A Writerly Trip to Jefferson Park

Yesterday the book discussion group at the Chicago Public Library, Jefferson Park Branch, discussed my book THE DARK BACKWARD and then invited me to talk afterward.

I brought my camera along to photograph the nice crowd of people who attended, and then FORGOT to do it! Sorry, Jefferson Park readers! Hopefully I'll go back next year and then I'll be sure to preserve the image digitally. Meanwhile I've put up a picture of the library itself, for those of you who are fans of library architecture.

These book discussions are my favorite part of book promotion, because you get to talk to people who've already read the book (as opposed to trying to sell it to someone), and can hear their thoughts about it. The questions are always interesting, and we ended up chatting about generating thoughts, outlining: yes or no?, how characters emerge, how plotting happens, and then more esoteric things like the nature of forgiveness.

And now, back to reality: still painting the house. You'd think it was a mansion, given the amount of time it takes to paint it. It is not, however. :)

I Get By With a Little Help from My Friends

These are my friends Bev Irwin and Liz Lytle; I met them at Bouchercon, and we've chatted on and off via e-mail since then. Bev and Liz are both writers, and both on the verge of their first contracts, so naturally this is an exciting and yet a nervous time for them.

Still, they've both taken the time to support ME and my endeavors with my first book. Liz recently read it and sent me a wonderful e-mail, which I shall partially quote here to show you the sort of fuel that keeps writers going:

"Wow, Girl! Where to start? I jumped right into The Dark Backward last night, and read from 11 p.m. until 2 a.m., far later than I had planned to be awake, and that slim book was the first thing I reached for when my eyes popped open at 6:50 a.m. when my mind conjured the name LILY – and I couldn’t wait to continue. I finally put the book under my pillow to avoid temptation and assure I did something but READ with my new day!

I am in awe of your mastery of the language, which you wield in such a concise and riveting fashion! As a fellow teacher of English and Brit Lit, may I say your adroit, deft and powerful conjuring of The Bard’s own phrases floats on the surface of the reader’s mind like a whiff of cardamom detected by a gourmand – mmmmmm—enticing!"

The amazing part is that I didn't even pay Liz for that endorsement.

But boy, was it helpful to me! Because what I learned after the publication of my book is that one's fears and uncertainties don't go away, and neither does the neediness for praise.

So Liz, thanks for making my day, and blog readers, reach out and tell a writer you like their work today. You may think they don't need to hear it, but you'd be wrong. :)