Ah, Reviews...

"It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it." ~Benjamin Franklin

Busy, busy weekend ahead! I'm writing as much as I can, thanks in part to my very good friend who saved me from yesterday's dilemma and scanned my hard copy to a Word document that I can play with to my heart's content! Thank goodness for technology.

And I should probably order some new bookmarks from VistaPrint, now that I have some good reviews back for One Night in Memphis. Speaking of which, how much do you consider reviews before you buy a book? In the past, I never *really* read them, until I became a published author. Now I see that good reviews seem to be one of the best things to have in your back pocket when it comes to promotions. In fact, I met an author a few months back who went into her local Borders to ask about doing a signing there - she was told to come back when she had some reviews they could use to promote her and her book.

Having said that, I know that many review sites are so backed up with requests that many authors (yours truly included) wait months upon months for them. It's amazing.

Oh! But speaking of which, Writers and Readers of Distinctive Fiction is a relatively new site and has a pretty good turn-around time. They've reviewed all 3 of my books, each one in under a month. So if you're an author looking for another review, send them an email. I've found them to be quite friendly and professional.

Enjoy your Saturday!

The Story of a Story

"If computers get too powerful, we can organize them into a committee -- that will do them in." ~Bradley's Bromide

One of the projects floating around my periphery, when I'm not revising One Night in Napa, is writing up a teaching story or two to submit for this anthology.

Interestingly, about 10 years ago, I wrote about 30,000 words on this topic, a collection of stories/vignettes from my early teaching days in Cleveland. Last weekend I went looking for it--and actually found a complete hard copy I'd printed out at some point. (Gotta love the forward-thinking moments we have every once in a while.)

Finding any kind of computer file that I could actually revise was a different story, though. I do still have about a dozen floppy disks sitting in an old case on my desk. Of course, my newest computer, and my laptop, both just have USB ports, no place for a disk at all. I have another, older laptop that DOES have a disk drive, so I checked out the files on those old disks. Lots and lots of stuff for school, lesson plans and handouts and such, but no story.

Sigh.

I do have the hard copy, which is good. But now I'll have to retype everything in (or I guess I could scan it...might give that a try first).

Of course, the deadline for this submission is less than 2 weeks away, which means this weekend I need to put in some serious time if I want to send something.

It was fun, though, rereading what I'd written all those years ago. Some good stuff, some horrible stuff, and a lot in-between. I hope I can salvage some and turn out a good story.

In the meantime, back up those files on USB drives...until the next storage device comes out and makes them obsolete as well!

Check out The Samhellion

"No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance." ~Confucius

A bit of a cop-out today, since my life seems to be busier than ever:

Go on over and read The Samhellion, Samhain's monthly newsletter. This month's theme is "What I Did Last Summer" - and yes, I have an article in there!

So go forth and enjoy. I'll see you back here tomorrow...

Writers' Wednesday: An Interview with Toni Sweeney

Welcome to Writers' Wednesday! Today I'm chatting with author Toni Sweeney...enjoy!

Thanks for being here today, Toni! Can you tell us a little about your background?

I was born in the State of Georgia, some time after the War Between the States but before the Vietnam War, lived in the Midwest for the rest of the Millennium, and decided to start a new century in South Orange County, California. I had wanted to be a professional student but ended up graduating in spite of everything, with a Bachelor's in art, English literature, drama, and music--which has sometimes come in very handy in my writing. I aspired to be a stage actor but didn't have the voice projection-capacity and ended up playing dead bodies or "crowds" or part of the dance ensemble. I studied dance for 13 years and actually did it professionally for a brief time, until an auto accident ended that career choice. Somewhere in all this mishmash, I married, had a son--and that was the happiest day of my life--and divorced. My son has supplied me with a grandson and a granddaughter whom I adore.

Sounds like some great adventures! So when did you first begin writing?

