I think I’ve made it amply clear that I respect book bloggers as an invaluable puzzle piece in the modern book business. But of course that business is rapidly changing. A whole new model is becoming the norm—maybe not erasing the old model, but probably displacing it in terms of sheer popularity and volume. It will have its advantages, and a definite down side. I’m optimistic, however, and I’ll tell you why in this post. I think it will work. But here’s the linchpin of the whole deal: with the help of book bloggers, I think it will fill the needs of readers/book consumers. Without them, it could be a nightmare.
The self-published ebook, along with print-on-demand technology, has opened a
For those of you who didn't read my first blog post about the bet, the whole thing goes a little something like this. I'm in a 4-way bet with three other authors, inspired by the bet in this Atlantic article about a Stephen King short story, “Herman Wouk is Still Alive.” Fellow author Brian Farrey found and tweeted it.
“Every year my son Owen and I have a bet on the NCAA March Madness Tournament,” King said, “and last year the stakes were that the loser would have to write a story [with a title] the winner gave to him. And I lost. Except I really won, because I got this story that I really like.”
Along with the link, Brian tweeted, “Anybody wanna make a bet with similar stakes w/me?”
And the winner of the signed ARC (advance reader’s copy) of Pay It Forward is: Skip Middleton, who happens to be a Pay It Forward Foundation board member. But please don't feel there's any kind of fix in, because about one in every five of these entrants are people I know pretty well. I put all the names in the hat (literally, a hat), shake it well, hold it up high and pull one. And that's it.
Now, as I mentioned in the original giveaway post, I have at least half a dozen of these that I’ve decided to give away this year. I have so many, and I’m not sure what good they’re doing anybody sitting in my bookshelf. So, a new giveaway for a second ARC starts immediately. If you commented on the
I know when you hear the phrase disco boots, your mind goes in a very distinct direction. For the purposes of this blog post, it’s the wrong direction.
My new hiking boots are disco. This is not a compliment.
Many of you know Holly Schindler, the fabulous emerging Young Adult author. You may have read her debut novel, A Blue So Dark, and/or the brand-new Playing Hurt, which is getting rave reviews. But...do you know her friend Jake? I first knew Holly had a pup when she tweeted, during the tough winter weather, that her dog Jake was so bored she might have to teach him to fold laundry. That jumped out to me, because Ella folds laundry. Seriously. I set clean laundry on the bed, she presses creases into it. Never in the right places, though. Unfortunately.
Holly writes, "Got some puppy for you! I've attached a pic of my dog, Jake, and his baby, 'Roo.
Sweet Peas on Highway 46--todayWell, it's hard to explain. If anybody knows a lot about wildflowers, please let me know.
We had 30 inches of rain--at least, here in Cambria, but we weren't isolated from the rest of the county in that regard.
Today we had a little picnic out at Shell Creek, usually the wildflower capital of the Central Coast. And there was very little to see. Maybe
Okay. This was my morning. After five years of living with a camera-shy pup, this morning I was able to film Ella doing something she does often, that I think is a bit unusual: she washes her face like a cat.
I read somewhere that the Chinese Crested is the only dog who does this, and Ella is half Chinese Crested and half Scottie. I don't know if that's true, if all Chinese Crested dogs do, or if no other dogs ever tried it. I don't even know if anybody believed me..until now.
Maddie and MasonMy old friends (and two of my most devoted readers!) Paul and Bob liked the idea of a "More Puppy" blog meme, and they contributed the following about their three four-legged "kids."
Paul says, "All three of our kids are rescues.
“Jenny, seven years old, a sable, and the leader of the pack, was returned to our local breeder when
End of the "cul de sac"--the slideGot your attention, didn't I? Now I hope you won't be disappointed if this blog is only about Highway 1 north of Cambria.
For those of you who have never driven Highway 1 between Carmel and Cambria, it's famous for its instability. All it takes is a good rainy season to bring sections of cliff onto the highway, or sections of highway into the sea. This year saw both. First about 60 feet of southbound lane slipped into the ocean just south of Carmel, closing the highway to through traffic for a month, and creating one very long cul de sac. Then a slide of mud and rocks at Alder Creek, just south of Gorda, turned Big Sur from a cul de sac to an island for days. One lane is finally open at the northern end, but now "82,500 tons of damp dirt and rocks" are sitting on the road again near Alder Creek,
Have you ever seen a dog doing a walking meditation? Neither had I. Neither have most people, I suspect.
But when I began my "More Puppy" meme, I heard from an old friend and colleague, Lance Secretan. He linked my "More Puppy" Facebook note (the original one, featuring Ella) to an amazing video of his and his wife's late canine companion Spirit the Wonder Dog.
"Our Wonder Dog was named 'Spirit,'" Lance said. "She lived with us for 14 years and is now in hound heaven. But she had a unique habit -- meditating around a tropical plant in our house. We called it the 'Zen Walk.'"
Not all great pets are puppies! For a pleasant change of pace in the More Puppy Bunny meme, I present Cypress and Pinto Nunez, courtesy of Melody Nunez, artist, writer, photographer, blogger, friend, and bunny parent.
