Skin Cancer Awareness

Hi, friends: I went the entire month of May--Skin Cancer Awareness month--without reminding all of you to bust out the UV protectant clothing and sunscreen. It's not too late, though! We just had a weekend here in NY that was close to 90 degrees every day and very sunny, so I expect that we'll just bypass spring and head straight to summer. Please, please, please remember to wear a hat, sunglasses, and slather yourself with sunscreen. If you don't like sunscreen, buy yourself a lightweight UV protectant jacket (I got a nifty one at Coolibar). And if you need more of a reminder, please watch the amazing video below which includes my peeps--melanoma survivors--who tell their 16-year-old selves what to do. Happy viewing.

Maggie

Heading Off on a Vacation

When my sister and I were kids, our family always went on a summer vacation, even when you had to use gas rationing stamps to buy fuel. I remember wonderful camping trips to Yosemite back in the days when you could camp alongside the Merced River, watch the firefall, and go to the garbage dump and watch the bears eat.

During later years, we camped at Bass Lake, also right on the lake edge (something that's not allowed today) and took two boats, one to water ski behind, and an outboard that we kids could use to go exploring.

As a married adult, my husband and I did have lots of family vacations, always camping trips, and one great adventure where we tent camped with a VW bus clear across the U.S. and back, but that's another story.

For the 23 years we owned, ran and lived in a care home for 6 developmentally disabled women, we always went on a vacation with them, places like Disneyland and Universal Studios. When they went off to camp, we took a few days to ourselves to vacation, sometimes Las Vegas and also several short cruises to Mexico.

Lately, all of our vacations have been to wherever a mystery conference was happening and we've really seen a lot of the U.S. that way, many places we'd have never gone to if the destination didn't include a Bouchercon or Left Coast Crime.

In a week we're heading off on a real vacation though I must confess I'll be having two book events while we're gone. We'll be "camping" with our son and daughter-in-law in their motor home in Sedona AZ. We were there briefly a few years ago and vowed we'd come back. We're going to stay in the same campground we stayed in before, beautiful spot with a stream, swimming pool and lots of trees. But nothing compares to the beauty of Sedona with it's red rocks and contrasting green growth. We're planning on doing a lot of sight-seeing including a Jeep tour.

One afternoon, I'm giving a talk at the Sedona Library about online promotion, and the Saturday we're there I'll be at Kris and Joe Neri's Well Read Coyote bookstore talking about working with small publishers.

I always manage to do something "writerly" while I'm doing something fun like this.

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com/

Lori's Book Sense

Welcome to my first Lori's Book Sense post.  I would like to thank the wonderful women of The Stiletto Gang for asking me to join them here each month. I'm honored!!  Each month I'll share with you a few of my favorite reads from the previous month.  Since this is my first  month I'm going to post a few of my favorite all time reads. 

First I'd like to tell you a little bit about myself and how I got blogging.  For the past 14 years I've worked for my family business. I work with my father and two younger brothers. I have three beautiful nieces.  I just hit the big 4-0 and live with my Maltese puppy Sadie.

 I belonged to a book swapping site ~ www.paperbackswap.com. My friends started calling me “the book pimp” because my book recommendations would cause their wish lists to grow. Several of them started bugging me about doing a book blog. Eventually I gave in and it’s taken off.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would turn into the success it seems to have become. It actually boggles my mind at times.

Overkill by Joseph Teller (4th book in the Jaywalker series)

Harrison J. Walker—Jaywalker, to the world—is a frayed-at-the-edges defense attorney with a ninety-percent acquittal rate, thanks to an obsessive streak a mile wide. But winning this case will take more than just dedication.Seventeen-year-old Jeremy Estrada killed another boy after a fight over a girl: shot him point-blank between the eyes. No one disputes those facts. This kid is jammed up big-time, but almost unable to help himself. He's got the face of an angel but can hardly string together three words to explain what happened that day…yet he's determined to go to trial. All they've got is a "yesbut" defense, as in: "Did you kill him?" "Yes, but…" Jaywalker is accustomed to bending the rules—this case will stretch the law to the breaking point and beyond.

