations mimics a novel in an unexpected way – similarly, it tells an emotional plot of a character which interweaves the four emotion elements Illusions, Anger, Awareness, Love - progressing forward towards a healing resolve. Each emotional character takes the reader through a progressive journey of a multi-cultural women’s self-discovery . . . far away from adversity.

Q: What were your strengths and weaknesses as an author?

AMC: Oh gosh, weakness: I am dyslexic and have a very difficult time seeing my mistakes even if spell-check kicks in, which makes proofreading extremely time consuming. Therefore I have to seek out at least 2-3 other professional editors to review my book. Conversely, I am a perfectionist to a fault when I redesign the illustrations (digitally in Adobe Photoshop) for my book. On the plus side, I had a dogged commitment to the project that I started over 20 years ago when I started drawing the illustrations and in 1993 when I started writing the poems. Finally, I had taken some web design classes and learned Microsoft office which helped me learn the other computer applets by using a lot of intuition and playing.

Q: You published your book through Creatspace.com, would you recommend them as a Publishing on Demand (POD) option for others, and why?

AMC: Yes, I would recommend it if one has the skills to make sense of the various web applets. It is not for novices who are not accustomed to using a computer. Also, they are relatively be easy to work with and an organized company, but the most help I got there was from joining the community boards for information. The book is produced very professionally because I followed the basic publishing layout rules and they delivered a trade paperback.

Q: Did you submit your manuscript to any traditional publishers? Did you receive the “Dear John” letter from any? If so, how did that make you feel?

AMC: I am keeping my “Dear John” rejection letters. However, I had decided that I was going to self-publish my book so that I maintain complete artistic control of the final product. In the mean time, I sent out 10 query letters and manuscripts via snail-mail & 20 via email. Poetry is the step-child of the publishing word and does not sell well unless you are a big name like Alice Walker or a newly selected poet laureate. To make matters harder on myself, I chose to include my illustrations which make it harder to categorize. A conventional publisher is not always the best avenue to a poet. There are so many on-line methods to promote one’s book while maintaining more of the money made on the book.

Q: You have recently experienced the challenges & joys of being self-published. How does this make you feel about it?

AMC: Have had my poems published in small newsletters and annuals on the same topic in my new book. However, when I initially received my first proof copy, I just stared at it and keep looking at it back to back: remembering the process of birthing this paper baby. Lots of labor pains for sure – 20 years of them.

Q: Many pre-published authors are not aware that the “real work” begins after their book is released. What additional plans do you have to market your book?

AMC: Wow that is for sure! The work in writing, editing, and drawing is equal to the marketing of the book. The skills that one uses requires one to have really great people skills and as well as develop a thicker skin “rejection and critique”. I am required to be more aggressive and use my administration skills to promote the book where as the writing of it required me to be creative and heartfelt. I have sent out over 50 press releases; therefore my goal is to be a guest on a few shows, obtain good reviews in the local papers, a national review and maybe a national TV show to promote the book. I have designed my promotional reel and uploaded it on my You Tube channel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgeylQZXQ24. I am using it to “pitch” to various medial outlets. Plus I am doing readings/lectures at the San Francisco Public Library system and some blogspotradio spots. I have a Blog Site: http://angelsdestiny2009.blogspot.com/

Q: What advice do you have for writers wanting to write a book and get published?

AMC: Gosh, I don’t have much advice since I am a newbie to this process. The only thing I would suggest is updating one’s computer skills and understanding how to work the basic platforms and applets. Learn how to upload images, learn how to use the online social networking platforms, get a good computer, back up all your files on an external drive, and learn some design technique so you can have more control over your content/image.

Q: ‘ANGEL'S DESTINY: A Novel Story of Poems & Illustrations’ is April Martin Chatrand’s first release. Give us some links to order this book and your contact information please.

AMC: Go directly to http://www.amazon.com/Angels-Destiny-Novel-Story-Illustrations/dp/0615302513/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266426132&sr=8-1

I also have the book in independent book stores in San Francisco.

