Brenda Novak 2008 Auction

Thanks to Dawn for letting us know about this one.

The Brenda Novak 2008 Online Auction to Benefit Diabetes research has something for everyone, but especially for those who write. You can bid on a variety of agent evaluations, author critiques, and editor evaluations. What a great way to get solid feedback on your novel, and participate in a good cause at the same time. You may see some well known names among those listed. There are also an assortment of items--jewelry, handcrafted items, books, you name it.

http://brendanovak.auctionanything.com/Home.taf

Check it out, join in the fun, and help benefit diabetes research.

Time

Sometimes I wonder if it's worth getting out of bed. Today I should have stayed there but since I didn't - have a look at how not to spend your time.
-woke at 2.00am - I'd like to blame jetlag but it was drunken son and friend rolling home.
-woke at 3.00am - That might be jet lag or possibly husband snoring
-woke at 5.00am - Got up, switched on computer and since house was so cold, sat in nighty, scarf and son's T-shirt to work.
- 5.15 - made coffee and settled back at computer
-5.30 -one word written, made another coffee.
-ooh kitchen a mess, dishwasher needs emptying, broken glass on shelf, prawns on the kitchen table, strange thing in sink?? Yuk.
-6.00 - escape to gym
-8.00 -return feeling self-righteous but exhausted
-8.30 start writing four times only to be interrupted to make tea, breakfast, wash son's essential clothing he hasn't managed to put in his own machine, make more tea, iron son's essential clothing
-11.00 - five words written. Daughter is bored and wants to bore me. Send her shopping with husband. Son decides to bother me.
-11.45 I put 12 books up for sale on ebay - after daughter explains intricacies of camera. Oh that switches it on! Realize I've made mistake with postage and will be giving the things away.
- my presence is demanded to help get garden furniture out of the attic. I didn't need all my toes anyway.
-BBQ - great, I only have to organise food, table, drinks - clean up everything but not cook. Isn't that thoughtful
- Son washes garden furniture - what a saint
-daughter wants mother to drive her to rail station. 30 minutes there and 30 minutes back. 12 speed cameras, 18 sets of traffic lights and creativity slumping every minute that passes.
- son has already left when i get back.
-Hooray- me time.
- son has left hose running - water bill will now be huge. Husband discovers that son has left hose on for the whole of last week while we were away. Huge bill will now be giant huge bill.
-Damn - plot crisis, character crisis, worry over water bill
- husband calls for tea
-husband calls for food
-husband calls for - well he can forget that.
8.00pm - delete all 150 words I managed today.
Bedtime.


-

Nick DiChario

Another epic novel made it into print this month, and I wanted to add my two cents in promoting it. Based on Nick DiChario’s first novel being such a success, knowing he’s a talented intellectual with a delightful sense of humor, I can’t wait to get my copy of VALLEY OF DAY-GLO.

I had the privilege of Nick’s help when I took my first, non-college, writing class. Not only a remarkable teacher, a quote from him gets me through the low spots as I attempt to break into the sci-fi market. ‘Wonderful weird.’ And those 2 words are all I’ll say about me.

In Nick’s words:

My first novel, A Small and Remarkable Life, is set in the middle 1800s and is as much historical as it is science fiction (maybe even more so). I did a lot of historical research on how people lived and survived in those days, and some of it even got into the book.

My second novel is completely different. Valley of Day-Glo is a far-future, post-apocalyptic comedy written in the absurdist tradition of some of my favorite authors (Franz Kafka, Mikhail Bulgakov, Samuel Beckett, Kurt Vonnegut, for example.) The story has a completely different style and tone from my previous novel, and I hope my readers will enjoy the departure.

A blurb I copied of Small and Remarkable Life:

The much-anticipated first novel by Hugo and World Fantasy Award nominee Nick DiChario puts a spin on the story of being stranded on an alien planet, cut off from your own people, unsuited to your new environment, and physically different from everyone else. This is what the young alien Tink Puddah must face when his parents are killed on their first day on Earth in the year 1845, and Tink finds himself stranded in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York.