 Trust me, if I ever get into any sort of legal trouble Harrison J Walker (Jaywalker as he likes to be called) is the lawyer I’m going to call.  Overkill is the fourth in the Jaywalker series.  I stumbled on Mr. Teller’s first book a while back and was immediately taken in. Now I anxiously await each next book in the series! Jaywalker is dedicated, hard working, and loyal and determined to a fault. He goes after his cases with guns blaring. He will work himself to the bone, forsaking sleep and food if it means justice for his client.  Too often I find myself reading as fast as I can to find out just where he will take me, but then force myself to slow down so that I can savor every question, every thought, and every emotion. Overkill is a legal thriller on par with any John Grisham or Scott Turow I’ve read. You will marvel at his way with words, at his finesse in the courtroom and his skill when handling witnesses. You too will fall in love with Jaywalker.  

Motherhood is Murder by Diana Orgain

Nights out are hard to come by for new mommy Kate Connelly. So when Kate and her husband are invited to a dinner cruise hosted by her new mommy club, Roo & You, they jump at it. But when the president of the club takes a deadly spill, everyone becomes suspect-and Kate's on deck to solve the mystery.

I adore Kate. She’s funny, charming, goofy, determined, and lovable. She has a husband who adores her and supports her 100%. Her “to do” lists are hysterical – right down to making sure she stops at the library to pick up her copy of The Dummies Guide to Private Investigating. She is head over heels in love with her 7 week old daughter Laurie, but at times feels like she’s not a good enough mother – she doesn’t know if Laurie can hold her head up at a 45 degree angle while having tummy time, she didn’t sign her up for swim classes while she was still pregnant with her and she doesn’t make home made baby food! But what Kate knows is that while all of that is great, what really matters is that she loves her daughter and after that everything else will fall into place. This is a great read for any mother or soon to be mom who is looking for something light and fun to read while the baby is napping or while awaiting its arrival. The discovery of the murderer and their reasons behind are a shocking twist that many won’t see coming. Motherhood Is Murder is a fun, fast, cozy read that will keep its readers entertained and anxiously awaiting the next installment. A must read.

Henry's Sisters by Cathy Lamb

Ever since the Bommarito sisters were little girls, their mother, River, has written them a letter on pink paper when she has something especially important to impart. And this time, the message is urgent and impossible to ignore—River requires open-heart surgery, and Isabelle and her sisters are needed at home to run the family bakery and take care of their brother and ailing grandmother. Isabelle has worked hard to leave Trillium River, Oregon, behind as she travels the globe taking award-winning photographs. It’s not that Isabelle hates her family. On the contrary, she and her sisters Cecilia, an outspoken kindergarten teacher, and Janie, a bestselling author, share a deep, loving bond. And all of them adore their brother, Henry, whose disabilities haven’t stopped him from helping out at the bakery and bringing good cheer to everyone in town.But going home again has a way of forcing open the secrets and hurts that the Bommaritos would rather keep tightly closed—Isabelle’s fleeting and too-frequent relationships, Janie’s obsessive compulsive disorder, and Cecilia’s self-destructive streak and grief over her husband’s death. Working together to look after Henry and save their flagging bakery, Isabelle and her sisters begin to find answers to questions they never knew existed, unexpected ways to salve the wounds of their childhoods, and the courage to grasp surprising new chances at happiness.Poignant, funny, and as irresistible as one of the Bommarito sisters’ delicious giant cupcakes, Henry’s Sisters is a novel about family and forgiveness, about mothers and daughters, and about gaining the wisdom to look ahead while still holding tight to everything that matters most.

Will coming home to Trillium River be the wake up call that this family needs? Will they be able to finally deal with the trauma’s of their lives and finally find peace and happiness? Will they once and for all get the answers that they’ve unknowingly been searching for? But just when things seem as if they are finally turning around they get the most crushing, heart breaking news they could ever get. They are faced with something that they are not willing to deal with and could very well destroy any of the progress that they’ve made. It is now time for them to put everything else aside and come together as a family.

A beautifully written tale of one families struggles and triumphs. Of how they overcome adversity and figure out a way to move on with their lives. Of how to love and trust again. Of forgiveness and family. Full of laugh out loud moments and heartbreaking scenes, scenes that will have you crying as you read them, Henry’s Sisters is one story that you will regret not reading.

Life is Too Short to Eat Boring Rice

by Rachel Brady

I saw a billboard with this phrase today and thought to myself, “Yes. Life is too short to eat boring rice.” It is too short to do a lot of things.

Life is too short for me to wear clothes that don’t fit right just because I already own them. So what? I’ll give them away and then somebody else can own them. Problem solved.

