Friday, March 23, 2012

My first blog tour

Wow, it is almost time for my first blog tour.  For those of you that may not be familiar with this concept(I know I wasn't before I wrote a book) a blog tour is where you can hop from blog to blog and follow me as I do interviews, vlogs, and other cool stuff. (I feel so exposed:)  I'm also excited to give away, three hard copies of Unbreakable Love and also three copies of the e-book, but you have to visit the blogs of these talented and gracious bloggers to win!!! So please tell anyone who might be interested about the tour.  Below, I've listed the days and the web addresses. Enjoy!

Tuesday April 3- http://www.memyshelfandi.com/

Thursday April 5- http://thebookmystress.blogspot.com/

Saturday April  7   http://talesofbooksandbands.com/ 

Monday April 9-  http://www.goodchoicereading.com/ 

Saturday, March 10, 2012

My First Newspaper Article

When first contacted the Desert Sun in Palm Springs, California to tell them that I was publishing a book that takes place in Palm Springs, I didn’t think I’d ever hear from them.  To my total amazement, I received an email from a Ms. Sone showing interest in doing an interview with me.  Several weeks later, I was driving  the familiar path between Phoenix and Palm Springs on my way to meet with Ms. Sone.  As I waited (a little nervously to be honest) in the large foyer enclosed primarily by large glass windows, I wondered what she would ask.  I wondered, what about my life could possibly be interesting enough to write about an any newspaper.  As soon as Ms. Sone came out and greeted me, my nerves immediately settled.  She was kind and down to earth and we sat talking, almost more like two old friends at a coffee shop, rather than interviewer and interviewee.  I noticed, she wrote very little down on the paper she had sitting in front of her.  Little did I know she had an amazing memory.  After the interview was done and I pushed through the large glass doors on my way out of the building, I felt surprisingly light and relieved.  I had done it, I had experienced my first interview and then a terrible thought hit me, what would she actually write?  We have all seen what the media can do to innocent words when twisted or taken out of context.  Maybe, she would see all my flaws and describe them in great detail.  This thought derailed me for a minute, and then a much more satisfying thought followed.  I really didn’t care how the article turned out.  I had the privilege of being a published author.  I was one of the lucky ones.  Since that first interview, I have experienced all kinds of “firsts” as an author and I know the learning curve is still long and deep and I’ve got miles to go from here.  I am sure, just like I was during my first interview, I will not feel comfortable in this business for a long time, but just like I was the day I talked to Ms. Sone, I feel lucky just to have the chance to learn. To see the actual interview go to http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012203070378

Until next time…..

Monday, March 5, 2012

Three Things That Twitter and People Talking in a Bar, Have in Commom

Those of you who know me very well are going to find this post a little ironic, mostly because I don’t hang out in bars, in fact I don’t drink alcohol, not even one drop-not ever. However, I am now a confirmed twitter user and I grew up around lots of people who did in fact drink alcohol and often got their alcohol from a bar.  Sooo, I’ve been thinking about twitter and how it reminds me of the way people talk and meet at bars.  Here is three reasons why.

1.       First, in a bar, no one expects great conversation, just tiny snippets of coherent sentences, enough to get the point across.  For example, “another one please, or your place or mine” This same simplistic style of communication works equally as well on twitter.  You don’t have to bare your soul, just get your point across in 140 characters or less.  In fact, I’m guessing that there have been times at bars when a guy or a girl wishes after listening to someone drone on in a drunken stupor, that a little warning message would pop up that says, that’s too many characters.  You are going to have to be more creative. Please try again.

2.       Second,  people on twitter and people in bars, both "put on a face."  When we pick out our twitter picture, we choose carefully.  Some of us go to the trouble of taking a glamour shot, while others put a picture of our cat. Either way, we put on what I call our dating face.  We present ourselves, in our photos, the way we want to be perceived.  Now, as for the bar, it has been my experience that most people don’t put on their rattiest shoes and clothes, mess up their hair and makeup and then stroll into bar.  It is the same on twitter, we all want to come across as attractive in some way, hence our dating face.  Just as a side note, I am personally glad we put our best foot forward.  I really don’t want to see what’s hidden behind some of those glam shots.

3.       Finally, it is our goal, both on twitter and in a bar to always sound witty.  This holds especially true for those of us that fancy ourselves writers.  I often skim through twitter, thinking how can they be so creative in less than 140 characters, especially when the attached link takes some of those precious letters away. Similarly, it is common for a guy to walk into a bar with a clever well practiced(sometimes only in his mind) opening line or joke that he plans on using on some unsuspecting girl.  Usually, not too long, (after all we are raised on 15 minutes segments of TV shows between commercials) and hopefully funny or clever making it so the person we are talking to thinks that maybe we are funny or clever. 

Either way, whether chatting with a stranger in a bar or wielding our best words on twitter, there are parallels. In both places, we try to sound witty and look gorgeous, and yet, in the end we know not much of substance really will be said. Well, I better finish up now.  I’ve got to check into my twitter account.  See you later.