TGIF!!

"How do people make it through life without a sister?"

~Sara Corpening


So yesterday morning, I developed a splitting headache. This is a little unusual for me, because I rarely get them. I thought maybe it was because I didn't have my morning latte, but I don't usually get caffeine headaches, and I don't drink lattes *every* day.

Skip forward 5 hours or so, to noontime, when I opened my email at work and found 3 messages from my father, telling me that early that morning, my sister fell in her kitchen (the circumstances are too long to get into), knocked herself unconscious, and gave herself a concussion and a head wound that required 7 stitches...

Weird, huh? Just a coincidence, or actual sympathy pains from 150 miles away? I know twins have that kind of telepathic connection, but I didn't think regular sisters did. Still, she and I are pretty close. (She'll be fine, though she's required to stay out of work for 3 days. I told her to quit drinking so early in the morning ;)

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I'm happy to share the good news that I will have a number of articles featured in a couple of places, over the next few months. The Samhellion has taken on two for their upcoming issues (no $$ but my book cover will be featured in both issues), and WOW! just told me they're interested in one "How 2" column for their January ezine issue and a *feature article* for their February issue. So I'm happy about that ~ anything to get my name in a few more places! And how ironic (or sad) is this: the 2 articles for WOW will likely pay more than I've received in royalties from One Night in Boston, so far. Ah, well. Good thing I'm not living on my writing (yet!)...

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And now, of course, the Friday Feast. Enjoy!

Appetizer If you were a dog, what breed would you be, and why?
Hmm, maybe a German shepherd - 'they're strong, tough, beautiful, and loyal. I'd like to think I'm some of that too :)

Soup What does the color purple make you think of?
Harold and the Purple Crayon!'

Salad Approximately how long does it take you to get ready each morning?
About an hour, if we're talking school (work) days.

Main Course How many cousins do you have, and are you close to them?
On my side, 10 first cousins, but they're all a lot older than I, and live in other parts of the country. On my husband's side, though, there are something like 20+, and they almost all live within 25 square miles and grew up together. Big difference.

Dessert Take your initials (first, middle, last) and come up with something else those letters could stand for.
Allie Loves Baseball! (Even though the Indians lost last night and now have to go back to Boston to win the series...it's OK...they will!)

Happy Endings

It's amazing to me how much cruelty there is in the world :( I think that's why I write, and like, stories with happy endings.

This story, while a sad one, also has its very own happy ending: 200 dogs were recently rescued from a horrible puppy mill in VA. They were covertly bought by animal rescuers and then driven through the night to a no-kill shelter in NY. This is, by the way, the same shelter where I started volunteeting a few months ago.

Last night I got an email from the director: "We are up to our eyeballs in puppy poop! Any volunteers that can help give some extra hours, please contact us!"


So guess where I will be the next few days? (And any of my local friends reading this, they need new volunteers, too! Email me if you want to help out) But it's all good, if it helps the poor animals feel better in their brand new, first real "home."

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Fingers crossed for the Indians-Red Sox playoff game tonight, because it's gonna be a tough one. The Sox have their best pitcher up, so we'll see...

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And how cute is this guy? I stole borrowed him from Marianne, and I will most definitely need to give him a permanent place on my sidebar. Right now, this is where I am in (revising) my current WIP, Summer's Song. Feelin' pretty good about it, too!

Writers' Wednesday: Tricky Words that Trip you up, and How to Get the Best of Them

Here we go, Indians, here we go! (woo woo)

Up 3 games to 1 over Boston...can a girl dare to dream??

Okay, okay, now that the celebration is over with, welcome to another Writers' Wednesday! Today, I thought I'd pass along some tips for keeping track of easily-confused words...

Lay vs. Lie - The first can be used as the past tense of "lie" (as in, "Today I lie down to take a nap, but yesterday I lay down to take a nap."), or as a verb in which you are actively placing an object somewhere. This means that the sentence "Peter lay his map on the seat" is correct, but "Peter wanted to lay down on the seat" is not. Use "lie" if you are talking about assuming a prone position: "The dog lies at his master's feet at night," NOT "The dog lays at his master's feet at night." You could say "The dog lays his bone at his master's feet at night," but unless there is an OBJECT being placed somewhere, DO NOT use the word "lay" in present tense.

Farther vs. Further - Use the first word to describe distance, and the second one to describe degree of comparison. Example: "Shirley lives farther away from work than Martha does." (Hint: the word "far" is in the word "farther," to remind you that you're talking about a measurable distance) In any other case, use the latter: "Max went further in his education than Elmo did."

Fewer vs. Less - Use the first word if you're talking about items you can count, and the second one if you're talking about items you can't. For example, "The ball team with fewer errors won the game" is correct, since you can count actual errors. Don't say "The ball team with less errors won the game." In the grocery store, the express lane should say "10 Items or Fewer," since you can look into your cart and actually count the items. A store that has an express lane sign reading "10 Items or Less" is committing a grammatical error. Yes, really :) When to use "less?" Anytime a quantity cannot be individually counted: she had less experience than he did, we got less rain this summer than last summer, I have less anxiety today than I did before, etc...

It's vs. Its - It's ALWAYS means "It is" or "It has" or, rarely, "It was." Since it's (ha ha) a contraction, you can test your use of the word in this manner. "The cat found it's favorite toy" really means "The cat found it is favorite toy." Use its (with no apostrophe) to show possession (and yes, this is opposite of the way you show possession in the English language for almost any other word): "The vine attached its leafy fingers to the side of the house" or "The team lost its first game in over a month."

Effect vs. Affect - In most cases, effect is a noun: "The effect of global warming on the earth is a frightening one." Affect is a verb: "The movie affected me profoundly. " Now, effect can be used as a verb in a very limited sense, to show the creation of change: "Teachers can effect change in the future by shaping young minds." But for the most part, use the "e" word if you're talking about a noun, and the "a" word if you're talking about action/using a verb.

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Make sense? Or are you more confused than ever?? Are there others that trip you up? Let me know, and maybe I can help (or just commiserate)...

Some Links for You!

First off, a big cheer for the Tribe, who beat the Red Sox last night 4-2 and are up 2 games to 1 in the ALCS playoffs!!! Still a long way to go, but I'm enjoying every minute of it. Though I've lived in Yankee territory for over 10 years, part of my heart will always belong to the city of Cleveland...



Now on to serious sorts of writing things: check out the October issue of The Samhellion, my publisher's newsletter. Some great stories, articles, recipes, and author interviews there. You know, I've been toying with the idea of writing a ghost story for some time now. Maybe, with the hint of October and the witching hour in the air, I should give it serious consideration....

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Second, stop by and visit the American Title contest, which just began its 3rd go-round. You can vote on your favorite opening line, and I find it interesting that the judges have commented on each one. Reminds me how important those initial sentences can be!

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The Long and the Short of It has multiple chances to win some great prizes this week!

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Finally, fellow Samhain author Rose Marie Wolf interviewed me for her blog today, (should be up later this AM), so hop over, give it a read, and maybe leave a comment if you would, so I don't feel lonely over there :)

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I'll be here tomorrow with a writing article for Writers' Wednesday, so I hope to see you back here then!!

Major League Monday

First, I have to say that I love being married to a handyman...who, after a few hours of trying everything under the sun, fixed our satellite TV problem yesterday. Hooray! Now I can watch tonight's playoff game!!

And since my Cleveland Indians are holding their own against the Boston Red Sox, here's a little tribute video, a clip from the movie Major League. In case you've never seen it, it's a hilarious sports comedy, well worth renting.

The premise: the woman who owns the Indians' baseball team can't stand Cleveland and wants to move the team to Florida, so she drafts all the worst players she can find so that they'll lose. Of course, when the players find out, they decide to turn the tables and try to win...