It’s too short for painful shoes. Although, I will wear them to dress up.
Because life is also too short not to dress up sometimes.

Life is too short for me to bother with that little, almost-gone, flat and skinny yet not quite useless piece of soap that is left right before a bar disintegrates. I’m finished with that piece of soap.

Life’s too short to gut out reading a book that isn’t amazing. There are more incredible books in the world than I can read in my lifetime. I’m gonna stick with those.

Life is too short not to wear perfume even when it’s just me and the dishwasher.

Life is too short to say no to something today because of something that might happen tomorrow. That something also might not happen tomorrow. Where will that leave me? Wishing I’d done something different yesterday, that’s where.

Life’s too short to worry about what people think about me. Who am I to think they are thinking anything about me? That’s kind of narcissistic. Instead I’ll assume nobody is thinking anything about me. Then I can do whatever I want. I’ll have way more fun.

Life is too short to eat high-calorie but utterly boring food, like stale cookies from the supermarket. Yes to 400 calorie divine food, like the homemade, glorious brownies that my friend Wally brings to the office pot-luck lunches. No to 400 calorie boring food, like store bought birthday cake with waxy icing.

Unless I feel like eating it that day. Life is too short not to do what I feel like sometimes.

Life is too short for complaining. Fix or accept.

Too short for blame.

Also for grudges.

Too short for agonizing over decisions. I recently had to buy a clock. I went to Target and they didn’t have quite what I wanted. On the spot, I decided that I didn’t need the best clock on the planet. The best one at Target would suffice. So I picked one. The world didn’t end.

Life’s too short for second guessing the past. I made the best choices I could at the time, with the information I had at the time. Sure, I know more now. But, I didn’t then. Short of time travel, there’s no solution I see here other than moving forward. Life is One Way.

Life is too short to play my favorite music at a reasonable volume.

It’s too short to worry about grass stains.

And that billboard was right. It’s way to short to eat boring rice.

Writing the High-Concept Novel

I first heard the term “high concept” applied to novels a few years ago and I have to admit, for a time, the idea had me banging my head against a wall. Generally used to describe a film or a television show, high concept is basically a one or two sentence tagline that’s tightly worded and conjures an immediate image in the mind. Take “Snakes on a Plane.” You almost can’t help but smile. Those four simple words practically scream “campy high adventure.” So while I understood the idea of pitching the high concept movie, I wasn’t so sure how high concept translated when talking about books. After mulling it over, I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s really not a lot of difference.

In today’s highly competitive publishing market, it’s not enough to simply write a good book. In order to get your good book read by agents and editors you have to have a hook. And high concept is the ultimate hook. A high concept tagline not only makes your book easier to pitch, it shows that you, as a writer, know the value of marketing.

A high concept pitch has several elements:
A great title
An original idea, or a well-known idea with a new twist
Has universal appeal

Take the following examples. These are recent deal blurbs that I pulled from Publishers Marketplace (an excellent place to find out what is selling and to whom).

Kate Pearce’s The Tudor Vampire Chronicles, a series of vampire romances dealing with the complicated supernatural lives of the queens of King Henry VIII, and the real reasons why some of them survived and some of them died.

This one is a no-brainer. Vampires are extremely hot right now (they have been for some time and it doesn’t look like they are going to go out of fashion) so a vampire romance is a good lead in. But there are a LOT of vampire romances out there. What’s different about this story is the Tudor timeline. It’s not a historical time frame that’s done often in romance. Add in the fact that Showtime’s’ hit series The Tudors have actually made Henry the VIII sexy, and you have a hot, fresh twist on a well-known idea. Plus, it helps that the story of Henry’s wives is something that almost everyone in English speaking countries is aware of. The story hints that paranormal elements are responsible for some of those beheaded queens and I’m instantly intrigued.

Vicky Dreiling’s Confessions of a Duchess: A Matchmaker’s Misadventures, The Bachelor in Regency England (minus the hot tub and camera crew).

I have to admit, the title didn’t necessarily grab me, however, historicals set in Regency England are extremely popular. The term “matchmaker’s misadventures” made me think “fun” which was cemented by the one line blurb: The Bachelor in Regency England minus the hot tub and camera crew. Brilliant!

Todd Ritters’ debut, Death Notice, in which a small town police chief must thwart a serial killer who is sending in obituaries to the local newspaper before the subjects end up gruesomely murdered.

