Today's blog stop is here. The person who was supposed to put up an essay of mine yesterday never answered e-mails and was basically unavailable to everyone. You have to wonder what's going on--family emergency, or just plain sloth? Hard to tell, but today's interview is up.
I'm still waiting for you guys to give me some ideas for which passages of "Excited Light" I should use for my reading.
I've now got votes for several different passages and there's not time for all of them. But I did have fun ordering the birthday cake for the event.
As for "The Double Bind." What a cheap cop-out! I'm not going to do a spoiler, but the ending really pissed me off. Now, I am annoyed at using the characters from "The Great Gatsby" and *also* irritated at the stupid trick he pulls on the reader at the end. Barnes & Noble was touting this as some great discovery of the month. My advice: don't waste your time. Who makes these "great discovery" decisions anyway? I've read books by self-published authors that are much more polished and original than this.
Must get to extreme gardening. The weather has been delightful but humidity is moving in and I'd like to get a lot of this done before the 90s hit. So, I'll make this short. I will be having some time to start visiting blogs again as all my extra guest blogs are done. It was a lot of work and I'm sorry if it took me out of circulation at Xanga for a while. I've also got to get back to writing the work in progress. I finished Chapter 11, but now need to think out how Chapter 12 is going to go. I think I'm about I/2 to 2/3 of the way in my first draft. It's taking lots of work for this novel because of all the research I had to do.
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch,
"Excited Light",
angels,
contemporary fantasy,
New Age
June 14, 2007
June 13, 2007
Yes, I know...
Yes, I know...
My essay for the next stop on the blog tour is not there. Instead, there is a June 11 posting on procrastination. Believe me, the irony is not lost on me. The person who is putting this tour together for me is just as perturbed as I am. So, it might go up tomorrow, it might be another day. I have to just sit and wait.
I'm reading a book called "The Double Bind" right now and have extremely conflicting feelings about. It is a contemporary thriller (although the first half of the book is not thrilling at all), that brings in the characters of "The Great Gatsby," *as if they were real.* I'm not at all in favor of authors poaching characters from other books, even if they are using the imaginary people in a "what if" scenario. In this case, they want to know what if Daisy had a son by Jay Gatsby...and then take it from there. The son plays a major role in the book.
This is annoying to me because I think that authors should make up their own personae. Taking characters that were worked upon and perfected by another writer (even if he/she is long dead) doesn't seem fair. It's as if you were having someone do half the work for you. Believe me, creating creditable fictional people is not easy. I worked extremely hard on them in my second novel (now gathering dust on my hard drive). My writing guru in New York said they were extremely good, yet an agent wrote back and told me they were "cardboard characters." That's the guy who wrote such a nasty e-mail I broke down in tears. And I've had a lot of rejections, my skin can be thick when it comes to rejection letters. But this one went over the top.
But the main point here is I think what "The Double Bind" author, Chris Bohjalian, does is stealing. Out and out theft.
Yet, he has created a good thriller in the back half of the book. I can't wait to see how it all ends. And that's usually the mark of a great book. So, I'm conflicted. Yes, I have real problems with this one.
QUESTION: For all of you who have read my novel, "Excited Light,", I was wondering if you could help out. I am doing a reading next Wednesday and need to pick out a couple sections to present to the public. I get about 12 minutes, so I could do a couple sections. Which ones do you think I should pick? I don't want the book to sound like a downer, but all the passages I like are the out-of-control-with-alcohol ones. I don't know what this says about me.
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch,
"Excited Light",
angels,
contemporary fantasy,
New Age,
My essay for the next stop on the blog tour is not there. Instead, there is a June 11 posting on procrastination. Believe me, the irony is not lost on me. The person who is putting this tour together for me is just as perturbed as I am. So, it might go up tomorrow, it might be another day. I have to just sit and wait.
I'm reading a book called "The Double Bind" right now and have extremely conflicting feelings about. It is a contemporary thriller (although the first half of the book is not thrilling at all), that brings in the characters of "The Great Gatsby," *as if they were real.* I'm not at all in favor of authors poaching characters from other books, even if they are using the imaginary people in a "what if" scenario. In this case, they want to know what if Daisy had a son by Jay Gatsby...and then take it from there. The son plays a major role in the book.
This is annoying to me because I think that authors should make up their own personae. Taking characters that were worked upon and perfected by another writer (even if he/she is long dead) doesn't seem fair. It's as if you were having someone do half the work for you. Believe me, creating creditable fictional people is not easy. I worked extremely hard on them in my second novel (now gathering dust on my hard drive). My writing guru in New York said they were extremely good, yet an agent wrote back and told me they were "cardboard characters." That's the guy who wrote such a nasty e-mail I broke down in tears. And I've had a lot of rejections, my skin can be thick when it comes to rejection letters. But this one went over the top.
But the main point here is I think what "The Double Bind" author, Chris Bohjalian, does is stealing. Out and out theft.
Yet, he has created a good thriller in the back half of the book. I can't wait to see how it all ends. And that's usually the mark of a great book. So, I'm conflicted. Yes, I have real problems with this one.
QUESTION: For all of you who have read my novel, "Excited Light,", I was wondering if you could help out. I am doing a reading next Wednesday and need to pick out a couple sections to present to the public. I get about 12 minutes, so I could do a couple sections. Which ones do you think I should pick? I don't want the book to sound like a downer, but all the passages I like are the out-of-control-with-alcohol ones. I don't know what this says about me.
