Big thanks to those wonderful high-heeled divas for hosting me today!
(Clears throat.)
(Okay. Now what do I say?)
I’m Anne Carter, author of paranormal romantic mysteries. First published in 1998, working on my 6th novel… (yawn) I’ve been blogging for a couple of years now. I vacillate between personal, newsy, gossipy stuff and eloquent, factual mini-biographies of people I find interesting (see The Word From Beacon Street.) But when asked to GUEST blog, I begin to obsess over what to write about. I mean, what if I disappoint? What if their last blogger was Ray Bradbury or Kirk Douglas?
Note to the curious: around the time my last book debuted, I very excitedly approached my local Bumpty-Bump Bookstore and squashed down my shrinking violet shyness by suggesting that, perhaps, just maybe, I could please do a wee little booksigning within their hallowed walls? It went something like this:
Me: “Here’s my press kit, there’s a copy of POINT SURRENDER in there too, it’s a great story about this abandoned lighthouse in northern California, and the people who own it now, who try to figure out what happened to the last keeper, he’s dead, you see, but they need to find out why, and there’s a ghost… it’s published by Echelon Press, and, um, I’m signing next weekend at the Bumpty-Bump Bookseller in Ventura, but I have a lot of people who want to come here to buy a book from me… er, you…my book that is…”
Young Bob Bitchen, CRM for Valencia Bumpty-Bump Booksellers: “Wow, that’s really cool. Yeah, uh, thanks. We do always like to support local authors. Let me look this over and I’ll get back to you.”
Note-within-a-Note: This would have been a very good time to have my good friend and fellow Echelon Press author, Jeff Sherratt, with me. Young Bob B. would’na had a chance.
Me: “Oh, great, thanks so much…”
Me, one month later, reading local newspaper: “Nice. Says here Ray Bradbury is coming here next month. And just after that, Kirk Douglas will be signing his new book.” Grumbling, deep frown. Aloud, to husband: “And who the h*ll is Trace Adkins?” So this is why I am particularly sensitive to [still very worthy] authors like Bradbury and Douglas. (Who is Adkins again?) (End of note.)
So I went to one of those prompt generator thing websites. Surely, here I’d find something to blog about. I clicked through about 50 of them before I shook my head. “Why would anyone want to know about my happiest, or worst, high school memories?” I said aloud to my laptop, I guess, since no one else was listening. Or how about, my ten favorite words. Hmm, let’s see… Serendipity. Auspicious. Articulate. Superfluous. Space-Time-Continuum. Oh wait. That’s three. Oh! Hypotenuse. (Okay, so I was helping my daughter with math last night.) How about Chocolate? (Sure, I’ll have some!) Tenth word: YUM.
What do you want to be remembered for? Sure, I’ll bite that one. Aside from the usual of being a good mother, wife, sister, daughter, friend, I want to be remembered as someone who made others feel better at some point in their lives. Not like Florence Nightingale, but just someone who brings something to the day that makes someone else smile.
I want to be remembered as someone who wasn’t afraid to try to write a whole book and get it published. A person who loved lighthouses, dolls, photography and travel. Ice cream, Mexican food, classic rock and old Hollywood movies. Warm weather over cold, the window seat on the plane, and long, very hot bubble baths.
But I digress. I still haven’t found a good topic to write about. Can I come back when I think of something?
Anne
Anne Carter is the author of paranormal romantic mystery, POINT SURRENDER, from Echelon Press, Amazon and Fictionwise. Visit Anne at BeaconStreetBooks.com.
Actually that was a great post, fun and certainly real. Having to think up topics for blogs is a challenge, that's for sure. I'm glad you visited.
ReplyDeleteMarilyn
aka F.M. Meredith
http://fictionforyou.com
I'm still laughing. What a hilarious post.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read Point Surrender. You're obviously a marvelous writer.
SO--what do you think about bookstore signings, anyway? Love em? Hate em? Only good if Trace Adkins is there?
For me, bookstore signings have been hit-and-miss. At my best one, I sold 25 books. And that was a group signing, with 4 other authors. I did one where no one showed up. I do know this, you must be proactive. You must be willing to step up, greet people, engage them. It helps if you are naturally gregarious, or if you have an acting background!
ReplyDeleteI've gotten better at them over the years, but I sense I'll never be like my friend Jeff, who tells the bookseller how many copies to order, then guarantees the sale of every one--he stays at the store until they are gone. To my knowledge, he's never had to spend the night yet.
Thanks for your kind comment. Catch my next guest star appearance on March 5 at http://mysteriouspeople.blogspot.com/
(Hope I can come up with something fun by then!)
Anne
http://beacon-street.blogspot.com