Mar 14, 2006 | Uncategorized |
Can you imagine?
Separately, the LAT looks at the big launch of paperback editions of THE DA VINCI CODE scheduled for March 28. BN fiction buyer Sessalee Hensley says, “We held a very long meeting to decide how many of the paperbacks we would buy. And the number we decided on was staggering compared to other books. It's the largest buy I've made for one book in 20 years.” The manager of a truck stop in New Jersey thinks his customers will be interested, too.
Hensley adds, “Everything contributes to the publicity. Every time there's a squib about the book in the news, or there's a short piece about Tom Hanks filming the movie in London, the sales immediately pick up.”
Got this from Publisher's Lunch. 🙂
Mar 14, 2006 | Uncategorized |
Now that's a stupid question, right? Would a bookstore ask someone that before a signing? Might make it easier on the customers if, say, Bubba Greene's coming to sign his cookbook about gassy food combinations and plans to demonstrate the effects of mixing pickled eggs with cabbage and Bud. “Join us on the sidewalk while Bubba educates us on lethal combinations.”
But is it okay to ask an author what color she is? Is it relevant? Millenia Black got a letter asking just that. This is shocking:
The following is an e-mail I received last week – although the store contacted me over a month ago requesting and scheduling the appearance. I've omitted the identifiers.
Referral: From a Friend
Subject: Your Race
Message:
Greetings, my name is [–] and I'm the director of [–], you are slated to do a book signing with us on the 18th of March. I want to know if you are a black/African American person.
Thanks,
[–]
This is TOTALLY outrageous. I am offended and appalled and even, yes, embarrassed because you pretty much know it was a white person who asked this. I just can't see the relevance here. Do they want to put Millenia in the AA section of the bookstore? Are they asking so they can advertise in black publications? Does her race matter one way or the other to the bookstore's marketing plans? Should it?
What on earth is next?
Mar 13, 2006 | Uncategorized |
RWA has some great contests. I've entered a few in the past, and recently entered one after spending time away. Since I am a finalist, I can't complain. 🙂 In the past, however, I've gotten a 10 and a 3 on the same entry in the Golden Heart. WTF? (I don't know what the scoring system is like now, but trust me, this was a looong time ago.)
Okay, I know there are people out there who get upset and refuse to change a thing, even when the comments might be of merit. No, instead, they disparage the judges and the contest and everything else under the sun instead of taking a long hard look at what they wrote and seeing if maybe they could fix something after all. And with the GH now, it's even easier to dismiss the scores because there are no comments allowed. I forget the reasoning behind that. It probably happened when I was overseas and reading my RWRs sporadically. 🙂
But what about when you're on the other side of the fence as a judge? I judged a contest not too long ago. I received 5 entries. I took my time, made lots of comments. I tried to impress upon each author what I felt she did really well. I also made suggestions for what jarred me or bothered me as a reader. I went for the big stuff: plot, characterization, motivation. I didn't bother with nitpicky stuff, except to mention that oh, hey, you might want to take a closer look at X. I've been on the receiving end of comments from people who clearly didn't know what they were talking about (grammar rules they got wrong, etc) so I know not to go off on tangents about subordinate clauses.
Now, how many thank you notes do you think I got? If you guessed one, you guessed right. Would it surprise you to know that the person was a finalist in the contest? A couple of the ones I judged got pretty high scores from me, and lots of nice comments, but they didn't final. So no note. I fully admit that I myself have been guilty of not writing the note right away in the past. And the longer you wait, the less likely you are to do it. To my shame, there were times I didn't send a thank you because I figured I'd waited too long and they didn't want to hear from me.
I was wrong, though. People want to be thanked for their time. Even if you don't agree with the comments, you should thank the person for making them. Realize that this person is a reader too. Sure, maybe it's jealousy, if that makes you feel better. Or maybe she's right and you could change your hero's name from Englebert to Joe because nobody wants to read about an Englebert. Ultimately, you decide what to do to your work so don't let your indignance get in the way of thanking someone for their time.