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch,
"Excited Light",
angels,
contemporary fantasy,
New Age,
June 12, 2007
Next stop...
Okay....
My next stop tomorrow is at Storycrafters, where I talk about how to write without an outline. (Call the Outline Police!)
Really, I'm so busy I could scream. But go have a look over there. I'm hoping some people will leave comments.
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch,
"Excited Light",
angels,
contemporary fantasy,
New Age,
My next stop tomorrow is at Storycrafters, where I talk about how to write without an outline. (Call the Outline Police!)
Really, I'm so busy I could scream. But go have a look over there. I'm hoping some people will leave comments.
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch,
"Excited Light",
angels,
contemporary fantasy,
New Age,
June 11, 2007
Don't Stop Believin'
Here I am at Printers Row. You'll notice that I had a drawing for free angel cards, but hardly anyone entered. What is it about "free" that people don't understand? I still haven't picked a winner since then I'll have to contact them and set up some kind of way to get the cards to them. I should somehow make them feel very guilty about not buying my book. (Not one entrant bought my book.)
Would you buy a book from this woman?
Not much more to say about the book sale that hasn't been said.
My virtual book tour stops tomorrow at http://www.bloggingauthors.blogspot.com/
It's another all-new interview and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
SPOILER ALERT: I'm still annoyed at "The Sopranos" ending. The number of people who are pissed off is pretty high. My version of what happened? I think that Meadow, being the only person in the family with a brain, was really scared, which is why she couldn't park her car. Normally, you'd expect parallel parking to be a breeze for her. Then she runs in with a desperate look on her face, as if she is about to warn them about something. She didn't just look late, she looked crazed. Who was she warning them about? Probably the dude in the bathroom. And note: Tony selected "I Did It My Way" from the jukebox. That would have been a farewell. Instead, "Don't Stop Believin' " plays. A bit of hope there? Or am I reading way too much into this stuff?
All in all, a sucko ending and a great series like that deserved a better ending.
END OF SPOILER.
See you tomorrow!
Lynn
Here I am at Printers Row. You'll notice that I had a drawing for free angel cards, but hardly anyone entered. What is it about "free" that people don't understand? I still haven't picked a winner since then I'll have to contact them and set up some kind of way to get the cards to them. I should somehow make them feel very guilty about not buying my book. (Not one entrant bought my book.)
[Lynn at Printers Row]
Would you buy a book from this woman?
Not much more to say about the book sale that hasn't been said.
My virtual book tour stops tomorrow at http://www.bloggingauthors.blogspot.com/
It's another all-new interview and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
SPOILER ALERT: I'm still annoyed at "The Sopranos" ending. The number of people who are pissed off is pretty high. My version of what happened? I think that Meadow, being the only person in the family with a brain, was really scared, which is why she couldn't park her car. Normally, you'd expect parallel parking to be a breeze for her. Then she runs in with a desperate look on her face, as if she is about to warn them about something. She didn't just look late, she looked crazed. Who was she warning them about? Probably the dude in the bathroom. And note: Tony selected "I Did It My Way" from the jukebox. That would have been a farewell. Instead, "Don't Stop Believin' " plays. A bit of hope there? Or am I reading way too much into this stuff?
All in all, a sucko ending and a great series like that deserved a better ending.
END OF SPOILER.
See you tomorrow!
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch,
"Excited Light",
angels,
contemporary fantasy,
New Age,
Printers Row Book Fair
Would you buy a book from this woman?
Not much more to say about the book sale that hasn't been said.
My virtual book tour stops tomorrow at http://www.bloggingauthors.blogspot.com/
It's another all-new interview and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
SPOILER ALERT: I'm still annoyed at "The Sopranos" ending. The number of people who are pissed off is pretty high. My version of what happened? I think that Meadow, being the only person in the family with a brain, was really scared, which is why she couldn't park her car. Normally, you'd expect parallel parking to be a breeze for her. Then she runs in with a desperate look on her face, as if she is about to warn them about something. She didn't just look late, she looked crazed. Who was she warning them about? Probably the dude in the bathroom. And note: Tony selected "I Did It My Way" from the jukebox. That would have been a farewell. Instead, "Don't Stop Believin' " plays. A bit of hope there? Or am I reading way too much into this stuff?
All in all, a sucko ending and a great series like that deserved a better ending.
END OF SPOILER.
See you tomorrow!
Lynn
Here I am at Printers Row. You'll notice that I had a drawing for free angel cards, but hardly anyone entered. What is it about "free" that people don't understand? I still haven't picked a winner since then I'll have to contact them and set up some kind of way to get the cards to them. I should somehow make them feel very guilty about not buying my book. (Not one entrant bought my book.)
[Lynn at Printers Row]
Would you buy a book from this woman?
Not much more to say about the book sale that hasn't been said.
My virtual book tour stops tomorrow at http://www.bloggingauthors.blogspot.com/
It's another all-new interview and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
SPOILER ALERT: I'm still annoyed at "The Sopranos" ending. The number of people who are pissed off is pretty high. My version of what happened? I think that Meadow, being the only person in the family with a brain, was really scared, which is why she couldn't park her car. Normally, you'd expect parallel parking to be a breeze for her. Then she runs in with a desperate look on her face, as if she is about to warn them about something. She didn't just look late, she looked crazed. Who was she warning them about? Probably the dude in the bathroom. And note: Tony selected "I Did It My Way" from the jukebox. That would have been a farewell. Instead, "Don't Stop Believin' " plays. A bit of hope there? Or am I reading way too much into this stuff?
