A PLACE TO SHARE AND/OR PROMOTE BOOKS - SEE WHAT'S OUT THERE
Michael LaRocca's Page
Gifts Received
Michael LaRocca has not received any gifts yet
Profile Information
- Are you an Author, Reader, Publisher, Editor, Agent or Other?
- Editor, Author, Idiot
- Do You Have A Website?
- http://www.chinarice.org
- About Me:
- When Mamie Jo Hill was a young virgin, a doctor assured her she could never get pregnant. After seeing her firstborn son, she wished he'd been right. Little Michael was dumb as a brick, and he had a face that could make a freight train take a dirt road. A quick peek at http://www.chinarice.org/michaellarocca.html will establish that, unlike a fine wine, I have not improved with age.
As I got older, I learned to compensate for my lack of ability by BSing my way through life. 1982 WHO'S WHO IN AMERICAN WRITING. Four books published in 2002, one in 2004, another in 2005. Three EPPIE finalists. Won some Reviewer's Choice Awards at Sime~Gen. One of WRITERS DIGEST's Top 101 Websites For Writers. And all without a lick of talent.
Now I teach English in China, where I can BS to my heart's content.
But I'm not all bad. My cat really loves me. My wife loves me too, but she doesn't know any better because she's Australian.
{Update: We moved to Thailand in 2006 and I quit teaching, but I still BS to my heart's content.}
- Favorite Books:
- The Collected Works of William Shakespeare, The Collected Works of Lu Xun, Timequake by Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, anything by Anne Tyler
- Favorite Bookstores on land or cyberspace
- It has to be Amazon because I live in Thailand. When I lived in China, Amazon was a lifeline!
About
Badge
MORGAN'S OWN BLOGSPOT
Are you ready?
Anyway, I hope to get the house into decent shape before Christmas, when I do my annual meal for the family. There's also that Christmas list to get together. Time is ticking away.
What about you? Are you ready for Christmas? Or do you celebrate another Holiday? If so, are you ready?
Please Welcome Mary Cunningham, Cynthia's Attic Author
One of the main reasons for writing "Cynthia's Attic" came from my failure - failure to appreciate my ancestors. Our family stories are probably no more or less interesting than most, and I went out of my way to avoid remembering most of them or asking questions about my grandparents lives.
Or did I try to find out just which relative "supposedly" sold a city block on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles for $20,000? Guaranteed, I would not be sitting here writing a blog had that particular relative held on to the property.
Then there's the story, "Cynthia's Attic: Curse of the Bayou," of my great-great grandfather, Augustus Boilliat who disappeared in 1860 while taking a load of produce down the Mississippi River to New Orleans? Oh, sure I've read different accounts about what happened to him, but lost forever are the stories his grandson (my grandfather) could've told me about facts he'd heard from my great-great grandmother, Marie Julia, about her husband's disappearance.
I remember a few accounts told by my dad about his adventures as a teenage cave guide at one of the largest caves in the Southern Indiana area, Wyandotte, but I only have to guess at some of the adventures he must've had.
The idea for Cynthia's Attic: The Magician's Castle came from detailed genealogy research done by my cousin, Betty. Long before the Internet, she traveled to Switzerland to search for documents that would tie our great-grandmother, Harriet Kistler, to Peter Kistler the First, President of the Republic of Bern, 1470-1480. I've tried to honor the Kistler family in the fourth adventure in Cynthia's Attic.
Thanks, Morgan, for having me as a guest!
Mary Cunningham
She is also co-writer of the humor-filled, women's lifestyle book, "Women Only Over Fifty (WOOF)," along with published stories, "Ghost Light" and "Christmas Daisy," A Cynthia's Attic short story.
To celebrate the release of "The Magician's Castle," (Quake/Echelon Press, DEC 1, 2009), a winner will be chosen on each blog stop to receive a copy of the "Cynthia's Attic" short story, "Christmas With Daisy!" So, be sure to make a comment!
Mary Cunningham Books
http://www.marycunninghambooks.com/
Cynthia's Attic Blog
http://www.cynthiasattic.blogspot.com/
Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Mary-Cunningham/e/B002BLNEK4/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
Kindle
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url?_encoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=digital-text&field-author=Mary%20Cunningham
Fictionwise
http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/a20811/Mary-Cunningham/?