Available from:
Alexander Book Co. 50 - 2nd Street,
SF, CA 94105
Book's Inc. 2275 Market Street (@Noe/16th) SF CA 94114

Book's Inc. 3515 California St. SF CA 94118

San Francisco, CA 94114

http://www.youtube.com/user/AprilMartinChartrand

My First Reading on the Radio 87.9 FM Friday Sept, 11, 2009 circa 4-5 ishm

2009-09-05T14:56:00.001-07:00

Credit: Pirate Cat Radio

Photo: April reading at Pirate Cat Cafe

I'll be a guest of "Common Thread Poetry and Politics" hosted by Diamond Dave which is on "Pirate Cat Radio Cafe" 87.9 FM (a low powered, unlicensed community radio).

Date: Friday - Sept. 11, 2009
Air time: Somewhere between 4-5 p.m.
Length of my contribution: 10 minutes
I'll be reading from my upcoming book 'Angel's Destiny: A Novel Story of Poems and Illustrations' by April Martin Chartrand, Author (estimated release date December 2009) .

Tune in and listen or stop by the Cafe and get a bite to eat.

Where: Pirate Cat Radio Cafe 87.9 FM (radio)
2781 21st Street (Between Bryant & Florida Sts.)
San Francisco, CA 94110

About the radio station/cafe: "P irate Cat Radio Cafe offers a community space for open on-air discussion and live entertainment. " They offer coffee, tea, other food goodies, and radio.

http://www.piratecatcafe.com/index.php

More Editing and researching

2009-08-13T10:28:00.000-07:00

I am glad/sad to have this experience of re-experiencing my 20 year sojourn with these illustrations and poems. I just thought about it, I began illustrating the books' 21 images starting in 1989 during an art class at City College of San Francisco. My expectional instructor Ms. Verity Dierauf certainly had a way with connecting her students to their spirit. I had no idea that these illustrations would fit into a book one day and accent the poems that I began writing in 1993.

I began writing about my feelings in the form of poetry and journal writing for the first time in 1993 after a dangerous and almost deadly experience in my life. I lost my voice. I could not speak. All, I could do is yell, cry all day, and attack my humanity. It made me so sick inside, so much so that my body seriously deteriorated. It was scary, to remember delayed memories of my cruel childhood - -it is scary to remember what I had allowed to transpire in my confusing life, just because I did not know any better. I wondered what I had missed out on and wanted to seek a deeper humanity and understanding within my being. I know I had been told a multitude of lies and half truths. I needed to explore beyond the visual. I had to act--it was an urgent need. I began my quest for truth, seeking within my dreams, healing sessions, meditation visions, spiritual teachings from many religions and new thought practices, classes, retreats, and workshops.

Writing the poems and thoughts for this book flowed like water and at times were very very hard. I really did not enjoy the delayed memories that kept my mind stuck in hurtful places of which I experienced in my past. The renewed emotions of sadness were unbearable yet the poems about love were very uplifting and joyous. I had to put the words and images down for a while and come back to them again. At times I became obsessed at --it was wild. I fought with my demons and had yelling matches with God/Goddess and forgot to eat and exercise: No wonder "some" writers who write about their intense lives tend loose-it along the way and then find themselves stronger in the end. It is a life changing experience to write from a soul place and then allow others to review, edit, critique the work so that I might become a better poetess/writer.

I a long ways to go, I still need to take a writer's class at some point. However, I feel good about what I have accomplished which came from my soul and life's experiences.

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All Rights Reserved 2009
ALL CONTENTS ON THIS BLOG IS COPYRIGHT by APRIL MARTIN CHARTRAND.
No content can be copied and pasted into other mediums without permissions from the Author.

Still editing my book and August 24th is a new day of . . .

2009-08-04T12:58:00.000-07:00

I have had two peer reviews and one preliminary full edits.
Gosh this is tough. Living in this book is wild stuff.

I am still editing my book and updating some of the illustrations. I plan on getting the book to an editor on August 24th, 2009. It should take me about one 2 weeks after that to finish the edits.

I plan on printing up 200 on the first run. After which, I'll seek out venues to promote the book locally and hit up some TV/Radio and Pod Cast blogs for promo.

----
All Rights Reserved 2009
ALL CONTENTS ON THIS BLOG IS COPYRIGHT by APRIL MARTIN CHARTRAND.
No content can be copied and pasted into other mediums without permissions from the Author.