My friend Misty Miller came to me recently with an idea for a possible anthology, and asked if I'd be willing to work with her to make it happen. I say "possible" because what is really guaranteed in this business? Still, if we get great stories/essays, I'm thinking there will be some way of getting them out to be read.
Here's what we're thinking. Misty, if I don't get this right, let me know, and I'll post any further thoughts you might have as a follow-up to this announcement.
We're looking for true stories from people who feel they've tasted the sting of prejudice. Anyone who feels they have not been accepted for who and what they are. Stories of racial and LGBT discrimination are of course welcome. But we are looking for a full spectrum. For example, if we use a story about an LGBT community member who feels the Christian community hates him (or her), I'd also like a story from a Christian who feels they are vilified for their religious beliefs, which may include an aversion to the LGBT community.
Years ago, I was doing a lot of business travel. And I do mean a lot. I was supplementing my writing income as a public speaker. It got out of hand, at least by my standards. I was on the road for about a third of the year.
One day I was exhausted and trying to get home when an airline problem caused me to miss a flight out of Phoenix to San Luis Obispo, my nearest regional airport. And there are only a couple of USAir flights to SLO per day. It’s not like American or United out of LAX or SFO, where they go out every couple of hours. The next flight was a seven-hour wait.
I had a bit of a tantrum at the gate, in front of the gate agent. Not pretty, but I was just so
So maybe you've noticed I have no current giveaways on my blog. No wonder I'm getting sweaty around the collar. Hate to go too long without giving books away.
Behold the advance reader's copy (or proof, as they call them in the UK) of next Spring's UK hardcover title, When You Were Older. It has it's own page on my site already, so either of those links you just read through will get you to more about it. Hope you like what you hear.
My Transworld editor, Sarah Adams, sent me a lovely stack of these with a note saying there were a few extras, and she figured I would know what to do with
The following is a short piece I wrote for the Occupy Writers website:
I’m a fiction writer, so…nobody likes a good story more than I do. Thing is, there are fiction stories and nonfiction stories. And the difference matters. If you don’t believe me, ask James Frey.
Here are two stories. I’ll leave it up to you to decide which is true.
Story number one:
Once upon a time there was a country called America, which wasn’t quite right, because that was not its name. Its name was the United States of America, so just calling it America was a bit insensitive toward the Canadians and
Me, Vance (my mother, who kept the PIFF going for years nearly single-handedly) and Charley Yesterday in Buellton, CA (which is approximately halfway between Los Angeles and the little town of Cambria, where I live) I met up with Charley Johnson in person. I've worked with Charley for years, but I live in Cambria and he lives in Salt Lake City. So it's been email, phone, Skype...everything but sitting down and having an in-person conversation.
If you don't know who Charley is, click on the link on the navigation bar above labeled The Pay It Forward Experience. Charley is the creator and distributor
Not sure how many of you know this, but the fabulous author J.H. Trumble has, by pure coincidence, also written a novel called Don't Let Me Go. It's very different from my Don't Let Me Go. But it's a great LGBT-based story for teens [I stand corrected--Janet tells me it's being released as an adult book, undoubtedly with YA crossover potential] so it's not so different from the things I write. Just different from my novel of the same name.
I'm posting a photo of Janet reading my Don't Let Me Go, and me reading her Don't Let
Well. This is a problem, isn't it? When you just have too many books you want to give away? I was waiting for the scavenger hunt to be over before I started giving away free ebooks of When I Found You. But the coupon code is only good until the end of the month. So I decided I'd better get at it. My readers will just have to cope with multiple giveaways all at the same time.
Here's my thinking on giving away e-copies of When I Found You. I did this with Second Hand Heart when the U.S. ebook and paperback came out, and it worked out very well. (Please note: Second Hand Heart and When I Found You are not available only as ebooks. They are also in paperback on Amazon. But I can't afford to give away a big number of the paperbacks, so I'm talking a bit more about the ebooks.)
Read More
In this case I'm not so much announcing the tour as wrapping it up. Today is the last tour day. For those not familiar with the concept of a blog tour, it's a "virtual tour," where the author "visits" different blogs online rather than than different bookstores in various cities.
The thing I like best about blog tours is that I don't have to get on any planes! The second best part is that you can't exactly miss one. If you miss a bookstore appearance, that's it. You missed it. But the reviews, guest posts, character interviews and other features stay online almost indefinitely. So you can browse through the posts after the fact.
I liked the posts in this tour because they gave
Think of this blog post, please, as an open letter to my adult readers here in the US.
I'll start with the short version: I'm back.