Yes, I admitted to sometimes dropping the ball on the thank yous. But not anymore. I even thanked the person who gave me a rotten score. I didn't agree with a word she said, but I thanked her nonetheless. She took time out of her day to read the mss. Though I think she may need remedial English classes, that's just my opinion and still doesn't take away from the fact that she gave me enough of her time to read my work and comment throughout. So grit those teeth and write those thank yous. We all know we're supposed to do it, but how many of us really do?
Mar 11, 2006 | Uncategorized |
If you like romantic suspense, chances are you read the occasional mystery (or more than occasional) too. NPR's Talk of the Nation recently featured mystery writers discussing the appeal of the urban noir.
In The Maltese Falcon, San Francisco is a character. The Big Sleep is all about Los Angeles. In mystery stories, there's a distinct sound to every city's mean streets, and the setting can be as important as the crime. Mystery writers talk about why they choose to imagine crimes in the cities they love.
Guests:
Eddie Muller, writes a series of crime novels featuring sportswriter Billy Nichols, the first of which, The Distance, was nominated for multiple mystery writing awards; author of three acclaimed books on film noir
Laura Lippman, author of 10 crime novels, and the Tess Monaghan crime series; editor of the Baltimore Noir collection
William Hunt Kreuger, author of a Minnesota crime series; his work appears in Twin Cities Noir
Give it a listen. I'm off to B&N for my readers' group this morning. We're discussing Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse. They'll probably ask me to leave the group now, LOL. But, since rereading it was killing two birds with one stone for me (I still have a section of thesis to write on this book), I was grateful they agreed. None of them had ever read Woolf before. I wonder if they'll ever want to read her again? Maybe I should have suggested The Voyage Out, a much more straightforward narrative and a book I reread only last month.
Have you ever read any Virginia Woolf? Do you like her? Think she's impossible? Figure life's too short to muck through that stuff? TTLH is my favorite novel of all time. I know that's weird, but hey. I can't explain it, except that I shivered and caught my breath and cried at parts of it the first time I ever read it. It is a dense and difficult book (those pesky Modernist writers!), but I just love it. It holds up on a reread, but that wonderful sense of discovery I felt the first time isn't there. Some of the things that made me shiver then don't quite elicit that effect ever again. But I still think it's amazing. It's not urban noir, but the Hebrides and the lighthouse are characters nonetheless (and you thought my train derailed somewhere east of LA). 🙂
Mar 10, 2006 | Uncategorized |
Didn't mean to disappear Thursday, but I had a Wednesday night critique group so didn't get back online Wed night at all, a different writers' group Thursday morning which segued into lunch at a fantastic Mediterranean restaurant, and then off to the grocery store (which I'd been putting off all week). I got home after 3 with a headache and a frisky kitten who'd been locked up all day.
But back to Wednesday. Maybe some of you out there know Ann Peach. She had a beginning writers column in Romantic Times Book Club Magazine for ages and she's taught at the RT conventions for the past 10 years. I met her about a year and a half ago. Her parents live in Hawaii and she's been a frequent traveller here. She's a sweet lady and very interesting to talk with.
Ann has terminal liver cancer. She's come back to Hawaii to spend the rest of her time. I'm not divulging any secrets when I say this. If you know Ann, and want to send her a card or a photo or share a memory with her, let me know and I'll give you the address where she's staying. She would love to hear from people she's known/met through RT and her column.
Ann came to see the Wednesday group. She's in a wheelchair now, but she's not letting it get her down. I can honestly say that seeing her was uplifting. Other people might be, and rightfully so, bitter and negative if this were happening to them. But Ann still smiles. And she still asks questions about everyone and about their writing. She stayed with us for about an hour, and we had a marvelous time just talking about writing and life. Her husband was nearby and came to check on her periodically. When they left, it was with the intention of coming back next week. Ann doesn't know how much time she has, but she's living each day to the fullest. And she's making plans for the future. How many of us would do the same in her shoes?
One of the things I've learned since living in Hawaii is just how important the word “aloha” is. It's not just a greeting. It means so many things; it's an attitude, a state of mind, a way of being. It's about love and so much more besides. It's a wonderful word. I can't really describe it. But, I wish you much peace and aloha in your life. And that's a good thing. 🙂
