cold weather/criticism

Hello, How about the cold weather we're having. Yesterday, with the wind chill, the temperature dipped to -39. So...I didn't go out and water our rink. It was too cold. It's supposed to warm up tomorrow. Of course our snow is not quite as dramatic as the snow on te coast. I've heard from friends and relatives who live in Vancouver and Victoria that they have just about shut down because of the snow. I lived in Victoria and know they have a "few" snowplows. Hmm. Not enough when it snows a foot. In Calgary we have the equipment to clean the roads but that didn't help the other night when I heard on the radio there were over 200 fender benders.
Okay, so now I'm going to change topics but only because...it's been cold so I've been inside more and reading this list group I subscribe to but usually don't read. There has been some discussion on how we should all have the freedom to criticize books in whatever way we want. I do agree with constructive criticism, it's necessary to be a good writer and to keep improving. I'm all for it. But when people make the feedback personal and vindictive to make themselves look good that's when I say, enough. To me there's enough crap going on in the world that there's no need to be mean. Why do some people feel they have to be mean to be heard? I can say, The Da Vinci Code was not my cup of tea, and I felt the characters were a bit cardboard. I thought the plot was clever though. But that couldn't hold my attention and I didn't finish the book. But I certainly wouldn't say it was crap and I threw the book across the room it was so bad. To me that's a nasty comment. And not needed. My brother didn't read my book See Fox Run. He's a doctor on Ontario and the book is a mystery but is a little dark. He doesn't read dark mysteries because he sees a lot of stuff on a daily basis that he doesn't like reading about the same stuff. He likes Agatha Christie. Can I say he's a bum. No, he expressed himself in a kind manner and I'm not going to beat him over the head with my book. Someone else will read it and love it. All, I'm saying here, is criticism is vital to a writer but not when it is mean-spirited. I'm not sure how everyone else feels about this but...I'll leave it at that.

Leave the past in the past/TGIF/My Rink

Well, finally, I got my blog back up and running. It took awhile because I just couldn't figure it out. Oh well. Leave the past in the past right. I heard a talk show today --radio, my kids hate it when I listen to talk radio--anyway the host was talking to the daughter of Richard Pryor and she just released a book about her childhood. Her mom and dad split when she was young, and she shared time between her father's house and her mother's. Mostly with her mom though. This woman --her name is Rayne Pryor (I may be off on the spelling), had a father who was a famous comedian and a mother who was a go-go dancer. Crazy for sure and very different than the Mom and Pop situation most of us have. In fact, listening to her, I couldn't believe what kind of childhood she had and how normal she sounded. Her dad's house was party central and I guess he wasn't exactly a nice guy when he wasn't making people laugh. In fact, he was mean. And her mother never asked for child support so they lived in an apartment and made ends meet. Remember she was a go-go dancer. That child support situation wouldn't happen in Hollywood today, that's for sure. I've been a bit off memoirs lately, just because I think the market got totally saturated with them, but this one, I thought I might pick up just because this woman sounded so upbeat and positive about her crazy childhood. She loved her father and even her father couldn't figure out why she did. To me, she left the past in the past and moved on with her life. I liked her postive outlook on life. I'll find out the name of the book because it has escaped me, which brings me to my next topic. Thank god it's Friday!!!! I mean, really, I'm a dolt when I can't even remember the name of a book I want to read. Anyway, have a great weekend everyone. I might post tomorrow, now that I'm up and running, although I'm building our rink. When I figure out how to put pictures on this blog I'll show you our rink. It's huge and at this time of year takes so much time. But what's great about watering it is---I think of a lot of plot lines to keep me warm!

School visits/promotion

One of the highlights of being a children's author is heading out to schools for presentations. I really enjoy the children and all the wonderful questions they ask. And I get to promote my books. Whoops. Am I not supposed to promote. There is the funny thing that authors talk about a lot and it's called BSP--Blatant Self Promotion. Some authors say BSP as if it's a swear word and others, like me, don't really know yet what it is. I've looked the acronym up in the dictionary and it's not there. What is it? Telling people about your books? Doing book signings? Trying to generate new readers? Phoning newspapers to try and get someone to write an article about you? I'm just not really sure. The way I look at it, you have to do some promotion or your book will sit on the shelf and no one will buy it. I don't believe in pushing my books but when I first published there were moments when I felt a bit like a vacuum cleaner salesperson. I have an author friend, Cheryl Kaye Tardif, and she lives in Edmonton and is the best promoter I've ever seen. Does she BSP? Probably. But she's awesome at it and I tell you being beside her at the Edmonton Women's show was an eye-opener. I took notes. I had a booth at the women's show beside her and I marvelled at how good she was at selling her books. She had is down to a fine art. And you know what, she's a super person, very friendly and a darn good salesperson. I don't think that how she draws people to her is wrong. In fact, I want her to write a book on what to do. Anyway, that's my bit on that. So, now I can tell you, I'm off to Vancouver on Friday to go to a Vancouver Giants game where they are giving some of my books away as prizes and setting up a table for me to sell my books. They are doing a sign for me and guess what--I'm thrilled. If I'm BSPing at the game too bad. I can't wait. And then I'm off to Penticton to be a part of the Penticton Read and Succeed program which is also a tremendous opportunity to promote my books. So, I say, authors, promote!! You can't sell books if you don't. Bottom line.