A story of courage, determination, hope, and survival, A Small and Remarkable Life chronicles the journey of two people headed in very different directions: the alien Tink Puddah, a lonely outsider who finds the strength and resources within him to endure the most brutal and unforgiving conditions, and the holy man Jacob Piersol, determined to save Tink's soul, but tortured by his own past and the God who seems unable to console him.

A blurb I copied of Day-Glo:

In the grand tradition of Vonnegut's absurdist fiction, Nick DiChario’s second novel Valley of Day-Glo, a post apocalyptic satire, tells the story of young Indian brave named Broadway Danny Rose and his search for the mythic titular valley where "death becomes life".

Following a nuclear blast, the Iroquois are among humanity's only survivors. Some have returned to the ways of the past, while others attempt to honor those same traditions, while at the same time drawing their names from the buried remnants of white (or Honio’o) society. Many take their names from films or theatre, such as Broadway Danny's parents, Mother Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Father The Outlaw Josey Wales.

Using Iroquois myth and tradition as a touchstone, DiChario skillfully roasts our materialistic and gluttonous society. Danny's journey from his homeland to the mythic Valley leads him to civil war, love and loss, hermitage and pyramid schemes. Science fiction is often called the genre of ideas, and Valley of Day-Glo is no exception.

AWARDS:

World Fantasy Award nominee

Nominated for two Hugo Awards

John W. Campbell Award nominee for Best New Writer

A Small and Remarkable Life was nominated for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best SF Novel of the Year (2006).

Some of Nick's plays have been presented in Geva Theatre’s Regional Playwrights Festival in upstate New York

WEB SITE: http://www.nickdichario.com/

--Arlene

Writers At Play

In my internet wanderings, I found this blog of like-minded writers and accepted their invitation to "steal" their "Writers At Play" logo and install it on our blog. See lower right. (I figured since they posted an invite, they wouldn't mind a spontaneous snatch.) Since we are also writers at play, I couldn't resist.

Click on the icon to visit their site, or click in the link list under "Other Blogs/Sites of Interest."

Moonstruck to be Released May 25

In my blog site wanderings, it came to my attention that Susan Grant's MOONSTRUCK will be released later this month (May 25). I'm looking forward to reading it, as the advance reviews indicate it will be an edgier Sci Fi Rom...maybe even a breakthrough novel.

Here's the link to Susan Grant's web page featuring MOONSTRUCK. (Dawn, I'm sure you already have this one earmarked. :) )

http://www.susangrant.com/books/moonstruck.htm

I don't want to miss this one.

Long books

Does the length of a book matter when you choose what you want to read? The days of the bonk-busters are sort of over but every now and again, I come across an enormously long book by an author I like and have to do a hard think over whether to buy it. Last time I was in the States, I bought 'The Summer Garden' by Paullina Simons. I've read everything she's written. Loved them all. The Summer Garden is the third book in a trilogy about Alexander and Tatiana. It's a whopping 839 pages. Very hard to hold when you're lying in the sun!!! It was a great story and I was so invested in the lives of the characters by the end that I sobbed for the last 50 or so pages. Not because someone had died but because I couldn't stand to think that they might. After 839 pages I was in the story with them in a way I haven't found with shorter books. BUT I think you'd really need to be a fan of Ms Simmons to even buy this size of book in the first place. I saw a few reviews that claimed it was rather repetitive. I disagree. She built the world of their relationship in great detail and made me understand the strengths and weaknesses in their marriage. Maybe she didn't need 839 pages but I was hooked all the way through.

The Blue Devils

This is the US Blue Devils, a military horse unit my spouse is a member of, carrying in the colors at the Rolex Horse trials, the largest horse show in North America. Over 75,000 people on the grounds, 25,000 in the stands and a world wide television audience of over 1 billion. This is the first time in the history of this event that any Army unit has been allowed to carry in the colors.

Left to right CW4 Dyk on "Piet Hein" SFC Babb on "Calvin" and Captain Avison on "Capito."