This is a round-about answer. I wrote my first novel when I was 9. My parents bought me a portable Smith-Corona for my birthday. I loved to read, and still have some of the books my parents bought me when I was an infant, cloth books which have been gummed until most of the pictures have dissolved. From ages 8-12, I was totally horse-crazy and wrote horse stories. Since I had no idea how to do it, I folded the paper into the size of a book page and typed on each side--front and back--then made a cover for the book, copying the ones I owned. I also wrote and drew comic books. During high school, being a writer got one laughed at, so I down-played it. After I graduated, I worked in the English Department at the college and the chairman was working on a novel, so I used his manuscript as a model on how to format everything. My cousin liked to read also and I asked her to read whatever I had written. Then, I got married and writing got packed away for a while.

Was there an event or moment in your life that triggered your desire to write?

I can't pinpoint one actual thing. I just read and thought, I wish I could do that, and decided to try. Usually, I didn't let anyone know what I was doing. I was very shy and my family had a habit of laughing at things I did and I didn't want something I really cared about laughed at. It took a lot of courage for me to finally ask my cousin to read what I'd written. Luckily, she was kind.

There was a time in my life, however, after my auto accident and my divorce, when finances got tight. There was barely enough money for food much less for buying books. During that time, I started writing again, just for myself, so I'd have something to read. I shared my manuscripts with co-workers who also liked to read and one of them me to send one to a publisher. I did. It was rejected, but I was hooked. Several of the books wrote during that time have now been published, 30 years later.

Tell us about your latest writing project or published title.

My latest published book is Sinbad's Last Voyage, which came out in late 2007. It's another of the manuscripts I wrote back in the '70s. I would say that Sinbad is my favorite of all my heroes--he's tall, handsome, brave, tragic, and madly in love with the heroine (and loves kids). I've got lots of titles coming out soon: Three Moon Station, to be released by The Wild Rose Press in December. It's written under one of my pseudonyms, Icy Snow Blackstone, and is a futuristic romance. A witness to a murder hides out in a group of women being transported to another planet to work as Domestics. She thinks she's hired by a rancher to be his housekeeper. Then she discovers the paper she signed wasn't an Employment Agreement but a Marriage Contract and the rancher expects full marital benefits!

I also have a sequel to Sinbad's Last Voyage--Sinbad's Wife--which will be out this summer from Double Dragon Publications. That one is a space opera, but it has a lot of romance. With a title like that, it would have to have, wouldn't it? There are two black rosettes--"Love, Vampire Style" (September 24) and "Demon in Blue Jeans" (October 29) which will be coming out soon from The Wild Rose Press, also. I recently signed contracts with Lyrical Press for three novels--Earthman's Bride, one tentatively titled When the Condor Returned, and Jericho Road. These will also be Blackstone novels. I also recently learned that I finalled in the paranormal division of the Maryland Romance Writers "Reveal Your Inner Vixen" contest. Wow--didn't see that coming!

Congrats - what a wonderful, growing career. Now, how do you go about developing your characters?

Good Question--difficult to answer. Sometimes, they emerge full-grown--like Minerva came from Zeus' brain. Sometimes, I have the bare outline and after the character is on paper, it begins to grow. I've gone back and edited stories I wrote when I was younger in which the characters aged and I've put more depth into them because I'm now at the same age they are. When I wrote them, I was too young to understand how someone older would feel about certain things. A few characters started out in one form and after I began writing, changed altogether. Riven kan Ingan in Blood Seek(the Chronicles of Riven the Heretic, Book One) started out as a Boba Fett-type outer space bounty hunter. He ended up as a heretical knight in a sword-and-sorcery series. Aric in Blood Sin (the kan Ingan Archives) was originally a Spock-like character with emotions so tightly controlled, he was like an android. He evolved into a womanizing, hard-drinking, ne'er-do-well who ends up getting exiled for having an affair with his uncle's life--quite a departure from the way I first envisioned him!

What advice would you give to new writers just starting out?

