Blog: To Tell The Truth

I can’t lie. It’s an odd compulsion that I’ve had all my life. When confronted with an opportunity to lie—or where a lie might be appropriate, such as when asked “Do you this new shade of lipstick?” by someone who looks like they landed lips first in a puddle of mud—I freeze like a deer in headlights. I know the truth would be a terrible thing to say and yet I can’t force an untruth past my lips. And so I just freeze. My sister recently tried to entice me in a game of “Cockroach Poker” (Kakerlakenpoker), in which lying is a key ingredient to the game. My first attempt at this game became the stuff of family legends: I became so flustered by trying to lie that I finally had to just ran out of the room to end my turn (my family found this all much more entertaining than the actual game). In my more fanciful moments, I imagine I was cursed in my infancy by an evil fairy, like Sleeping Beauty or Ella of Ella Enchanted. Modern science, on the other hands, posits that I might have a mild form of Asperger’s Syndrome or a deficiency in my “theory of mind.”

Blog: The Business of Art

There comes a time in almost every writer’s life when he or she must choose: do I want to create art or do I want to sell books? Now I’m not saying that “artsy books” don’t sell or that popular, best-selling books are all crap. But there’s a reason why literary and commercial fiction are considered two separate categories. As one commentator sneered, in response to a recent article about a traditionally published author who took the leap into self-publishing after disappointing sales of her first attempt at literary fiction, “Of course she only sold 10,000 copies. It’s literary fiction.”

People (generally writers themselves) assign a lot of value judgment to the choice between art and business. Writers who crank out commercial fiction are derided by other writers as hacks (even though most of those cranking out the books are household names raking in the dough), while, at the same time, authors who write beautiful, masterful stories that no one will publish because they aren’t commercial enough are regarded as failures. It’s a Catch-22. The truth is, a lot of artistically masterful books are commercially unviable (meaning not that they won’t sell any copies, but they won’t sell enough copies). And publishing is, first and foremost, a business. And a lot of good books—and good authors—get passed over because of this.

Blog: The Doors of Perception

Written on 15 December 2011.

My grandmother always had a way with language, had, for as long as I could remember, described things in her own, fanciful way.

“I was walking the other day…” she would say.

“Really? You were walking?” my sister and I would tease her, knowing full well she hadn’t gotten out of her wheelchair for several years.

“Well, I was sitting, the nurse was pushing, but you know what I mean…” she’d say with a dismissive wave of her hand and that Cheshire grin of hers that indicated she thought she was being particularly funny or was having a laugh at someone’s expense.

Today, I'm over at Annette Gisby's blog talking about the Greek myth of the ferryman and the river Styx. Be sure to enter the raffle/giveaway while you're checking out my guest post - two $50 Amazon gift cards and 5 signed print copies of Thereafter up for grabs. Then stop by Chrissi Reads where I'm dishing about who should play Irene in a movie of Thereafter - be sure to leave a comment for another entry to the giveaway.

Today, I'm over at Michelle Hauck's blog talking about how a book's cover art can affect its marketing. Be sure to enter the raffle/giveaway while you're checking out my guest post - two $50 Amazon gift cards and 5 signed print copies of Thereafter up for grabs. Then stop by 3 Partners in Shopping: Nana, Mommy, and Sissi, Too! and be sure to leave a comment for another entry to the giveaway.

I love to hide puns, jokes, and layered meanings in my books - today I'm dishing on the Top Ten Easter Eggs Hidden in Thereafter at Butterfly-o-Meter books. Be sure to enter the raffle/giveaway while you're checking out my guest post - two $50 Amazon gift cards and 5 signed print copies of Thereafter up for grabs. Then stop by Chrissi Reads and check out her review of Thereafter - be sure to leave a comment for another entry to the giveaway.

Author Interviews

Blog: To Tell The Truth

Blog: The Business of Art

Blog: The Doors of Perception

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