Yuck. I’m creepily grossed out. But who doesn’t love a good suspense novel? There are elements to this story that seem familiar (the serial killer on the loose who thinks he’s clever enough to outwit the cops so he actually sends them clues), but the obituary element seems like a new twist, plus I’m empathetic to the poor small town police chief who has to catch this sicko.

So, while high concept is used to refer to the pitch used to try to sell the book, it also refers to the book itself. When I got the idea to write my Bunco Babes series, I immediately thought “Sex in the City meets Bunco.” I didn’t pitch my story in those exact words, but it was the tagline in my head as I wrote out my synopsis and I think it came through.

Is there a tagline or a short blurb for a novel that has instantly intrigued you? And if so, what was it?

Maria Geraci

Perspective

First, I want to take moment to remember the people of Joplin, Missouri. I can’t imagine anything more horrifying than being trapped in a store while a tornado bears down, knowing that the store will probably collapse and bury you alive. The devastation is vast, the damage unthinkable. So, sending good thoughts and prayers to the people who are trying to put their lives together, one day at a time.

I am reflecting on this because I just passed the sixth anniversary of my original melanoma diagnosis. (There would be another, more serious diagnosis, the following year after I had achieved NED—no evidence of disease—just two months prior.) This past Friday, the day I had been diagnosed all those years before, was the same as every other here: get up, make lunches, walk dog, feed cat, do laundry, find lacrosse stick, carpool, grocery shop, walk dog again, feed cat again, make dinner. In between all of that, I juggled the management of twenty books for my day job, all of which need to go to the printer by this Friday at the latest. All were in various stages of being finished. Finally, after everything was cleaned up, I poured a glass of wine for me and my husband and sat down. I then proceeded to belly ache about my day and how busy I had been, how tired I was. He matched me, complaint for complaint. After we had finished, I looked over at the calendar to see when the next Little League game was and saw the date: May 20th.

I had a couple of reactions. The first was awe that I had not counted down to the day as I had in previous years. I was making progress on that account! The second was that I needed to shut my freaking pie hole.

I looked at Jim and said, “Six years ago today, I was an unpublished writer with a Stage IIIc diagnosis. Today, I have five books in print and I’m healthy.” I clinked my glass against his. “Here’s to complaining about the little things.”

When I was dealing with my cancer situation, people would say things to me like “It really puts everything in perspective, huh?” or “I bet you’ll never complain about the little things again, right?” Wrong. I didn’t need perspective then or now. I had and have it; I know how lucky we are. And being able to complain about the little things, the stupid stuff, means that you don’t have anything big to complain about. To me, focusing on the little problems that we all deal with on a day to day basis—standing in a line we consider too long, driving behind a car we think is going too slow, having an appliance break down—is a gift. It means we’re human and we can focus on the small stuff.

One of the best days in the last six years occurred when my kids—who normally get along swimmingly—had a knock-down, drag-out fight over something ridiculous. There was screaming, yelling, and eventually crying. There was Mom “taking sides,” according to one kid, and blame placing. Eventually, there were hugs and resolution. And all of it was music to my ears. When you go through something like an illness, or god forbid, a death, things change. The way people behave around you changes. Your kids stop fighting because they don’t want to upset you. They think you’ve got enough on your plate and are wise enough to settle their disagreements in private, away from you. So the way you know that things are normal again is when they have a knock-down, drag-out fight in your presence, and expect you to make everything right again.

All of that, to me, is perspective.

Today, take a moment and thank the universe for all of the petty annoyances that make up your day. I have already given thanks for the dishwasher that really doesn’t wash dishes, the dog who refuses to do anything in the rain, and the manuscript that won’t edit itself, no matter how long I stare at it.

Blessings to all of our Stiletto faithful and to anyone else dealing with the things that life can throw at you and that you have to learn to deal with without any preparation whatsoever.

Oh, and May is Skin Cancer Awareness month! Wear your sunscreen, even if it's cloudy!

Maggie Barbieri

Watching Old Movies

Watching movies is one of my favorite pastimes--not that I have much time to pass.

I love going into a movie theater with anticipation, hoping that I'll be entertained, charmed, seduced, scared, or surprised. It doesn't always happen, but I'm pretty choosy about which movies I pay good money to see. I'm not quite so choosy when I'm picking out a Netflix movie to watch. If I don't like it, I'll pop it out and stick it back in the envelope for its return trip.