Be patient; be persistent; don't take the rejections personally, unless they specifically say, "You are a terrible writer!" or words like that. Then, show them you aren't! I've only gotten one rejection which was intentionally nasty and I've always wanted to write that editor and inform him that the story he dissed so vilely was later bought by Amazon.com!

What do you find most difficult about writing?

Finding time to write. I have this weird habit of wanting to have a roof over my head--food isn't as important to me--so I have to do what's laughing called a "day job." That takes up a lot of time.

How do you balance writing with the rest of your life?

I started writing seriously about 1976. I'd come home from work, make dinner, set my son at the table and disappear into my "office." From the other room, I'd get this plaintive, "Mom, when are you going to be finished?" until my son fell asleep. That was the way it went until he left for college. Afterward, it was just me and the poodles and they didn't complain, so I just kept on typing. Needless to say, I don't have much social life. Presently, I have cataracts and can't see to drive at night and don't go out much anyway, so it balances out.

Describe your writing space (or include a picture!)

I rent a room in a private home. It has a bed, a TV and a space for my computer desk and computer. I have an e-machine with a 16" LCD screen, a scanner, a digital camera for teleconferences, a wireless printer, and wireless keyboard and mouse. Everything in the world a writer could need--reference books, notes, scribbled pieces of manuscript, pens, pencils, a can of pop, a half-eaten jar of unsalted dry roasted peanuts, several folders with research information, and a headset--are piled onto that computer stand. My reference books and reading books are in 7 bookcases which my landlady lets me keep in her garage so I run out there with a flashlight if I need to check something.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

Because of that auto accident so many years ago, I'm a very sedentary person. I like to read and watch TV, do a little gardening. When my granddaughter lived nearby, she and I used to go shopping together and we always cooked dinner together on Saturday nights (she's 6 so you can imagine she was a lot of help!) Before my accident, I was very active--horseback riding, swimming, hiking, laying tennis...and the aforementioned dancing.

What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your book(s)?

That the characters can take over a story if you don't watch it. I learned that when I was writing the Sinbad series. One of the main characters ran away from home as a teenager, lived a dissolute light, contracted a terminal disease. I planned to have him as a dying adult, come home, make his peace with his parents, be told there was a cure for his illness, and live happily ever after, just like the Prodigal. So...I got him home, the parents took him back, told him he needn't have run away, they understood, etc, and then...he died. The minute I wrote that he walked through the door to his parents home, I knew there was no way he was going to survive. I sat down and cried, and yelled out, "But I don't want to kill him off!" Did it anyway. I realized that was the way it'd happen in real life. Shook me up just a little. Sometimes, you have to use a whip and chair on the characters to make them behave.

Anything else you’d like to mention?

When I was hospitalized after my auto accident, I couldn't walk, couldn't even sit up. I was so sedated I couldn't watch television, but I was able to read. If I hadn't loved books so, I don't know how I would've managed being bedridden for nearly a year. If I didn't write, I don't know how I could survive...at all!

Toni, thanks so much for giving us a peek into your writing world today. Readers, check out her website if you'd like to know more!

Still Thinking About NaNoWriMo

"Write only if you cannot live without writing." ~Elie Wiesel

I was interested by yesterday's blog responses, especially those that said, "Yes, do NaNoWriMo, but make sure you plot a little bit first." Actually, I didn't know plotting was allowed! I thought you were supposed to do *everything* within the month of November: character charts, outlining, thinking, writing... I do have a rough scene guide of the story I want to tackle, so I might give it a try. Still thinking, though.

***

The Long and the Short of It runs a weekly contest - did you know? And today's featured trailer, which you can see right here (no personal promo or anything), can lead you to an extra entry in the contest. Or, if you're an author, you can contact them about having your own trailer featured on their site. Hey, extra promo is extra promo!

A Good Chuckle for Monday

Well, if you didn't catch the skit parodying Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton on SNL this past Saturday, you missed out. Say what you will about its political commentary (and many already have), Tina Fey's resemblance to Palin is downright eerie, and her timing and delivery, along with Amy Poehler's, is perfect. I thought the script writers lampooned both women pretty equally, too. Take a look by clicking here.