I Have Nothing Important to Say Today

Of course, this is assuming I have important things to say on every other day I blog. I suppose they might be important to me, but to anyone else? Hmm...probably less so. :)



I guess I could write about the fact that I was up until 2 am watching the Indians-Red Sox playoff game (they pulled off a nail-biter, winning in the 11th inning!!). I suppose "watching" isn't really the right word, though, since hubby and I came back from dinner last night to find that our TV satellite doesn't work. At all. No matter what. And it will cost $50 for a technician to come out and tell us why. I was NOT a happy camper. Thank goodness ESPN.com has a real-time score page, which even updates itself so you don't have to keep clicking "Refresh."

Or I could write about how I finally put down The Time Traveller's Wife yesterday, 265 pages in (of 500+). I. Couldn't. Do. It. Lovely story, fairly interesting plot, but it just moved too slowly for me. Ah well. I hate not finishing books.

I guess I could also write about how I worked through about 3 chapters of my WIP yesterday. That was a good feeling.

Or about how great it was that Al Gore won a Nobel Prize for his work with raising awareness about global warming. Now that must have been a good feeling!

Or I could just stop blogging now, get on with all the things I have to do today, and wish you all a happy Sunday!

Come back tomorrow. I'll have something more important to say.

Maybe.

106 Most Unread Books

This is a book meme going around right now. I got it from Books, Memes, and Musings.

These are the top 106 books most often marked as “unread” by LibraryThing’s users. Bold what you have read, italicize books you’ve started but couldn’t finish, and strike through books you hated. Add an asterisk* to those you’ve read more than once. Underline those on your TBR (To Be Read) list.

Jonathan Strange & M. Norrell
Anna Karenina[TBR]
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One hundred years of solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
A Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveller’s Wife
The Iliad
Emma[TBR]
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations
American Gods
A heartbreaking work of staggering genius [TBR]
Atlas shrugged*
Reading Lolita in Tehran
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West [TBR]
The Canterbury tales
The Historian
A portrait of the artist as a young man
Love in the time of cholera
Brave new world
The Fountainhead
Foucault’s Pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A clockwork orange
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible*
1984
Angels & Demons
The Inferno
The Satanic Verses
Sense and sensibility[TBR]
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One flew over the cuckoo’s nest
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels
Les misérables
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time
Dune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury
Angela’s Ashes
The God of Small Things
A people’s history of the United States : 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A confederacy of dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners
The unbearable lightness of being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The mists of Avalon[TBR]
Oryx and Crake : a novel
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance[TBR]
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit
In Cold Blood
White teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The Three Musketeers

And yes, I was an English major in college (as if you couldn't tell!) I rarely put books down without finishing them, but there's a couple here I just had to. I've read 36 of the 106, only about 30%. Wonder if there's a reason why they're the most unread??

TGIF!!

Wow, it's been raining for 3 straight days...

...so here's a rather soggy Friday Feast:


Appetizer
When was the last time you were surprised?
Gosh, my students surprise me a lot, almost every day ~ usually with what they don't know, but once in a while with their kindness and insight :)

Soup
Fill in the blanks: My eyes are ________, but I wish they were __________.
Blind as a bat ~ 20/20.

Salad
If you were a Beanie Baby, what would you look like and what would your name be?
Um...I'm not even sure I know what that is. A little stuffed animal that collectors obsess over, right? I guess I would be red (my fave color) and have 2 heads and 4 arms, since I'm always trying to do a hundred things at one time. Anyone have a name for that?

Main Course
Name two things you consistently do that you consider to be healthy habits.
Eat lots of fruits and veggies, and work out 4-6 times a week.

Dessert
What brand of toothpaste are you using these days? Do you like it? Why or why not?
Colgate Total - the white paste, not the gel. My husband started me on it years ago. Sure, I like it, but I'm not picky when it comes to toothpaste, to be honest.

The Next Big Thing

So yesterday, I read a very long and heated discussion about this blog post, over on Donald Maass' site. Now, he's a BIG NAME agency, and so you'd think that he and his agents have a pretty good feel for the fiction market and what the next big thing might be. But c'mon:

"A literary romance with a heroine for all time and a tragic ending, preferably written by a man."

Really? Could you be a little more sexist in that suggestion? The assumptions are, of course, not only that most men can't really understand or write about romance, so one who can is an automatic star; but that most romance written today (by women) falls short of being truly moving/rich/worth reading. [And by the way, Donald, a romance without a happy ending isn't a romance, according to the traditional definition of the genre.]

I know, I know, maybe I'm over-reacting. I mean, his overall point is to urge writers to discover the "original premise" that will be the next best-seller. And if that gets people thinking creatively, I guess it's a good thing.

But I also wonder at what point authors stop being true to their creative muses and start trying to write solely for the market. One writer involved in the discussion admitted that his agent spent an entire weekend at a conference, talking to editors and publishers and other agents, about what the next big thing in fiction would be. He came back and sketched out the book he thought this author should write. Said author has never written anything in that particular genre, but he gave it a go. Now the ms. is being looked at by a couple of big publishing houses in NY, and his comment was that it was absolutely worth it, because he's almost 40 and "running out of time."

I thought that was interesting. I mean, it's great that he was able to write the book and have NY houses show an interest. But his motivation was to beat the clock?

Hmm.

Am I going to change what I write? I really don't know. [Since I just got my latest royalty statement, maybe :)] Am I going to explore new ideas and challenge the traditions of my genre? Yeah, I think I will. Stretching oneself is always a good thing. If it takes me into another genre, one I like and feel interested enough to spend a year or so writing in, then great.

Or maybe I'll just write a Huck Finn-like fantasy featuring a Muslim detective, investigating a ghost story that’s truly contemporary, set in New York-in-mid-Century. Oh yeah, and I'll submit it under a male pen name, just in case.

What do you think?

Writers' Wednesday: An Interview with Adrienne Kress

Welcome to Writers' Wednesday! A quick promo mention before we dive into today's interview: I have an article up at The Long and the Short of It today, titled "How to Jump Start Your Writing." Give it a read, if you'd like.

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And now...I'm thrilled to introduce today's featured author, Adrienne Kress. Her book Alex and the Ironic Gentleman, was released just this year, to rave reviews. Settle in...you're in for a terrific interview!



Welcome, Adrienne! Can you tell us a little about your background?

Sure! I was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. My parents were both high school English teachers, so I had a very literary upbringing. My dad read to me every night (he was awesome at doing voices), everything from Dickens to Tolkein to Douglas Adams. He was also a creative writing teacher, so I learned very early on all about the various forms of writing out there. As for my mom, well, she’s a very strong, smart woman, and really taught me to be the kind of girl who thought for herself, who was never ashamed to have opinions. Must be why I don’t have a problem now sharing my thoughts with the world (whether the world wants it or not)!

I went to an arts school as a drama major from the age of 11 through high school, and specialized in the subject at the University of Toronto graduating with an honours BA. Then I moved to London, England for three years where I studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, and worked as an actress.

Throughout my education I always wrote, earning an award for my work in high school. I got really into writing plays and studied with the award winning playwright Djanet Sears in my last year at U of T. I have since produced and directed the show I wrote, A Weekend in the Country, as a result of that class, three times – twice in Toronto (this past summer at the Summerworks Festival), and once for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Now I am back in Toronto, writing and acting, and really having a great time!

Tell us about your latest writing project or published title.

My latest book, okay let’s be honest, my only book, is called Alex and the Ironic Gentleman (Alex and the Wigpowder Treasure in the UK). On the surface it is a very straightforward adventure story about a 10 and a half year old girl Alex, who finds herself on a rescue mission to save her grade six teacher from pirates (and to hopefully find some buried treasure on the way). It’s all very swashbuckling, and slightly absurd, and hopefully a lot of fun. But I really look at the book as a bit of a satire for kids, in much the same way as Lewis Carroll mocked the politics etc of his time in Alice in Wonderland (and in fact the second act of my book is most definitely an homage to that fabulous work).