The event is being rebroadcast on Euro Sport, and NBC will do a one hour special on May 4 from 5pm to 6pm EDT. That will cover the entire three day event.

PERFECT TIMING Party!

I found the perfect cake for our little Take it to the Stars Book Launch Party.

What do you think? ;)

OK, pass the champagne and party snacks. It's almost time...

Congratulations, Barbara, on your book debut!

Wednesday is the BIG DAY!

PERFECT TIMING by our own Barbara Elsborg is now on the launchpad.

Barbara's debut novel is a funny, steamy romp that takes place during a role-play murder mystery weekend at an English manor.

Release date: April 30th

Ellora's Cave

Ellora's Cave Romantica Publishing - Home/New Releases

News Flash! Read Barbara's interview about PERFECT TIMING on the Toasted Scimitar blog.

http://www.toasted-scimitar.blogspot.com/

Read Barbara's interview on LadyJaided e-magazine here:

Lady Jaided, the Ellora's Cave Magazine

Read Dawn's promotional blurb here:

http://takeittothestars.blogspot.com/2008/04/perfect-timing.html

Another Landmark

Take it to the Stars surpassed 2,500 hits today. :)

Thanks for reading us.

Make Sure I'm Not in the Lead

My First 'Not a Comment':

Blog: Maintain or add content to a website. Intimidating. Might as well be up on stage giving a speech, but no shot of vodka makes it easier. The words once blogged are always out there...kind of like being published. How exciting! No hook, synopsis nightmare. Yes, I like this!

Writer: One who creates written word. Fill that whiteness. Characters perform or they get tortured-killer, and never get the girl-boy-alien, once their creator hits the delete key. Yes, I like this!

From grandparents to pre-schoolers, cell phones fill the air. Personal websites connect us in ways I never would have imagined as a child sitting in an apple tree, hiding from siblings and chores, reading classic and cartoons.

The world is smaller, yet expanding so vast with endless creations for everyone to share. Multitudes of universes created by authors everywhere, pictures and audio posted for anyone with connection to enjoy or rant about. Yep, interesting times.

Yet, I can't get over the little things. Despite being shown, oh I say twice, he'll say 18 times by my son how to lose that stupid little icon thing in the corner of the cell screen saying I missed a call, its bugging me on my phone now.

And now the next step to master without asking for direction, it seems too silly, is how to post. So, I'm messing around, driving aimlessly.

Laurie, if this shows, remember your meds. You keep thinking I'm real, but I'm only the drop-dead gorgeous heroine in your latest WIP (work in progress for the acronym challenged) so, delete me! Yes, able to be deleted, I like this!

Here's to losing chunks of time, writing unreality into concrete form.

Take: A manner of getting something into ones possession or control. Aggressive
It: A cousin in the Adam's family. Silly
To: Denoting a motion toward. Literal
The: He hung on a T. Visual
Stars: Massive luminous balls of ionized gas. Wondrous--I love these times we life in.

MAGIC LOST, TROUBLE FOUND Nomination

Lisa Shearin has shared some great news:

This is what I've been waiting to tell everyone!! *HUGE GRIN* Since it's been announced over on Science Fiction Awards Watch http://www.sfawardswatch.com/ I can officially announce it myself:

Magic Lost, Trouble Found is one of five finalists for the Compton Crook/Stephen Tall Memorial Award for the best debut novel of the year. The award is voted on by members of the Baltimore Science Fiction Society and will be awarded at their annual convention (Balticon) on Memorial Day weekend.

Needless to say, I was thrilled and amazed to be included in such great company. Check out the other nominees -- WOW!:

The Blade Itself, Joe Abercombie (Pyr)

The Outback Stars, Sandra McDonald (Tor)

The Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss (DAW)

Magic Lost, Trouble Found, Lisa Shearin (Ace)

One Jump Ahead, Mark Van Name (Baen)


Being a huge fan, I'm very excited. (As if you couldn't tell?)

Congratulations, Lisa!!!!!