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So I'm considering attempting National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for short). It's basically a challenge to write a 50,000-word novel during the month of November - to let control and serious editing go and just write for 30 days. I have a book I'd like to tackle, so it might be good to jump in and see what happens. As they say on the website, you'll probably end up with a lot of crap, considering there's no time for true editing (or even conscious thought), but you also might produce the kind of raw, unique stuff that shows up in situations like that too.

I know other writers out there have done it...any words of advice??

Update on Book Signing...

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." ~Mark Twain

Hooray! Good day at Borders yesterday: I sold 12 books in the 3 hours we were there. It was so nice to be in my hometown bookstore and have friends come in to see and support me (a couple of students, too!). It also made me anxious to come home and write - something I haven't done enough of since school began.

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Trailer I recently finished for Devon Gray's upcoming release:

Fingers Crossed for Sales!

"In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but how many can get through to you." ~Mortimer Adler

Booksigning today at Borders ~ wish me luck!

Random Friday Thoughts

Some random musings on this Friday morning...

There's a great independent book store in Port Clinton, Ohio, that welcomes author's bookmarks and will promote you and your website link on theirs: The Book Exchange. If you're an author and you'd like their contact info, email me and I'll pass it along.

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A hearty congrats to my fellow writer Chandler Marie Craig, who right now is tossing around not one but TWO offers of representation from literary agents. Way to go Chandler!!

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Brand new author Kimberly Huff is celebrating the release of her really funny chick lit novel, Tall Skinny Cappuccino (and I can say that 'cause I got to read + review the ARC).

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I'm finishing up a trailer for Devon Gray's upcoming release, Playing for Keeps, and a freelance article for WOW- Women on Writing about the Price Sisters, who write via IM and email though they live on different continents.

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And I'm trying to revise One Night in Napa for the NJRW Conference at the end of October...it's going well but not fast enough!!

In Memoriam

“I fear that all I have done is awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve.”~Admiral Yamamoto after the Pearl Harbor attack, December 7, 1941

Just a quick post today...mostly to say that I'm cheating and sending you to read my Samhain Blog post instead of writing anything intellectual or witty or profound here.

It won't be up there 'til after 3:00 pm (EST) today, but please check back and comment. The post actually means a lot to me.

Please take a moment and remember:

Writers' Wednesday: An Interview with Maria Zannini

Welcome to Writers' Wednesday! Today I'm thrilled to have fellow Samhain author Maria Zannini join me. Her debut novel, Touch of Fire, recently released, so I'm happy to have her here, celebrating and sharing her experiences. Enjoy!



Hi Maria! Can you tell us a little about your background?

If you were to list all the things I've done in my life you'd think me a Jill of all trades. I have been an artist, graphic designer, homesteader, vet technician, and art director. I've raised dogs, ratites, and blood pressure.


Not necessarily in that order.

When did you first begin writing? Was there an event or moment in your life that triggered your desire to write?

It was an accident! I sent a letter to the editor of a country living magazine and he tracked me down and called me. By the end of our phone visit, he asked if I'd be interested in writing an article for his magazine.

I was.

It got a big response from the readership and realized I might be on to something. It would be several more years before I got into fiction, but I was definitely hooked.

That's such a great "discovery" story! OK, now tell us about your latest writing project or published title.

Touch Of Fire is out now! It's a fantasy set 1200 years in a future Earth where technology has been replaced with Elemental magic. An ancient alchemist's book has surfaced and threatens to bring weapons of mass destruction back into their society. Leda, a young Elemental mage is ordered to find it and return it to her elders. Her search leads her to Greyhawke Tams, an ex-soldier turned scavenger who will do whatever it takes to keep her from completing her mission. But it isn't long before they discover someone wants them both dead.

There's sex, adventure, huge obstacles and great sacrifices. And there's sex. Did I mention that? I love this book! It was great fun to extrapolate the roles of common, everyday things and ideas and show how they would be perceived in the future.