Melody writes, "Hubby and I rescued two rabbits – a bonded pair – from the local shelter last March. This pet adoption was an early gift for my birthday (which falls in May), and came about because my husband remembered that I’d wanted a pet rabbit when I was a kid but couldn’t have one. He saw a blurb in a community activities mailer highlighting rabbit adoptions - and the fact that that they make good apartment pets – and did a bit of investigating before springing the
Fellow author Brian Farrey, author of the forthcoming With You or Without You (whose name keeps coming up on this blog for inexplicable reasons—I swear he is not the only writer I know) laid down a gauntlet today on Twitter.
First he linked to this Atlantic article about a Stephen King short story, “Herman Wouk
Max on his new bedI'm a sucker for a good story about finding a great dog, or, as is often the case, being found by one. My Facebook friend Starling Walter sent me this story:
"I am a big believer in accidents; but Max, Max becoming part of my family, that was no accident.
"I watched Max and his sister grow up in a tiny cage on the side of a dental lab parking lot a few blocks from my home. He and his sister had perfectly matched tuxedos. It wasn't until Max's sister disappeared and he was left
...and let's get right to the next one. This is also for those who love YA (young adult literature). Here's why I thought we'd dive straight into the next giveaway: for those whose names I didn't pull, I'm going to leave you in the hat for a hardcover copy of Diary of a Witness. I'll also take new comments from new folks from now until Saturday April 16th.
These YA giveaways have no bearing on the giveaway of the signed ARC (advance reader's copy) of Pay It Forward, which is going on until the end of April. Please feel free to put your name in for both. You can learn more about that giveaway on my post Pay It Forward Collector's Items.
Lucy and TybeeMy first guest puppies! Many thanks to Lucy Kubo, high school librarian and reader extraordinaire, for being the first one to jump on my offer to feature readers' pups on the blog. Though, I must say, the puppy pics and stories are really coming in...you would almost think people loved their pets!
Lucy writes, "What a great idea! I’d like to share photos and the story of my newest family member, Perez, aka Prezzi.
"In Texas, it is a spring-time ritual to take pictures of one’s
Perez in the bluebonnets children/babies/spouses/ loved ones in the bluebonnets. This year the bluebonnets are a bit sparse due to the lack of early spring rains but they have finally decided to put on a decent show anyway. Yesterday evening I took the pooches out for their bluebonnet portraits; here is Perez, the newest member of our family."
Most recent photo of Ella, taken this a.m.My friend Melanie at the blog Reclusive Bibliophile recently gave some thought to what her blog needed. The answer she came up with? More puppy. Her blog needed more puppy. So, inspired by Presenting Lenore's Cat Tuesday, she instituted Weimaraner Wednesday, and posted adorable photos of her dog Wiki.
I found myself thinking (out loud, on her blog thread) about the possibility of Mutt Monday. Melanie replied that she enjoys Ella pictures any day of the week, no alliteration necessary. Which is good, because I tend to blog when the mood strikes me, not on carefully planned schedules.
It was a long rainy season
For those of you (this is highly unlikely) who know nothing about Ella, I got her from the Santa Maria Valley Humane Society in June of '06. She was only four months old. Oddly, on the day I met Ella, I headed south having no idea the SMVHS even existed. I was headed (I thought) for
This is a situation that's just popping up everywhere these days. I have fiercely strong opinions about it, and I just can't keep them to myself any longer. I don't know if I can do much to change it, but I'm going to speak my piece. If one author (big or small, indie or traditionally published) reads this and thinks twice before hitting "send" or "post," it will be worth it. If not, may these opinions be some small solace to besieged reviewers.
Recently I tweeted the following message. "Dear authors, Here's what you say to a negative review: NOTHING!"
I stand by that advice. In fact, I'd like to elaborate.
No one has a right to argue with anyone’s assessment of a book. There is nothing to
As some of you who follow me on Twitter and Facebook might know, I recently received an unexpected mailbag of spare copies of my books. It was sent by my YA editor at Knopf, because she was cleaning out her office. So, just extra. No charge. And the first words to come into my head were, "I feel a giveaway coming on."
Part of me wanted to wait until I finished the Pay It Forward advance reader's copy giveaway at the end of April. But when that giveaway is over, I'm just going to start a new one. I have at least six of those ARCs that I've decided to give away. So that's going to be going on all year. That one I'm calling a slow giveaway. I'm going to collect comments for about six weeks for each copy.
California poppiesAnybody besides me notice that the weather--which has been notoriously unpredictable as long as I've been alive to enjoy it--is getting even more unpredictable? Like...a lot more unpredictable?
Now, I love the rain. And it's a good thing I do, too, because my formerly drought-ridden California town has racked up an impressive 30 inches for the season. That's about half again our normal average.
Not a week ago, we were in full "winter" storm mode (the calendar said it was spring, bu
It started when I was walking Ella on the boardwalk of Moonstone Beach Drive one day. I looked up at the clouds, and they looked for all the world as though they'd been painted on. I could see the brush marks. And of course I didn't have my camera.
Clouds are changeable. By the time you get home on foot and grab the camera, they'll be something else entirely.
I had very recently started doing my "Daily Gratitudes." Rather than keeping a gratitude journal, as I've done intermittently in the
past, I began posting one thing I was grateful for, every day, on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn. Why online?