I tried to write a bit of a commentary on the adult world. For example, I temped a lot to make ends meet as an actress. And at these jobs it sometimes felt like my boss expected me to read his/her mind. So I translated this in the book into Mental Dictation, where Alex’s boss actually does expect her to read his mind. Of course for the kids reading it, I just hope they have a really good time, and that they laugh a lot. But I do like to throw something in there for the adults as well.


As for current projects, I am working on the sequel to the book. But it isn’t exactly the kind of sequel you normally expect. In this case the book is a whole new adventure starring a new kid, Timothy. Basically Timothy’s adventure is happening parallel to Alex’s, and then two thirds of the way through Timothy’s story, he meets up with the end (where we left off) of Alex’s. So then together they finish off the rest of Timothy’s. If that makes sense. It makes sense to me. Sort of. Well anyway, there’s a dragon involved, yet more awesome pirates, and the story ends up in China. Pretty cool I think.

That does sound cool! What advice would you give to new writers just starting out?

I would say to do two things. Read a lot. And write a lot.

You’ll find there are tons of “how to write” books out there, and while I firmly believe that the rules of grammar should be learnt most definitely, the best way to learn about writing is to do it. And also to read it. By reading some of the great authors out there, you’ll get a real sense of how to write, better I think than in any “how to” book. Read the classics, learn how language, and the use of language, has evolved over time. Read many different genres. And then when you think you have a favourite genre, get to know that genre inside and out. And understand that while the rules of writing are meant to be broken, you can’t break them until you know them in the first place.

But always write. Just keep doing it. Even if you think what you’ve written sucks, just keep going.

As they say in Galaxy Quest: “Never give up! Never surrender!”

What do you find most difficult about writing? What do you find most exciting or rewarding?

The act of starting to write is very tough for me. That sitting down in front of your computer and going, “Right, let’s write!” And it can feel torturous at times, the first few sentences typed out a word a minute. It’s the big secret about being a professional writer: Writing is hard! It isn’t about being inspired. In fact it is very rare that I sit down to write and I just have inspiration and the words just flow out of me. Most often it is a slog. And starting the slog, to me that’s the hardest bit. The discipline. Once you get going though, things start to come together.

Most rewarding? Well when people like the book, that’s pretty swell! But I really really love making someone laugh. And when someone says that the book is funny, or when I show someone a piece of writing and they just start laughing, I swear there is really nothing quite like that feeling.

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

It actually has worked out really well for me. I am also a professional actress, and I used to temp to supplement my income. Now, thanks to the book, I don’t need to temp anymore, so I work from home doing my writing. What this means is that I am available to audition last minute (as almost all auditions wind up coming up last minute), and my schedule is incredibly flexible. Acting and writing work really well together actually.

As for my social life, most of my friends are busy working during the day, so I wind up writing during the day as well, and get together with them in the evening. Fortunately I have one friend with whom I jog in the morning three times a week, so that gets me up at a reasonable hour. Creating your own schedule is definitely one of the best and one of the worst things of being a writer.

Describe your writing space...

I love my writing space! It’s a corner desk in my apartment that I stained a dark rosewood colour. I have framed versions of my cover from different countries on my wall, as well as a white board. And I have a doorknob that I bought in the doorknob shop that inspired Alex’s uncle’s shop in the book. I’ve screwed it into the wall, and hung a frame around it. It looks very cool. On the shelves next to me, I have little inspirational tidbits. A few stuffed animals, I like stuffed animals, and a small wooden junk (a Chinese ship). I also have the treasure chest that Scholastic sent my agent with the offer for my book in it. They had filled the chest with costume jewelry and chocolate money, as well as tiny scrolls on which the offer was printed. It’s just so neat. On my desk I have a little black and white TV, because I think television makes the best white noise. And of course a desk lamp, and my wonderful laptop, Horatio.

Anyway, here’s a picture of it!


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

I think one of the most surprising things in this whole process is how the imperfect the final product is. As an author you can always find something to change in your writing each time you read it over. If it were up to authors, the thing would never get finished.And I guess I find it surprising because when you are a student, working with a book, you take each word as if it is carved in stone. Quoting a work needs to be utterly accurate, “It’s isn’t ‘in the house”, it’s ‘by the house’.” When you look at a book as a reader you assume that this product is ‘perfect’, that the every word the author chose was a very conscious decision. But as an author you realize that the word choice, sometimes, it’s just the best that everyone could agree to at the moment.

Of course we strive to make the book as perfect as we can, but it is just impossible to make it flawless. Books exist for hundreds of years after they are published. And it’s really funny to think that quite possibly if someone, like Dickens say, looked at their work today, they’d shake their head and comment, “Oh that phrase, yeah that was because I was working on deadline. Man I can’t believe that’s in there!”

Adrienne, thanks so much for a great interview!

Would you like to know more about this author? Visit her website and her blog, and, as always, leave a comment and make sure to let her know you were here today!

Indians 6, Yankees 4!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They did it! The Cleveland Indians actually beat the New York Yankees!!!!!

Now they take on the Boston Red Sox, starting Friday, in a best-of-seven game series. Looks as though I won't be getting to bed before 11 in the next week!

OK, OK, I'm sorry for all you Yankee fans. Really, I know how much it hurts to lose a big post-season game. But let's face it: when you're a Yankee fan, your team is pretty much going to go to the playoffs a few times a decade. Maybe even win a World Series once in a while.

You know the last time the Indians won it all? 1948. That's the second longest dry spell in baseball next to the Chicago Cubs. The last time they were in the World Series, in 1997, they lost to the Florida Marlins, in the bottom of the 11th inning in the 7th game. I watched every pitch. Talk about a heart-breaker.

So let's hear it for the underdog this year, shall we? No one picked them to beat the Yankees. (And by the way, the Yankees' payroll is $200 million. Cleveland's is $62 million. Maybe you can't buy a championship, after all).

Boston, here we come!!

I Have to Suffer Through Another Game...

Well, the Yankees managed to squeeze out a win last night, so it's Game 4 tonight for my Cleveland Indians. I really, really hope they don't fall apart mentally now (it's been known to happen on more than one occasion...) Ryan Garko, one of their key players, is keeping a playoff blog, which is kind of cool.

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You might be amused to hear that I spent all of yesterday hanging vinyl siding with hubby. Up and down ladders all day long, hammering (nails most of the time, my thumb once in a while) and today I am really tired and sore. We aren't finished, either. And I begin to realize why those guys who work construction for a living never go to the gym.

It's very helpful in the name of research, though. The hero in my WIP Summer's Song is a carpenter/construction guy, so I told myself, about 4:00 yesterday afternoon, as I was balancing on the top rung of a ladder trying to stretch out and put in one last nail, that at least I could write really accurate details for all those home-renovation scenes I'm working on. :)

THANK YOU to everyone who gave me promo ideas yesterday, for the NYC Book Fair in December. I've got a terrific list now, and my only problem is that darn 18" x 30" limited table space! Hmm...I could hang things off the front of it, right??

What's the Best Draw??

So as most of my regular readers know, I'll be making my first public appearance as an author at the NYC Independent and Small Press Book Fair in December. There will be massive amounts of authors there, all genres, so here's the thing: how do I get people to come over to the table where I'll be (think I'll be with about 5 other authors, so not a lot of space). What would make you actually stop by and take a look at a specific author? Table signs can only be 8 1/2 x 11, and my entire table space will be about 18"x30". I could have promotional items, though as I mentioned in another blog, I'm not sure how effective those would be, long-term.

So...any terribly clever ideas??