Now to go into a little more detail.
You have been amazingly patient. The last expressly adult (this does not mean pornographic--I hope you know that) title I released here in the U.S. was Chasing Windmills in the Spring of 2008. Three and a half years ago. Furthermore, Love in the Present Tense and Chasing Windmills followed another long dry spell in which I didn't put out a new book from 2002 to 2006. And then when I did, it was Young Adult.
Nevada Fall from the John Muir TrailSecond time's a charm. The weather cooperated beautifully as I left Upper Pines Campground at 6:00 a.m. (by headlamp and a full moon), hiked up to Vernal Fall footbridge, took the John Muir Trail up to the Panorama Trail, the Panorama Trail over Illouette Creek (and the outlook over Illouette Fall). Halfway between Illouette and Glacier Point, I still had not seen one other human. Then they began to pass me. Walking down. No one else was walking up. They all asked if I had hiked up from the valley. One man, when I said yes, said--in heavily accented but perfect English--"Then you are my hero."
My speed was anything but heroic, but no one seemed to care. Including me. Getting
This is not the first time my hiking/travel adventures have required a bit of a do-over. Those who have followed this blog for a long time may remember
The Great Crater Lake Do-Over. I took my mom and my dog and myself to Crater Lake just in time to run into a fierce wildfire nearby. We did go to the lake--we had to. The road out again went
Things are moving fast now. My novel Don't Let Me Go was released in the UK on the 29th of September, and the next one, When You Were Older, will be out in the spring. And I just handed in another for 2013, but that's another subject for another blog post.
Now, I have to stop here and inject a message to my US readers. Yes, I understand there was a time when all these UK releases may have felt a little frustrating. But now these titles are coming out fast in the US. Second Hand Heart is already out and When I Found You will be out this month. So we're catching up fast.
Today I have the pleasure of doing a cover reveal for next spring's When You Were Older release. It's the first of my UK novels
Those of you who come to this site regularly know I like to give away books. And I particularly like to give away, to my US readers, books that are only available in the UK so far. But notice how that number is shrinking! Second Hand Heart is now available in a US edition. When I Found You will come out in the US this month.
But not this one, on the left. Not yet. This is my brand new Don't Let Me Go. It came out in the UK last Thursday. So it's not available in the US now. Except the ones I'm about to give away on this blog!
Here's where the "plus" comes in. I have a friend and former writing student (but she's no student now--she made it!) named Joan Swan, who did a giveaway for three
I have two more National Parks to talk about, both from my recent trip. The first is Black Canyon of the Gunnison, and the second is Mesa Verde. Both in Colorado, both parks we visited on the way home from Pike's Peak. Because, heck, if you're going to drive all the way from California to Colorado, you might as well get a good sampling of what Colorado has to offer.
Here are a couple of small samples of these parks.
For those of my readers in the UK, today is a big day. It's the day my brand-new novel DON'T LET ME GO is on sale.
For my US readers, the wait shouldn't be long. Within a few months we should see a US edition. And in the meantime, SECOND HAND HEART is out in the US (please see the "buying buttons" on the Second Hand Heart page), and next month WHEN I FOUND YOU will release in the US. That should give you plenty to read while you're waiting.
And today, on the day DON'T LET ME GO hit UK stores, I discovered that the Amazon.co.uk page for next year's novel has been created.
Here's what it says:
For those of you who followed the reports of my trip, you may know that the cog railway trip up to Pike's peak summit was the centerpiece of the whole outing. It had been a bit of a bucket list item for my mom, who is 89. The timing was not ideal. Her back had been giving her some trouble. But she got the blessing of her chiropractor to go. Probably because he knew the same thing we both knew. If not the September, then maybe not for a full year. And then...who knows?
Got home from my trip yesterday afternoon. It's unusual for me to already have one blog post about the trip, with photos. But that's what comes of an RV park with free WiFi.
Still, I want to back up and chronicle some of the other amazing places I saw. And, of course, get the photos up online.
Pike's Peak summit from Lightning PointHere are a few photos from my hike up the Barr Trail to Barr Camp, which is 6.5 miles and 3,800 vertical feet, or a little better than half the way to Pike's Peak summit. I just got back to the motor home about an hour ago.
I'd had the night's reservation for Barr Camp for a long time. The better part of a year. I spent that time wrestling with myself about the summit. I had two choices. I could hike up to Barr Camp, spend a night in the fall aspens, and hike back down the next day. Then the day after that I could take my mother up to the summit on the cog railway. (That's really the purpose of the trip. It's something of a bucket list item for her.) Second