Congrats on your release. So how do you balance writing with the rest of your life?

You mean I had to balance them both? Rats! I don't think I got that memo. :o)

I will give one piece of advice to anyone who is not published yet. Get your blog and website in order BEFORE you sign that first contract. I mean it! You will not have time once that ball starts rolling. You want to build your internet presence long before there's a book out there. Trust me on this. I am still playing catch-up.

Absolutely true; I agree 100%. Now, describe your writing space for us...

[This is where I live most of the time. The painting above the desk is one I did of two of my babies, Isis and Nacho, when they were alive.]

I suffer from sciatica and cannot sit for long periods of time, so I use a balance ball as my office chair, both here and at work. And I think I've started a trend. Several of my friends at work are now using one too.

Since I still do artwork, my desk is also set up with a Wacom tablet and a scanner.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?


I am a garage sale junkie! I love to haunt tag sales and have been known to scrounge interesting "junk" from back alleys and dumpsters. Many of the antiques in my home have been lovingly restored and saved from the landfill:

[The desk, chair, even the pillow roll were found objects that were refurbished.]

People tell me I have very eclectic tastes. I think that's code for eccentric. And that sounds about right.

Maria, thanks so much for being here today. Readers, don't forget to check out Touch of Fire and visit Maria's website and blog as well!

Thanks for having me on your blog, Allie!

Why I Love my Small Press

"Everything in the world exists in order to end up as a book." Stephan Mallarme

So this-coming Saturday, I'm doing a group book signing at the local Borders. I was really looking forward to this one, since it's my local Borders and a decent amount of my friends are planning on coming by.

Then I get an email yesterday afternoon from the author who set up the signing, saying that Borders waited until the last minute and won't have any of our books in stock. Thus, we should carry in our own books for sale. Now, this would normally not be a problem...if I had known ahead of time. I have exactly 4 copies of one book, and 0 copies of the other, in my house right now. And again, this would normally not be a problem if it weren't my local store and my friends weren't planning on coming.

So at 5:30 in the afternoon, I send a semi-crazed email to the women at Samhain in charge of ordering, with a plea to look into rush shipping if it's available. I figure, I won't hear a thing 'til the next day at least, considering it's well after 5.

Ten minutes later, I get a call at home from the Marketing Director, telling me exactly how much $$ 20 copies of One Night in Boston, ordered on a rush job and shipped 2-day air, will cost me. Then she spends another 10 minutes on the phone with me trying to figure out how to lower that $$. Finally, she puts in the order for what seems to us both to make the most sense and also promises to call the woman at the printer tomorrow morning to tell her how desperate I am.

And that is why I love my small press.

Royalty Statements

"Money is the root of all evil, and yet it is such a useful root that we cannot get on without it any more than we can without potatoes." ~Louisa May Alcott

So over the weekend I received my royalty statement for the month of August - and while I can't quit my day job yet, at least I'm out of the red. You might recall that last month's numbers were nothing to cheer about, and since Samhain gives its authors an advance, until you "sell out" your advance, you get nothing except a red number of how much you still owe them at the bottom.

Thankfully, this statement included some print sales of One Night in Boston, which bumped me into the black column (I'm still not sure exactly how that works, since I thought I only saw print sale numbers twice a year...I'm hoping Diane will drop by and enlighten me). The ebook numbers for One Night in Memphis still aren't terrific by any means, but I've come to terms with the fact that my readers are going to buy my books in print much more than they're going to buy the electronic versions.

Anyway, I can put gas in my car this week, thanks to this royalty statement. So onwards and upwards!

The Right to Choose

"Censorship reflects society's lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime." ~Potter Stewart

Pop quiz: what do the following books have in common?