P.S. Lisa's next book in the series ARMED & MAGICAL premiers on April 29, a day before Barbara's PERFECT TIMING is released on April 30.

*\o/* *\o/* *\o/* *\o/* *\o/* *\o/* *\o/*

Bullying

It seems to me that every day in the papers there's an article about bullying and people suing schools years later because they were bullied and the school did nothing. Parents are quick to rail if their child is picked on. It makes me wonder if its worse now that it was when I was at school or just that perceptions suggest that. I was bullied because I was tall. 5' 10 and three quarter inches. I was called all sorts of names and spent many nights crying into my pillow. It cut me off from any sort of relationship with boys at school because they were all smaller than me. Being the tallest girl in school aged 12 was no fun. But it made me a writer. In my stories I could be the heroine, the one that got the guy, that saved the day and I created a world where I could be happy. I read voraciously - in those days the library got shirty if you took a book back the same day because they weren't prepared to sort through the tickets manually. No problem now the computer has taken over. I read maybe 10 books a week all through my teens. The boys in the books never called me names. They were the ones I fell in love with. And that's why I fall in love with every hero I create. My favourite is Charlie - a popstar turning film star who has so many problems he tries to kill himself. He's just begging to be saved by my heroine. I just need to find a publisher who agrees with me.

Part II. Adventures in House-Flipping and Multiple Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Let Your Husband Watch Home Improvement Shows.

Day 12: Today was all about ripping out walls and ceilings, gutting the monster where it sits. Gone are the boxes of mouse poop, musty magazines and discarded clothing. Nothing but walls and ceilings. My husband has decided I will be of more use at our house for the time being. What am I talking about? I know, I know. He really needed me down there. Yes and no. Things are getting a bit more complicated. My husband gathered the family earlier this week to lay the news on us. We’re not just flipping it now; we’re going to be moving in when we’re done.

So what’s all this mean? Well... It means for one, I’ve got not only one house to fix up, but two. My mission, should I chose to accept it, and I didn’t have a choice, is to pack up and stage the home I’ve lived in for 15 years. I hummed and hawed about where to start for at least an hour, then finally decided on the kitchen.

First off, where did all this stuff come from? I don’t remember having moved this much in. The first item to go, Tupperware lids. I had boxes and boxes of Tupperware lids and not a container in sight to put them on. Seems the husband likes to take the dishes, but only bring the lids home. Which begs one to ask, where do they go? I mean is it like the socks when you stick them in the dryer? Do they rearrange their molecules and shift to another plain? Where? It’s a mystery. However, I can tell you where the lids went. Recyclable plastics. Therefore, if you’re looking for a couple hundred lids for your topless Tupperware containers, there you go.

Of course, my duties don’t end there. Oh no, that would be too easy. Seems I’ve opened a catering business. Yes, you heard me. I cooked a ham dinner, with all the trimmings packed it up, and hauled it down to the work site to feed the men. I set up tables and had the whole picnic thing going. It smelled good, looked good. I was so proud of the spread I’d put on. We had a beautiful day for it too. Sixty-degree temps and sunshine. What more could a girl ask for?

An animal control officer, for one.

Yes, our picnic was invaded by not one, not two, or even three dogs. Across the way is a farmhouse that the owner doesn’t live in, but her pets do. They busted out of the fence and were on the food in five seconds flat. I had four dogs, six cats and one guinea hen. It was awful. They were jumping up on the table, in the cars, on your lap, in your plates. Worse yet, they were neglected and half-starved. And the scary thing, the dogs have bitten the neighbours before. Yikes. I had to throw the ham and run. It was a feeding frenzy. I went home and made egg salad sandwhiches and the crew ate in their vehicles.

I did call animal control. Not only for the condition of the animals that raided our picnic, but for the condition of the farm animals across the street in the barnyard. Never in my life have I seen such horrible neglect. There was this donkey, his hoofs were at least six inches long and curled up on the ends like Arabian slippers. The hooves of several sheep and horses, though not as bad, were cracked to the tops and the animals lame. Tomorrow the state is paying them a visit. The last thing I wanted to do was move into the neighbourhood and make enemies. But some things you can’t turn your back on, and the abuse of animals is one of them.

