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Olympic-sized Brain Fade

February 17, 2014 by in category Archives

I’m a figure skating fanatic, so I look forward to the Winter Games every four years to indulge my obsession. But I go so caught up in trying to catch up on all the hours of skting I’ve recorded that I nearly forgot my monthly blog date at A Slice of Orange.

Last month, I wondered if getting organized in the digital age was Mission Impossible. Maybe not quite, but I can’t say I’ve personally made a lot of progress in the last month, other than buying a day timer and dutifully jotting down the year’s events.

But as Scarlett O’Hara said, “tomorrow is another day” and that means another chance to hit the Restart button. But I won’t be hitting it until my Olympic vacation is over.

In the meantime, to make up for my lack of preparation, here’s a link to a sometimes-funny but always-illuminating look at Why Writers Are the Worst Procrastinators (what, I’m not the only one) by Megan McArdle, author of The Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well Is the Key to Success at the Atlantic Monthly.

I hope to do better next month. Happy Presidents Day weekend to all.

Linda Mac

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“The Princess and the Stilettos” Video Love Poem

February 11, 2014 by in category Archives tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Valentine’s Day is almost here…chocolate and flowers and romance. What girl could ask for more?

This Valentine’s I decided to do something totally different…I wanted to tell a story in pictures and rhyme. With the way books are published now as e-books and I’ve heard that books with soundtracks etc. are in the works, I wanted to experiment on my own.

So I bought a bunch of photos from www.Dreamstime.com and then found the perfect music from Kevin MacLeod www.incompetech.com and put it all together with my voiceover and a poem I wrote about a little girl who wanted to be a princess…

So here you are: the story of The Princess and the Stilettos…and how she found her prince told as a  Valentine’s Day video poem.


The Princess and the Stilettos for Valentine’s Day from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Best,
Jina

https://twitter.com/JinaBacarr

http://www.pinterest.com.jbacarr  

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Sorry I’m Late!

February 7, 2014 by in category Archives

I admit it.  The 6th of the month sneaked up on me.

 But here I am at A Slice of Orange.  I’ve been busy promoting my fifth Pet Rescue Mystery TEACUP TURBULENCE, which was a January release, as well as keeping people aware of my Harlequin Romantic Suspense COVERT ATTRACTION, which was a December 2013 release.  I’ve been working on my second Superstition Mystery; the first, LOST UNDER A LADDER, will be published in October of this year.

And, I’ve been working on a whole bunch of other ideas. 

So that’s my excuse.  Sorry!

Meantime, I’m really looking forward to the meeting of OCC this Saturday, especially the morning session.  I’m excited about discussing author branding.  I’ve done some of my own branding and have a logo, but I don’t really have a tagline I’m happy with so I hope to be able to develop one after discussions with others at the meeting, both published and unpublished writers.

Will I see you there?  I hope so.  And I’ll try not to be late!
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An Evening with Author Sylvia Day

February 4, 2014 by in category Archives tagged as , , ,

I was one of 40 lucky people to spend Friday evening with Sylvia Day at Redondo Beach’s Mysterious Galaxy bookstore. Here she answered questions from the audience about the Crossfire Series, how she writes, where her inspiration comes from, and how she does some of her research.

Maria Stefanopoulos and Sylvia Day
Sylvia started the evening by answering the main question on most of the audience’s mind, when is Captivated By You, the next Crossfire book, coming out?  Her answer:  sometime later this year. She wants the remaining two books to come out within weeks of each other, so she needs to finish working on the last book. As I’m sure many of you can relate, Gideon – her hero, doesn’t want her working on any more projects until his is done.
For those of you who missed the event, it was recorded. You can find the entire Q&A session here:
This was a ticketed event that included her new release Spellbound, Little Black Dress wines, and Xocia healthy chocolates.
– Maria Stefanopoulos
OCC/RWA Vice President
Celtic Hearts RWA Author Trip

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Conversations with Jann and Barb

February 2, 2014 by in category Jann says . . . tagged as , , , ,



              


A couple of weeks ago, Barb and I decided to take in a movie, so off we went to our local theater. We grabbed some popcorn and found our seats. We like to sit in the middle about halfway up. There were only about eight people scattered around. I love it when it’s not crowded. The lights dimmed. When the camel came on the screen reminding us to turn off our phones (Barb loves that camel), we checked our phones and settled back to be taken on a wild ride of action and adventure with the new Jack Ryan movie.
Now, I know all of us have had the experience of people who talk and text during the previews, occasionally you might hear a tune playing. But usually you get through a movie with little disturbance. Well, that wasn’t to be the case for us this time.
The movie started and the guy sitting down a few rows and to the right obviously didn’t listen to the camel. He was texting. Since the theater wasn’t full, the light from his phone really reflected. I moved my head just a little so as not to be distracted, but the older guy sitting behind and to the right of him had full view. I felt really sorry for him, but figured Jerk would finish and turn it off. That didn’t happen. Over the next thirty or more minutes he texted constantly. How do you follow a movie if you are texting all the time? He was a texting ABUSER! The guy behind him got up and left, but came back to his seat. I figured he went to tell theater management to come in and tell Jerk to stop. But no one came. About ten minutes later, the older guy did what most people would do – he asked him to turn it off.
Well holy moly, all hell broke loose.
Jerk jumped up, called the old guy names and threatened him. Then he came at the guy still calling him names. A man sitting with the woman in front of us got up and tried to get Jerk to settle down. It didn’t work. One woman ran out to get help, another man sitting with his family also got up to help. Jerk came at the old guy again and this time threw punches. Barb and I called out for Jerk to stop. I tried to find my phone to call 911, but couldn’t get it turned on. My heart raced. I wondered what to do next. The two men who intervened got Jerk off the old guy. Jerk and one man left the theater; the old guy got up and went out the exit. Barb and I sat there wondering what was going to happen next. Meanwhile the movie had been rolling along and Jack Ryan was in a high speed car racing scene on the big screen.
The movie stopped playing, the manager arrived and we gave her the details of the altercation. We each received a free movie ticket and a full refund. They started the movie again, taking it back to the point when the disturbance began.
Later that day I thought about what happened and how texting has gotten out of control. How lucky we had been. We hear about the situations in movie theaters, texting and driving, and the lives destroyed by it. But then I thought about other times people text (myself included) and wondered how it affects others. You know what it’s like to be with family and friends having a conversation and they pick up their phone to either send or answer a text while you’re talking. Or at a meeting, have you ever wondered what the speaker is thinking when they look out over the audience and see people with their heads down tapping away on their phones? They could hope we’re tweeting about what a great speaker they are. Or do we consider if we’re annoying the people around us and being rude to the speaker?
All I know is that after my experience, I think twice now before I take my phone out to text in public and when I’m with my friends and family.
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