All in all, a sucko ending and a great series like that deserved a better ending.
END OF SPOILER.
See you tomorrow!
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch,
"Excited Light",
angels,
contemporary fantasy,
New Age,
Printers Row Book Fair
June 10, 2007
Two more books
had so much of a better time at the book fair this weekend. We were at a better location, met better people, and the weather was perfect. I'd put a photo in this blog, but I am so sleepy that I will have to wait until tomorrow. This is assuming that the photos worked out, because I have some doubts about that.
I still only sold two books, but I decided to chat it up with everyone there. It was great fun meeting new people, and all the people are writers signed up for our Chicago Writers Assn. Funny how if you tell someone you are the author, One lady with a huge pair of glasses claimed she was some kind of coach for podcasting, then said she wanted to buy my book, but didn't have any cash. I told her she could buy it online.
"Oh, no, honey, I want to give the money right to you." Uh-huh. When my shift was over she had never returned. I guess there are plenty of b.s. artists floating around at shows like that. Fortunately, I don't think anyone was going to buy her podcast services.
I'm very tired, but did watch the end of "The Sopranos" and really am not sure what I was seeing. I think it was supposed to evoke some deep down feelings, even though nothing really happened. I'm not sure what was went on and need to think about this for a while. I liked the FBI agent in the end--a funny moment in a pretty brutal drama. If anyone has any theories about what was going on in that ending, I'd love to hear them. No one's predictions were right, including mine, which was we'd see a "Hamlet" ending. (Die, die, they all die.) Unless maybe we did see that? I don't know.
Kinda sad that it's over. I was really used to it and I hate to see it go away. I hardly watch TV at all, so it was a rare treat for me.
I won't be on my blog tour until June 12, but I'll let you know about it tomorrow.
Have a relaxing night.
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch,
"Excited Light",
angels,
contemporary fantasy,
New Age,
Printers Row Book Fair
I still only sold two books, but I decided to chat it up with everyone there. It was great fun meeting new people, and all the people are writers signed up for our Chicago Writers Assn. Funny how if you tell someone you are the author, One lady with a huge pair of glasses claimed she was some kind of coach for podcasting, then said she wanted to buy my book, but didn't have any cash. I told her she could buy it online.
"Oh, no, honey, I want to give the money right to you." Uh-huh. When my shift was over she had never returned. I guess there are plenty of b.s. artists floating around at shows like that. Fortunately, I don't think anyone was going to buy her podcast services.
I'm very tired, but did watch the end of "The Sopranos" and really am not sure what I was seeing. I think it was supposed to evoke some deep down feelings, even though nothing really happened. I'm not sure what was went on and need to think about this for a while. I liked the FBI agent in the end--a funny moment in a pretty brutal drama. If anyone has any theories about what was going on in that ending, I'd love to hear them. No one's predictions were right, including mine, which was we'd see a "Hamlet" ending. (Die, die, they all die.) Unless maybe we did see that? I don't know.
Kinda sad that it's over. I was really used to it and I hate to see it go away. I hardly watch TV at all, so it was a rare treat for me.
I won't be on my blog tour until June 12, but I'll let you know about it tomorrow.
Have a relaxing night.
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch,
"Excited Light",
angels,
contemporary fantasy,
New Age,
Printers Row Book Fair
June 8, 2007
Nerves!
Nerves
I'm completely in a tizzy about the upcoming Printers Row Book Fair I will be in this weekend in Chicago. My nerves are just jangling. It doesn't seem like any big thing to worry about, and people have told me it has a really relaxed atmosphere. Plus, I'm going to be sharing a tent with a good writing friend. So, why am I freaking out?
It's because I am envisioning thousands of people walking up to me and asking "What's the book about?" Now, I do have what they call the Elevator Speech to explain it, plus they can look at the back cover of the book to read the blurb. But when I have to actually DO the Elevator Speech, I always stumble and bumble and go off-script. I never say it the same way twice. I have learned that there are plenty of other writers who do this, but that doesn't help much. I'm also afraid I'm going to scare off some people with the angels theme, because they will think it's a religious book. On the other hand, I don't want the fundamentalists because they will find plenty to be offended about in this book. Ack! What to do.
The bookmarks are printed and we will get the poster today (yay, hubby). I brainstormed with my boothmate today and we decided to have a free candy dish (can't hurt). I'm doing a drawing for free Angel Cards, which I will display. We have tarps if it rains, umbrellas, and my friend wants me to bring a boom box to play music--since her book, "Hudson Lake", is about the life of Bix Biederbecke. (Please forgive me if I spelled that incorrectly.)
Anyway, my stop today on the Virtual Book Tour is at The Book Peddler http://thebookpedler.wordpress.com/
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch, "Excited Light, angels, Printers Row Book Fair, magical realism, contemporary fantasy
I'm completely in a tizzy about the upcoming Printers Row Book Fair I will be in this weekend in Chicago. My nerves are just jangling. It doesn't seem like any big thing to worry about, and people have told me it has a really relaxed atmosphere. Plus, I'm going to be sharing a tent with a good writing friend. So, why am I freaking out?
It's because I am envisioning thousands of people walking up to me and asking "What's the book about?" Now, I do have what they call the Elevator Speech to explain it, plus they can look at the back cover of the book to read the blurb. But when I have to actually DO the Elevator Speech, I always stumble and bumble and go off-script. I never say it the same way twice. I have learned that there are plenty of other writers who do this, but that doesn't help much. I'm also afraid I'm going to scare off some people with the angels theme, because they will think it's a religious book. On the other hand, I don't want the fundamentalists because they will find plenty to be offended about in this book. Ack! What to do.
