To add to the glory of the day, I ended it with a fantastic ballet class in the evening. Those two things will last me at least a week.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Slumps and Their Cures
I have to admit, yesterday morning I fell into a slump. It happens. If anyone claims it doesn't happen to them, they lie. I'm at that stage in the self-promotion process where a great deal of time and energy has been spent on it, but the results are still unclear. Roooowwwwrrrr! Growling is sometimes the most satisfying response to these things. However, my slump evaporated in the early afternoon thanks to a friend of a friend. The friend of a friend had borrowed Ashford from the friend and I was informed that the friend of the friend (confused yet?) had read it in a day, cried uncontrollably at the end, and could not stop thinking of Perry Bertram. Ahhhhh! My day was instantly rosy. I made someone cry! I created a hero that teenage girls obsess over!
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
A Launch, a Load of Self-Promotion, and a Hedgehog
Yes, it's been a week and a half, and I completely forgot to update my blog concerning the outcome of my book launch, which is doubly bad because I have this URL listed in the front of the book as my website and I hate the thought of people thinking, "oooh, blog" and then finding it stagnant. Not that they would, necessarily, be thinking, "oooh, blog" but they might, and I would hate for them to be disappointed.
In any case, the launch went very well. There was a steady stream of people, and by the end my face hurt from smiling, so I think that would generally indicate success. Afterwards I went home to collapse on the couch with Kezia while we consumed pizza and Strongbow and watched An Education (great film by the way, based on a memoir) and had a lovely evening. Since then I've been wrestling with the beast known as Self-Promotion, which does not come naturally at all. I've known people who were simply genius at it, but I am not one of them. In a way, the online promotion part is easier. Those people don't know you. And Very Old Friends, who've watched you slave over the novels for years and even perhaps read manuscripts...those aren't bad either. It's the hometown promotion that's the hardest, I find. Suddenly you're approaching people who, though they don't really know you, per se, have seen you about town and known of you since you were a midget. I can assure you, I was thoroughly unimpressive as a midget. Yes, I had fabulous adventures in my head, but who was to know? I certainly didn't tell them. Cancer threw me a little more into the public eye, but who wants to be known for being disease-ridden? Anyway, approaching people who know you in the aforementioned vague way, and saying, essentially, "Hi, I've written a book. Please buy it," can feel rather odd. However, I have been gritting my teeth and getting it done, though generally in a less blunt fashion. The online promotion has slowly been coming along as well, though it's a lot to learn. There is, in the end, so much that could be done for promotion, with all the resources available, that I find I have to make myself stop, to set it aside and go back to the writing. After all, the writing is what really counts. Without it, there would be nothing to promote, not to mention that without it I would turn into a sodden mass. We write for the same reason we breathe: because without it we would not survive. Numbers and sales seem petty things then.
I have acquired a new friend recently. His name is Ferdinand, or Ferdy for short, and he is an African Pygmy Hedgehog, an anniversary gift from my husband.
In any case, the launch went very well. There was a steady stream of people, and by the end my face hurt from smiling, so I think that would generally indicate success. Afterwards I went home to collapse on the couch with Kezia while we consumed pizza and Strongbow and watched An Education (great film by the way, based on a memoir) and had a lovely evening. Since then I've been wrestling with the beast known as Self-Promotion, which does not come naturally at all. I've known people who were simply genius at it, but I am not one of them. In a way, the online promotion part is easier. Those people don't know you. And Very Old Friends, who've watched you slave over the novels for years and even perhaps read manuscripts...those aren't bad either. It's the hometown promotion that's the hardest, I find. Suddenly you're approaching people who, though they don't really know you, per se, have seen you about town and known of you since you were a midget. I can assure you, I was thoroughly unimpressive as a midget. Yes, I had fabulous adventures in my head, but who was to know? I certainly didn't tell them. Cancer threw me a little more into the public eye, but who wants to be known for being disease-ridden? Anyway, approaching people who know you in the aforementioned vague way, and saying, essentially, "Hi, I've written a book. Please buy it," can feel rather odd. However, I have been gritting my teeth and getting it done, though generally in a less blunt fashion. The online promotion has slowly been coming along as well, though it's a lot to learn. There is, in the end, so much that could be done for promotion, with all the resources available, that I find I have to make myself stop, to set it aside and go back to the writing. After all, the writing is what really counts. Without it, there would be nothing to promote, not to mention that without it I would turn into a sodden mass. We write for the same reason we breathe: because without it we would not survive. Numbers and sales seem petty things then.
I have acquired a new friend recently. His name is Ferdinand, or Ferdy for short, and he is an African Pygmy Hedgehog, an anniversary gift from my husband.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Juliette Greco
I've recently become obsessed with the music of Juliette Greco. She has such an amazing voice. Right now she's helping calm my nerves as I prepare for the book launch this afternoon.
Monday, October 31, 2011
All Hallows Eve
A very happy All Hallow' Eve to everyone! I think I mentioned this last year, but I've always preferred "All Hallows Eve" to "Halloween". It has such a mysterious ring. It is reminiscent of wood smoke and moonlit fields, and I like the old tradition of it being a night to remember the dead. "Halloween" is reminiscent of candy and latex, and has become too much of a platform for selling rubber outfits and horror films. I do enjoy dressing up, and won the local costume contest two years ago for my costume, "Going Postal", which involved a tutu I made out of electric blue bubble wrap, decorated with many postage stamps and postal stickers. In any case, I enjoy the holiday, and tonight I shall light a few candles, hand out candy to the adorable midgets who come to my door, and spend some time thinking of those who have gone before me.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
A Word On Henry VIII...or several
Okay, I realized several days ago that I've been all business lately, getting Ashford out, setting up a launch, formatting for Kindle, etc... I need a break from this, and my blog most certainly does. In any case, Ashford is set at the moment. It's up on Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, it's available on Kindle, posters are up for the launch, postcards sent out, "event" set up on facebook. It will take care of itself for a day, and I will emerge from my recent wild-haired, crazy-eyed, hermit persona to take a walk on this lovely autumn day, write on the new novel, and finish off the day by getting dressed up to go to the ballet with my husband and friends.
