Dear Sound of Footstep

*Special initiative to readers of literary science writing *Special initiative to readers interested in hearing of stories of loss from breast cancer *Drawing on the audience we've garnered from authors such as Lia Purpura and Brenda Miller, Sarabande will continue to reach out to a Creative Nonfiction audience with this title. This includes engagement with CNF journals, MFA programs, and writing groups. * Ads in Fourth Genre, CNF, Seneca Review, and Western Quarterly Review *Butler is a graduate of Iowa, with several key contacts, including David Hamilton (editor of the Iowa Review). We're planning a launch party at Prairie Lights and a presence at the big Nonfiction Now Conference at the University of Iowa. * Total season's marketing budget of $18,000; individual book budget of $3,000 * Newsletter and catalog feature mailed to contacts on Sarabande database as well as many contacts as Butler provides * 2,000 postcards mailed to MFA programs, bookstores, and libraries as well as many contacts as Butler provides * Internet marketing campaign to include announcement on Sarabande national listserv, as well as review copy mailing to online journals and blogs. Author and tour info will be updated regularly on Sarabande Website and other online venues.

An intimate look at a mother's death with vignettes exploring art, astronomy, cosmonautics--even Houdini.In her daring essay collection Dear Sound of Footstep, author Ashley Butler engages the reader in an exploration of her mother's death and an estranged paternal relationship. As illusions of a celestial umbrella slowly disappear, she begins a search for answers within the infinite. The candid narrative evolves into a stunning, abstract deconstruction of time and space, piloting the reader precariously close to the unanswered question, "Why are we here?" Among the subjects she touches on: the fastest man on earth, wind farms and tunnels, and the anechoic (without echo) chamber at Harvard University. We hear about some of history's oddest seekers of spiritual and scientific knowledge: Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the father of cosmonautics; Yves Klein, the "artist of space"; Russian futurist Nikolai Federov; and Harry Houdini, hanging headfirst over a crowd in Times Square. The essays are a blend of conventional narrative, aphorism (“The aphorism is a form of eternity,” said Nietzsche), lyrical imagery, and language, with insights like, "A voice begins with the thought that must be set apart from a body." Butler's collection has a true magic of its own, at times both brutal and gorgeous, but always coming back to an empathy of spirit and intelligence far beyond Butler's years. Ashley Butler was born and raised in Virginia. She has a BA from Columbia University and an MFA from the University of Iowa. Her work has appeared in Ninth Letter,jubilat, Gulf Coast, Creative Nonfiction, and POOL. She lives in Texas.