The bookmarks are printed and we will get the poster today (yay, hubby). I brainstormed with my boothmate today and we decided to have a free candy dish (can't hurt). I'm doing a drawing for free Angel Cards, which I will display. We have tarps if it rains, umbrellas, and my friend wants me to bring a boom box to play music--since her book, "Hudson Lake", is about the life of Bix Biederbecke. (Please forgive me if I spelled that incorrectly.)
Anyway, my stop today on the Virtual Book Tour is at The Book Peddler http://thebookpedler.wordpress.com/
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch, "Excited Light, angels, Printers Row Book Fair, magical realism, contemporary fantasy
June 7, 2007
I'm way behind...
I know! I'm supposed to write a blog every day during this book tour. But things have just gotten out of hand. I have to write guest blogs and answer interviews. And...there's that little thing called Life that I have to get on with also. Such as going to the dentist and buying my niece a birthday present. That's done, but now I've got a zillion things left to do.
So, just know that I'm going to be a guest on The Book Pedler tomorrow. We did an interview and it's different from the other ones you may have seen.
I'm ducking out. Bye for now.
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch, "Excited Light", angels, contemporary fantasy, New Age
So, just know that I'm going to be a guest on The Book Pedler tomorrow. We did an interview and it's different from the other ones you may have seen.
I'm ducking out. Bye for now.
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch, "Excited Light", angels, contemporary fantasy, New Age
June 6, 2007
Royalties!
Royalties!
Today, I received my first royalty check from iUniverse for my novel, "Excited Light". It's not a lot of money, but it covers the price I paid to have the book printed, plus another 50% worth of profit. Not too bad. I feel like framing the thing, except I want the money.
There is no stop today in my Virtual Book Tour, so I can just blather about whatever I want today--and naturally, nothing comes to mind. The French Open has ceased to be interesting with the usual suspects in the quarter finals. Serena is out, so there go the Americans.
Not much here but a lot of work. I have to write a guest blog for another stop on the tour, so rather than write two blogs in one day, I shall bid you adieu.
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch, Excited Light, contemporary fantasy,New Age,
angels, magical realism
Today, I received my first royalty check from iUniverse for my novel, "Excited Light". It's not a lot of money, but it covers the price I paid to have the book printed, plus another 50% worth of profit. Not too bad. I feel like framing the thing, except I want the money.
There is no stop today in my Virtual Book Tour, so I can just blather about whatever I want today--and naturally, nothing comes to mind. The French Open has ceased to be interesting with the usual suspects in the quarter finals. Serena is out, so there go the Americans.
Not much here but a lot of work. I have to write a guest blog for another stop on the tour, so rather than write two blogs in one day, I shall bid you adieu.
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch, Excited Light, contemporary fantasy,New Age,
angels, magical realism
June 5, 2007
Why I don't get writer's block
Something came up on my Chicago Writers Association mailing list about having a writing day job. Does it burn you out for fiction writing, someone wanted to know.
I couldn't disagree more. Having a day-to-day job taught me how to write every day, no
matter how I felt (good discipline for writers), to get things in on deadline, polished my grammar and punctuation skills, and taught me to write about *anything*, even if it was out of my comfort zone.
Because I was in the features department, I also had a lot of leeway and was able to develop a style that was my own. All of these skills are important for fiction writers.
People often want to know what is the best training for a writer, and I always respond, get a job where you have to write every day. Once you learn to write in spite of bad moods, stomach aches, anger, frustration with your kids, or if you just plain-old don't feel like it, then you have become a true writer. Writers write, regardless of things swirling around them. Okay, grief over a loved one or other tragic events will qualify for time off. And vacations should always be true vacations. But people who say they are writers, but don't have anything to show for it really drive me crazy. Get it down on the screen or on paper! Ah, my screed for the day.
Anyway, my wonderful Virtual Book Tour continues at The Wolf Never Sleeps. I have some more writer's advice on there, in saltier language. Also, this tour seems to be working, because some people are buying my book on Amazon. My numbers jumped up and I couldn't be happier.
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch,
Excited Light,
angels, contemporary fantasy,
I couldn't disagree more. Having a day-to-day job taught me how to write every day, no
matter how I felt (good discipline for writers), to get things in on deadline, polished my grammar and punctuation skills, and taught me to write about *anything*, even if it was out of my comfort zone.
Because I was in the features department, I also had a lot of leeway and was able to develop a style that was my own. All of these skills are important for fiction writers.
People often want to know what is the best training for a writer, and I always respond, get a job where you have to write every day. Once you learn to write in spite of bad moods, stomach aches, anger, frustration with your kids, or if you just plain-old don't feel like it, then you have become a true writer. Writers write, regardless of things swirling around them. Okay, grief over a loved one or other tragic events will qualify for time off. And vacations should always be true vacations. But people who say they are writers, but don't have anything to show for it really drive me crazy. Get it down on the screen or on paper! Ah, my screed for the day.
Anyway, my wonderful Virtual Book Tour continues at The Wolf Never Sleeps. I have some more writer's advice on there, in saltier language. Also, this tour seems to be working, because some people are buying my book on Amazon. My numbers jumped up and I couldn't be happier.
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch,
Excited Light,
angels, contemporary fantasy,
June 4, 2007
There I am!