Okay I've donned a pair of ruby slippers and I'm going to click my heels together and none of this will be happening. Right? Okay here I go. Wait, how about some magic words too. Bippity-boppity-boo, or is it Alakazam? Whatever, work with me, okay? I never had girls, my cartoon viewing was limited to Ninja Turtles, Sponge Bob and Rin and Stimpy. Here we go. There's no place like home...

Damn. I'll see you next week with more updates.

Stephenie Meyer

I've just finished "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer. What a story! I can't remember now why I bought it. I think I must have seen a review that praised it somewhere. Maybe on Critique Circle but this book is a real find. The interesting thing is that it's written for YA. It deals with protagonists in high school so I was a little wary of whether I'd find it interesting. But I did.
The cover is sensational. Simple and elegant as are the others in the series. Very striking. The cover alone would have made me pick it up to read the blurb.
Well, the story is about 17 year old Bella who goes to live with her father in the wettest place in the USA - in Washington State. She thinks life in the small town will be dull. Of course it isn't. She quickly becomes popular at school except with Edward Cullen. Its not giving anything away to say that Edward and his family are vampires. Edward is terrified by his attraction to Bella and so a love story is born. I think any romantic teenager or would be teenager like me - will love it.

It brought out the issue again to me of cover art, though. Until a week ago I had never read Jodi Picoult -I think that's how it's spelt. The covers feature dreamy looking child-like women and I presumed the stories were about children with terrible backgrounds - abuse etc. The one I read is called 'Mercy' and nothing like the cover led me to believe. From reviews I've read, this book is not so popular with her faithful fans but I'm glad I read it and sad that the covers put me off reading her before.

More on PERFECT TIMING

With only a little over two weeks until PERFECT TIMING is released by Ellora's Cave, I thought a little taste of what the book is about might be in order. Kudos to Dawn for writing this great teaser.

How to Seduce a Priest.

Dress as a Nun. Check.

Wear red lace underwear and stiletto heels. Check.

Drop face first in your desert and wait for the mouth to mouth. Double check.

Okay, so he wasn’t a Priest, and Daisy wasn’t a Nun, but she was really getting into the role-playing. Overall, he was her best choice. Hot, tall, rich and young. Especially young. He was also the host for the 60’s murder mystery weekend, and her best shot at rescuing her getaway from disaster.

When she’d read a 60’s murder mystery weekend, Daisy had been thinking, hippies, free love and tie dye, not varicose veins and false teeth. So, she missed one teeny, tiny word on the brochure. Over. As in, over 60’s, over the hill and when will this weekend be over?

Not one to spoil the fun for everyone else, Daisy decides to stick it out. With the hot host on the prowl, it might not be so bad.

Of course, every time she encounters Jake, she finds herself looking like an idiot. From almost knocking the… uh, bits and pieces off the statuary, to strolling in late with a sheep, she’s made quite the impression. Like an escaped mental patient. And sliding down the well-waxed banister and landing on her bum in front of him... Not a good idea.

When her charming host dresses her as a nun, Daisy wants to scream. Another impression she didn't want to make. Pious. Soon, she begins to wonder if she should go home and write the holiday off.

On the other hand, maybe not… He did wear that costume well.

Bless me father, for I have sinned...or I’d really like to.

Adventures In House Flipping

For all of you that have been dying to see these, here they are. These were taken after a solid week of hauling out rubbish. But, I think you'll get the idea. Sorry, I hate to disappoint and not post pictures of the funnel, but a girls got to draw the line somewhere. Take note of the sill and roof-line. We will be jacking this baby up and blocking under it. Please excuse the dates on the camera. Husband malfunction.

Along the front you can see white letters. They spell out Rhythm Ranch. My husband in his infinite wisdom when he repaints the exterior, wants to repaint this name back on. Why? Is it so charming it needs to stay?