But first I shall begin my day by devoting a word or several to a man who is accidentally responsible for a great deal of my education: King Henry VIII.
I was about twelve years old when my obsession began. It really started with his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. It seemed to me at the time that everyone knew he had six wives, but nobody seemed to know much about the wives themselves besides the litany: Divorced, Beheaded, Died in Childbirth, Divorced, Beheaded, Outlived Henry. Of course, as is probably inevitable with a solitary, literary-minded, nerdish child, I decided that I would write an epic novel about Catherine's life. (I know, not very original, but I must state here that this was, at least, before Phillipa Gregory.) As a novel, it never developed into more than a few lines here and there, but the research phase went on for over a year, and became much more than a history lesson. So here is my list of Lessons From Henry:
1. Henry is proof that things haven't really changed much. To quote Community, "Men are monsters who crave young flesh." Power still corrupts. Henry began his reign as a handsome, idealistic young man, and look what he turned into. I must admit I'm not sure how Hugh Hefner started out, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't as a prunish, withered lecher.
2. Henry established my earliest Catholic sympathies. I liked Sir Thomas More from the beginning. He was loyal, kind, devout, brilliant, and he had pet monkeys. Henry had his head cut off. One can argue reasonably for problems within any church system, but breaking with a church and setting up a new one with yourself as its sole head because you want a younger, hotter wife...?
3. Henry is responsible for a great deal of my sex education. I remember many wide-eyed moments spent in the perusal of Antonia Fraser's The Wives of Henry VIII (a thorough, engrossing, and very honest historical work). The Tudors were not exactly subtle. And all of Henry's wives are, in the end, examples of women who used their sexuality or whose sexuality was used by others (either well or poorly depending on their fate) to gain power. All women use their sexuality for power in some way or other, as far as I can see. It goes back to the old idea of working with the tools you've been given. But some people like to use chainsaws for things that could be taken care of with a pair of pruning shears.
But first I shall begin my day by devoting a word or several to a man who is accidentally responsible for a great deal of my education: King Henry VIII.
I was about twelve years old when my obsession began. It really started with his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. It seemed to me at the time that everyone knew he had six wives, but nobody seemed to know much about the wives themselves besides the litany: Divorced, Beheaded, Died in Childbirth, Divorced, Beheaded, Outlived Henry. Of course, as is probably inevitable with a solitary, literary-minded, nerdish child, I decided that I would write an epic novel about Catherine's life. (I know, not very original, but I must state here that this was, at least, before Phillipa Gregory.) As a novel, it never developed into more than a few lines here and there, but the research phase went on for over a year, and became much more than a history lesson. So here is my list of Lessons From Henry:
1. Henry is proof that things haven't really changed much. To quote Community, "Men are monsters who crave young flesh." Power still corrupts. Henry began his reign as a handsome, idealistic young man, and look what he turned into. I must admit I'm not sure how Hugh Hefner started out, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't as a prunish, withered lecher.
2. Henry established my earliest Catholic sympathies. I liked Sir Thomas More from the beginning. He was loyal, kind, devout, brilliant, and he had pet monkeys. Henry had his head cut off. One can argue reasonably for problems within any church system, but breaking with a church and setting up a new one with yourself as its sole head because you want a younger, hotter wife...?
3. Henry is responsible for a great deal of my sex education. I remember many wide-eyed moments spent in the perusal of Antonia Fraser's The Wives of Henry VIII (a thorough, engrossing, and very honest historical work). The Tudors were not exactly subtle. And all of Henry's wives are, in the end, examples of women who used their sexuality or whose sexuality was used by others (either well or poorly depending on their fate) to gain power. All women use their sexuality for power in some way or other, as far as I can see. It goes back to the old idea of working with the tools you've been given. But some people like to use chainsaws for things that could be taken care of with a pair of pruning shears.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
It has been a very busy week here, full of new things for me as I explore new territory in the realm of self-promotion. I find myself grateful that the golf season is over, even though that means I'm currently unemployed, because it's been giving me time and energy to devote to Ashford which I would not have otherwise. Yesterday was probably the most frustrating, as I spent the morning re-formatting the novel for Kindle. I nearly threw my computer out the window in a violent rage. However, it is now available on Kindle, and it is also available on Amazon.com as a paperback. I'm attaching the link below, for the paperback version. So far the one for Kindle is easier to find in a search for some reason. I've also been setting up a book launch at the local coffeehouse where I used to work. This is more my thing. I'm not a Kindle person. Never will be, I fear. I like the feel of paper, and the book smell. And the launch combines two of my favorite things. Books, and coffee. My husband will also be providing live music for the launch.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1466371730/sr=1-13/qid=1319056178/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1319056178&sr=1-13&seller=
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1466371730/sr=1-13/qid=1319056178/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1319056178&sr=1-13&seller=
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Just a quick post to let everyone know that Ashford is officially available online at the link below. Amazon.com is currently pending, but it should be available there shortly, also available by request in your local bookstores and libraries. Anyone who requests it shall have my undying gratitude, and if you come to Chewelah I'll make you fresh-brewed espresso and home-made tiramisu. Tired now. It has been a very long but productive day, and I intend to leave my book-launch preparations for tomorrow and go downstairs to enjoy a cup of hot cocoa and somebody else's brilliant prose.
https://www.createspace.com/3695713
https://www.createspace.com/3695713
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