Yup, I'm in the wonderfully named Plug Your Book Web site today on my Virtual Book Tour.
Who is that woman in the picture on the top? Eudora Welty? It's not Lillian Hellman. I know she's got to be someone famous, but I can't place it. Anyway, the site also has a link to my You Tube book trailer, so that's cool, too.
Last evening brought in some powerful thunderstorms and it has cooled off significantly here. There are puddles and flooded streets. Yuck. I suppose we need the rain, but could it be less messy? I have to do the post office thing, then run some clean clothes down to my son (yes, I still do his laundry). He's in that hell of the last two weeks of school, so I feel bad for him; I picked up some essentials like bottled water, batteries and will also bring him some stamps. They closed the White Hen (you guys know what that is, right? a convenience store?) in his building, so there's nowhere closeby to pick up this kind of thing. And he doesn't have his car downtown. I keep telling him that once I get a big-time advance on a book of mine, I'll buy him garage space. Right now, it's just too astronomical. And the subway is two blocks away.
Then I zip home to work on getting things done for the Printers Row Book Fair. I actually shouldn't be panicking. Hubby is home. Thank goodness, because I was getting very lonely. Just Netflix and me.
Anyone watch last night's "The Sopranos"? I have very few shows I watch with any regularity, "The Daily Show" and "The Sopranos," being tops, then maybe "House" or "30 Rock." And, of course, the French Open. Anyway, "The Sopranos" is down to its final episode next week and it's so freaking depressing. Last night's episode just gave me the chills. Anyone else out there have any opinions on what's going to happen? My guess is that Tony lives, but his "family" is destroyed.
Okay, on that lovely note, see you tomorrow when my next book stop is The Wolf Never Sleeps..
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch,
Excited Light,
contemporary fantasy,
angels,
Printers Row Book Fair
Who is that woman in the picture on the top? Eudora Welty? It's not Lillian Hellman. I know she's got to be someone famous, but I can't place it. Anyway, the site also has a link to my You Tube book trailer, so that's cool, too.
Last evening brought in some powerful thunderstorms and it has cooled off significantly here. There are puddles and flooded streets. Yuck. I suppose we need the rain, but could it be less messy? I have to do the post office thing, then run some clean clothes down to my son (yes, I still do his laundry). He's in that hell of the last two weeks of school, so I feel bad for him; I picked up some essentials like bottled water, batteries and will also bring him some stamps. They closed the White Hen (you guys know what that is, right? a convenience store?) in his building, so there's nowhere closeby to pick up this kind of thing. And he doesn't have his car downtown. I keep telling him that once I get a big-time advance on a book of mine, I'll buy him garage space. Right now, it's just too astronomical. And the subway is two blocks away.
Then I zip home to work on getting things done for the Printers Row Book Fair. I actually shouldn't be panicking. Hubby is home. Thank goodness, because I was getting very lonely. Just Netflix and me.
Anyone watch last night's "The Sopranos"? I have very few shows I watch with any regularity, "The Daily Show" and "The Sopranos," being tops, then maybe "House" or "30 Rock." And, of course, the French Open. Anyway, "The Sopranos" is down to its final episode next week and it's so freaking depressing. Last night's episode just gave me the chills. Anyone else out there have any opinions on what's going to happen? My guess is that Tony lives, but his "family" is destroyed.
Okay, on that lovely note, see you tomorrow when my next book stop is The Wolf Never Sleeps..
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch,
Excited Light,
contemporary fantasy,
angels,
Printers Row Book Fair
June 3, 2007
Next stop...
My Virtual Book Tour continues tomorrow at http://www.plugyourbook.blogspot.com/, an aptly named site. I mean how close to the truth can you get than "plug your book"? I guess there's a site for everything. Certainly if you put just about any word into Google, you'll get about a hundred results.
Right now, I'm winding down after a rather un-relaxing Sunday of dashing about trying to get things done. I also attacked the weeds. Die, die, die! It's getting better. It doesn't look like a tropical jungle anymore. But I really need my husband and his chain saw for the neighbor's bushes that are growing through the fence into MY garden. Bushes, humph. They don't know their boundaries. Plus a climbing rose bush died, probably due to our rough spring. Requiem for a rose bush. Sigh. I need to buy a replacement.
I really did try to take pix of yesterday's 80th birthday party for my aunt, but that's a little difficult when you haven't brought your camera. D'oh! Good one, Lynn. I took a couple shots with my cell phone, but they look fuzzy. Not sure what was going on there. Accept it, I'm mechanically challenged. I'm still trying to figure out how to take people off my phone book on my cell phone. (When we bought the phone hubby downloaded my address book into it, and I've got people on there who I haven't talked to in years--and some I never want to talk to again!)
I'm beginning to panic about the Printer's Row festival. I don't have my bookmarks printed yet. (Need hubby.) The post cards I sent out had the wrong time for Sunday, so there's that to fix. I'll probably have to e-mail everyone. I have to have my posters printed at Kinko's or whereever and once again I need expert help on how to get this done. I'm not at all calm and collected. I saw the street corner where we will be sitting. Right in the middle of things, but also right by my son's apartment, so I'll have a place to take shelter, grab a cool drink, maybe even invite friends over if my son is willing. I plan to stay there that night, so that I don't have to schlep everything back home on Saturday night, then schlep it back on Sunday.
Look, if I didn't have anything to panic about, it just wouldn't be me.
See ya Monday!
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch,
Excited Light,
angels,
contemporary fantasy,
Printers Row Book Fair
Right now, I'm winding down after a rather un-relaxing Sunday of dashing about trying to get things done. I also attacked the weeds. Die, die, die! It's getting better. It doesn't look like a tropical jungle anymore. But I really need my husband and his chain saw for the neighbor's bushes that are growing through the fence into MY garden. Bushes, humph. They don't know their boundaries. Plus a climbing rose bush died, probably due to our rough spring. Requiem for a rose bush. Sigh. I need to buy a replacement.
I really did try to take pix of yesterday's 80th birthday party for my aunt, but that's a little difficult when you haven't brought your camera. D'oh! Good one, Lynn. I took a couple shots with my cell phone, but they look fuzzy. Not sure what was going on there. Accept it, I'm mechanically challenged. I'm still trying to figure out how to take people off my phone book on my cell phone. (When we bought the phone hubby downloaded my address book into it, and I've got people on there who I haven't talked to in years--and some I never want to talk to again!)
I'm beginning to panic about the Printer's Row festival. I don't have my bookmarks printed yet. (Need hubby.) The post cards I sent out had the wrong time for Sunday, so there's that to fix. I'll probably have to e-mail everyone. I have to have my posters printed at Kinko's or whereever and once again I need expert help on how to get this done. I'm not at all calm and collected. I saw the street corner where we will be sitting. Right in the middle of things, but also right by my son's apartment, so I'll have a place to take shelter, grab a cool drink, maybe even invite friends over if my son is willing. I plan to stay there that night, so that I don't have to schlep everything back home on Saturday night, then schlep it back on Sunday.
Look, if I didn't have anything to panic about, it just wouldn't be me.
See ya Monday!
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch,
Excited Light,
angels,
contemporary fantasy,
Printers Row Book Fair
June 2, 2007
Small blog
Abbreviated and late blog today because I had to go far away for a family birthday. My aunt turned 80 and they gave her a big party. Long car trip and I got home brain dead! We nearly got lost on the way there, and were still turned around on the way back to the tollway.
For all you Chicagoans or the Chicago bound: I just found out the location I'll be at at the Printers Row Book Fair. On Sunday, June 10, the Chicago Writers Association table will be on the west side of Dearborn St., north of Polk St., between the Red Rock Press and Young Chicago Authors tables. I'll be there from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. I still have no idea where I'll be on Saturday, but I'll be at the Society of Midland Authors table from noon to 2 p.m. The weather had better be gorgeous, at least on Sunday, because the CWA is not getting a tent, just a table.
Way, way too tired to think of anything else. I'll check back in tomorrow.
BTW, my brother reported that I was wrong about the family vacations and that we went to Door County, Wisconsin, a couple times. I reminded him that I am seven years older than he is, so all that happened later when I was in high school. I still had a childhood with no vacations. So, that's a correction of sorts, I don't know.
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch, Excited Light, angels, Printers Row Book Fair
For all you Chicagoans or the Chicago bound: I just found out the location I'll be at at the Printers Row Book Fair. On Sunday, June 10, the Chicago Writers Association table will be on the west side of Dearborn St., north of Polk St., between the Red Rock Press and Young Chicago Authors tables. I'll be there from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. I still have no idea where I'll be on Saturday, but I'll be at the Society of Midland Authors table from noon to 2 p.m. The weather had better be gorgeous, at least on Sunday, because the CWA is not getting a tent, just a table.
Way, way too tired to think of anything else. I'll check back in tomorrow.
BTW, my brother reported that I was wrong about the family vacations and that we went to Door County, Wisconsin, a couple times. I reminded him that I am seven years older than he is, so all that happened later when I was in high school. I still had a childhood with no vacations. So, that's a correction of sorts, I don't know.
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch, Excited Light, angels, Printers Row Book Fair
June 1, 2007
The Virtual Book Tour Begins
Yes, indeed, my Virtual Book Tour has started and you can view my first stop at:
http://www.alisonkent.com/blog/
It will be up there for a couple days, last night I wasn't so sure. It's not the usual canned interview, but a heartfelt essay that I wrote, so I hope you pop over there and take a look.
In other writing news, I had a meeting with my writers' group last night and the group thought my current chapter was my best one yet. I got nothing but praise. The new member was a little confused, because he didn't have the benefit of reading the first three chapters, but everyone else was on the same, ahem, page. We all marveled at the end of the meeting how having an extra set of eyes makes all the difference when you are writing. Someone who can tell you the dialog sounds phony will spur you on to fix the conversations in the next piece you turn in. Everyone there is showing great improvement.
We've been entertaining a guest from the U.K. this week. We took him downtown for some deep-dish Chicago pizza (I feel like I'll never eat another meal for the rest of the week!). The it decided to pour down rain, which really didn't help, anything. I left them and went shopping. They came home roughly the same time I did, drenched and unable to do much sightseeing. But being from London, our guest was pretty used to rain.
That's about it for this Friday. Big family celebration this weekend. I hope I shall survive.
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch, Excited Light, angels, Virtual Book Tour
http://www.alisonkent.com/blog/
It will be up there for a couple days, last night I wasn't so sure. It's not the usual canned interview, but a heartfelt essay that I wrote, so I hope you pop over there and take a look.
In other writing news, I had a meeting with my writers' group last night and the group thought my current chapter was my best one yet. I got nothing but praise. The new member was a little confused, because he didn't have the benefit of reading the first three chapters, but everyone else was on the same, ahem, page. We all marveled at the end of the meeting how having an extra set of eyes makes all the difference when you are writing. Someone who can tell you the dialog sounds phony will spur you on to fix the conversations in the next piece you turn in. Everyone there is showing great improvement.
