So Many Writers’ Events, So Little Time!
May 6, 2009 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston, Writing Conferences tagged as Berkley Prime Crime, Linda O. Johnston, Pets, Silhouette Nocturne
April was especially busy with events relating to books–partly, but not entirely, because of the publication of my seventh Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery NEVER SAY STY. I did some signings for STY and also gave a talk at the Writers of Kern.
More recently, I attended both days of the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, signing at a couple of booths and also sitting at the Mystery Writers of America booth to promote the organization.
I also attended the Melody of Words, an event at a local high school to encourage students and members of the community to read… and write. It was a lot of fun, too.
I usually attend Malice Domestic around now, an event celebrating cozy mysteries that’s held in Washington, D.C., followed by an event hosted by the Mystery Lovers Bookstore near Pittsburgh, PA, where I grew up. However, this year my older son and daughter-in-law were visiting L.A. from Chicago on the same weekend, and since RWA National is also in D.C. this year I didn’t necessarily need two visits there so close together. So, I stayed home and had a great time with family.
Next month, the local chapters of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime are co-hosting the California Crime Writers Conference, which I’m looking forward to.
And I of course love to attend OCC meetings! I’ve had to miss some lately because of some signings and other events–and the June meeting does, unfortunately, conflict with the California Crime Writers Conference.
You’d think I wouldn’t have time to write with all these meetings and events going on… But somehow I manage!
What are your favorite writers’ events?
Linda O. Johnston
http://www.lindaojohnston.com/
http://www.killerhobbies.blogspot.com/
Linda O. Johnston is the author of 15 romance novels and several novellas, including a current Nocturne Bites, with 2 more Nocturnes upcoming. She also writes the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime.
Notes from Val’s Desk
May 3, 2009 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as Notes From Val's Desk, Procrastination
So, in a determined effort to “get a grip” on my time, today’s post will be brief. I removed my favorite kitty-face magnet (the first layer) and six or seven scraps of paper floated down, landing in a random pattern on my already cluttered desktop. The first message, boldly printed on a scrap of neon-orange scratch paper, reads: Print signs for OCC meeting. Here’s another, quickly scrawled on a snippet of pattern tissue: Finish hem on sundress. Number three: Work on event page for June.
Oh, here’s a good one, actually written with a gold gel pen on a glossy scrap of magazine paper: Work on writer’s block! Okay, I have to be honest. This is not the typical “writer’s block†you may be familiar with. This is an on-going craft project using a 4†x 4†cube of unfinished wood.
I think I’ll tackle this one first. But first, I have to get all these notes off my desk…..I need room.
(Maybe I’ll post a picture next month.)
The Artist’s Way
April 29, 2009 by A Slice of Orange in category The Artist Way by Gillian Doyle tagged as Artist's Way, Gillian Doyle
“All artists must learn the art of surviving loss: loss of hope, loss of face, loss of money, loss of self-belief.” – Julia Cameron, THE ARTIST’S WAY.
In November of last year, my widowed mother was diagnosed with mid-stage Alzheimer’s. In January, she required a full-time caregiver in her home. In late February, she suffered a psychotic breakdown and had to be admitted to a secure facility. Thanks to a change in medication, she has come back around but her memory is deteriorating rapidly. In some ways, she is not aware of losing track of minutes, days, weeks. For the rest of the family, it is sad and frustrating and stressful.
While cleaning out my mother’s house, I found a poem titled “Don’t Quit” that she had tucked into a drawer. Ironic, yes. Her mind is shutting down. Her eyesight is failing from cataracts and glaucoma. The neurologist is concerned that she is beginning to show signs of renal artery failure. And yet here is this scrap of paper with words of hope. I don’t know when she clipped it. Or from where. It could have been years ago. Maybe it helped her hang on this long. She’s 88 years old now. Her mother was only 62 when she had died of complications from Alzheimer’s.
When I decided to share the poem in my blog this month, I discovered that it ties in nicely with Debra Mullin’s blog entry on yesterday’s A Slice of Orange, in which agent/author Lucienne Diver states: “Don’t give up and don’t let rejection get you down. Rejection is part of the process. . . . you’ll never make it to the goal if you get disheartened and stop along the way. “
Don’t Quit
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh
When care is pressing you down a bit
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns
As every one of us sometimes learns
And many a fellow turns about
When he might have won, had he stuck it out.
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor’s cup;
And he learned too late when the night came down
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt
And you never can tell how close you are
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit
It’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit.
– Author Unknown
Until next month . . .
– Gillian Doyle
http://www.gilliandoyle.blogspot.com/
http://www.gilliandoyle.com/
Interview with Author/Agent Lucienne Diver
April 28, 2009 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives
This month Around Town lingers in New York with an interview with literary agent and author (and fellow Italian food aficionado), Lucienne Diver.
Lucienne is a sixteen year veteran of the publishing business. She began as an agent at NYC’s Spectrum Literary Agency and moved last year to the dynamic Knight Agency (http://www.knightagency.net/). She represents over forty authors of fantasy, science fiction, mystery, suspense and romance. She’s a member of the Association of Authors’ Representatives (AAR), RWA, MWA and SFWA.