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Blubber by Judy Blume
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
Carrie by Stephen King
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Christine by Stephen King
Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Cujo by Stephen King
Curses, Hexes, and Spells by Daniel Cohen
Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Decameron by Boccaccio
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Fallen Angels by Walter Myers
Fanny Hill (Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure) by John Cleland
Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Forever by Judy Blume
Grendel by John Champlin Gardner
Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Have to Go by Robert Munsch
Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Impressions edited by Jack Booth
In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
It's Okay if You Don't Love Me by Norma Klein
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Love is One of the Choices by Norma Klein
Lysistrata by Aristophanes
More Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
My House by Nikki Giovanni
My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara
Night Chills by Dean Koontz
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
One Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Ordinary People by Judith Guest
Our Bodies, Ourselves by Boston Women's Health Collective
Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl
Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones by Alvin Schwartz
Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
Separate Peace by John Knowles
Silas Marner by George Eliot
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
The Bastard by John Jakes
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Devil's Alternative by Frederick Forsyth
The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Snyder
The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks
The Living Bible by William C. Bower
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
The New Teenage Body Book by Kathy McCoy and Charles Wibbelsman
The Pigman by Paul Zindel
The Seduction of Peter S. by Lawrence Sanders
The Shining by Stephen King
The Witches by Roald Dahl
The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Snyder
Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary by the Merriam-Webster Editorial Staff
Witches, Pumpkins, and Grinning Ghosts: The Story of the Halloween Symbols by Edna Barth

Answer: VP candidate Sarah Palin tried to ban all of them from the Wasilla, Alaska, public library while she was mayor of that town.

***

This, anyway, is what one of those circulated emails that I got last night said. True? I really hope not. I mean, I heard that she tried to get "a book" banned...but all of these? Some of which are recommended reading for most of the high school students I know? (C'mon...Of Mice and Men and To Kill a Mockingbird?)

Anyone heard about this? 'Cause censorship is a dangerous, dangerous thing. Once you start restricting access to words/thoughts, you take away people's ability to decide for themselves what should be read, what's important and what's immoral and what should be kept from the eyes of children (your children, anyway). And shouldn't parents be having those conversations anyway? What happens when you take away a person's right to *choose* what they'll read, and what they'll allow their children to read? Doesn't enlightenment come from having discussions about difficult topics?

I've played this here before, but it's worth a repeat, because author John Green says it so well:

10 Things I've Learned

"Often, when I am reading a good book, I stop and thank my teacher. That is, I used to, until she got an unlisted number." ~Author Unknown

Three days into a new school year, and this is what I've learned so far:

1. It's easier to get up at 5:30 am than I thought it would be, especially if you can use some of that early time to squeeze out some writing.

2. It is a delicate drill to find the exact time to leave the house in order to avoid all school buses on the way to work.

3. Lunchtime comes a lot earlier (according to my stomach) than it did during the summer.

4. Those muscles in your legs that keep you upright on two-inch heels all day long? They stop working in the summer and have to be re-trained, come Fall (ouch!).

5. Same goes for the vocal cords.

6. Some people will be over the moon-happy to see you back in the halls and classrooms.

7. One or two people will be jealous of the fact that you manage to have a life (i.e., writing success) outside of school and will try to make your life miserable as a result.

8. In those cases, it's best to end the days with (a) a good long run; (b) a good tall glass of wine; or (c) a good conversation with a close friend. Ideally, all of the above.

9. Unlike John McCain's claim in Thursday night's speech, I do not believe that public education is a "failing institution."

10. Standing in front of a group of students who are excited to see you and interested in what you have to say is still the best way to spend a day :)

Advice About Class Reunions

Wow, yesterday's blog question definitely prompted some good and thoughtful responses. Thanks! When I was going through final edits of One Night in Memphis, I was actually surprised by the number of times I had characters swearing. It was always either the bad guy, or male-male conversation. And in both cases, I think, it was realistic dialogue. Still, I cut out probably 1/3 of it in the edits, and I also emailed my editor asking whether she still thought it was too much. I'm not sure what or who else she edits, but she (somewhat laughingly) replied that she thought it was fine. If you check the Samhain page, though, there's still a warning for "Mild profanity." I figured I just wanted to be safe.