Because I've spent my hard-earned money, I seldom walk out of a movie in a theater. I have done it once or twice though, when the movie was so gross I couldn't stand another minute. The theater managers have always kindly let us go see another movie. Of course there are movies that I watch clear to the end and am disappointed, but that doesn't happen too often.

This never happened when I was a kid growing up. My dad worked in the movie business and we went to the show nearly every Friday night. In those days there were always two movies--the first run and a B picture. (Also a news reel, coming attractions, a comic, and often entertainment of some kind during intermission.) We could have easily left before the B picture started, and we wouldn't have missed much if we had, but neither Mom nor Dad could bear not to get their full money's worth. (I'm sure this came from not having much of anything during the depression.)

Back to my subject of watching old movies, thanks to Netflix I've revisited some movies that I loved when I saw them the first time. Frankly, I've been disappointed by some. "Giant" was one. In fact, several movies Elizabeth Taylor was in have disappointed me. Sometimes the acting seemed what my husband calls "too over the top."

I remembered "North by Northwest" fondly, but was disappointed when I watched it recently. Not the acting, Cary Grant was great and the story good, but the special effects left a lot to be desired. I'm afraid I'm spoiled by today's wonderful special effects.

One of my favorite movies of all time, "Gone with the Wind" is still as good as the first time I watched it. Clark Gable was a wonderful Rhett Butler. And "The Wizard of Oz" is another I've watched many, many times and still holds up.

The other night, hubby and I watched, "The Mirror with Two Faces," a Barbra Streisand movie and we loved it. Perhaps the story was a bit on the corny side, but the acting was great and so fun to see Lauren Bacall. If you haven't seen that one for awhile, try it again.

Have you ever re-watched an older movie and been disappointed?

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com

Summer Television Season

In the spirit of leaving economic problems, natural disasters, disease, political uprisings, and the end of the world to others to contemplate, I'm offering up a discussion this week on the all important subject of "summer television."

I'm not ashamed to admit that I love movies and television. I've always loved dramas best. My earliest memories of watching television involved not the cartoons, but old movies, soap operas, and detective series. But when summer rolled around there wasn't that much new to enjoy. When I was growing up summer television was rerun land.

Sometime in May the regular series would end their seasons and would start over from the beginning. With no vcrs or dvrs, your only chance of watching a missed episode of a favorite series was during the summer. That all changed when cable brought more channels to your screen than you had the time to view. Now not only are series episodes repeated during the middle of the winter, but you can view them on other "sister" networks the following week, in syndication on late night, and on-line. Cable is also responsible for creating the "made for summer" series.

Today's summer television landscape is filled with first run episodes of series developed just for the summer season! Some of them are just as good or better than the prime time fall series.

My returning favorites are:

In Plain Sight - a series about a female U.S. Marshall working in the Witness Protection Program in New Mexico. "Mary Shannon" is a tough, take charge heroine, whose weakness is her emotionally and financially needy mother and sister.

The Closer - this is the last season for this popular ensemble series of detectives in Los Angeles. Staring Kyra Sedgwick. Rumors are that a spin off series, Major Crimes, will debut next year, picking up where this last season ends.

America's Got Talent - great variety/talent show! Fun for all ages and perfect for the summer. Hosted by Sharon Osbourne, Piers Morgan, and Howie Mandel.

Covert Affairs - the series about a young CIA agent returns. It's fast, fun, and very stylish.

Rizzoli & Isles - a series loosely developed from Tess Gerritsen mysteries. It was a big hit last year. I enjoyed it, but not as much as the books.

Memphis Beat - a fun, cop show set in the Blues capital of the world. This sleeper series hasn't gotten enough press. It's an excellent choice for light summer viewing.

The new series, I'm most interested in seeing? Falling Skies - from Steven Spielberg, a post alien invasion series starring Noah Wylie. I loved him in ER. I hope this series is a hit. Nothing like a good alien invasion to kick off the summer!

What are your summer television viewing plans?

Rhonda
the Southern Half of Evelyn David

Brianna Sullivan Mysteries - e-book series
I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
The Dog Days of Summer in Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
The Holiday Spirit(s) of Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Undying Love in Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
A Haunting in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

The Sullivan Investigation Series
Murder Drops the Ball (Spring 2011)
Murder Takes the Cake- Paperback - Kindle
Murder Off the Books- Paperback - Kindle
Riley Come Home (short story)- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

Romances

Love Lessons - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords