A PLACE TO SHARE AND/OR PROMOTE BOOKS - SEE WHAT'S OUT THERE
On Interviews
I've received notification that I'm the interview subject on Novel Journey tomorrow, July 7th. It's a cool site, so I'm excited to be there, and you can see what I said at www.noveljourney.blogspot.com.
I've done radio, Internet, video, and print interviews and have been lucky so far to have professional hosts who lead me along and don't throw in anything nasty. Still, book/author interviews are a bit static, and there are so many out there that I wonder if anyone really reads any of them all the way through. I suppose it's like the first paragraph of your novel: the reader decides early on if it interests him and moves on if it doesn't.
But in an interview, you don't control the first paragraph, line, or picture. Someone else asks the questions, someone else makes up the rules. So the first question is usually something like, "How did you get started in writing?" Uh, well, gee, I just had this story in my head and I wanted to tell it. Yawn. You and everybody else in the world.
One interviewer began by asking me which writer had the greatest influence on me. The question surprised me--there have been too many to choose one--and I ended up stuttering something about Shakespeare, which made me sound pompous and pretentious. (I've got enough trouble with that from readers who see "Macbeth" in the title and assume they'd never understand the book. C'mon, people, it's a romance!)
Anyway, the advice here is to think about interviews before you ever have one. Think about what they might ask, and they'll almost always ask who influences you so get that one figured out. But also think about what you'd like to get across in your interview: personality, tidbits of the book, insights for readers, etc. When they ask how you got started in writing, maybe you have a clever little anecdote about standing in the checkout line fantasizing about killing the woman ahead of you who is fumbling through her purse, talking on her cell, and holding everyone up with completely oblivious disregard. If you've pondered all that beforehand, you may be able to steer the interview a bit and make it more exciting than the run-of-the-mill type that nobody finishes reading.
I've done radio, Internet, video, and print interviews and have been lucky so far to have professional hosts who lead me along and don't throw in anything nasty. Still, book/author interviews are a bit static, and there are so many out there that I wonder if anyone really reads any of them all the way through. I suppose it's like the first paragraph of your novel: the reader decides early on if it interests him and moves on if it doesn't.
But in an interview, you don't control the first paragraph, line, or picture. Someone else asks the questions, someone else makes up the rules. So the first question is usually something like, "How did you get started in writing?" Uh, well, gee, I just had this story in my head and I wanted to tell it. Yawn. You and everybody else in the world.
One interviewer began by asking me which writer had the greatest influence on me. The question surprised me--there have been too many to choose one--and I ended up stuttering something about Shakespeare, which made me sound pompous and pretentious. (I've got enough trouble with that from readers who see "Macbeth" in the title and assume they'd never understand the book. C'mon, people, it's a romance!)
Anyway, the advice here is to think about interviews before you ever have one. Think about what they might ask, and they'll almost always ask who influences you so get that one figured out. But also think about what you'd like to get across in your interview: personality, tidbits of the book, insights for readers, etc. When they ask how you got started in writing, maybe you have a clever little anecdote about standing in the checkout line fantasizing about killing the woman ahead of you who is fumbling through her purse, talking on her cell, and holding everyone up with completely oblivious disregard. If you've pondered all that beforehand, you may be able to steer the interview a bit and make it more exciting than the run-of-the-mill type that nobody finishes reading.
Tags: blogs, interviews, promotion, publicity, radio, television, writing
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MORGAN'S OWN BLOGSPOT
Slides, Anyone?
I added a few slides of my books to my blogspot. I'm not sure yet if they should stay on or not.Do you have more trouble loading my blogspot with the slides up? Do you like them or are they too distracting?
A Christmas Tree Already
On the way home from work yesterday, I passed a house that already had a lighted and decorated Christmas tree up and showing by the window.Is it not too soon for that? In my mind, the day after Thanksgiving is when the Christmas Season starts. That's when it's fair game to put up a tree and decorations and start shopping. The way things are going this year, I'll be lucky if I get organized enough to decorate a few days before Christmas.
With our dog, Rascal, who lives up to her name, we'll probably go with a fiber optic small tree on top of an end table. One of these days I may pull put the larger tree from the box in the basement and set it up, but not until our doggy is a little more sedate. I don't feel like chasing her to get ornaments out of her mouth. I will be putting up knick knacks, lights inside and decorations on the walls, so it will still look Christmasy. No lights outside because for some reason we have no outlets outside.
While we're on the subject of Christmas trees and such, be sure to add holidays in your books. You can mention decorations and lights or Easter eggs and baskets, or even mattress sales in your descriptions to ground the reader as to the season.
Now, back to that tree I saw. What about you? When do you decorate for Christmas? What do you put up?
Winners and Losers at the CMAs and Life
I love country music and almost every country performer. While watching the CMAs, I enjoyed seeing the winners accept their awards. On the other hand, it was hard for me to see the losers do their best to appear gracious and for the most part succeeding.For every winner, there's a loser. In life and in books, it's the same way. How people react to their good and bad fortune shows what their characters are made of. You don't have to tell a reader who the good guy or bad guy is. Let their actions speak for themselves. The readers are smart enough to figure it out.
PS Can't finish this blog without saying - You Rock, Taylor Swift! You are one smart, talented teenager! Congrats on all your awards, especially, Entertainer of the Year!!!
CMA Awards Tonight and Twitter
One of my favorite shows is on tonight - the CMA Awards. If you're a country music fan, you're probably like me and will be glued to the TV 8pm EST, or in my case 7pm, in the flatlands of Illinois.Almost all my favorite performers will be there, except I hear that Rascal Flatts can't make it.
I'll be on Twitter during the show also. That's part of the fun of it - discussing and dissecting outfits, performers, songs and even commercials, kind of like I'm at a giant party with people who all go for the same thing and want to share.
What about you? What kind of music do you like? Do you tweet during a favorite show or event?
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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.
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