She is also the author of the young adult novel VAMPED, a May 2009 trade paperback release from Flux. I had the opportunity to interview Lucienne about her new book and how she juggles being both an agent and an author.
1. Congratulations on your new release! Please tell us about it–what kind of book is it? What’s it about?
Thank you so much! VAMPED is a young adult novel about Gina Covello, a teen fashionista who goes from chic to eek when she’s bitten by the geeky class chess champ turned vampire hottie at the after-prom party. Now in addition to wrestling her hair into submission and learning to apply make up without a mirror, she’s suddenly got to reinvent herself without her former social status. Which would be bad enough, except that the vampiress who turned her geek-boy sire (and new boyfriend) wants him all to herself for the fulfillment of some prophecy, which also seems to involve turning Gina’s former classmates into an undead army. In order to claw her way back to the top, Gina has to find a way to stop the vixen vampiress and save her classmates from fashion and other disasters.
2. Where did you get the idea for this story?
I used to have trouble torturing my characters. And then I “met†Gina. She started talking in my head one day, a newly made vamp-inista who thinks that a life without tanning options amounts to true horror. The idea intrigued me. So I wrote a story in which I threw everything I could at her. But Gina was wilier than I gave her credit for and not only weathered it all, but turned things to her ultimate advantage. My respect for her as a character grew, and it was only when I could love her as much as I could hate her that I was able to feature her in an entire series. Yes, sometimes it scares me that I talk about my characters as if they really exist, but for me they do.
3. You are also a well-respected literary agent. Do you think writers hesitate to sign with an agent who also writes? What is your experience with this?
I work very hard on behalf of my authors, and they know it. I also work to keep my writing and my agenting as very separate things, though, of course, one informs the other. The skills that I’ve learned editing my own work help me provide useful feedback to my authors. The empathy I feel for writers with the submission/rejection process shows in my response times. Also, I feel more in tune with the entire process from idea generation through publication because I’ve gone through it. There are actually a good number of both agents and editors who write. Many of us got into the business not only because of our love of reading, but of creating and of language in general. I’m sure there are writers out there concerned about pros who also write, but none of them have expressed it to me (knocking on wood as I type).
4. I work full time as well as write, and I know it can be a tap dance sometimes. How do you juggle the two careers?
Well, three if you count motherhood *g*
5. What are you working on next?
I’ve just turned in to my agent the first book in a new young adult series about teen witches. Next up, a middle-grade idea that’s been nagging away at me.
6. What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
Don’t give up and don’t let rejection get you down. Rejection is part of the process. It’s not a reflection on you or even, necessarily, of your work, but often on the needs of the market or the tastes of the person to whom you’re pitching. If any advice is given about how to improve your work, take it as a sign that the agent or editor saw something worth nurturing. Take it under advisement. Keep writing, revising, growing. The road to publication is a journey and you’ll never make it to the goal if you get disheartened and stop along the way.
Thank you so much, Lucienne!
If you would like more information on Lucienne Diver, she maintains a blog of agenting and authorial musings: http://varkat.livejournal.com/ and can also be found via her author site: http://www.luciennediver.com/.
See you all around town!
A Fantasy Life
April 27, 2009 by A Slice of Orange in category A Fantasy Life by Janet Cornelow tagged as Janet Cornelow, Janet Quinn
By Janet Quinn Cornelow
Debra Young, who some of you know and who has been my critique partner for years, went to the last OCC meeting with me to hear Blake Snyder. He was an interesting and entertaining speaker with a great deal of information. Because I couldn’t go home after the meeting – the Orange Oil Termite people were there and I’m allergic to oranges – Debra and I went out after the meeting. While eating banana splits and making ourselves sick, we talked about Snyder’s points.
Debra and I meet the third Saturday of every month, so I decided that we should take one of his suggestions to heart and make a headline and a movie poster for our current projects. Of course, since neither of us have the ability to actually draw or put a movie poster together, we were suppose to come up with just the idea.
Our meeting came and Debra had forgotten what I said to do and I hadn’t had time. My online classes had kept me very busy that week. So as we ate fajitas, we came up with headlines and movie poster concepts. It really makes a person think about what it is her story is about. It does clarify the concept so that it can be explained to someone else.
My current project is Sam, the never-ending-story. (After I finish him, it is onto an urban fantasy and slaying monsters.) For Freedom’s Treasure, we came up with – When love is at stake, freedom is the ultimate sacrifice.
Figuring what type of movie poster would attract attention and make someone interested in your story is a bit more complicated. It is like designing a cover for the book. I am terrible at that. I never know what I want on the front of my book. However, we did come up with something. Now I wish I knew how to make it so I could post it on my website. Sam is standing in the foreground, in chains, protecting Jubilee. In the background are fields with crops growing. Up on the left, smaller, are the slave hunters looking for Sam and Jubilee.
We decide on the chains because the first time Sam was introduced in The River’s Treasure, he was in chains. Although he isn’t literally in chains anymore, figuratively he is.
Debra and I did go over the bullet points that Snyder came up with. Me, I’m still stuck on the one that says theme. I used to be a high school English teacher and I still can’t do theme. Debra wasn’t any help on the point. I think I’ll just skip that one and keep going.
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