AuthorScoop expands its regular features today with the addition of AuthorCast, an audio/visual book preview series, hosted by, well, me.
Our inaugural episode is an interview with journalist, novelist, world traveler, Masha Hamilton. Masha's fourth novel, '31 Hours' is released next week from Unbridled Books. Part thriller, part poetry, part social commentary, '31 Hours' will open a door to reflection and discussion at the closing of the back cover.
Here's what Masha had to say about a few of the bigger issues in '31 Hours'
August 2009
Killer Nashville was rousing success, as expected. Even my own little presentation, Write What You Know - Learn What You Don't was greeted with enthusiasm -- at 8:30 in the morning!
And a word of gratitude and affection for my Nashville friends, old and new (or the friends I only seem to see in Nashville) - Butch Wilson, Mike Breedlove, Beth Terrell, Phillip Lacy, Clay Stafford, Addie King, Coleen Greenlee, Ernie Lancaster, Dan Royce, and Tom Robinson.
Only eleven months until we get to do it again.Far too long, if you ask me.
February 4, 2009
When someone endorses the 'amazing talent' of their 'good friend', it's often suspected that at least one of those two tags has been exaggerated.
But I've been blessed to know a small circle of writers who I can crow over with full conviction, both for their talent and for the texture they've brought to my life.
Austin-based poet, William Haskins, is one of those writers. Working with him on AuthorScoop is a pleasure that makes me smarter every day and now there's this:
If I went on as I'm inclined to do, it might come off as undignified. (And as ready as I usually am to make a fool of myself, I wouldn't want that hooked to this particular occasion.) As it is, I'll say that if you are in any way interested in excellent contemporary poetry, get it while it's hot.
Sixty-six Haskins poems is the perfect primer on how you should feel after taking in the best possible words in their most evocative order.
October 2008
Pleased to be coordinating with my sources (including Special Agent Mike Breedlove with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and Dr. Hugh Berryman) for my presentation on:
Write What You Know and If You Don't Know, Ask: Writers and Research
for next summer's Killer Nashville 2009 Writer's Conference
September/October 2008
Bestselling authors Alex Kava and Jason F. Wright spoke with me at PsychJourney.com on their new releases and the hows and whys of the job. Good stuff.
July 23, 2008
Sometimes 'The End' is more of an exercise than anything else. As such, The Liar's Marginis still in progress. Ah well. Good thing I like doing this...
July 20, 2008
There've been a slew of new interviews for me over at PsychJourney.com and I've started exploring truth in fiction with two authors about their debut novels. Christina Meldrum spoke to me about her fantastic book, Madapple and Jessica Brody let us inside the world of 'fidelity inspectors' in her controversial, The Fidelity Files.
I've talked to Kate McLaughlin about Mommy I'm Still In Here, an intense, heartbreaking, and sometimes triumphant account of a family battling mental illness. And Darcey Steinke let told me how she came to non-fiction with her memoir, Easter Everywhere.
Of course, it’s not the end. The
Liar’s Margin will weather a couple of editorial passes and at least one more
very important beta approval.
But I did it.
I am not a one note tenor.
I am very, very pleased and soon to be very, very tipsy.
Cheers!
May 11, 2008
I'm just back from The
Atlanta Writers Club Conference and am adding them, and a few people I
met to the contacts list.
A great time was had
by all, except perhaps for the replacement band who didn't realize that
playing to a hundred writers who only wished they'd be quiet wasn't going
to be much fun. We all spent most of the evening running away from
them or rejoicing at the set breaks. Gotta feel bad for them, as
they worked hard. But in all fairness, they were supposed
to be a sedate jazz quartet. And the lights were supposed to be
on. We were networking, not looking to play spin-the-bottle.
Many thanks to Marty
Aftewicz, George Weinstein, Cheryl Mills, John Sheffield, and George Scott
for making me feel so welcomed. Hope to see you all again, soon!
April 19 , 2008
I've been invited
to join AuthorScoop as
a contributing editor. It's neat on more than one level, as I thought a
news portal for writers was a fine project to begin with. To have
been endorsed by AuthorScoop's creator and editor, William Haskins, feels
like a big deal.
Come take a
peek!
Mostly only writers
will be able to appreciate this development, but I'm very, very excited to
be able to say that I've managed today (March 23) to pin a title on my
endless work-in-progress. For me, it's a real milestone. I
feel like I've finally got this project by the scruff of the neck.
Which is pretty handy, considering I've pledged to pitch it at a
conference in only a few weeks' time.
It's called, The Liar's Margin.
Wish me luck!
And such is the
fiction-writing game. As of March 2008, I have a couple of queries
out (letters to make an agent or editor ask to see a manuscript) for my
completed novel and a submission, to Alfred Hitchcock Magazine, pending
for my short story, Heritage.
The big news for now
is the launch of this site. And for that, I'm going to need to issue
some thanks, first of all, to my husband, Art, and to my friend, William
Haskins, for believing that a nice cyber-home for my work was more than
just a vanity project. Starting out as writer can leave you
stranded, repeatedly, on the ice floe of
who-exactly-the-hell-do-you-think-you-are-? That gets reinforced in
all sorts of ways. So it really means something when people whom you
admire lend their encouragement. The support of those I respect is
the only paycheck I get for my efforts these days. But they pay
well, my brilliant friends and relatives. I'm so lucky.
For the design of this site, I am doubly blessed to have a
talented friend, who also happens to be my sister-in-law. Kate
Arredondo does freelance web design and can be contacted at kate.kreations@gmail.com for rates and
consultation.
Hardly last, and in
addition to those loved and thanked above, I have to include my specific
gratitude to a few people who make me think I can be a writer at
all: Graeme Cameron, my
mentor/editor/flogger/ muse and friend; Rob
McCreery, a brilliant poet and dear friend, as well as my very own
Vegemite dealer; Marcella Stevenson, beta-reader extraordinaire and guru;
Carmen Mason, the most hilarious and reliable sister I could ask for;
Jeanne Miller-Mason, my hugely talented mother; Nat Sherwood, my
little sister; Jessica Coffey and Ursula Osterberg, the best friends I've
ever had; and all the characters at AbsoluteWrite.com, for connecting me
to the world I want, through people who never cease to amaze me. And
that's even sometimes a compliment.
To
honor this occasion, I've just cracked a bottle of champagne over the hull
of my brain, so I'll update this news feature as soon as there's anything
to tell, or once I'm released from the hospital – whichever comes first.