We've been entertaining a guest from the U.K. this week. We took him downtown for some deep-dish Chicago pizza (I feel like I'll never eat another meal for the rest of the week!). The it decided to pour down rain, which really didn't help, anything. I left them and went shopping. They came home roughly the same time I did, drenched and unable to do much sightseeing. But being from London, our guest was pretty used to rain.
That's about it for this Friday. Big family celebration this weekend. I hope I shall survive.
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch, Excited Light, angels, Virtual Book Tour
May 30, 2007
Announcing the Virtual Book Tour
a-da! Starting tomorrow (or maybe the day after), we will commence the Virtual Book Tour in which I will visit most of the popular blogs on books and writing. My first stop is supposed to be tomorrow, because someone couldn't shoehorn me into June proper, but if that changes I'll let you know.
Anyway, the idea is that I go galavanting off to visit various blogs, where they ask me questions about my book, writing, and other things. I supply the links over here, so you can visit--and possibly make some new blog friends. It's all good for everyone. Here's where to start. My pal Dorothy, who organized this whole thing, will be listing all my stops. I will blog EVERY DAY. Yup, every day. OMG, can I do it? Of course I can, and I will give you links on where to go.
This does not mean I will only be writing about my book, "Excited Light". Heavens, no. I'd run out of material pretty fast. Because face it, once a book is published, the writer is on to another project pretty quickly. I've got lots to say about my work-in-progress, but little more to add about . Don't get me wrong, I dearly love old "EL," but I do have other things to discuss.
And speaking of things to discuss, it's a downward spiral for the American men at the French Open. My God, in one day, the entire American contingent poops out: Roddick, Blake, the whole bunch. Robby Ginepri was only saved by a rain delay. All we can hope now is that Venus and Serena have their mojo working. Oops, better not use that word. It backfired on a certain player a couple years ago.
Okay, enough of that. Look forward to lots of fun visits around the Web to interesting places!
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch, Excited Light, Angels, Virtual Book Tour
Anyway, the idea is that I go galavanting off to visit various blogs, where they ask me questions about my book, writing, and other things. I supply the links over here, so you can visit--and possibly make some new blog friends. It's all good for everyone. Here's where to start. My pal Dorothy, who organized this whole thing, will be listing all my stops. I will blog EVERY DAY. Yup, every day. OMG, can I do it? Of course I can, and I will give you links on where to go.
This does not mean I will only be writing about my book, "Excited Light". Heavens, no. I'd run out of material pretty fast. Because face it, once a book is published, the writer is on to another project pretty quickly. I've got lots to say about my work-in-progress, but little more to add about . Don't get me wrong, I dearly love old "EL," but I do have other things to discuss.
And speaking of things to discuss, it's a downward spiral for the American men at the French Open. My God, in one day, the entire American contingent poops out: Roddick, Blake, the whole bunch. Robby Ginepri was only saved by a rain delay. All we can hope now is that Venus and Serena have their mojo working. Oops, better not use that word. It backfired on a certain player a couple years ago.
Okay, enough of that. Look forward to lots of fun visits around the Web to interesting places!
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch, Excited Light, Angels, Virtual Book Tour
May 29, 2007
Weeds and chemical warfare
Technorati ProfileYesterday, before we did our barbecue, I spent the afternoon going after the monster weeds that have popped up all over our lawn and in my garden. I'd take a picture, but it's too embarrassing. I can't plant the annuals, which should be in the ground about now, until I get rid of these suckers.
So, there I am with the chemical ammo, going "die, die, die" to dandelions and other nasties. The gunk is supposed to work in 24 hours. So, I get up today and what do I see? Weeds. Some of them are a tad wilted, but others look just as healthy as ever. WTF? Am I going to have to do a second coating of the toxic waste? Maybe I just need to be patient.
I don't feel really ecologically cool about this endeavor, but there's a limit to how much I can dig up--especially in allergy season, which is hitting me hard. However, I may have to get out a shovel and just turn all the earth to get rid of these weeds from Mars. They are Big, I'm telling you. Monstrous. One variety has covered up a rosebush, and it seems completely impervious to the evil weed killer.
Lots of writing going on. At least that's working out well.
Soon I will be going on my Virtual Book Tour arranged by Dorothy Thompson. I'm pretty excited about this. It will all start on June 1 and feature my novel, Excited Light. For more on Excited Light, visit my Web site at: www.lynnvoedisch.com.
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch
So, there I am with the chemical ammo, going "die, die, die" to dandelions and other nasties. The gunk is supposed to work in 24 hours. So, I get up today and what do I see? Weeds. Some of them are a tad wilted, but others look just as healthy as ever. WTF? Am I going to have to do a second coating of the toxic waste? Maybe I just need to be patient.
I don't feel really ecologically cool about this endeavor, but there's a limit to how much I can dig up--especially in allergy season, which is hitting me hard. However, I may have to get out a shovel and just turn all the earth to get rid of these weeds from Mars. They are Big, I'm telling you. Monstrous. One variety has covered up a rosebush, and it seems completely impervious to the evil weed killer.
Lots of writing going on. At least that's working out well.
Soon I will be going on my Virtual Book Tour arranged by Dorothy Thompson. I'm pretty excited about this. It will all start on June 1 and feature my novel, Excited Light. For more on Excited Light, visit my Web site at: www.lynnvoedisch.com.
Lynn
Lynn Voedisch
May 21, 2007
Complete Idiots
I should know better. I really should. But I got into an Internet argument with some guy who owns a writing list about whether characters use complete sentences or not. He claims that people really don't speak in full sentences and says all dialog should reflect that.
I think he's out of his mind. I've done the old assignment where you sit at a booth in a restaurant or at a coffeehouse and eavesdrop on the people near you. It idea is to listen to the cadence and the way they phrase things. It's supposed to make your written dialog more realistic. And guess what? When I did that, people spoke in COMPLETE SENTENCES. Okay, they were punctuated them with sentence fragments, but on the whole People. Don't talk. Like this.
The guy who runs the writing list is so sure he's correct, that I was beginning to doubt my own senses. I asked other writers. Yup. Full sentences. Some characters don't use them just for spice or to set them apart from the others.
I'm wondering if this mailing list is worth being on is simply run by a guy just wants to hear his own opinions applauded, in which case I'm bailing.
And that's my little puzzle of the day.
I think he's out of his mind. I've done the old assignment where you sit at a booth in a restaurant or at a coffeehouse and eavesdrop on the people near you. It idea is to listen to the cadence and the way they phrase things. It's supposed to make your written dialog more realistic. And guess what? When I did that, people spoke in COMPLETE SENTENCES. Okay, they were punctuated them with sentence fragments, but on the whole People. Don't talk. Like this.
The guy who runs the writing list is so sure he's correct, that I was beginning to doubt my own senses. I asked other writers. Yup. Full sentences. Some characters don't use them just for spice or to set them apart from the others.
I'm wondering if this mailing list is worth being on is simply run by a guy just wants to hear his own opinions applauded, in which case I'm bailing.
And that's my little puzzle of the day.
May 15, 2007
Book Trailer
We did it. I started it, son worked on it, hubby did the finishing (but brilliant) touches. (He noted that I forgot to tell you guys that he got home.)
So, here is my book trailer, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHpZrCkkdFs. Who knows who this will attract. We tried to use as many key words as possible to get people interested.
I'd love any comments you have on this.
Lynn
So, here is my book trailer, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHpZrCkkdFs. Who knows who this will attract. We tried to use as many key words as possible to get people interested.
I'd love any comments you have on this.
Lynn
May 11, 2007
Book Titles That Never Should Have Been
Today's blog is at total rip-off, but I will give credit where it is due: Writers Write, a weekly e-newsletter.
The topic was strangest book titles and Writers Write listed the winners:
The Bookseller magazine has announced the winner of the Oddest
Book Title Award. The winner of the Bookseller/Diagram Prize
was The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide
to Field Identification (Harry N. Abrams). The book was
written by artist Julian Montague. Julian beat out How Green
Were the Nazis? a study of the environmental policies of the
Third Reich, in a surprise result.
Stray Shopping Carts received a third of the more
than 5,500 votes cast by members of the public on the website of
trade magazine The Bookseller. 'It's a sort of strange honour to
have, Montague said. 'But I welcome the publicity and it's nice
that people are finding out my book exists.'
*****
Runner-up for the prize was Tattooed Mountain Women and Spoon
Boxes of Daghestan, by Robert Chenciner, Gabib Ismailov,
Magomedkhan Magomedkhanov and Alex Binnie (Bennett & Bloom).
The other finalists were Di Mascio's Delicious Ice Cream: Di Mascio
of Coventry: an Ice Cream Company of Repute, with an Interesting
and Varied Fleet of Ice Cream Vans, by Roger De Boer, Harvey Francis
Pitcher and Alan Wilkinson (Past Masters); Proceedings of the
Eighteenth International Seaweed Symposium (Kluwer); and Better
Never To Have Been: the Harm of Coming Into Existence, by David
Benatar (Clarendon Press).
What would you have voted for? I really liked the winner myself. The Nazi title was just too much. And Better Never to Have Been has that Zen-like flavor to it.
Lynn
The topic was strangest book titles and Writers Write listed the winners:
The Bookseller magazine has announced the winner of the Oddest
Book Title Award. The winner of the Bookseller/Diagram Prize
was The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide
to Field Identification (Harry N. Abrams). The book was
written by artist Julian Montague. Julian beat out How Green
Were the Nazis? a study of the environmental policies of the
Third Reich, in a surprise result.
Stray Shopping Carts received a third of the more
than 5,500 votes cast by members of the public on the website of
trade magazine The Bookseller. 'It's a sort of strange honour to
have, Montague said. 'But I welcome the publicity and it's nice
that people are finding out my book exists.'
*****
Runner-up for the prize was Tattooed Mountain Women and Spoon
Boxes of Daghestan, by Robert Chenciner, Gabib Ismailov,
Magomedkhan Magomedkhanov and Alex Binnie (Bennett & Bloom).
The other finalists were Di Mascio's Delicious Ice Cream: Di Mascio
of Coventry: an Ice Cream Company of Repute, with an Interesting
and Varied Fleet of Ice Cream Vans, by Roger De Boer, Harvey Francis
Pitcher and Alan Wilkinson (Past Masters); Proceedings of the
Eighteenth International Seaweed Symposium (Kluwer); and Better
Never To Have Been: the Harm of Coming Into Existence, by David
Benatar (Clarendon Press).
What would you have voted for? I really liked the winner myself. The Nazi title was just too much. And Better Never to Have Been has that Zen-like flavor to it.
Lynn
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