Quake/Echelon Press
http://www.echelonpress.com/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=23&zenid=4ac57b7ae19fa071cab3b4295df7baf3
Please leave a comment to welcome Mary.
Check out the Mystery of the Missing Checks
Monday, I'm over at my group blog, http://makeminemystery.blogspot.com/, where I'm blogging about the mystery of the missing checks. Come on over and find out what it's all about.Thanks,
Morgan Mandel
Can We Talk?
I'm firming up some dates for speaking engagements in 2010. One's tentatively set for March 28, at 1:30 at the Niles Public Library, another probably in mid May at the Schaumburg Township District Library.Also, coming up is a radio interview at WJJQ again on May 7, at 9:35 a.m. before my booksigning May 8 at Cover to Cover Books in Tomahawk, WI.
I've heard that some people are more afraid of public speaking than of dying. Surprisingly, I find it easier each time I do it. As long as I have my cheat sheet with me to glance down at once in a while for security and I like what I'm talking about, I'm okay.
What about you? Do you like to talk or would you rather not?
RSS
Rascal is sleeping right now. When she gets up, you'll know about it.
When RASCAL wakes up, you'll hear from her and/or her Mom - that would be me, Morgan Mandel.
Latest Activity
01:10
Once, Connor believed that his ability to see the future would grant him everything. Instead, it landed him in a prison of his own making. Connor gains wealth and prestige, but with every vision, his own sight dims. Moira curses herself for failing…
Music
© 2009 Created by Morgan Mandel on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
Comment Wall (15 comments)
You need to be a member of BOOK PLACE to add comments!
Join this Ning Network
If you have a moment on a sleepy January day, do drop by my latest interview at Unusual Historical Blogspot.
There's a copy of Duking Days Rebellion being offered in a draw too, just leave a comment at the end of the blog.
Unusual Historicals Blogspot
http://unusualhistoricals.blogspot.com
Liz DeJesus
Author of Nina
http://liz-dejesus.livejournal.com
Well, after 6 years in China, we needed a change. My wife's from Australia, but it's still an expensive place to live and they still underpay teachers. The USA? Nope, not interested. So we snooped around Asia and settled on Thailand. Chiang Mai had been recommended by colleagues, and there's no quarantine on cats. We have a lovely calico that I found at the Hong Kong SPCA back in 2000.
We've been here a year, and I just signed another one-year lease on the house, so we can assume this is long-term move. It's been kinda tricky dealing with Immigration during the crackdown, but all is well now.
I set up my editing business simply as a way to get a visa, but it turns out I'm doing well. Very few customers in Thailand, and my first was Norwegian, but I've got lots of overseas work. People are learning they can "outsource" to Thailand and still get a native English speaker who's been a professional editor since 1990, so it works.
And that's enough about me for now, folks. I could talk about my own writing career, but not today.
It must be a blessing to find out that your talent for wisecracking really does have an audience. Sounds like bliss to me.
Do you feel like an expatriot? And why Thailand? How did you get there? Why? Are you staying? I'm always thinking about relocation. Somewhere where I won't be kidnapped for $ (cause no one will pay up); somewhere where I can make a living; and somewhere where I can thrive like you.
Thanks for being a friend. We need all we can get in this writing biz.
Cheers,
Andrea
If you're an idiot, what does that make me? A moron? I couldn't even WRITE my book. It was going to be a non-fiction book, but there wasn't enough material published on my subject for me to do it justice. So, I decided to change my subject and write something smaller. You know, they say small is the new big.
I wrote a booklet, and then I wrote a second one. The idea was for them to cross sell each other. I can't say my writing is brilliant, but I can say this idea was! People always buy both of my booklets together rather than separately, even though the booklets are available that way.
This led to the birth of my company, Up & At 'Em Publications - a company devoted to publishing, marketing and fundraising with booklets. It's been a good run thus far and I'm very excited about what the future holds for me, my clients and my company!
Not bad for a moron, eh?
Kim
www.upandatempublications.com
http://bookmarket.ning.com/profile/upandatem
Thx for the friend invite. You have a great amount of useful--& yes, entertaining--info on your website & whether or not you really know what you're talking about . . . you certainly seem to, so I'm gonna say you're a fantastic writer!
Hope to "see you around."
Blessings -- Linda Alexander
Books For The Thinking Reader
www.lindajalexander.net
www.authorsden.com/lindajalexander
Tamelia
View All Comments