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In other semi-exciting news, my second novel, Lost in Paradise, is on its way to the senior editor at The Wild Rose Press for a final read-through. I think this means a publication date might actually be in sight! Finally...

But now I have to think about cute & clever ways to promote this title. I've been so caught up with being cute and clever for One Night in Boston that I haven't given it a whole lot of thought. Hmm...any ideas?

Two Down, One to Go

Woo hoo! Another Indians victory over the Yankees!

Last night's game was about as different as it could be from Thursday's, a pitchers' duel rather than a home run parade, but the Indians came back from losing 1-0 to tie it up and force it into extra innings, and then they pulled it out in the bottom of the 11th. I'm so excited!

Of course, I'm sure people are going to be talking about the fact that these gnat-like bugs (guess they were called "midges"?? they breed around lakes, apparently) came out after dark and started distracting all the players big-time. Guess they've shown up before, in Cleveland, and once earlier in the season, the umpires suspended play because they got so bad. Yankee shortshop Derek Jeter said, "Just when you think you've seen it all -- that's home-field advantage..."

I did feel a little sorry for the Yankee pitcher. He was covered with them, and of course the TV camera had to zoom in on his neck and face to show us, about every 90 seconds. The bugs definitely threw him off. In the 8th inning, he threw 2 wild pitches (Indians scored on one of them), hit a batter, and walked 2 more. But you know what? The batters had to deal with the midges, too.

Now the Indians have to come to NY and win one more game, which won't be easy. I'm not chilling the champagne yet. But my fingers are crossed!

It's Playoff Time!!

And I'm doing a happy dance because the Cleveland Indians beat the Yankees last night, a whopping 12-3. One game down, two to go!!!

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Here's my Friday Feast. I'm so glad it's the end of the week!

Appetizer
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you look forward to your birthday?
Oh, I don't know...maybe a 5-6? It's in December, around Christmas, which is such a busy time of year that there are a hundred other things taking up my attention at that time.

Soup
What is one word you don’t like the sound, spelling, or meaning of?
I'm a writer...I love all words!

Salad

Do you wear sunglasses when you’re outside? If so, what does your current pair look like?

Well, if it's sunny, then yes, at least most of the time. I have a big, oversized pair right now that I love. I also have a great pair of Nike sports sunglasses for when I run.

Main Course
If you were to write a book, to whom would you dedicate it?
Ooh, I love this question most of all! I just published my first novel, and this is the dedication:

"For my parents, who taught me to love language, and for my Mrs. Stokoe, my fifth grade teacher, who was the first person to tell me I'd be a writer someday."

Dessert
Name a beverage that you enjoy.
Starbucks Grande Nonfat Latte. Oh yeah!

Of Googlegangers, Cute Promo, and a Couple More Contests

So a few days ago, Marianne mentioned Googlegangers, which got me to thinking...

I chose my pen name, about a year ago, because there was no other "Allie Boniface" out there. And as of right now, there still isn't. I'm the only one! But my given name? Let's see...I have many Googlegangers, including a minister, Scottish author, professional photographer, "life coach," psychology professor, and advice columnist.

Might be interesting to get us all into a room together, hmm?

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A couple of neat writing contests that I thought I'd mention here:

The Reader Views Annual Literary Award - This one is open to authors published by small presses OR self-published. Looks as though there are a wide range of awards being given, by some really prestigious sponsors, so make sure to check this one out.

Hook, Line, and Sinker - This one is run by my local RWA chapter, and it's a nice contest because you only enter the first 3 pages of your manuscript AND it only costs $10. Plus Brenda Chin of Harlequin is the final editor, and word is she often requests full manuscripts from the finalists she reads. First prize is $50.00!!

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And in other interesting news, one of my publishers posted this on a loop, earlier this week:

"I attended the Central Ohio Fiction Writers Conference this past
weekend. Thank you to these wonderful authors for having me and
allowing me to listen to so many pitches from some really fabulous
writers. These ladies were gracious and kind and oh so much fun.
Lori Foster is a member of their chapter and very active. She gave
the keynote speech and was just a pleasure to speak with time and
time again.

I came back from the conference with a couple things to share with
all of you and one is about promotional items. Those little things
we spend our money and time on to promote our books. Things like
bookmarks, charms, pens, or sticky notes, etc.

Lori Foster remarked in her keynote and also in a side conversation
with me that she doesn't understand why authors spend so much time
and money on cutesy promotional items. She said that 99% of the
stuff is going to be tossed away as soon as we get home from the
conference and if we do end up keeping anything out of the goody
bags, it would be something we'd use, but even then, would never
matter to us what author had her name on it.

She was right. Back in my room, I tossed out everything that I'd
collected except for two things; one was a tiny stuffed animal that I
gave to my son when I got home and the other was a keyring with a
horse on it. I kept the keyring merely because I have a thing for
horses. I will never visit the author's web site or buy her book
simply because of this keyring.

Think about that next time you are doing a booksigning or going to a
conference. I think that as a publishing house, the items we put out
in the goody rooms, etc. have a good chance of driving folks to the
web site because we are promoting something entirely different than
one author's book.

Lori remarked that what is important is possibly having an item at
your table when you are doing a booksigning to draw peoplet to your
table. For example, one author had a funny stuffed dog that everyone
wanted to touch. It drew people to her table where she could talk
about her book and why she had the dog there, etc. I would think
something gimmicky like that, that you cuold use time and time again,
makes more sense than a stack of bookmarks that will simply wind up
in the trash.

The other thing to come out of the conference was the editor at
Berkley as well as the owner of Samhain and the agent from Three Seas
all said your web site is your most critical promotional item. All
the editors there said that when someone submits to them, if they are
interested, they immediately check out the author's web site. If its
outdated by more than a year or its obviously not kept up, it makes
an impression. The web site doesn't have to be expensive but it
shouldn't be one of those freebies that has pop-up ads and other
annoying features.

So that's my big tip. Skip the money you spend on little
cutesy things and spend the money and time on your web site. It'll
get you farther in the long run."

Hmm. I've got to say, I agree to a certain extent. I mean, how many times have you bought a book because of a pen or a bookmark you picked up on a goodie table? I don't think I ever have. What does make me buy a book? Word of mouth or reviews. Now, I'm sure those bookmarks and pens do help with name recognition (what is it, like 7 times that someone has to see your name before they remember it??), but how much time and $$ do you want to spend on those things, when you could be writing instead?

I'm going to think long and hard before I spend a lot more money on promotional things. I'm curious - what do you think??

Writers' Wednesday: An Interview with Laura Obiso

Welcome to another Writers' Wednesday! Today we have an interview with Laura Obiso, a nature writer who has authored "...articles, books, blogs, web content, and information materials on the environment, natural history, birds, animals and pets, local history, wildlife, alternative health, metaphysics, health and medicine, gardening, and several other topics..." Whew!

Laura has some great things to say about her experiences writing, so enjoy her words of wisdom, and please leave her a comment when you're through!

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

I’ve been writing a long time, though I haven’t been seriously freelancing until the last six months or so. It’s actually a very new aspect of writing for me. I’ve done two books (a long time ago) and I’m now working on one that will be published early in 2008, so I’ve been more of a book writer. I’ve fallen into a comfortable niche writing chapters for a medicolegal client, but that’s changing too, so freelancing is the logical next step. Isn’t it?

Tell us about your latest writing project or published title.

I’m writing Images of America: Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area for Arcadia Publishing. It’s a fun book to do, and I love local history and live in this area. I’m writing more articles too, and focusing a lot on online writing. I think the worst thing about freelancing is the wait time!

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

Have a plan, stick to it, and never give up. When I started freelancing, I was all over the place for the first week or so, then I realized I was so scattered in what I was doing that I was accomplishing very little. Now I have a plan of what I want to accomplish, and set a few tasks that need to be done to get there. As I do them, I revise my list and keep going. Keeps me more focused on the goals.

What do you find most difficult about writing? What do you find most exciting or rewarding?

There are two most difficult things for me. One is choosing the topic, because everything has been done at least 100 times. So, based on that premise, I find it rewarding when I can come up with a new slant or idea or spinoff and actually turn it into something decent. Worse than that, though, is the marketing part. I really dislike promoting myself, but without that, you don’t get very far in this business.

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

It is very much part of my life. I’ve given up a few times, like all writers do, but then I find myself buying that new journal, or jotting notes for ideas. As I’ve become more focused, I find I’m looking at things differently, and thinking how I can write about that thing I’ve seen or experienced or read about.

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

That I could actually do this. Funny thing now is when I look back on that first book, published in 1987 and now out of print, I’m amazed it got published at all. It’s not bad, it got good reviews and was in print until 2000, but it seems amateurish to me and I would do it so very differently now. It shows how we grow and improve if we stay with it. I have much more confidence in the book I’m working on now.


When you write, do you use the computer or compose by hand, oral dictation, or some other method?

Let me tell you – I’m old enough to have been writing before computers! I just don’t know how it’s done anymore without a keyboard. I journal by hand, but write articles and books by hand? Egads!

Thanks, Laura! For more information about this author, visit her website or her blog.

Contests Galore!

Well, it snuck right up on me: Buy a Friend a Book Week! And to celebrate, both Marianne and Judy are holding contests at their blog sites.

Also, don't forget that the Raven Halloween Hunt is taking place all this month...over 60 authors are participating, and there are some terrific prizes up for grabs.

Finally, I came home from a long Monday yesterday to find that I had won my choice of a book from Diane Craver's library, just for posting on her blog last month! I chose Seducing Simon, by Maya Banks. Maya writes for Samhain, so I thought I'd support a fellow author and give it a try. Plus the cover didn't hinder my decision any:



Anyone read it? I'm hoping I'm in for a treat :)

Why I Teach

Happy October 1!


So first off, I'm happy because I worked through about 4 chapters of my WIP yesterday and actually had time to devote to making changes and writing new stuff. Titled Summer's Song, it's about 95K words now, and though I plan on making some major changes, I still love the fact that I have a lot to work with and that I like a lot of what's there. It's easier (for me anyway) to revise something that already exists than come up with something brand new. Maybe I'm just weird that way.

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Last Friday, I was setting up an activity for my students when I overheard a piece of their conversation: "Man, I love this class. It's like - remember when you were in kindergarten, and you loved going to school every day because it was fun? That's what this class is like."

Me, smiling (well, except for the really high blonde hair and the weird purple shirt...I don't think I own anything quite that color):

Of course, this particular class is a dream to teach: super-achieving seniors who are interested and motivated and exploring the field of education. I also teach English to high school seniors, and on most days, they're...um...a little less enthusiastic about seeing me. But they're all still teenagers, so if I can hear a few of them say that school and learning is actually fun, then that's all I need.

And by the way! It's Borders' annual Educators' Savings Week, through tomorrow, October 2. Anyone who's a current or retired educator (and this includes those of you who home school or teach Sunday School) gets 25% off everything in the store. I'm going after school today to stock up!

Writing Vs. Promoting and Why There are only 24 Hours in a Day...

Hmm...well, it's one of those Sundays where I'm up earlier than I wanted to be. I have a lot of writing I'm hoping to get done today, but that will be in between grocery shopping and helping hubby with the siding and doing some promotional work as well. I've discovered in the last few weeks, though, I that I'm spending WAY too much time on promotion and not enough writing.

It's tough when you have only one book out: you want to promote so people will buy it, and so your publisher will see your worth to the company, but then again, if you run out of time to write your next book, then you don't have that much to offer your publisher anyway. Frustrating.

A quick reminder:

It starts tomorrow, and should be a lot of fun, so join in! And now I'm off...to WRITE, dammit. :)

Some Random Saturday Ramblings

So a couple of days ago, I got a really cool piece of fan email. It was actually from a woman I met a few years ago; we met when traveling on vacation with a group of couples. But I hadn't seen or talked to her since then. I opened my email Thursday to find a lovely note from her, telling me that a friend of a friend had told her about the "Best Ebook" contest (wow...don't you love the word of mouth that is the Internet?). She read my website, my blog, my excerpt, bought One Night in Boston, and was writing to say she was taking her first writing class next month:

"I have to admit, I am definitely inspired by you as a local writer..."

Isn't that cool? It made me feel all warm and fuzzy.

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Ollie is one of my faithful readers. She's also one of those people who's WAY UP on all the online social networks, i.e., she has a Facebook account and is constantly sending me messages or writing on my Facebook Wall (not that I even know what that is) or inviting me to join her groups or play collaborative online games with her other Facebook friends. And then I feel really lame because the only thing on my account is, like, my name and maybe where I'm from. I haven't even uploaded a picture yet. Actually, Judy is a lot like Ollie too. She's invited me to all these different groups and Facebook happy hours and I haven't joined because I can't figure out what it all means. I keep feeling I should really get my butt in gear and update and try to look as though I actually have a Facebook presence. Sigh. I'll try, guys, really I will.

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Speaking of online communication, I've given in and created my very own author newsletter. I know, aren't you impressed? Over on the right sidebar is a place for you to sign up. The first issue goes out October 1, so make sure you're on my list!

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And finally, I'm excited to share the news that I'll be participating in the NYC Independent and Small Press Book Festival, on Saturday December 1. I'll be sharing space at the All Romance Ebooks with a group of other romance authors, and while I'm more than a little nervous about such a major location for my first public appearance, I still think it's a great opportunity. So mark your calendars for 12/1/07, if you're anywhere near Manhattan!

TGIF!

Wow, I am SO glad it's Friday! Long week...and not a whole lot of sleep either, as we have new neighbors with a dog that barks all night long (reminds me of that "Seinfeld" episode, with Elaine. ANyone remember that one? Not that I would do anything to the dog, because I love animals, but still...)

So here's my Friday Feast~ enjoy!!

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Appetizer: How are you today?
Tired. See above.

Soup: Name 3 television shows you watch on a regular basis.
Prison Break
Rescue Me
Survivor

Salad: What’s the scariest weather situation you’ve experienced?
When I was living in Cleveland in the late 1990s, we got hit with a blizzard that lasted 2 days and dropped 4+ feet of snow. Knocked out all services for days. I wasn't driving in it, so I guess it wasn't as scary as it could have been, but it made you realize how completely in control Nature can be when she wants to be!

Main Course: If you could wake up tomorrow morning in another country, where would you want to be?
Rothenberg, Germany. I love that town!

Dessert: What do you usually wear to sleep?
Umm...not much :)

So What's in a Title, Anyway?

Yesterday, one of my writing friends sent out a plea for help coming up with a title for her newly contracted romance novel. The editor loved the book...the title, not so much. So now she has to think of a new one.

Ugh.

I don't think of myself as very creative when it comes to book titles, so I guess I'm glad that One Night in Boston and Lost in Paradise were accepted by my two publishers as they were. My current WIP is tentatively titled Summer's Song, and I like that one a lot, because it's both a literal reference and a larger, figurative comment on what happens in the story.

Do you know about Lulu's Title Scorer, where you can find out just how appealing and marketable your title is? I scored my 3 titles, and here's what Title Scorer told me:

One Night in Boston - 14.6% chance of becoming a best-selling title
Lost in Paradise - 26.3% chance of becoming a best-selling title
Summer's Song - 76.9% chance of becoming a best-selling title

Hmm. Better stick to the actual novel writing, I guess, and finish up my WIP. I knew there was a reason business and marketing never appealed to me, in school!

What about you? Can you think of book titles that have really stood out? Do you have favorites of your own? And how do they score in Title Scorer, anyway?

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P.S. I totally forgot to mention that I had an article, "I Am a Writer," featured over at The Long and the Short of It yesterday. Go on over and check it out...

Writers' Wednesday: An Interview with Nancy Sathre-Vogel

Welcome to Writers' Wednesday! I'm really excited today to feature writer Nancy Sathre-Vogel. But Nancy isn't just a writer. She's also an adventurer extraordinaire. Just wait 'til you hear what she has to share with us!

Hi, Nancy! Can you tell us a little about your background?
Hmmm... Where do I even start? I've never lived within the boundaries – never colored inside the lines, so to speak. I've been a classroom teacher for the past twenty years, but do it on my own terms. I've taught on the Navajo Indian Reservation and in five countries outside the USA. My bicycle is my main mode of travel and I've pedaled my iron maiden in more countries than I care to count. I didn't even 'do' kids like most people. The only children I have are twins.

When did you first begin writing? Was there an event or moment in your life that triggered your desire to write?
When did I start writing? I guess way back in first grade or so… Oh, you mean like, when did I really start writing? I suppose I would have to say back in 1991. I had just returned to the USA after a 13-month bicycle trip around the Indian subcontinent and felt like I wanted to get all those random thoughts and journal entries organized. I wrote a book about that journey, but ended up moving to Egypt three days after it was finished. That was back in the BC days before internet, so I never had a chance to try to publish it. Since then, the writing has been something I do to chronicle my journeys around the world.

Tell us about your latest writing project or published title.
I'm really excited about what I'm working on now!! My family and I just returned home after another 12 months on the road. My husband and I, along with our 9-year-old twin boys, pedaled 9300 miles through 19 US states and 4 Mexican states. I am attempting to get all those random thoughts and journal entries organized into a book!

What do you find most difficult about writing? What do you find most exciting or rewarding ?
The difficult part is thinking of creative ways to describe something. But that is also the most exciting and rewarding. I love those times when I get a brilliant idea – when the entry kind of writes itself. I generally get those flashes of inspiration while doing something repetitive and physical – like riding my bike or swimming.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?
Ummm.. pedal an 80-pound bike up hills??? I am also a teacher and a bead artist, so I keep plenty busy!

When you write, do you use the computer or compose by hand, oral dictation, or some other method?
I really like to write it out by hand. I think my writing is better that way – maybe because writing it that way makes me slow down and take more time to think. I'm trying to switch over to writing on the computer, since it is a lot faster, but I still find that I like my handwritten writing better.

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What a great interview ~ thanks! (Though I think I need a nap, now, just thinking about pedaling all that way...)

Want to know more about Nancy Sathre-Vogel? Visit the links in her interview above, or leave her a comment or a question here. Thanks for stopping by!

My Review Is Up!

Fellow Samhain author Ciar Cullen wasted no time in reading and reviewing my novel One Night in Boston, the winner in her promotional contest last week. And here it is...go and read and then come back, OK?

She was quite kind, I think. My favorite part:

"As much as this book is about loss, self-doubt, redemption, and finally, love, it is also about the definition of success. Maggie is a self-made businesswoman who is losing it all. Her stepbrother Dillon is a self-made businessman who has made it, but still has a hole in his heart. Jack, our hero, was born to wealth, but struggles to define himself in other ways. The way the three come together in forgiveness and a redefinition of family, trust, and belonging was masterful."

Wow, thanks, Ciar!!

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In other news, I'm thrilled to death that my beloved Cleveland Indians clinched the AL Central and are headed into the playoffs!



I lived in Cleveland in my early twenties and discovered pro baseball when I was out there. Though I now live close to NYC, I will always be a Tribe fan. When I was living in Cleveland, in the mid-90s, the team was white-hot and went to the World Series (but lost) twice. Home games sold out something like 400+ times in a row, and let me tell you, everyone in and around the city lived and breathed the team.

I miss that, now, but I try to get to a game whenever I'm in town. Hubby and I were lucky enough, back in July, to catch a perfect one: it was against the KC Royals, and the Indians won in the bottom of the 9th. Perfect weather, perfect comeback, and a perfect fireworks display following the victory.




Ooh, I get chills just thinking about the post-season!!

It's Monday, and I'm Running Late, and...

...I still have papers to grade for my students that I just couldn't get to over this gorgeous weekend, so I'm off to work super-early to catch up.

In the meantime, though, here's a preview of a fun Halloween contest coming up next week:

The details aren't up yet at their website, but here's the deal: around 60 authors are participating. What do you have to do? Beginning October 1, search for a special Raven Halloween Hunt graphic hidden somewhere on those authors' sites. When you do, you're eligible for a bunch of different prizes, all donated by the authors themselves. More details should be coming soon...

Cool idea for a promotion, and to get people to visit all the pages of your website, right?

And speaking of promotion, I'm amazed to find that the contest I entered and won last week has given me more free publicity than nearly all of the other efforts I've put forth so far! I've already heard from a number of people who bought my book just from seeing it on the contest page.

So hooray!

A Relatively Quiet Sunday...So Far

Before today's meme, I just had to mention how tickled I've been at the response over my contest win. So many, many people, on my email lists and in my various writers' groups, were almost happier than I was with the results. (if that's possible, which I don't think it is, but anyway...) How nice to know so many people cheer for me and support my efforts, even if they haven't read my book yet!

Today's Unconscious Mutterings:

1. Singles :: Bars (anyone meet their spouse in one??)


2. Blaze :: of glory


3. Sandwich :: BLT


4. Outside :: Inside


5. Gooey :: S'mores...made over a campfire


6. Industry :: Execs


7. Exclusive :: Read, as in what agents want sometimes if your book is potentially v.v. good


8. Warranty :: Expires 1 week before you need it


9. Magical :: Dawn


10. Heels :: The higher the better :)

The Contest Part 3

Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to all the terrific supporters who voted for me, One Night in Boston ended up winning Ciar Cullen's Best Ebook of the Summer contest!!

I had fun recruiting votes, and it was a good experience for me to stretch mysef promo-wise. I'm proud I held my own as a newbie author, even though some people grumbled a bit about whether it was more of a popularity contest than a merit-based contest. You can read what I think about that, here. Now the only thing I have to worry about is Ciar's review of the book. I hope she likes it. I hope she doesn't tear it apart. I hope..hmm...I hope this isn't a "be careful what you wish for" type of thing.

Well, they say any promotion is good promotion, right? Let's hope so!

It's supposed to be a gorgeous, summer-like weekend here, so lots on the agenda for outside work. The biggest is helping hubby start hanging the vinyl siding on our newly built garage. Should be an adventure...

TGIF

Whew! I am so glad it's Friday!! Long week...

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
What is your favorite type of art?
Love the Impressionists; love Norman Rockwell; but also have a particular interest in Jackson Pollock. So no true "favorite," I guess!

Soup
When was the last time you got a free lunch (or breakfast or dinner)? Who paid for it?
Does hubby taking me on a date count? :)

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how emotional are you?
Oh, boy. Probably more emotional than I want to be, most days. Let's say 7.5.

Main Course
Approximately how long do you spend each day responding to emails?
Hmm... Work: 40-60 minutes throughout the day. Home: A little less than that.

Dessert
To what temperature do you usually set your home’s thermostat?
In the cool weather, 72 when we're home and 60 when we're at work (we have those programmable thermostats around the house - very convenient!)

Have a WONDERFUL Friday!!

The Contest Part 2

Yesterday, the author running The Best Ebook of the Summer contest blogged about whether or not contests are based more on popularity votes than on merit. I imagine she was referring to her own contest as well, and wondering how many people who voted did so without reading the ebooks.

Is it a popularity contest? In some aspects, I suppose it is. For those of us near the top, it became a quest to see who could pull in the most votes. But isn't that the case with most contests/elections/polls? People choose a candidate for a variety of reasons, whether it's top quality or word of mouth or wanting to help the underdog.

I know many people voted for my book because they read it, if not in full then in part, as a beta reader or friend. I know many more voted for my book because they knew my name and were intrigued by the excerpt and the reviews they read. And yes, some voted because a friend or family member told them to.

Should I feel bad, soliciting votes from such a variety of people? I don't know...I don't think so. Publishing and sales is all about promotion, like it or not. This contest got my name in front of people who now are interested in buying and reading the book. The hits on my website and blog have doubled in the last 4 days. And if I win the contest outright, I'll get a free review as well.

So what do you think? Was it just a popularity contest? And in this case, is there anything wrong with that? Did the end result - free promotion - warrant my approach to getting the word out? Or did I overstep bounds by asking people to vote even if they hadn't read One Night in Boston?

Writers' Wednesday: How to Get Along in Cyber-World

Welcome to Writers' Wednesday! Of course, before I dive into today's "how to," just a reminder about The Best Ebook of the Summer contest, going on now. Stop by and vote for ONE NIGHT IN BOSTON...it's the newbie (that's me) against the multi-published author, and I'm holding my own, for now.

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Last week I blogged about how wonderful it is to make friends (and writing pals) via the Internet. And it is, really. I've "met" some terrific people from all over the world. I've learned from veteran writers, thanks to boards and blogs and online classes. And I've picked up some 'Netiquette tips along the way.

1. Don't hog the board. When you belong to a writers' group (or any online group, really), you might be tempted to jump right in and post every few minutes. If that's the flavor of the group, then OK. But make sure that you're leaving room/time for other people to participate as well. And along those lines...

2. If you are asking for feedback, on writing or any other topic, make sure you give it as well. I've seen too many people come to the table with their own agendas, their own needs, and when they got what they needed, turn around and leave. If you're asking for a poll response, make sure you participate when others have polls as well. If you need someone to read a query letter, read theirs when they post it. And so on.

3. Watch the tone of your posts. This one's tough. Email, IM, chatting, posting...all has changed the way people interact. You cannot see someone's facial expression when you're reading their email/post, so if you take offense or sense a negative tone, wait a few minutes before overreacting. Ask for clarification. Many times it's just the person's word choice rather than a personal attack.

4. Be polite, and apologize if you sense someone has taken a post/message the wrong way. Remember #3. People cannot see your face, and they don't always know if you're kidding or being sarcastic.

5. Leave personal problems offline. Not always, of course: sometimes your cyber-friends can help you through tough times. But be careful which dirty laundry you choose to air. Remember there is no privacy on the Internet, no matter how careful you try to be.

6. Reciprocate the nice stuff. Do your online friends remember your birthday and send you e-cards? Do the same for them. Do they take the time to email you offline if you need something? Return the favor.

The Internet is a wonderful place to build new relationships...just be careful, and keep a few 'Netiquette tips in mind.

Anyone else have one they'd like to share?

The Contest

Well, this Best Ebook of the Summer contest has now begun to consume my life...and not necessarily in a good way.

My brother-in-law, an uber-successful NYC businessman, has decided it will be his week's mission to make sure I win, and with contacts in every country in the world, I might have a chance (he called yesterday to tell me that "Brazil, Hong Kong, and London" had checked in and voted). Now if only that will translate to sales, esp. when One Night in Boston comes out in print!

But I am rather tickled that I'm running neck-and-neck for the lead, especially with an author who has 5 published novels under her belt and who entered the contest "to get a little promotion for the novel that got overshadowed by the others" she published this summer. Jeez.

So if you haven't voted, please do, and even if you have, please spread the word to anyone else who hasn't. It would be nice to win and gain some name recognition for myself, along with a review from a multi-published author, to boot.

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I'll leave you with this today: The Samhellion newsletter, put together by Samhain authors. There are some great articles in the September "Great Beginnings" issue...check it out!

Happy Monday!

I love awards shows, as a general rule. I love seeing who's wearing what, who's arriving with whom, who gives the best speeches and who's the most surprised when they win (or don't). I'm a little fed up with the Oscars lately, though, and not only because they stretch out their show with ridiculous skits and songs and interpretive dances so that a 2-hour show becomes a 4-hour one. Ever since "Crash" won Best Picture over "Brokeback Mountain," because 1/2 the members of the Academy admitted they would never vote for a movie with "that kind" of plot, I've been a little turned off.

But I digress, because I love the prime-time Emmys, and they were on last night. I was happy that Katherine Heigl ("Grey's Anatomy") and "30 Rock" won awards; I thought Denis Leary ("Rescue Me") and the casts of "Two and a Half Men" & "The Office" got robbed; I loved Kathryn Morris's dress. Best of all, I was entertained and still in bed by 11:00. :)

I'm also happy because Prison Break starts a brand new season tonight. Yummy! Love the characters, love the writing, love the romantic tension between Michael and Sarah. Couch at 8:00 tonight, here I come!

And finally, I'm happy to report that I am currently in 2nd place, in the Best Ebook of the Summer contest. The poll is open 'til Friday, so I have a lot of work to do to catch the leader, but I'd love to win, if only as a brand new author over someone who's a lot more established in the e-pub world. Plus I'll get a review and promo out of it, so fingers crossed. If you haven't voted yet, please do! And spread the word to anyone else out there...it only takes a minute!

From 4th to 3rd

Brrr! 45 degrees here this morning. Guess I'm going to have to admit that fall has arrived, huh? That's if the orange leaves and the big yellow vehicles lumbering down the road in the morning didn't give it away.

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Well, I've moved from 4th to 3rd place in the "Best Ebook of the Summer" contest, thanks to your votes! But I'm pretty far behind the leader, so if you haven't voted, or if you have friends/family/neighbors/co-workers that haven't voted, let them know, so they can cast their vote for ONE NIGHT IN BOSTON too. Thanks!!

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Today's Unconscious Mutterings:

Rita :: Moreno

Comedy :: Tragedy

Polar :: Bears (do you know they're dying off and will be extinct by 2050 unless we do something about global warming?)

Idiots :: People who don't realize the above and live as if the earth is theirs to waste

Perception :: Viewpoint

Infected :: Snakebite

Fake :: Leather ~ the only kind to wear!

Relating :: Family

Distraction :: My cats, when I'm writing (I still love them, though!)

Gamble :: Vegas

What Color are You?

First things first: if you haven't yet voted for One Night in Boston in the "Best Ebook of the Summer" contest, head on over. I'm currently in 4th place, but the polls are open for another week, so spread the word!

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One of the first lessons I do with my students each year is True Colors. They take a little self-evaluation to determine what color they are, and then we spend a lot of time talking about how that affects the way they approach things, the relationships they develop, etc. It's pretty cool and they always love it. (You can take your own quiz here. Go ahead, find out...)

Well, yesterday the class had a quiz, and their bonus question was to tell me what color they think I am, and why.

I gotta tell you, for 16 and 17 year olds, and considering they've known me one week, they're pretty insightful. This was my favorite response: "You are green most of all, because you are passionate about what you teach and you want us to be passionate about it too. You're not a full-fledged gold, but you are organized and always know what you're doing. You're blue too because you care about our futures, and you're orange because you can talk about "Lost" in the middle of class."

Didn't know I was quite so transparent :)

I Need Your Votes!

Hey everyone, a little shameless promotion here: Ciar Cullen, a fellow Samham author, is running a contest on her blog to select The Best Ebook of the Summer...and One Night in Boston is one of the choices.

Would you hop on over there and vote for me? Please? Ciar will buy and review the winning book...and a little more promo for ONIB wouldn't hurt any. Hey, if you feel like pimping the contest on your own blog, I'd love it even more :) Thanks a million.