End of the week - finally! And among other things on my plate, I have taken on the task of planning my high school reunion (and no, I'm not telling you how many years. You'll have to guess. And even then, I won't tell you if you're right). So...any advice from anyone who's done it? Even better, any advice from anyone who's gone to a class reunion and either loved or hated the way it was set up? Share, please!

A Question About the F-Word

"When angry count four; when very angry, swear." ~ Mark Twain

First question: How do you feel about profanity in writing? In the novel I'm working on now, the hero swears every now and again - mostly to show that he's sort of a slacker, a little insensitive, not a great guy at the start...but that's why his change is dramatic later in the novel. One of my readers was offended by the language (specifically, the word "Christ" used twice on the first page, and the f'-word later in the first chapter). She thought it was likely people would put the book down upon reading the first few pages, and I'd be alienating an entire group of people who might otherwise enjoy the story.

Now, the villainous character in One Night in Memphis swears quite a lot, especially as the novel goes on and the danger/conflict heighten. He, of course, isn't a likable guy, and so maybe those language choices are slightly more appropriate or acceptable.

What do you think? Does profanity in dialogue bother you? Does the genre/character/plotline matter at all? Do you have a certain tolerance for it, or none at all?

Reviews Sometimes Come from the Nicest Places...

"The average woman would rather have beauty than brains, because the average man can see better than he can think." ~Author Unknown

Hi folks, I'm taking today off from Writers' Wednesday...but the weekly feature will be back next week with Samhain author Maria Zannini!

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In the meantime, check out this video about the different treatment a "sexy" girl vs. a "plain" girl gets. I've seen the same thing with a fat vs. skinny woman, but it's always sort of a jolt to realize how much looks matter in the world. Still.

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Here's a question: when a friend/coworker/boss prefaces a conversation by saying, "Now, this isn't personal..." don't you think it usually is?

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Hey, this is cool: yesterday at work a fellow teacher greeted me and said, "Why can't I buy One Night in Memphis in print yet? I can't wait until next May!"

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And a former student emailed me to ask about college/grad school advice and said, "I just wanted to say I finished One Night in Boston and loved it. I even cried at the end!!!!"

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Those kind of reviews and feedback, from people I know whose opinions I value? That's cool.

Prison Break Gets a Thumbs-Up!

OK, so I LOVED the first episode of Prison Break's new season, last night. I wasn't sure...I mean, they've already covered a lot of territory, but it seems as though the writers have a decent plot planned for this 4th season. The best part, though? Sarah, the love interest of main character Michael, is back. And they didn't try to hide her for too long - the two were reunited within the first 10 minutes or so. Amazing how a little love in the air can color a story so differently :)

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Also thought I'd mention this cool fund-raiser: Unleash Your Story for Cystic Fibrosis. You can either sign up to read, write, or donate money to those doing so during the month of September, all in the name of a pretty good cause.

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I'm off to the first day of school ~ wish me luck!

A Day to Rest - For Some, Anyway

"Labor was the first price, the original purchase-money that was paid for all things. It was not by gold or by silver, but by labor, that all wealth of the world was originally purchased." ~Adam Smith

So today is Labor Day, here in the U.S. - the official day off for working citizens in this country and the symbolic end of summer. Falling on the first Monday in September, for me it means school begins tomorrow. We always begin the Tuesday following - and why, oh why, did Labor Day have to fall on September 1st this year? Why couldn't August have stretched into the week by just one lousy day, so that September 1st fell on a Tuesday, and Labor Day fell on September 7th, and the first day of school on September 8th?

Sigh.

Well, I hope you all have a chance to do something relaxing and enjoyable today, even if it's only for a few minutes. I'm keeping an eye on the Gulf Coast and Hurricane Gustav, and saying a fervent prayer that it doesn't cause the kind of damage Hurricane Katrina did. All those people - all those businesses - all those lives that lie directly in the storm's path. I really hope somehow it loses speed before it makes landfall.

Prayers, all~