Without further adieu, here's Friday's Feast:

Appetizer
When was the last time you visited a hospital?
August, when my cat was v.v. sick. He spent 3 days in an animal hospital that rivals most human hospitals I've been to!

Soup
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how ambitious are you?
Oh, Lord. I can only go up to 10? 11.

Salad
Make a sentence using the letters of a body part. (Example: (mouth) My other ukelele tings healthily.)
Early Action Rocks.

Main Course
If you were to start a club, what would the subject matter be, and what would you name it?
Gotta be a reading club, but as for the name? It's too early for me to be that creative.

Dessert
What color is the carpet/flooring in your home?
Funny story: We have medium-dark hardwood flooring in the kitchen, dining room, and foyer; the most neutral color beige you can picture for the hallway, bedrooms, and office, and this very interesting mint green tile in the great room. The tile was there when we moved in (as was nasty linoleum and dog-hair filled carpeting in the rest of the house, but that we replaced), and, well, tile is a lot harder and more $$ to replace. So we did a lot of brown in the furniture and throw rugs. And belive it or not, the green really isn't that bad anymore. People who come to our house tell us they actually like it (whether they're being polite or not is a different story, I suppose).

I'm Blogging Today...

...at Samhain's blog, but only after 3:00 EST. So pop on over there and leave me a comment so I don't feel too lonely, OK?

And in the meantime, I wanted to share with you this trailer that I made for Diane Craver's novel A Fiery Secret. Diane's been so helpful since I contracted with Samhain, letting me in on tips and keeping me up to date, that it was the least I could do for her!

Writers' Wednesday: An Interview with J.A. Giunta

Welcome to another Writers' Wednesday! Today we have an interview with fantasy author J.A. Giunta.

Welcome, Joe! Can you tell us a little about your background?
I was born and raised on the east coast but have lived in Arizona for most of my life. I have a Bachelor of Arts in English from Arizona State but work as a Software Developer for the University of Phoenix. Funny how a career can sometimes stem from a hobby.

When did you first begin writing? Was there an event or moment in your life that triggered your desire to write?
I began to write adventures shortly after discovering pen and paper role-playing games when I was eleven years old. My first story was roughly fifty pages long, typed out on a commodore 64 and printed on a dot matrix. I can still feel the staples that bound it pricking my fingers.

Tell us about your latest writing project or published title.
I’m currently working on the second book of the Ascension trilogy, titled The Mists of Faeron. It’s a self-published work and is actually a rewrite. I spent months improving my writing, by reading numerous books on writing (by writers) and talking with other writers. I learned more in three months at the Absolute Write forums than I did my entire time in college. Well, at least in regards to writing a novel.

How do you go about developing your characters?
I think of them as real people, with belief systems that stem from their upbringing. They have their own quirks, their own way of reasoning, favorite foods and pastimes. I try to have this all reflected in their dialogue and actions, in the way they respond to others and the feelings they go through. The hardest part for me, while calmly writing away, is that people don’t always act rational. They make mistakes, sometimes bad ones, and might not realize it right away.

What do you find most difficult about writing? What do you find most exciting or rewarding?
The most difficult thing about writing is writing. Literally, the first draft. I’m not one of those writers who spews out the first copy just to get the story down on paper, who then begins the process of many revisions. I spend a lot of time thinking about the story, about the characters and their motives, and put it all down in notes and an outline. I break the story down into scenes and lay them all out on paper, then flesh them out from my notes. When I begin writing the first draft, I agonize over every word until the flow is just right, until everything I want in it is absolutely perfect. When I finish a scene, I go back and revise it. Once the manuscript is completed, I do a full revision and edits.

For me, the most rewarding part is being done.

How do you balance writing with the rest of your life?
Very poorly, thank you. I try my best to get in two hours of writing a day, but sometimes it just isn’t feasible. I work from 5am to 2pm, get my daughter from school after work and then it’s dinner and family time when the wife gets home around 6. So there is some time in there for me to write, if I can work in my office uninterrupted. The problem is that’s a mighty big if. Still, I manage to produce between 15 and 20 pages in a week, which for me is roughly a chapter. As I mentioned earlier, these are not speedily typed pages but are the product of many painstaking hours.

Do you ever suffer from writer's block? If so, what do you do about it?
I’ve suffered from too many images and words in my head to get them down, but I’ve never run out of material. Even when I reach a scene I’ve left somewhat open and have only a faint idea of what I want to write, as long as I sit in front of the computer the words will come. I spend most of my day thinking about the next scene in my manuscript. It’s the first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thing on my mind when I go to sleep. I revise and rework in my head. When I actually sit down to the computer, I’m usually ready to go.

What is your favorite movie? Did it inspire your writing in any way?
I almost didn’t answer this but thought I’d point out for anyone just starting to write that creating a novel is not the same as creating a screenplay. I know, it sounds obvious, but when I first began writing, I saw my scenes as part of a movie in my head. I wrote in ways that would translate well to the big screen. I only learned later this is a pitfall of beginning writers.

Apart from that, there are numerous movies that I love, though some seem better in memory than in the watching again. Movies that move me inspire me to move readers. They remind me, when things seems tough and playing a video game would be easier, that I write because I love to stories and share them with others.

Thanks for stopping by today! For more information about this author or his books, visit his website.

Six Years

September 11, 2001.

Six years ago.

Today we'll wake up to the first Tuesday since it happened. Ths sky's supposed to be blue here, the weather nice. Same as six years ago. But not the same at all.

Political commentary and blame aside, about who was responsible, or what we've done since then, or whether or not the troops should still be in Iraq, I think it's really important not to forget what happened that day, and how much we lost.

Happy Monday!

Over the weekend, One Night in Boston was part of The Romance Studio's Book-a-Day Giveaway. That feature at TRS is a nifty little one in which authors donate copies of their books, and then on any given day, readers/viewers/anyone can email their entry to try and win one of them. There are multiple books each day, so you have to indicate which one you want, and you can only enter once from your email/IP address.

There were 3 other books along with mine on Saturday, and to be honest, I was a little worried that no one would want to enter for ONIB, or that I'd have 5 entries from which to choose (not that there's anything wrong with 5, but...)

Well, I opened my email inbox on Sunday to find a list of 120+ people who had entered to win my book! Now, I have no idea how many people typically enter, and I'm sure TRS has a huge following, but I was so pleased with that response :)

The other nice thing that TRS does for its authors is provide the email addresses of everyone who entered *who chooses to divulge their email address for future mailings.* About half of the people on my list did, which is great...but I don't have a newsletter or anything. I know a lot of authors do, but the idea of putting together one more promotional thing right now is a little overwhelming. I'm thinking of just adding those people to my general email list that I use for announcements about releases, etc.

What do you think? Does anyone out there have a newsletter? Do you think it's worth it? I know some of you have participated in the Book-a-Day Giveaway, so what did you do with all the email addresses you got?

A Drippy Kind of Sunday...

My goals for today:

1. Write the post that's appearing on Samhain's blog later this week.

2. Work on the book trailer I'm making for a friend.

3. Get through as much as I can of the book I'm reading for LASR.

4. All the other Sunday stuff: laundry, grocery shopping, vacuuming...

Or maybe I'll just climb back into bed for a few hours instead :)

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Today's Unconscious Mutterings:

Dork :: Everyone when they're in middle school. That's a rough age.

Refurbished :: Beautiful Victorian houses...something I could never do.

Basket :: Gift.

Mousse :: I used to use it religiously, in the '80s era of big hair.

Studio :: 54

8 ball :: It used to have all the answers for us, back in middle school :)

Masking tape :: Great tool when you run out of lint rollers and your in-laws are coming.

Love :: Can never have too much of it.

Wilder :: Van ______

Lindsey :: Wagner, the original Bionic Woman.